Weddingbee

I have to say, that was the one spurge I wanted… and good thing it was the first thing I booked! My photographer’s prices went up recently to $5000 to start! We wouldn’t have been able to afford that. And for those of you in CA (not sure of other states), if you haven’t booked your photographer yet, wanted to let you know that photography is now a taxed service, so it adds up!

i feel like i should note, as one of the under $500 crowd, that I am having my wedding photography done by two professionals (one traditional style and one more photojournalistic) who are friends of my family. After the wedding, they will just hand me a CD with their digital files on it. and I’ll make my own prints from them.
I’ll be putting together my own “albums” (I’m thinking of doing a coffee table book using some online service or another)

what an awesome poll!!
over the years, i’ve learned a lot from bridal shows, vendor appointments, word of mouth, etc - both from my personal experience as well as that of other friends…and the main conclusion? NEGOTIATE!!! - esp. w/ photography!!
i know a local photography vendor who is quite popular and is currently gaining more widespread popularity beyond the korean/asian borders. However, I must note that ALL brides should negotiate as much as they can! I’ve seen a Korean bride walk away with the basic package at a MUCH LOWER price than a non-Korean or non-Asian bride - which is really really unfair to brides in general. Why the discrepancy in prices? - I think b/c some brides are wiling to pay $5k+ for photography and they bring that willingness over to these growing Asian photography studios who have been offering their services to the Asian community at $3k(i’m sure due to intense negotiations)..

so the bottom line? - PLease PLease NEGOTIATE!!
if you’re not happy with the price, say that you still think its too high and walk away. This particular studio is known to call people back. And/or check out other vendors and do some name/price-dropping.

and Graciette2 - there was a bride-to-be who placed a comment in the hive that said she was using Renaissance archival albums to make her own wedding albums. (do a google search on them) I think you decide on the layout yourself for the digital albums. But the quality seems to be amazing~

For graciette above,
There are several sites for printed albums, if you get the digital files and the rights, as I did (paid $600. mostly for time spent… felt overpriced then, though not by wedding standards).
MyPublisher.com: requires download of their software (which didn’t work on my machine). Simple but elegant layouts, and good quality from what I hear.
Shutterfly.com: allows download for ease of uploading images. Layouts range from simple and elegant to busy and trippy, but are good quality.
snapfish.com: a less expensive option for images.
I’ve heard of people using powerpoint to do their own layouts, then saving a group as an image and uploading that image. I don’t know how well that works. Kodak also has one through iphoto, I think…
More traditional albums you can buy through specialty stores and print out those pictures you want to put in them. But I did’t think that’s what you had in mind.

For graciette2, I love flush mount albums and if that’s the look you want for your wedding pictures, you can contact the companies that make them. One of my favorites is http://www.graphistudio.com. They can do the graphic design work based on your wedding pictures from a high res CD or negative.

For alisaandthor, I’m paying my photographer in cold cash ($4900) to avoid taxes. I can be morally defunct when it comes to saving money. My package includes 8 hours of coverage, 11×14 flushmount album by graphistudio, 3 hardcover parent flushmount albums, 32 mini flushmount albums, and of course, a copy of all the proofs.

Yes, photographers are negotiable. We knocked off $1000 off the package price by cutting down coverage time from 10 hours to 8 hours. And he’s still willing to go over his allotted time without charge. All I did was mention how many friends I have getting married and he was interested in booking my reception.

Thanks everybody for your help!