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Wednesday, October 22, 2014

Wedding Wednesday: Photography

Thank you for being as excited as I was about our Style Me Pretty feature! Now, back to the Wedding Wednesday programming. Today we are talking all things wedding photography. If you have any wedding photography related questions let me know in the comments!

When looking for a photographer I didn't really have much background information to go on. So I do what most adults do… I took to the internets! A quick Google search for "Nashville Wedding Photographers" brought up local photogs with prices that ranged from $1,500 to $10,000 to "investment". I knew that our wedding budget couldn't handle those who were asking for an "investment", & if I had told Tyler that a photographer could charge $10,000 he would have cried. So I called/emailed the mid-range vendors ($2,000 - $5,000) to get the scoop.
I email interviewed a few & quickly crossed most off the list of potentials - too many exceptions, too much money, already booked on our date, etc.

We ended up sitting down in person with 2 photographers, & just felt a click with Jessica of Jessica Ranae Photography. Her prices were right, she offered all the amenities we were looking for with out any extras we didn't want to pay for, & she was just a joyful human that we knew we would enjoy working with throughout the whole process.

Jessica ended up doing our engagement photos (2 different shoots, over 2 different days in 2 locations, one with both pugs!), & was with us the ENTIRE day of our wedding (9a - 11p). Before the wedding she sent us a lovely package with a personalized hanger (as seen in our photos) & the 5 Love Languages book. After the wedding she sent us a gorgeous package with special prints, thumb drives with all the prints & a copy of our full rights for photos (to take to photo printing places if needed, which has already come in handy). During it all, Jessica was easy to get ahold of, extremely up front/straight forward. 

As I didn't have a wedding planner (just a day of coordinator), Jessica was also indispensable in figuring out much of our wedding schedule leading up to the big day (so much stress eliminated thanks to her calm & reassuring presence!) She was flat out amazing!
Looking for your own wedding photographer? 
Things to consider:
- Cost (Remember to think about the base price + photo prices + day of tips + any extras)
- What your package includes (engagement photos? number of locations? hour limit?)
- What you actually want. Don't want bridal portraits, don't pay for a package that includes them. Looking for 2 shooters, make sure your photographer offers it!

Look for:
- Full rights over pictures (so you can print them how you want, when you want)
- Unlimited time on the day of (some photographers I looked at had a 4 hour limit, can you imagine hitting your time limit & your photographer missing your epic exit? Or having to decide to dish out major bucks just for them to capture your get-away-car moment? No thank you!)
- Someone you enjoy working with. You are going to spend MANY hours together, as magical as you imagine the big day, taking photos gets tiring, you need a positive person who you truly like.)

Jessica is no longer a Nashville photographer, but you lucky brides-to-be in The Twin Cities of Saint Paul, MN & surrounding areas be sure to look her up!

6 comments:

  1. That last image is perfect, and it sounds like you found a great fit in your photographer. Couldn't agree more about how important having a connection with your photographer is, whether that be blog photos or something more serious like this.

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  2. Jess you are too sweet! You made me tear up! I was equally as lucky to have you guys as clients!!! Thank you so much for this article!

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  3. Congrats on the feature! Your photos turned out amazing! You look so beautiful in your wedding dress! I love the back of your dress! And great tips on what to look for in a photographer!

    http://www.kaciesklosetblog.com/

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  4. Your pictures turn out very nice. Thanks for the tips

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