Posts Tagged ‘cleveland’

Do you remember when you were a little girl? Think back. You used to spend hours with your dolls and stuffed animals, talking to them, dreaming with them, creating wonderful childhood memories. You would dress Barbie and Ken in their wedding clothes. Barbie had the dress of your dreams, adorned in beads and lace. Bear was the preacher and when you placed him in front of the couple, all of the dolls and stuffed animals became quiet. The wedding was just as perfect as Ken and Barbie were.

Reality is that you were already planning your own perfect wedding, all you had to do was find your ‘Ken’. Years later, and a few adjustments to your dream, you are finally there, planning the wedding for real. You have finally found your ‘Ken’.

Everything is going great. The plans are coming together nicely. You are having your ceremony in the church you grew up in and your favorite minister will be performing the nuptials. The reception hall is booked and you have decided on a sit down dinner with the choice of either chicken or beef. You have found your photographer and have had your engagement pictures taken. You have decided to display your favorite image at the reception. You and ‘Ken’ look so blissful in the pictures. The guests are going to be so happy for you.

Or maybe you aren’t a traditional girl. Instead of the church and reception hall, your dream is white sand and tropical breezes with your family and some close friends.

Now that everything is in place, all the contracts signed, travel booked, dress chosen and you have your favorite songs gathered for the DJ, you can settle back and enjoy the rest of your engagement. You can continue to blissfully daydream about what the future holds for you and your ‘Ken’. You can prepare for spending forever together. Right?

As photographers, we have had the pleasure of photographing memories in both of the above situations. The bride’s dreams were realized and everything went pretty much as they had planned. Both ‘Barbie’ and ‘Ken’ were able to enjoy their day with the utmost joy and happiness.

Sometimes, though, dreams can take a wrong turn and become nightmares.

What would happen if a few months or even weeks before the wedding date, something has seemed to change between you and ‘Ken’? All of a sudden he begins bickering about the details that had long since been looked after. Maybe he just isn’t around as often as he once was.

Then he goes and does it! He calls off the wedding. He is telling you that he found someone else and just doesn’t think it would work between the two of you.

What is there for ‘Barbie’ to do? You have just been crushed by the man that you had been planning your forever with, and of course you are miserable. All of the plans you have been making are shattered. Everything that you have hoped for is gone, in an instant.

After the initial shock wears off, you suddenly realize something: you had signed all of the contracts for your wedding day and now you are the one who will be responsible for them. The amounts you owe are all varying, because of the cancellation clauses in those contracts. Therefore, you may still be owing hundreds, if not thousands, of dollars to these businesses through no fault of your own, or theirs.

I know a situation like this sounds like someone’s worst nightmare, and thank goodness that it is rare. It does happen though. As a professional, I have seen it happen to a few clients of mine over the last seven years. It is a horrible feeling for us because we have usually had the opportunity to get to know the couples fairly well, and also come to know their story to some degree.

I decided to write this article now because it is currently happening to one of my clients. It was a very abrupt circumstance, and she didn’t see it coming. The couple in question had been together for quite a number of years, and this sudden change came as quite the shock.

I began to wonder if there was any way to help prevent the financial burden that is left in the wake of a terrible situation such as this, and also what information I would want to know if I were to find myself with the need to plan a wedding again. So I got on line and went to Google. I searched for “wedding insurance and cold feet” and found out, surprisingly enough,that there are at least four companies that now offer this type of insurance. It’s purpose is to help protect couples ‘just in case.’ There are also many plans out there that will cover almost any other conceivable reason for canceling or postponing the wedding. The cost for these plans begins at $150 and goes up, depending on the amount and size of the wedding.

I know many may be reading this and rolling your eyes thinking, “I have already spent so much money. Why should I raise my expenses even more?’. While I understand your reservations, I respond to them by saying: because unexpected things happen in life. It is always better to protect yourself than to be left thousands of dollars in debt because of something that is above and beyond control.

