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Archive for the ‘Weddings’ Category

River Crest Golf Club Wedding :: Samantha & Ron

Wednesday, May 12th, 2010

I remember when I first sat down to chat with Samantha and Ron, thinking to myself… she’s going to look absolutely amazing in her wedding dress. It’s a funny thing that I, and I think most photographers do. We look at a client, or potential client, and see them in our mind’s eye as they are going to look when we photograph them. They hadn’t booked me yet, at that point, but they were referred by Samantha’s friend Katelyn (who’s wedding we shot in June of 2009). I remember thinking “I REALLY want to shoot this wedding. This is going to be a really cool wedding, and I REALLY want it!” Fast forward months later. I was right, and still that picture in my mind’s eye paled in comparison.

RiverCrest Golf Club wedding, Samantha and Ron, putting on the dress RiverCrest Gold Club wedding, Ron and Samantha, preparation

The ceremony took place is a nice, brightly-lit church. It was actually very amusing watching these two up at the altar; there was much giggling, snickering, and quietly-said sideways commentary going on. And to tell you the truth, after shooting their engagement session, I expected no less. When we got to the church, I spied the stained glass above the doors, and I immediately knew how I wanted to shoot the grand exit! I always try and get this kind of image if it’s available (in other words if the stars align, and there is stained glass in the exit, and it’s a sunny day where the stained glass is lit by the sun shining through it, and that there is a grand exit…).

RiverCrest Gold Club wedding, Samantha and Ron, the ceremony begins

The reception was at RiverCrest Golf Club, which is a really cool place to have a party. When we got there, the ladies took a few minutes to make some dress adjustments… and off we went to have some fun with the new Mr. and Mrs.! There’s a great outdoor patio, which we used later in the evening, and some paved paths that lead you around the golf course. There are some nice views along those paths, but what I saw and really wanted to shoot was the big old oak tree that stands right by the club house. We took some shots in front of it during the cocktail hour photo session… but I think our best use of it came much later.

RiverCrest Gold Club wedding, Samantha and Ron, official club napkins

The actual ballroom at RiverCrest Golf Club is one of the nicer ones that I’ve had the pleasure of photographing. I’ve only shot there once so far, so I don’t know if this is their typical setup (although I think it is because it’s just logical that it would be done this way) but the guests are seated on either side of the dance floor. The bride and groom sit at the sweetheart table at the head of the dance floor, and behind them is a set of floor-to-ceiling windows. The place feels full and alive, but having all of your guests there still leaves the room feeling airy, and not claustrophobic at all. Also, thanks to Samantha and Ron, we were seated as guests at their reception… and I can report that the food tasted great!

RiverCrest Gold Club wedding, Samantha and Ron, first dance in the ballroom

Later in the evening, we got a chance to pull Samantha and Ron away for a bit of fun outside. Their videographer, and good friend of ours, Tom from TLJ Studios came along with us. We hit the patio for some evening shots at the fountain there, and then moved on to the same path we had walked down before. Now that the sun had set and it was getting dark rapidly, we got some really great night-time shots that we couldn’t have pulled off without Tom’s help! And I now officially want a video light for exactly this purpose. Ron ran inside for a few minutes, but we got to shoot Samantha by that old oak tree, which is up-lit at night! It was exactly the shots I was hoping to get! We met up with Ron again in the lobby for a couple more shots of the two of them together, and then back to the reception they went!

RiverCrest Gold Club wedding, Samantha and Ron, by the fountain on the patio

Tags: PA, Pennsylvania, Phoenixville, RiverCrest Golf Club, stained glass, wedding
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Philadelphia Wedding at The Curtis Center :: Cindy & Jesse

Saturday, April 10th, 2010

So even though it’s still early in the 2010 season, I’m pretty sure that at the end of the year, this is still going to be one of my favorite weddings of the season. Cindy and Jesse are a pretty amazing couple, who had an incredible location, and a great plan for the day! This wedding was also a little different for us because, despite having grown up around the corner from where I am currently (at least as far as Cindy is concerned), Cindy and Jesse call sunny California home. They both travel all the time, and I can honestly say that their schedule is crazier than mine (which says a lot)… and yet they not only dared to plan a wedding on the absolute opposite end of the country, but they pulled it off pretty spectacularly! Their ceremony and reception were held at The Atrium at The Curtis Center in Philadelphia, and we took advantage of being in the city to get some signature Philly shots!

