Thursday 19 January 2012

The Bigger Picture

Or pictures. Can I just let you know... We have a possible photographer! We are pencilled into their diary (is pencilled even a word?). Now I shall share with you the details because some of you may need to know in the future how much your photography is going to cost. Originally we decided we didn't want an official photographer or rather I said someone on my side of the family could do the photography but when asked they were a little unsure of having such a big responsibility in case they did something wrong. Then the FMIL said it'd be best to not ask someone who was actually coming to the wedding because it'd be nicer for them to just focus on enjoying the big day with Adam and I. The more I thought about it the more I realised she was definitely right.

I went scouring the web of the wide world and found a couple places that I liked, a few I loved and one that was just not my taste at all.

Adam trusts my decision on this one so I hope that he really likes the type of photography I have gone for. I wanted something that looked natural as well as the official and usual wedding group photos I wanted someone who would creep into the back of the room and sneak a peek at the bridesmaids; someone who wasn't afraid to kneel down on the floor for the right picture of the detail of my dress; someone who took the shots that would usually be missed by an official photographer. I found the perfect person, but more on that later.


The one problem we have initially had with trying to find ourselves a photographer is that because the original budget didn't have one in it we weren't sure of the barriers on which we were going to spend on said photographer. I knew obviously straight away that anything over £1000 was ridiculously out of the question and yes believe me some photographers do go that high and higher. Someone quoted me £800 and even though I loved the wedding shots they did they just weren't in the style that I wanted. So I dismissed that one.


When looking at photographers I found their prices ranged roughly between £350 and £1,500. All photographers also had different packages of what they would supply on the day. None of them had a custom package which may have been quite nice to have had a bit of a shuffle around with. They all included ceremony pictures, but we're not having any photography taken in the chapel due to it being so sacred. A lot of them supplied CD's and a lot of them didn't supply photo albums with in the price (some of them it was an added extra cost of £250!).

Because I had scoured the web of the wide world for wedding photographers the good old stalkers and cookie browser history pinchers had caught up with me on my Facebook. The right hand side of my screen was inundated with advertisements for different photographers so I tried them all, click click click.

First one: PHOTOGRAPHY FROM £375

(Not bad, let's have a look. Oh, the £375 is for portraits. The wedding photography is actually £750 and that's just the first package, which isn't even that good... Rubbish)

Stupid Facebook and misleading advertisements.

Second one: ONE OF YOUR FRIENDS HAS LIKED THIS PAGE

(Well this one might be good. Load load load... stupid laptop being slow, load load load. These are okay. These are good. £450 Hmm let's email for a quote. Received a reply next day, "COME SEE US CHECK PRICES GIVE US CALL"... What are you like a scam or something? Can't you speak proper english? Yay? Next.)

Third one: WEDDING PHOTOGRAPHY RUTH MITCHELL

(This might look okay. Clickety click click. Hmmm, HAHA. Awww. Hmmmm. £575. Not bad, let's contact. They're in Thirsk, do weddings in Durham, I can say I am moving to Newcastle... Kind of near Durham.)


Ruth Mitchell rang me today. Her price for us was £595. It includes "Coverage from getting ready to sitting down for meal, with posed cutting of the cake, and 150 copyright images." I know 150 doesn't seem like a lot but it would definitely fill a wedding album. I will need to have a few more calls with Ruth just to see what it is we can do with the images but so far so good. She is friendly polite and understood that photography cannot be taken in the chapel and some of her work really captures the life and love that is shared and shown at a wedding.

 It is the start of the rest of your life together and you want to make it shine!


Ruth Mitchell Wedding Photography - Click here for her Facebook Page

Ruth Mitchell - WeddingsAlive (Her website)

Let me know what you think.

Just a little add note: When booking a photographer make sure to ask whether they include travel costs in their package prices or whether it is added on top!

1 comment:

  1. Hi Grace. Not sure if you know her as she's from Leeds 1, but Becky Northcott is an amazing photographer, and she works out your package etc with you, doesn't just quote figures etc?

    She's also LDS, so travels to take the temple pictures and such, so you have a full day's worth of prints, then she edits etc.

    This is her website anyway :)
    http://www.rebeccanorthcottphotography.com/?page_id=72

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