Posts Tagged ‘wedding photography’

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.

Here are Janell and Courtney Begue’s wedding images.

The day started as any wedding would – ladies getting ready and the men just hanging around. Things changed quickly when we were ready to have portraits done – the guys were ready and the ladies were not too far behind. Everyone was looking at the weather, as rain was being predicted for the day. The ceremony was held outside and they had an indoor reception. This worked out perfectly as the rain held off till we starting photographing family images in the gazebo.

Janell and Courtney were surrounded by their family and friends and had a great day to be married. The ceremony was great, the balloon release was something to see and the reception hall was decorated amazingly. The food, finger food and their cake + cupcakes for the guests were also amazing.

Janell & Courtney – thank you for allowing us to share in your wedding day.

Their Slideshow

Ashley and James were married September 18, 2010.

Why do we love weddings? We get to capture such a special day in a couple’s life. Getting married, being around loved ones and also wearing those fancy outfits (including the photographer) happens every once in a while and it’s great that we can be there to capture those memories for our couples. By the end of the night, the vows have been said, the environmentally friendly rice has been thrown, the food has been eaten, the cake was eaten, and the dances were danced – and we were there to capture it.

And the most rewarding of capturing a couple’s wedding is the great comments that we receive immediately after they have seen their images. Knowing that we captured a couple’s wedding day and that they love their images is such a great feeling.

Ashley and James – congrats and many happy years.

Here is their slideshow.

Jessica and Matt tied the knot a few weeks ago. We had a little bit of rain on that day, but there is a saying “a Wet Knot is a tighter Knot”. Jessica and Matt were married, they had a great reception and we captured many images that they will charish for years to come.

The slideshow below is just a handfull of images that were captured that day.

Congrats Jessica and Matt – thank you for allowing us to share in your special day.

This Saturday is the BIG DAY for Jessica and Matt. When Matt proposed to Jessica, she did not hesitate to contact us to see if we were available for their wedding day and we were honored to have been selected to photograph their wedding. Capturing portraits during several engagement sessions with them was great as we had the opportunity to meet Matt and see how he would be in front of our cameras. We already knew Jessica from a few years back – we photographed her mother’s wedding and Jessica has worked with us as an assistant on several weddings.

The images below are table favors that we provided them, with images from their engagement session. Everyone loves pictures, and why not have something for the couple to share with their guests. Plus the guests will have our website information readily available so that they can look over images from Jessica & Matt’s wedding once we have them posted online.

Kelsey and Ronny were married this Saturday in front of the Glamorgan Castle in Alliance, Ohio. For those of you that are not familiar with this landmark in our hometown, it houses the Alliance Schoolboard (that is where all of my taxes go to) .

The ceremony was intimate with family and some close friends, followed by a reception at Bender’s Restaurant in Canton, Ohio.

Prior to the reception we took some time to capture some images of Kelsey & Ronny, and we also captured some great images after the reception.

Kelsey & Ronny – thank you for allowing us to share in your special day. Hope you are enjoying your honeymoon. Here is one teaser image from their day.

What is a wedding without a great cake? That would be like having a wedding without a GREAT photographer (I know one or two – drop me a line and I can help you).

We met the owners of A Catered Affair, LLC at a bridal show a few years ago. We were blown away with their cake designs and the taste of their cakes. Please visit their site to see more examples of the cakes.

They were approached by a Wedding Cake Magazine, to have an original cake photographed and placed in the magazine. There were some rules that must be followed to have the images of the cake be included in the upcoming edition. It could not have been displayed at a bridal show and/or photographed for magazine, website or any other form of publication. So the cake that you see pictured in this post is not the one that they are sending to the magazine, but they had with them as I photographed the cake that they recently built. I should have permission to place the images of their new cake on my site soon – I don’t want them to have spent all of their time coming up with a concept, designing, making the cake and transporting it to our studio for nothing.

Let me tell you – these sample cakes looked SO good that I could have taken a bit out of them. Interesting fact that I was told about the sample cakes – you can smell the sweetness of the fondant for up to 2 years after it has been made. My studio smelled like a bakery for a couple of hours after they left.

Today we were visited by 2 couples and both selected us to photograph their weddings.

Nicole and Joe & Janell and Courtney – we look forward to your upcoming engagement sessions. Plan on having fun and capturing some great images to share with your family and friends. Now on your wedding day – pretty much the same as the engagement session. Plan on having fun and capturing some amazing pictures of your special day for years to come.

What does this mean for couples looking for a wedding photographer? There are only so many weekends that we can photograph weddings. Do we have yours open? Send us a note and we will check our calendars and get back to you ASAP.

So we have one more bridal show this season. Why? Because we have a few more dates open for 2010 and we are looking to fill up our 2011 wedding calendar.

Are you getting married in 2011? Think that its too early to book a wedding photographer? Maybe – but if you don’t want to settle for your 3rd or 4th choice, then I would put selecting a photographer at the top of your list of professional vendors to have for your wedding day. Ceremony and reception (food is included in this) are definitely #1 & #2. Then #3 & #4 should be photographer & videographer (if you are going to hire both). DJ is next, cake, invitations (we can help with these) and other small things that will be needed for your wedding.

So where will this bridal show be held? At the Glenmore Country Club in Canton. February 28, 2010.

Come and visit us – we have some great incentives for couples that sign with us. What is this offer? I cannot go into too much detail, you will have to come and visit us at the bridal show to find out. Here is a hint on what we are offering – looking for a FREE wedding album? We can show you how to accomplish this and much more.

There is no cover charge, and there will be a great selection of professional wedding vendors to talk about your wedding day with.

Below is a slideshow to highlight some of the images that we captured at weddings in 2009.

Invest in your wedding images with us – we are much more then wedding photographers. Want to find out how we can help you plan a stress free wedding day? Contact Us and we can show you how this is possible.