Philadelphia Wedding, Cindy and Jesse, at first sight

There were a few reasons why Cindy and Jesse decided to see each other prior to the ceremony, not the least of which was to relieve the nerves. They felt that if they waited until they met at the end of the aisle, they would be far more nervous, and I imagine that they were exactly correct. The other reason is that they were looking to get photos at multiple locations around Center City, Philadelphia, while their ceremony was in the historic district. It’s not so long a trip when you have lots of time and you’re not worrying about traffic, but trying to do that between the ceremony and the reception (especially since they were at the same place) would not have been ideal. It would have eaten nearly their entire cocktail hour, and we would run the risk of being late for their reception. So to make the story short, we started early. Hours before the ceremony. A friend of the family drove us around town and we would hop out and shoot where we wanted. Since we started early, we had plenty of time to let them enjoy their first meeting dressed for their wedding without having to rush. And we got all of the formals done before the ceremony on the steps of The Curtis Center. What this meant was they had the entirety of their cocktail hour to relax and enjoy the company of their guests!

Philadelphia Wedding, Cindy and Jesse, romantic on the street

The Atrium at The Curtis Center is a really incredible room. (To be entirely fair, it’s not the easiest room in town to shoot in, but we’ve gotten by, and the feel of the place is worth every challenge it has thrown at us.) This time around was a little different than we have done in the past, since Cindy and Jesse had their ceremony in The Atrium itself. The room sets up amazingly well for a ceremony, where the columns and drapery provide an elegant side backdrop, and the water garden which serves as the background for the bride and groom is breathtaking in its own right. The decorated arbor on the stage, with lights and hanging candles, really set the couple apart from the darker rich hues of the water garden. Yes, I realize that these are kind of flowery descriptions, but… that’s truly how it is at the place! Cindy and Jesse have the pictures to prove it!

Philadelphia Wedding, Cindy and Jesse, Flowers in The Atrium at The Curtis Center

The catering and overall event execution at the Curtis is handled by Cescaphe. They do an outstanding job, and this time was no exception! These guys make it seem so smooth… At least from our perspective, the whole wedding went off without a single hiccup or rough spot. And they really put out an artful spread! While the couple and all of their guests were enjoying cocktail hour in the Curtis Center lobby (in front of the Dream Garden mosaic), the folks at Cescaphe transformed the Atrium into a reception site! All of the tables… the stage for the band… the sound system… all of the flatware and decorations… ALL OF IT! In one hour! Cindy and Jesse danced the night away, and everyone had a great time! They were treated to a slide show of old family photographs put together by their siblings (who made up their bridal party), got treated to some flambe artistry courtesy of the staff, and generally had a proper celebration of their wedding with friends and family that spanned the continent, and beyond. (You see… they both live in California, but Jesse is from Hawaii, and some of the family made the trip!)

Philadelphia Wedding, Cindy and Jesse, Curtis Center appetizers and reception candids

Tags: Broad St., Center City, City Hall, Curtis Center, dance, dancing, Dream Garden, Historic District, Love Park, Love Statue, PA, Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, reception, slide show, The Atrium, William Penn
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Here We Go Again! - 2010

Saturday, February 13th, 2010

It’s February in Philadelphia. There is what’s left of the close-to-three feet of snow that got dumped on us in the space of a week still on the ground. Tomorrow is Valentine’s Day… and Rob and I shot our first wedding of the season yesterday evening! It seems this year started early! After last year, I was looking forward to the downtime of the off-season to catch up on things, re-evaluate certain things, and just relax! I did get the chance to catch up, did a bunch of thinking and reworking… and even managed to get a bit of R&R in, though I could still probably use more sleep. But off-season is officially over and it’s time to get back into it!

So what does this year have in store for Something Blue? A bunch of new venues to work at, as well as returns to some of my favorites from years before. We’ll be at Normandy Farms in Blue Bell, PA three times this year, and we get back to The Atrium at the Curtis Center in Philadelphia in April. I’m looking forward to shooting in the city again! We also get to return to the Meredith Manor in May, which is a cool venue out in Pottstown, PA. We also get to do a bit of traveling! Assateague in September, and Pittsburgh for New Year’s Eve! They may not be tropical, but it’s the start of destination weddings for us!

I’ve started working much more extensively with GraphiStudio for albums late last year. Every book I’ve had come in from them has blown my mind! Their prints look incredible, and the books themselves are things of beauty! I just got a sample album printed by them in late last week and I absolutely love it! Miller’s will continue to be my go-to standard book, but GraphiStudio wedding books are now officially my premium albums of choice! More expensive, and they take longer to get in, but they are so worth it!

