OLW

eilis1228

@minskat30 I'll definitely try! I don't think we're going to start booking anything until the fall, but I'm trying to get a feel for who's out there and what they're advertising as their rates. I know it's worth the expense in the end, but holy crap!

@KeptinStitches You're giving me hope! I'm on Wedding Wire now and have found some affordable ones I like. I've also found that Wedding Wire has more pictures for these photographers than the photographers' websites, which is helpful. I'll have to do more research in the coming months though.

minskat30

@weewittlewizabeth - Most of the time (but not all) it can't hurt to ask.  Some people get offended when you negotiate but if you ask them their price, hear what that entails, let them get to know you a bit and vica versa and THEN tell them the your budget is $X (so long as it is not a low-ball) and wait for them to respond....sometimes they are willing to work with you.  One of our biggest expense (other than the venue/food) was our videographer actually.  I would have, in retrospect, been very, very disappointed not to get them (they were amazing) so just know what you want and prioritize.  I was shocked, by the way, that the videographer would work with our budget but you would be amazed at the connection you can form with a vendor if you grew up in the same area/went to the same school/know a direct referral.  Try to do some of that kind of research to build a common ground if you want to start a negotiation...just my two cents! Good luck!

eilis1228

@minskat30 Thank you! I'll definitely try that. I really appreciate the advice!

lmcooper86

@weewittlewizabeth - Yeah, that was my reaction too! Our photographer is about $5000 (GAH!)  after tax, but that does include our album and our engagement session. It's definitely pricey, but that's one area that my FI and I knew we would splurge on; photos are one of the very few material things you take away from a wedding and we agreed that getting someone we really loved was very important to us.

ETA: The number of vendors on Wedding Wire is the only thing I like about that site, so hopefully you can find someone great!

And regarding negotiating: we stalled a bit on actually signing the contract with our photographer and he threw in a $200 credit towards our album and 50% off parent albums. He wanted our business, and we're going to end up getting a bigger album as a result. A bit of negotiation can't hurt!

eilis1228

@lmcooper86 $5000?! Geez! FI has said over and over that if we splurge on anything, it should be the photography, but we were thought we were being extravagant by budgeting $3k. Apparently not! lol. He's currently saying we'll take any overages away from the honeymoon fund... but I have a while to convince him otherwise. I'm glad to hear that negotiating/not appearing too eager has worked for multiple people. I'll definitely keep that in mind.

Blue & White

@weewittlewizabeth I had a friend who is in photography that got offended I chose another friend photographer over her. Maaaaaybe it's cause you charged like 5000+ and my photog who did amazing was just starting her business and was less than 3000...obviously this was a special case but I'm amazed how many photographers I know. My ex married a photog, at least 3 from HS, a few from college... Pretty sure you're not near NC, but if you are, my photog was awesome

eilis1228

Blue & White said:

@weewittlewizabeth I had a friend who is in photography that got offended I chose another friend photographer over her. Maaaaaybe it's cause you charged like 5000+ and my photog who did amazing was just starting her business and was less than 3000...obviously this was a special case but I'm amazed how many photographers I know. My ex married a photog, at least 3 from HS, a few from college... Pretty sure you're not near NC, but if you are, my photog was awesome

LOL! I know what you mean about everyone and their mom being a photographer. Most of the photogs I know are either still students or work in a different field of photography altogether. My little sister is an aspiring photographer, and my mom told me today that my sister wants to do my e-session. I'm on the fence about it, but I have time to make these decisions. I'm in Texas, otherwise I would definitely hit you up for a vendor list! I still can't believe $3k is now considered "cheap/budget." Holy crap. 

lmcooper86

@weewittlewizabeth - Yeah, I know! I see the number and think "Am I seriously paying someone $5000 to take pictures of me?!"

We feel okay about splurging on photography because my attire costs will hopefully be very low (relatively speaking, just cleaning and minor alternations to my grandmother's dress, plus shoes and accessories) and we're doing a consumption bar instead of a flat fee per person (since at least half of FI's family does not drink at all)

eilis1228

@lmcooper86 That dress fits you like a glove! It's seriously beautiful. I doubt your alterations will cost you much, although I'm obviously no expert on cost of wedding lol. But yes, I think you guys will be fine with $5k for a photographer since your dress expenses are so low. FI wants to spend $20k in total, including rings, wedding, and honeymoon. Based on all the rates I've seen for various vendors, I'll be DIYing quite a bit... 

GoldenPenguin

minskat30 said:

@weewittlewizabeth - Most of the time (but not all) it can't hurt to ask.  Some people get offended when you negotiate but if you ask them their price, hear what that entails, let them get to know you a bit and vica versa and THEN tell them the your budget is $X (so long as it is not a low-ball) and wait for them to respond....sometimes they are willing to work with you.  One of our biggest expense (other than the venue/food) was our videographer actually.  I would have, in retrospect, been very, very disappointed not to get them (they were amazing) so just know what you want and prioritize.  I was shocked, by the way, that the videographer would work with our budget but you would be amazed at the connection you can form with a vendor if you grew up in the same area/went to the same school/know a direct referral.  Try to do some of that kind of research to build a common ground if you want to start a negotiation...just my two cents! Good luck!

I totally just did this with our photographer. He doesn't do set packages - you tell him what you want, and he comes up with a couple options. One of the options was close to budget, but the more expensive one had things that we really wanted. So I asked him "what if we take out x, x, and x, but keep the album?" and he came back with a revised package, which included some of the things I was willing to cut (like a guest book with our engagement pics - he threw that in as a "thanks for booking me" gift), and met our budget. At $3500, it's a little more than we originally wanted to spend, but the guy is AMAZING, and that price point includes the e-shoot, 10x10 album, and all of the high-res images, so I'm totally okay with it!

eilis1228

GoldenPenguin said:

minskat30 said:

@weewittlewizabeth - Most of the time (but not all) it can't hurt to ask.  Some people get offended when you negotiate but if you ask them their price, hear what that entails, let them get to know you a bit and vica versa and THEN tell them the your budget is $X (so long as it is not a low-ball) and wait for them to respond....sometimes they are willing to work with you.  One of our biggest expense (other than the venue/food) was our videographer actually.  I would have, in retrospect, been very, very disappointed not to get them (they were amazing) so just know what you want and prioritize.  I was shocked, by the way, that the videographer would work with our budget but you would be amazed at the connection you can form with a vendor if you grew up in the same area/went to the same school/know a direct referral.  Try to do some of that kind of research to build a common ground if you want to start a negotiation...just my two cents! Good luck!

I totally just did this with our photographer. He doesn't do set packages - you tell him what you want, and he comes up with a couple options. One of the options was close to budget, but the more expensive one had things that we really wanted. So I asked him "what if we take out x, x, and x, but keep the album?" and he came back with a revised package, which included some of the things I was willing to cut (like a guest book with our engagement pics - he threw that in as a "thanks for booking me" gift), and met our budget. At $3500, it's a little more than we originally wanted to spend, but the guy is AMAZING, and that price point includes the e-shoot, 10x10 album, and all of the high-res images, so I'm totally okay with it!

Awesome! I'm so glad I posted that open letter. You guys have some great advice and now I'm not as stressed about the budget. Thank you!