Wedding Blog
From the get go, we Pigsters both agreed that photography was of utmost importance to us. After scouring photo blogs (best photog list ever) and the Wedding Photo Journalist Association (WPJA), we became dedicated fans of two photographers: Ben Chrisman and Our Labor of Love (OLOL). We were disappointed when we learned that Jesse and Whitney from our OLOL were unavailable on our wedding date, but were elated to find Ben Chrisman! We LOVE the artistry of his photos and his ability to capture raw emotion. My favorite slide show of Ben’s is the wedding he shot in Greece—I am in total awe every time I watch it. He was our first vendor booked, and we cannot wait to work with him in paradise!
We’re definitely sacrificing other aspects of the wedding for Ben, mainly flowers. Who needs flowers when the ocean is your backdrop? 
We haven’t met him in person, but we cannot wait to spend time with him on our wedding day and during our day after shoot.
Here are some photos from the wedding in Greece, in addition to some of his other work. All photos © Ben Chrisman. Enjoy!
For the brides who splurged on photography, what aspect of your wedding did you
sacrifice in the name of photography?
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Share this post: Hive, Meet Our Splurge
Oh wow. Yes, Ben’s work is uh-may-ZING!
Our photog splurge wasn’t HUGE — decent talent at an affordable rate.
We also splurged on our photography and our location. I am so glad we chose our photographer because everytime I see a wedding they shot I love it! We chose to sacrifice on flowers and my dress which I got for $300 on sale! But I did splurge on an amazing pair of Manolo’s!
Wow, I’m super jealous!! I’ve been singing Ben’s praises ever since I stumbled across his blog many months ago. Sadly, he was out of our budget. Nice splurge!
I think you definitely made the right decision to splurge on photography and I can’t wait to see what he does for yours! We too splurged on photos and we’re sacrificing on the food for the reception; instead of having a caterer, we’re going to do it our selves.
I agree… I splurged on AnnieX photographie, but am sacrificing on flowers, decorating (we’ll be in the woods anyway!), and invitations. (It’ll still be a cool invitation, just no pocketfold or letterpress).
We’re INCREDIBLY lucky here, our photog is a friend who happens to be a professional editorial photographer. He’s doing this as our gift, which is AMAZING!!! His work is extraordinary and he’ll give us the photo-journalist style that we want.
Because this cost was eliminated, minus a mega big thank you gift, we’re able to elevate our food and drink options for our guests. Because next to great pictures, it was most important to us to have great food, wine and beer.
Good photography is sooooo important! This work is beautiful! Good for you for securing him!
eeek! i love the third one…so pretty! Can’t wait to see your wedding!
I’m going to def splurge on photography! Haven’t chosen one yet .. so cutting on flowers, cake… still working on the rest… =D
We’re also splurging on photographer. Our amazing photographer: ericlaurits.com or seekthejoy.com (his blog). We’re basically sacrificing bits and pieces of everything else to have him!
we are most def. splurging on photography… I we just moved cross county and I was not having much look finding anything I was impressed with locally (upstate ny), so we are flying in a photographer from Minnesota. Jennifer Cress is a photographer I worked with before in my MOH’s wedding last march, and I LOVED working with her, and her photos are fantastic. It is def. worth it!
I’m trying to cut corners EVERYWHERE else! not just becasue of our splurge, but because we are trying to “recession proof” the wedding…fortunetly, everything we’ve purchased/reserved so far is farely inexpensive. I def. cut back the budget on my dress, though. I started out with a 2K budget, and ended up spending $309. That sure helped!
Gorgeous pictures! I can see why you are so excited!
We definitely splurged on photography and spent some of our our own personal money outside of what was originally allotted for the wedding. We are planning on maybe not spending so much on meals and more simple flowers. I think its totally worth it though.
By the way I love WPJA too!
I am actually lucky to have an artistic and talented friend who will take our wedding pictures and am splurging on videography! Flowers and decor have been downgraded and lucky for us, the ocean will be our backdrop as well! Why would anyone want to obstruct that view!