One of the other things in the works for this year is bridal shows. This is something that we haven’t done in the past, but I’m thinking it’s time to start. If you happen to be a bride (past or present) who has attended these kinds of events… I want to talk to YOU. Basically, what I want to know is… if you had to imagine the ideal booth/table setup for a photographer, what would it be like? Do you want to see lots of albums? Framed prints? A slide show going? I have some definite ideas of what I want to do, but additional input, especially from you who is on the other side of the table from us would be really helpful!

And last but not least… the packages have changed some. Again. That, though… merits its own post. Stay tuned!

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The Best DJ I’ve Worked With

Monday, August 10th, 2009

I’m not one to lavish praise on everyone I’ve worked with in the past. While I’m hard-pressed to give a negative review of a fellow vendor, especially to a client, rare is the day that I feel strongly enough to blog about someone who is not a photographer who’s work I admire. Today, though… is such a day. Or rather, Saturday was such a day, and two days later (it being Monday, now), I still feel just as strongly about this. And hence this post.

When you hire a DJ for your wedding, you are hiring one of the most important people that will take part in it, where your reception is concerned. A good DJ will know how to keep things moving when they need to move, and to keep things calm when they need to be calm. A good DJ will be respectful of your wishes, where the “do not play” list is concerned. A good DJ will be able to look at the crowd of guests, and be able to figure out what kind of music will get the party going and get people involved and out on the dance floor. It’s an art, just like photography is an art. As a photographer, the DJ is one of my biggest allies at the reception, because the reception runs according to their announcements. Aside from the wedding coordinator, if one is present, they are the ones that know what’s going to happen when, and a good one will let the other vendors know before things happen so that they are ready. I haven’t had a bad experience with a DJ, but I’ve had some lack-luster ones. Saturday, was possibly the best experience I’ve had.

Allison and Trever (who’s wedding will be the subject of a whole post of its own) had Joe Moser (DJ PER4RM) from DJ’s Available at their wedding this Saturday. This guy way top-notch! When we got into the reception site, just after finishing their Bride & Groom shots, we ran into him, and he quickly ran down the list of what was going to be happening, compared notes with us… and we quickly established a great chemistry. We were now part of the same team. This is huge! Because of this, I know the couple got better photos of their reception, because we weren’t guessing what was going to be happening and where we needed to be. WE KNEW! Most DJ’s will tell the photographer what’s coming next, but Joe went out of his way to make sure we were in the loop, and it was much appreciated. But that’s the logistical behind-the-scenes stuff that brides rarely think about. He’s there to play music… right? Read on.

Some of the complaints you hear floating around about DJ’s is that some of them are liberal with their own ideas about humor, and sometimes go over the top with it. Others might complain that they did not abide by the couple’s requests as far as what music to play and almost more importantly what NOT to play. I mean… if you don’t want the Chicken Dance… you expect not to hear the Chicken Dance. This was totally not a problem on Saturday! When he was talking, he was very professional, and totally not over-the-top. Allison and Trever asked for the usual 70’s disco-era stuff to be skipped entirely. I didn’t hear Brick House, Play That Funky Music, or any of the other stuff like it.

The dinner portion of the evening was fairly quiet, as dinner portions usually are. I had a bit of time to talk to Joe because nobody likes having their picture taken with a fork in their hand and a mouth full of salad. It was at that time that he mentioned that they had requested that none of the 70’s standards be played. He looked around the room, assessed the crowd, and said “I’m feeling 80’s. The way the room is split… I’m feeling 80’s.” So what was so amazing? When it came time to playing music for people to dance to, some DJ’s would have queued up song after song. It’s a valid approach. People expect to hear songs… and many DJ’s play them faithfully. But what did he do? He started mixing things together; more like something you’d expect from a DJ at a club… He took those 80’s songs that he figured (correctly) that people would really get into, and mixed them with dance stuff. You’ve heard The Percolator? Now throw Sweet Dreams by the Eurythmics on top of it… The crowd ate it up! Take a basic dancy kind of techno groove, and throw Don’t Stop Believin’ by Journey on top of it… and people hit the dance floor, and sing along! The guy was a font of energy, constantly mixing things in on the fly rather than just playing the same old songs. Joe was an artist of a high caliber, to say the least.

So. Bottom line. If you need a DJ, you should check him out. I know I certainly would be happy to work with him again.