Think about it this way, if it makes more sense to you. We have to buy car insurance when we purchase a car, although you may never need it. However, one day, your car may be innocently parked in a driveway when disaster strikes, say, in the form of a tree falling on it. That very insurance that you’ve paid is there to write the damage off.. How would you feel if you instead had to choose between absorbing the cost of repair work on the vehicle, or having to send it off to the junk yard and getting a new car, while strapped with the responsibility of paying loans on both?

As anyone who has ever had a car accident can tell you, insurance can often be the only support that truly gets you through a difficult time. And as a car is an investment, so is your wedding day. So why not do your best to protect it, as well as to protect the money you’ve put into it? As professionals, we are not looking to take advantage of our clients, as many may assume. By providing you with a little information, we hope to assist you in guaranteeing that you protect your investment in professional wedding services, be they caterers, reception halls, or photographers. After all, not every fairy tale can end with a “happily ever after.

Contact us and we can help you attain the dream wedding that you deserve.

During the seminar that both Nicole and I attended, we signed up for a shoot-out. What is that? It very similar to a cook off, except whoever gets the best picture wins.

The shoot-out consisted of 5 photographers, 5 digital retouchers – we were not aware of what we were going to photograph before we were thrown into the mix. As I entered the room, I was the first victim on the photographer side of the shoot-out, I saw that I had a female model, an old wooden golf club and an orange plastic truck. And I only had 5 minutes to capture an image that I could use for my digital retoucher, which I was very fortunate to have Tabitha Norris (from The Metropolitan Gallery) do my digital retouching. From this effort we received the most number of votes from our peers, of approximately 1,000 members, on a website that ideas about anything that involves photography is shared.

Nicole and Dawn Sheree (from DS Photography) came in second place with their effort.

Here is the image that took first place:
Photographer – Bruce Nicol
Digital Retoucher – Tabitha Norris

Here is the image that took second place:
Photographer – Dawn Sheree (DS Photography)
Digital Retoucher – Nicole Nicol

When is the best time to have your little bundle of joy photographed? Immediately – because we can capture the new baby smell. Just kidding. The reason we like to photograph newborns between 0-2 weeks of age is because we can capture them sleeping and we can have them in position that are comfortable to them which makes great portraits.

Here is a little guy that we photographed recently. He was the perfect little gentleman, and we loved the images that we captured of him.

Are you expecting a bundle of joy soon? Call (330-821-7714) or email us to schedule your maternity or newborn appointment.

Nicole and I are currently visiting a senior photographer in Indiannapolis.

Scott Crosby is a photographer that thinks out of the box and gives his senior clients something different and new. This gives them the chance to be unique and to have images that no one else would capture for them. The big thing is that his seniors have FUN. Yep FUN while being photographed. This fun concept is something that we incorporate into all of our portrait sessions and is crucial for our wedding couples. Why? Because it relaxes everyone that we are photographing so that the image that we capture looks natural and not “forced”. When others look at the images we want them to say WOW – that is a really cool portrait.

Check out our portfolio to see what we have to offer and contact us to see how we can help you capture life’s important moments they way they should be captured.

Today we had a quick model session with Lydia because her mom received an email from us. The message we sent to many local families asked for models between the ages of 2 and 12 for our new studio at Carnation City Mall. No cost, and we would actually give them a free 5×7 for coming in for us to see if we could use them on some new photo items. We know what items that we want to purchase – we just need some cute models for these items.

Here is a comment that Regena said about our services and her daughter’s time at our Mall Studio – Catchlight.

Hey Nicole!! I just wanted to say thank you for sharing some time with Lydia and I! Bruce did a fantastic job with her today and Lydia hasn’t stopped talking about him yet!!! This was a great experience for both her and I and I can’t wait to do some more soon!! – Family photos may have to happen in the spring
Have a great weekend
Regena and Lydia too!

Thank you Regena – we are looking forward to some more fun with Lydia at the studio. Let us know when you are ready for Family Portraits and we will make certain that everyone involved will have a great time, as Lydia did today.