Weddingbee boards

Hey Bees,

I need some advice with photographers.  My FI and I are torn between 2 right now. Both are pricey, but there is a clear difference in price (and quality) between the two (a $1300 difference).

Photog 1 we get: 

10 hours of coverage with the photographer and an assistant

Online photo gallery

Leather bound album with 80 images

all final high res images on a disc

Engagement session

(less expensive overall)

Photog 2

9 hours of coverage with photog and assistant

online gallery

approx 700-1000 4x6 finished proofs

Leather bound album with 50 images

11x14 enlargement

online slideshow with favorite 150 images

Engagement session

(He also dropped the price $800, added the extra hour of coverage, the engagement session and a larger album)

Ok, it seems like the better deal is the first one, and I LIKE his pictures, in fact before I got engaged, I would drool over his images and anticipate the day when he would do our pictures.  We get engaged, everyone has their 2 cents, and my best friend (whose DH is a photog) recommends photog 2.  We met with both and we LOVE photog 2's pictures.  I can't find anything that compares.  The only thing I wish he would add is a disk with all our images on it. While I think #1 is the better deal, and I will be happy with our pictures, I wonder if I would be happier if we splurged and went with #2. Really SO TORN.

Obviously price is a factor, but it is not everything. Any suggestions from anyone that has been torn between 2 vendors before? How do you ultimately make a choice?

@pinkshoes:  I'm not sure yet.  I'm going to call to ask him about it tomorrow. Even so, if we have to add that on, it probably would make the price diff between the two about $2000. That's a HUGE difference.

@BayStateBride:  I think that would help us make a decision too, but at this point, there are virtually no weddings being booked on a Sunday in January, so we've had our pick of vendors - which we feel very fortunate - but it does make narrowing it down very difficult! 

@redhead46:  it's very rare that a photographer relinquishes copyright to a client, print releases are however common, as are image discs.  There aren't many left that don't at least offer it as an option.  

@LibraryBride2013:  As a photographer my biggest piece of advice to you is to base your decision on the photography, and not the stuff that comes with the package.  If you aren't in love with your photos it's not going to really matter how much stuff you got.  If the disc is what matters most to you then by all means voice that to the photographer that doesn't offer it.  They may be willing to trade that for one of the other products.  One thing I will mention is that nearly all of my clients I talk to after they have received their disc admit that they looked at all of the images once or twice and that was it.  Nearly everyone whose package didn't include an album comes back and buys one.  The album is really thing that people get excited about looking at over and over again.

I agree with continuumphotography.  I think the quality of the pictures is what matters most.  And while I also agree that most people probably want an album, you can easily have your album printed elsewhere, and at a later point in time.  Our photography package is for 7 hours, is costing us over 3k, and doesn't come with a SINGLE PRINT.  we are literally paying only for the picture quality.  Once the wedding is over, we can sit down and look at all our pictures, and pick which ones we have printed (and where), and decide on an album.  If you think there is a noticeable difference with the second photographer, and you can afford the difference, I would definitely say go with them.  I would take the further step of asking to trade some of the services in exchange for the disc.  The leatherbound album, the enlargement, and the slideshow all seem like extras to me.  But it all depends on what's most important to you.  Good luck!

@continuumphotography:  I agree, and I really do love the photographs of both, there is just a very CLEAR difference from one between the other. 

After further review of the contracts for both, we realized that Photog 2 does include a high res disk with 700-900 images.  However, I have talked to a few people who have used him and one person refered to him as terror on the day of her son's wedding.  That makes me nervous. very very nervous.  Now, I know everyone has off days, and maybe my friend's mom was difficult to shoot with.. who knows, but I think if I am spending $7000+ on a package, I don't want to worry that he will be terrorizing ANYONE on my wedding day.  So... with that said, and photog 1 emailed me today, and dropped the price another $400 (making it a $1700 difference between the two), AND my mom loves photog 1, better than photog 2,  we are looking like we are going to go with #1.  Nothing is certain yet, and if FI and I decide we really can not live without the photos of #2, we'll figure out how to make it work with our budget. 

If you want to compare the two, you can PM me for the websites, I don't feel comfortable posting it - since one doesn't really advertise his pricing.

I looked at and met with a lot of Philly photogs-if you pm the names I'll give you any notes I have!