Tags: dance, dancing, DJ, music, reception, wedding
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Townsend Room Wedding :: Katelyn & Mark

Thursday, June 11th, 2009

I pride myself on the fact that I have never had a bad wedding. But sometimes, things click so well that at the end of the night, you ignore the fact that you’ve been going at such a fast pace for hours on end and that you are physically exhausted, and you rush to download all of the images as soon as you get home because you simply can’t wait to see! That’s exactly the way it went down with Katelyn and Mark’s wedding. I knew that this was going to be a great wedding when I first met with these two… I confirmed it when I shot their engagement session last fall… But as prepared as I was, in the end I couldn’t help but look at the screen on the back of my camera and say “Wow…”

Rob and I started separately, as we often do; him shooting the guys getting ready, and me with Katelyn and the girls. Soon after I got there, Katelyn was presented with a yellow gift bag. If you’re a guy and you’re reading this… take notes! She pulls out a HAND-WRITTEN letter from Mark. She held up admirably, and very little makeup was harmed in the story that makes up this blog post. She read the letter, some silently, some aloud… and you could tell she was melting! She pulled out a snow globe with a bride and groom in it, and for something so simple, it meant the world, and will probably continue to mean the world forever. So if you’re a groom-to-be, do this! If you’re a bride-to-be, kindly direct you man here.

katelyn-mark-02 katelyn-mark-01

The ceremony took place at St. Cecilia’s Roman Catholic church, and after that, we headed over to the Ryers Museum for some shots of the bridal party, and Katelyn and Mark on their own. I’d give you a flowery description, but I think I’ll let the pictures say it for me. Suffice it to say that the both of them apparently love the camera, and the camera loves them back!

katelyn-mark-08 katelyn-mark-14 katelyn-mark-15 katelyn-mark-19

We headed over to the Townsend Room for the reception. This place was a bit of a challenge to find, because Garmin doesn’t quite know where it is. Rob and I were following the limo bus, which was apparently navigating the same way we were. It got us really close though, and we found the place really quickly after that. The staff was great, the food was excellent! (It was a bufet and so we got to eat like the guests and everything we had was dielicious. Thanks guys! We really do appreciate it!)

The new Mr & Mrs danced their first dance, danced with their parents… Toasts were given, food and drink aplenty… And then began the dancing! Katelyn had warned me that she would likely spend most of the night on the dancefloor. True to her word… The question of where’s the bride was an easy one to answer! Everyone had a great time; I know we certainly did. And Katelyn and Mark, if you guys are reading this… Congrats!

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William Penn Inn Wedding :: Stephanie & Sean

Sunday, May 24th, 2009

I’ve driven past the William Penn Inn countless times. There was a period of time when the only way that I could get my daughter to fall asleep was to put her in my car at night, and take her for a ride. This would happen almost every night, for a few months. We would take the same route every time, and so I’ve passed that front porch with all of the little lights, and the banners… and the sign as it’s lit up at night more than I ever imagined. Periodically, I would see the parking lot full, and all the lights on, and I had wondered what it would be like to shoot a wedding there. In my mind, I envisioned a warm comfortable place, not to small, but not enormous like some halls. From the driver’s seat of my car, it looked like it would be the perfect place for a mid-sized wedding. (So yeah… maybe I never fully take the wedding photographer hat off. I walk through a park and I see engagement session scenes. I drive around with a sleeping baby in my back seat at some ungodly hour of the night, and I see reception halls.) So now, I can happily tell you that I was not far off the mark!

Reflection of stained glass - St. Francis of Assisi

Stephanie and Sean got married at St. Francis of Assisi, in Norristown, PA. Their day had a bit of a rough start; the limo carrying Stephanie to the church broke down along the way. Luckily, her Dad was following the limo, and managed to get her to the church in time to catch her breath before walking down the aisle.

St. Francis of Assisi Wedding Processional

St. Francis of Assisi - Ceremony

Just Married

At the church doors

After the ceremony and grand exit, off we went to the William Penn Inn. The plan was that we would do all of the family formals there, as well as some of the couple shots. Due to time constraints, we were not planning on doing a lot of couple photos, but there was no way I was going to let them get away without having any done at all. Behind the Inn, out in the back of the parking lot, there is an iron-work gazebo which was meant for this sort of stuff. It has a bit of a manicured garden around it, but the only unfortunate part is the white stucco wall in the background. But even with that… we had a good time there for a few minutes. Since the day started off so high-stress, one of my goals for those few minutes was to make them as relaxed as possible. By the time we were done, they were posing like pros and having fun, not that Stephanie needed much coaching.