GORG photos! I can see why you’re excited
We are also slurging on photography but managed to get a great photographer at a great price - we are VERY excited. I think the thing we are slurging on the most is our invitations - letter press hopefully
Those are beautiful photos. We are also splurging a little on photography. We were able to afford it because we asked a dear friend to be our Dj and he has decided to do it free of charge as our wedding gift.
We splurged on photography as well… so now I am DIY-ing our invites, iPoding our reception, no videographer, and hiring students instead of professionals for our ceremony music. So worth it though! Photographs are so important!
Your photographer’s work looks amazing!
wow — just stunning. now THAT is a wedding you just would love to be a guest at — how much fun did it look like everyone was having. so much love, so much blue….aaahhh! congrats on your pick. i’d say our photographer was a slurge for us. we ended up having a much smaller wedding (45 people including us) so that was one of the ways we made it happen. also we didn’t have to rent a venue, table settings etc as we picked a restaurant. that also helped us save $.
What gorgeous photographs!
Photography is our splurge, too. And when I say “splurge,” I mean, “an entire third of our budget.” It’s not so much that the photography is expensive as it is that our budget is so wee! 
You will never ever regret ditching flowers for photography. His work is absolutely amazing. I was set to splurge on photography before I found Kelli. If I had ended up going with my splurge I think I would have had to un-invite several guests.
Just kidding, I would never do that. Actually I think I would have had to add my summer job money to the pot to make up the difference!
We sacrificed almost EVERYTHING to have our photogs, John and Kim Sanderson…but they are going to be totally worth it!
I decided to forgo a videographer in exchange for a pair of amazing photogs.
I love love love Ben Chrisman’s photography. It’s a worthwhile splurge for sure. Whitney and Jesse did my friend L’s wedding photos (her splurge), and they were fab too.
we def splurged on photography. in order for that to happen, we sacrificed professional videography entirely. we fig’d that we’d only watch the video once or twice, but look at the photos all the time. we’re still having a family member take a video and a family friend who does video editing for a living though, so it’s not like there won’t be any video at all.
we def splurged on photographer and videographer. and why wouldn’t you do the same? hawaii is so beautiful.
Jesse from OLOL comes to the yoga studio I run. She’s amazingly sweet, and they’re so so talented!
absolutely gorgeous! I think photography will be our big splurge as well. After all, besides being married, the photos are the biggest memento you’ll have after the day is said and done.
We splurged on videography for the TTD at our honeymoon location! Sadly, we had to sacrifice the flowers and decor (which is ok since the venue’s view speaks for itself).
Definitely worth the splurge. Can’t wait to see your photos
We splurged on photography and therefore chose not to have a videographer. We got married in October and don’t regret our decision at all! We have one shaky, non-professional home video taken by a family member, and that is more than enough for us
ahh sometimes i think i should’ve spent more on photography, it’s so worth it.
I’m glad I’m in such good company when it comes to photography as a splurge!
we are splurging on photography and have tightened the strings on menu items, favors, and hotel.
absolutely - we spent 30% of our budget for our photog and to fly him in, but we’re thoroughly thrilled by his style.
we’re mainly cutting back on flowers & decor, DIYing invites/bouquet and not having a fancy limo.
it’s gonna be worth it!! when everything’s over, it’s the photos that are gonna retell the story of your beautiful day
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Mrs. Piglet, Virginia/Oahu
Age and Occupation: 28, Consultant
Fiance's Age and Occupation: 29, Entrepreneur/Fashion Apparel Wholesale Importer
Engagement Date: June 22, 2008
Wedding Date: August 2009
Venue: Ceremony at the Lanikuhonua Phase II private estate, reception at a historic hotel in Waikiki
About Me: I'm an East Coast gal with intense road rage and an addiction to romantic comedies, fast food, gadgets, Korean BBQ, and my wiener dog George aka Georgia May. I carry mustard packets in my purse and I love perusing the aisles at discount stores. A self proclaimed shopaholic, I impulsively buy electronics, software, and craft tools; none of which I know how to use. I'm excited to dust
these babies off and immerse myself in DIY projects galore in
preparation for our DW in paradise!
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