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@MamaHusky3: I live in a different state than my photographer. When I was up wedding planning we just met a cafe. It was fine.
Meeting in person is definitely common. I would not feel comfortable hiring someone I'd never met. If you live in different towns I think they should come to you, if they can, or perhaps meet halfway. We met halfway, it was about a 45 minute drive for each of us. No biggie. Longer than that and I would maybe wait until you're going to be going there and arrange a meeting, unless the photog offers to travel to you.
My wedding photographer, who I just met last weekend and immediately booked, met me half way! I'm from the North OC area and she is from Carlsbad, so probably an hour and a half or so. I personally thought it was definitely worth it to meet and make sure you have that chemistry you were hoping to have with your photographer(s)!
I also lived in a different state than my photographer. When I was back in town wedding planning one weekend, we met up to make sure we clicked (IMO, this is very important with a photographer). I met her and her husband (who co-shoots with her) at their home.
My photographer drove about 45 minutes to meet me. I would not hire a photographer without meeting them, I think being comfortable with them is VERY important!
We booked our photographers without meeting them first. I felt comfortable with their facebook page, the full wedding albums online, their PPA page, blog, ect.
We will meet them in the spring or summer for our engagement photos.
I will add that we have probably had more contact with our photographers than anyone else. FI is re-doing their website and actually plays on xbox live with one of them. We all seem to click. It seems like we talk on a nightly basis.
And we have their gamer tag for xbox games. ^_^
I figure if they are a complete mess in the summer then we will still have a year to find someone else. I'm pretty confident that they won't be a hot mess.
I would personally not feel comfortable booking any vendor that I haven't met with first. All of the vendors that FI and I have met with were at a public place (normally coffee shops) equidistant between their studios/homes and either our condo or office. If we're talking a decent distance away then meeting half way should suffice.
Meeting someone in person and talking to them through email are two very different things. We were in contact with a DJ who offered everything that we wanted for a great price. He was as nice as can be and very professional in all of the emails that went back and forth between us prior to meeting. We were scheduled to meet with him on a Wednesday evening at 7:30 pm at Starbucks. The guys shows up 15 minutes late in a car that we could hear coming from a mile away looking homeless. His hair was disheveled, his shirt had stains on it and his jeans were ripped. We knew right then and there that we would not be booking him but he took time out of his day to meet with us so we let him give us his spiel. He was a complete disaster both in appearance and knowledge of the DJ industry. I am so happy that we met with him. If we would have booked him based on our emails, we would have been extremely disappointed after our wedding.
Our photographer was about an hour and a half away and we met her because it was important to us to meet our photographer in person before we went with her.
The photographer can really make or break your day. You can be with them all day from getting ready to the send off depending on your plans. A friend went with a photog she had met but didn't like and he could have easily ruined her day. She is a much better person than I. As a guest at the wedding I was shocked at how rude he was. I felt bad that she had to spend the entire day with such a jerk. Spend a random day driving to and from your photog to save your big day from hanging out with a jerk. PP mentioned Skype, I that isn't a bad idea.
My photographer was across the country in my hometown, so.... no we didn't meet before hiring her. It was a gamble, but I was not flying home just to meet photographers!
In the event that you want to hire a photographer that lives further away - you don't have to meet in person if you like their work. You can talk on the phone and guage someone's persona. There are many photographers who do destination weddings and they don't meet prior because it's just not feasible. So if you live in close proximity then by all means meet if you want to. But otherwise I wouldn't stress over it. Here is a photographer you may want to check out as well which is who I'm using: MistiMorningstar.com @MamaHusky3:
We usually set up skype meetings for clients who are out of state or just can't meet us. It's important to us to know we are working with clients who click with us, just as important {well maybe not quite as important} as how you click with them. Personality goes a long way if you don't like your photog you prob are not going to be happy with the photos.
I have driven up to an hour to meet clients, but I will only go that far if I've already had several emails and/or phone coversations with the bride and have a good feeling about them. If someone emails me a two-word first email "requesting consultation" and expects me to drive an hour out to meet them, without even having received a price sheet yet, I won't meet. I personally am of the opinion you really shouldn't request in-person meetings with more than 3 photographers. Narrow down your search first as much as you can through email and phone, then meet with your absolute favorites.
Although, as I bride I was a "the one" kind of girl and there was a top choice in my head for everything, so it's hard for me to see someone having FIVE photographers on their list that they like absolutely the same. But if that's the case, definitely meet with them all and don't feel bad :)
@Valhalla: Do you watch Party Down? I love that show <random comment, I know>
If you are comfortable will booking without meeting them, then that's fine. However, a photographer is one of the vendors who you work with the most closely on the wedding day, so we wanted to meet with folks to make sure that their personality would work with ours. We've met some really subdued (go-with the flow type) photographers, and some super hyper photographers. In the end, we went with someone in the middle. You should consider that when booking.
If traveling to meet them is not possible, a Skype convo can do the same thing!
I personally feel it's important to meet your photographer in person.
Even if you are planning miles and miles away eventually you have to go there before your wedding. Just set up a meet then.
We planned from 8hours away and set up vendor meetings to coincide with trips home to visit/wedding plan.
i have heard both sides, i hired my photog in person, but my friend on the boards, Miss Tattoo, hired the same photographer without meeting them. i say either is fine.
We hired our photog without meeting him. We were planning our wedding in Georgia 10 hours away from Virginia. We only went down to GA one time between the time we booked our photog and our wedding. We tried to get together with him but we just had no time to do it so it didnt work out. I ended up really enjoying working with our photographers, they were so nice, helpful, professional, etc. I did talk to the main photog a few times on the phone so I felt good about it.
@KarenArnold322012: ^_^ Like I said before, we have been in contact almost everyday. FI has their gamer tag for xbox live. IF they were closer, we could have met, but even if they met halfway, it would still be a 3 1/2 drive.
@USER876: ha ha ha. Nothing wrong with shooting zombies with your vendors. lol
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sorry, i kno this may be a silly question....but in the event that you find a photographer that lives say more than 2 hours away or even farther.....is it common to go meet them in person before making any type of decision? do they come to you? do you go to them??