Arriving at the William Penn Inn

Outside the William Penn Inn

Gazebo behind the William Penn Inn

Stephanie and Sean at the gazebo

When we got inside, the mental picture that I had created for my self late at night as I drove past the place came to life. Immediately when you walk in, you find yourself in a very warm room, with doors leading into two ballrooms. Each of the ballroom has plenty of space for a medium-sized wedding. It’s well-decorated and cozy with a couple of soft chairs, warm white lights, and a table on which place cards are set out. The ballroom itself had a very pleasant off-white / white decor to it, with a grand chandelier in the center of the room. As cocktail hour is cleared away, the guest tables surround an expansive dance floor. The head table was backed by mirrors and plants decorated in the same fashion as the outside of the William Penn Inn; those distinctive little lights of which there seem to be millions and billions.

William Penn Inn Lobby

Head table at the William Penn Inn

Stephanie changed out of her ball gown into a much more manageable wedding dress, and the party was on! One of the things that they did a little bit differently from many of the other weddings that I’ve seen was that their dances with their parents were done at the same time. Stephanie danced with her Dad at the same time as Sean danced with his Mom. This had a few advantages that are worth noting. Firstly, from the practical aspect… it got that portion of the reception over quicker. If you’re coming up short on time at your reception, this may not be a bad thing to do. Secondly, since there were only two couples on the floor, it was no less special for either of them. Thirdly, it’s somehow easier to do something when you’re not the only one doing it. So ESPECIALLY if a parent is self-conscious about dancing (I’m not including the bride and groom here because they’ve already had to dance alone for their first dance…) it may be easier on them and thus a good way to go.

William Penn Inn ballroom

First dance at the William Penn Inn

The food looked great! The room sounded wonderful both at low volume during dinner hour, and once the volume was raised for dancing. A good time was had by all! Once dinner was over, the crowd came out onto the dance floor, and hardly stopped until the end. We certainly had a great time catching all of the action on the dance floor.

Reception :: dancing and people-watching

A tender moment

Just as we were about to leave, I remembered a particular scene that Stephanie had described to me. She had wanted a shot in a window… and just as we walked out, I saw exactly what she meant. The foyer of the banquet portion of the Inn has a giant window that, at night, glows beautifully! Sean was already outside, and I sent Rob in to get Stephanie while I started setting up for what was going to be the last picture of the night. It was late… the party was winding down… and we were supposed to have been out of there a half hour ago… but it was such a distinctive feature of the place, and I knew that Stephanie wanted it… so I just had to take it! I’m glad I did.

William Penn Inn - the window shot

Tags: Gwynedd, PA, Pennsylvania, William Penn Inn
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Curtis Center Wedding :: Rachel & Kevin

Tuesday, October 28th, 2008

So the day before was a beautiful autumn day. The day after had gorgeous weather. But Saturday, October 25th was cold and rainy. I think my heart sank when I looked out the window in the morning. I had been watching the weather all week long as I always do the week of a wedding, and I watched the forecast go from sunny and warm to cool, windy, and rainy. On top of that, the Philies were playing a world series game at home, so Philly was going to be a mad house! And… We had ambitious plans to shoot all over the city. I like these odds!

Rachel's shoes, and jewelry

Rachel's flower girl, and another view of bridal accessories

Rachel having her makeup done

I arrived at the small hotel located just at the corner of 2nd and Market, and the festivities began. It was fast and furious, with hair and makeup getting done and all of the girls getting ready! And then on to the trolley and to St. Peter & Paul. (That’s the big Basilica right near the Franklin. HUGE and beautiful church. You walk in and can’t help but be wowed by it!)

Getting Ready to Walk

St. Peter & Paul Basilica Wedding

And then our trek around the city began. Rob and I rode with Rachel and Kevin and the rest of the bridal party in the trolley, and the first stop was the Curtis Center. That’s where the reception would be in a few hours, but we were going to do some formal shots there first. We then hit the Philadelphia Art Museum for the bridal party shots, and then went off to Love Park and South Broad St. for some shots of Rachel and Kevin on their own. The wind was blowing hard and cold, and the rain was drizzling on and off, to the point that I wasn’t sure if the sky was just going to open up on us without a second’s notice. These two were real troopers! And I think that the shots we were able to get were worth it!

Philadelphia Wedding - Trolley, and Curtis Center

Philadelphia Wedding - Art Museum

Philadelphia Wedding - Love Park and Broad St.

So after our big adventure around town, we finally arrived at The Curtis Center for the reception. The place is absolutely stunning, and the folks at Cescaphé did an incredible job setting the place up. The place looked like the definition of high class… the food was amazing… I can’t say enough good things about it. It’s a truly incredible venue, and if you’re considering it, do it. Just do it. You won’t be disappointed!

Curtis Center Wedding - The Attrium

Curtis Center Wedding - Love Garden, and Hors d'œuvres

As if the long day of running all around town and being in the cold wind and rain didn’t happen at all, Rachel and Kevin proceeded to have a reception that none of their guests will soon forget. I know I won’t! These two were sheer fonts of energy, dancing and partying the whole evening. Everyone there had a blast! As soon as dinner was done, toasts were made, and the formal dances were through… the DJ turned the Party knob to 11 and the dance floor came alive. Oh, and I believe the Phillies won, which was announced rather loudly by Kevin from the DJ’s stage, which got a huge eruption of cheering from everyone there.

Congrats, guys! May you always have as much fun!

Tags: Art Museum, Basilica, Broad St., Cathedral, Center City, City Hall, Curtis Center, Love Park, Love Statue, PA, Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Saints Peter and Paul, St. Peter & Paul, William Penn
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Little Mill Country Club Wedding

Tuesday, July 1st, 2008

Sometimes people get married twice. More often than not though, it’s to different people! Kim and Alan decided to get marry each other again, after being married for eleven years. A “renewal of vows” is not a new idea; nor is it an idea that is going to go away. They are a way for a couple to restate their devotion to each other in the presence of family and friends, but there are also other reasons why a couple may wish to do such a thing. Some people get married when they are young, or at a time in their lives where their desire to be married greatly outshines their budget. They still embark on the journey of marital bliss… but maybe their wedding is not what they would have wanted had the budget allowed. Years down the road, they find themselves in a better financial position to have that wedding that they had wanted. And why not?

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Kim & Alan got married again at the First Baptist Church of Medford; the very same church that they were married in the first time around. A small Baptist church in a small town in Southern New Jersey. It was a very personal service, performed at a place that had deep meaning to the both of them. And then the fun began, and they started the party off right by serving cake first! It was an unusual arrangement, but it certainly worked. A reception followed at the Little Mill Creek Country Club, but there were quite a number of people that could not make it for dinner, so instead, they cut their cake before they left the church, with all of their guests in attendance. After a few formal family portraits, we were off, but while the guests got a bit of a break and some drinks and hors d’oeuvres at the cocktail hour, we stopped at a nearby park to take some pictures of just the two of them.

kim_alan_01

These two made it very easy on me. They were very comfortable in front of the camera, and with each other, as you would imagine they would be after being married for so many years… (How often do you get to say that about a couple who’s wedding you just photographed?) We romped through the park, through some woods, by a creek, a lake… and even a playground! We got to the reception, and a good time was had by all! The food was great, and it was a wonderful way to celebrate 11 years of marriage and many more to come. Thanks for letting me be a part of the celebration!

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Decisions, Decisions… And then New Packages Are?

Friday, January 18th, 2008

So I’m going to break my own pattern here, and not post an image as part of this entry. I couldn’t find one that fit the theme, so instead of tossing up some random shot, I decided to leave this one without eye candy. I promise I won’t make it a habit! I figured this one can stand on its own.

After a day or so of thinking about things, and a handful of conversation later, I have a solution to my question of how to restructure my packages. In fact, you may have already seen the fruit of my pacing around and scratching my chin. The short of it? If people want albums… then they should be in the packages. Even if they are just a starting point.

So here’s what I did; instead of actually trying to retrofit the old packages with new stuff, I decided to start with a clean slate. I thought about the weddings that I’ve shot over the last year and a half… and the shortest one came out to be roughly six hours. I figure that’s a good starting point. Real basic… six hours of shooting, and a smaller album. The six hours is enough to cover a smaller wedding if the reception is on the short side, or if the ceremony and the reception is happening at the same place. It doesn’t leave a lot of time for “getting ready” photos, but not everyone wants them, and besides… if there’s one thing that’s the same with every wedding, is that they are all different. Six hours is a great start, and should meet the basic needs of most weddings, and anything above and if it turns out that it’s too short… then more time can be added on. Since I only ever shoot one wedding a day, it’s never a big deal if I need to stay later. The album us nice, very high quality, but doesn’t have a huge number of pages, or any bells and whistles. A simple high-quality flush mount, with 12 thick pages bound in black leather. Simple and classy.

One of the things that is missing from the basic package is an engagement session. Engagement sessions are… well, let me put it this way. They’re important. Not life-or-death important by any means… but very very good to have. In fact, I believe that I should probably write an entire post on them. So, the standard package is an improvement on the great value of the basic one. Still six hours on the wedding day, but this one has a one hour long engagement session that will not only net some great images, but almost more importantly, will get you used to being photographed. Like I said, more on engagement sessions later. The other difference is that the album is bigger; not in page count, but in the size of each page. The basic album has pages that are ten-by-ten, but the standard has twelve-by-twelve pages. Ultimately, it may hold a few more pictures, but the real difference is in that the pictures them selves are bigger and bolder on the pages.

The premium package is where things really start to flesh out nicely. The wedding day coverage gets bumped up to eight hours, and the engagement session to two hours. Given that, it works very well for weddings where the ceremony is at one location, but the reception is elsewhere. The thing with such weddings is that often there is a gap of a half hour or more between the end of the ceremony, and the reception; this is time spent organizing everyone in the bridal party and getting everyone to the reception site… and other things of that nature. The more generous eight hour schedule leaves room for these things, and also enough time to take some of the “getting ready” shots.

It seems like everyone uses some sort of online way of keeping in touch with people. Facebook… myspace… blogs… Many of these let you upload a slide show of pictures or movies to share with friends and family. That’s what the Web slide show is all about. Your wedding photos, set to music, with tasteful transitions. In recent history, these slide shows were created on DVD, which is still a great way to do things, but… people spend more and more time on their computer, surfing the web. So why not let them see your photos right online? Why am I talking about these? Because one is included in the premium package as one of the two physical items that make it “premium”. The other is a beefier album, with sixteen pages. Where the step from basic to standard boosted the presentation of the images, the next step to premium boosts the number of pictures that come in the album.

So I was pretty happy with what I came up with, and I took my piece of paper that I was using as a scratch pad and started talking to everyone that was available to me to run the ideas past. What I had was solid… but something was missing. Something needed to crown it all. This is how I (with some help) came up with the ultimate. All of the packages have Miller’s flush mount panoramic albums. These albums have seamless two-page spreads, so a single picture can be stretched over two pages. The largest page that goes into these albums is twelve-by-twelve, so each spread is twenty-four inches wide. The maximum number of pages that will fit into these books is twenty. And that’s exactly what the ultimate album is; the biggest they offer. I also decided to include both the web slide show, and a slide show on a DVD, so you can watch it on the web, or in your living room. But the biggest difference between the ultimate and the rest is time. All of the other packages have a set limit on how long the shooting goes on the wedding day before additional time has to be billed. With the ultimate package, there is no limit! For the sake of naming a price, I chose ten hours, but if it takes longer, there are not additional costs. As long as the party’s alive, there will be pictures to remember it by.

More than ten hours? It happens. Believe me. My wife and I were guests at the wedding of friends last summer. (She was the matron of honor.) While your’s truly took the opportunity to sleep in, the girls started getting ready at ten in the morning. The ceremony started in the afternoon, and then there was a good hour and a half gap between the end of the ceremony and the start of cocktail hour which then melded in a leisurely pace into a reception that lasted well into the night. We left to go back to our hotel room a hair after eleven if memory serves me right. And there you have it. Thirteen hours. Mind you, this wasn’t the kind of party that petered off at the end. The dancing continued right up until they turned up the lights, and after the reception was done and everyone was back at the hotel, an impromptu after-party struck up in the hotel lobby. I think the hotel management never regretted putting that piano in the lobby as much as they did that night… then again, as long as we were by the piano, the hotel bar was packed. Maybe they didn’t make out so poorly in the end after all.

Anyway. So there it is. The problem of new packages… is solved. Now I’m happy.

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Old of 2007 and New for 2008

Tuesday, January 15th, 2008

The last year flew by, and the holidays were upon me long before I was ready for them. That’s not to say that I wasn’t ready for a break! (Believe me… I was ready for a bit of time off with family and friends.) It’s just that I wasn’t quite ready for 2007 to be over just yet, as I had planned to get a few more things done before I rang in the new year. I had been working on setting up some new relationships with vendors so that I can start offering their products, and also taking a bit of a step sideways into doing some non-wedding photography work, which was an incredible experience, and taught me a few things that I will definitely be applying in future wedding work. And once the holidays got here, I had to do what I promised myself I would do at the end of the year; archive 2007’s photos to make room for this year! Naturally… in the process of archiving, I had a chance to go through the 2007 pictures, and do some thinking and planning for the future.

amy_roses

This image jumped out at me as I was going through the pictures from Amy & Steve’s wedding at the Crossed Keys Inn. I remember the day, and I remember taking that shot. I remember thinking how cool it was that the sun was creating highlights on the bouquet of roses, and also shining through the petals in the back of the bouquet causing them to glow . And there it is!

One of the things that I have been thinking about, starting over the holidays, and the couple of weeks since then, is that the packages I offer need to be re-evaluated and redone. The current packages are pretty heavy in loose prints. There was a reason for this when I came up with them, but the more I think about it, the more it doesn’t make sense in practice. Most couples don’t want a whole big set of loose prints. Parents and guests may want a loose print or two, and the couple may want a few enlargements… but the main output that people want is albums, and in some cases slide shows. So I am at a crossroads here; I can offer packages with albums already included… or I can offer packages that just include shooting time, and leave the final output to be added on after the fact. And there are pros and cons to both approaches. Bear with me hear as I think aloud for a bit. (I’ve found that this blog is a great way for me to organize my ideas and see things a little bit clearer, as much as it lets you look behind the scenes of what goes into that bottom line price.)

On the one hand, since albums are items that most couples want, it would make a whole lot of sense to include albums in the packages that I offer, and let people add prints to the order if they want them. It looks great on paper… but there is a flaw here that is not readily apparent to most folks that have not ordered an album before. There are many album manufacturers, and each manufacturer sells several styles of albums, and each style has several options that can be used to customize the final product that the couple receives. Sounds great, right? Which album would you want to see in the package? In 2007, I had a great relationship set up with Miller’s Lab. When someone orders prints from me, this is where they come from. Miller’s is an outstanding professional lab, with incredible quality, and an insanely fast turnaround time. I couldn’t be happier with them! They also offer albums in several styles and price ranges. Some of these albums are made specifically for Miller’s, by Miller’s… and some are albums that they re-sell with the prints that they make. (In other words, I send them print-ready images, they print them, mount them into the album at their facility, and send me the finished album.) To give my clients more to choose from for their albums, I’ve also set up relationships with two other companies; Renaissance Albums and Zookbinders. Renaissance creates beautiful albums, and there is no one that I know that can tell you otherwise. Everyone I have spoken to that has dealt with them, or owns one of their albums, has raved about the quality and craftsmanship of these books. Same with Zookbinders. I have more personal experience with their books, since my own wedding album is a Zookbinders album. Each of these companies has different cover materials, different styles of albums… from the traditional album that contains essentially matted prints, to flushmount albums that offer two-page panoramas and an infinite number of design possibilities, and everything in between. Each album can have different numbers of pages… I think you see where I’m going with this. Which one do I include in the packages?

On the other hand, since albums have so many variables that can change their price drastically, I could offer up packages that contain only the time spent shooting. This sounds great! If albums are such a huge pricing variable, eliminate them, and just stick to what is constant! Ah… that would make it so easy. But then, I put myself in the shoes of my client. A couple is about to be married, they are planning their wedding, and trying to get all of the pieces to fall into place. As a photographer, I know what is involved on my end, how much time I will need to spend doing that work, and how much all of that is worth. But as a human being that also got married, I happen to ALSO know that budgets are a very real thing when you are planning a wedding. We were lucky. We had a lot of help. In fact, it was more than just a lot of help. But my best friend is in the final stages of planning his wedding, and he is footing the bill himself, so I don’t need to look far for examples. What does this have to do with anything? It’s simple. A couple looks at my packages, and says “Hey! This is well within our budget! Great!” but what they don’t see in the list of things is any sort of output. There are no prints… there are no albums… So they get in touch with me, and we sit down to talk. Then I pull out the list of album options and prices. Suddenly, the cost of the wedding package has gone up. WAY up. Albums are expensive. To put things in perspective; the lowest cost for an album is some $300. This makes things look like it is a hidden fee. They didn’t know how much it was going to be until they got in touch with me. That situation is not something that I relish. When I am a customer, I do not like hidden fees. I do not like walking in thinking that something was going to be one price, and then finding out that on top of what I thought I would be paying, there are a bunch of add-on costs that I pretty much HAVE to pay to get something of value to me. It’s not the way I would prefer to do business. In some cases, the addition of these costs of the output to the package price is not an issue, but in some cases… it is. I would have rather them seen the price from the outset, know that when all was said and done, it was not going to be in their budget, and moved on, than for them to get their hopes up and set themselves up for disappointment. Maybe I’m a rotten businessman. I don’t know.

So. Bottom line. The packages are going to get redone very soon. I’m just still debating what I am going to redo them TO. I think I am leaning more towards the first option… but then, I have some ideas about making the second option work as well by making notes of the starting prices of output and clearly pointing out that the packages do NOT include output. Decisions decisions.