First meeting with photog today! Let the games begin!

SweetCFly

So I did my first photographer "meet-n-greet" today, with Jenni from Forever-Yesterday.  LOVE HER.  I like don't even want to look anywhere else... but I know I have to haha.  She told me she wants us to looke at other people, as well.  She just really has a great perspective on photography, her work is wonderful, and her prices are even better!  Jenni really made me re-think about not seeing FI before the wedding... she told me she doesn't want to talk me into it either way, but she really gave me some examples... and I think I'm kinda sold on seeing him before the wedding now!  Weird, I never thought I'd say that.  Funny thing is, when I told FI her suggestion and how I felt, he said that he's actually rather see me before the wedding!  He said he doesn't want to have to wait for me to walk all the way down the aisle when he sees me for the first time- how flipping cute lol.  Anyway, still in the process of getting back to Jen Lowe, Brian Ray, and Matt Fuller with dates/times to meet.  All are top contenders on this board... unfortunately I'm not envisioning choosing a photog/telling people I like "no" being easy

taracy

Jenni is our photographer and we love her. Honestly, we had some vendors where we just met with one person, because we just knew. That said, we live two hours from Baltimore, so that played a part in our reasoning! Good luck with the rest of your meetings.

SweetCFly

Taracy- isn't your wedding @ Lirio?  Do you live in Bel Air/HarCo?  We live in Bel Air a few miles from there   I'm actually kind of dreading driving all the way to Annapolis for meet Brian Ray and to Gambrills to meet Jen Lowe... kinda far.  Matt Fuller said he'd meet us anywhere, even come to our house lol.  But yeah I absolutely loved Jenni.  I don't know, I could be wrong, but I would be very surprised if in the end I didn't end up with her.  I just kind of have a feeling.  What a sweetie.  And her extra photog charge is so inexpensive! 

HoosierTerp

Jenni is great   I just wanted to add that my favorite pictures were from "our first meeting" outside, alone before the ceremony.  He cried and that moment was so intimate.  When you walk down the aisle there are so many people, distractions, and it is from so far away.  Just my opinion. 

SweetCFly

Hoosier, the more I think about it... the more I really like the idea.  With having a later ceremony/reception due to a Friday night wedding's time constraints, it just makes sense so we can get all the pictures we want before the wedding without feeling rushed.  And after FI told me how he felt... I can totally see him crying when he sees me for the first time! (I kinda think that's why he wants to do it beforehand so he doesn't feel like a wuss crying in front of over 200 people haha!)  On our wedding day we'll have been together almost 8 years so I sort of wanted to be traditional and wait- what's a few more hours of waiting, right?  But I think this fits us more   I think I already have my mind made up that now I want us to see each other before.  I can't wait to see his expression!  I think we're both going to be ecstatic and cry when we see each other that first time! 

ajerome21

Jenni is awesome.  Her work is great and she has great rates! I love her boys! They are too cute.  I am actually not working with her.  We decided to go with someone else (nothing to do with her) but I will book her for my e-pics.  Def. look at other people. She was our first and when I left I said I don't need to meet anyone else.  I am glad I did.  I never met with Brian Ray - he wasn't available on our date.  Someone from his studio contacted us saying she was available but I didn't want to use her.

SweetCFly

AJerome if you don't mind me asking, who did you go with?

weezie825

My photographer was Jen Lowe. (She's AWESOME!) Anyway, when we were having our first meet and greet with her she agreed to meet us out by Arundel Mills. I am from Carroll County and had no idea about driving on the "DC Side" of the state. We ended up choosing the Panera Bread across from the Mall. We didn't meet with anyone else after her. I cancelled the other appointments. Then DH and I went and celebrated at DuClaw's.

kimbrout

I loved the reveal. It was my favorite part of the day. John got to see me for the first time, not in front of all our friends and family, but just the two of us (and Jen). He got to tell me how beautiful I looked and he got to kiss me. It was our only alone time all day. It also does a lot to squash the nerves!!!! Lol he still cried when I walked down the aisle. I can only speak from my experience with Jen and if you decide it's right for you to keep up your hunt I highly recommend you keep her on your list. She really bends over backwards for you and is so talented. Good luck with your decisions!

SweetCFly

I know, Weezie I love Jen Lowe's pics!  And yes, I was definitely going to see if she would meet with FI and I somewhere a little in between.  She is very talented, and I know everyone on here has been more than happy with her.  The only thing is that I really feel (after she e-mailed us her price listings) that she's going to be a little to expen$ive... mainly because we will definitely be having over 200 guests and will be required to have a second photog.  We were planning on having a second during wedding morning so there would be pro pics of the boys getting ready, but not for the ceremony/reception.  And so the fee automaitally jumps up $800 for us just because we're having over 200 and she'll need the extra photog there.  I'm kinda bummed because she was so sweet in her e-mail to me.  I'm debating on whether I should meet with her or not... I have a feeling I'm really going to love her, but we just don't have the $4000 for a photog, as we decided the reception venue was our "first choice" of where we really wanted to spend the bulk of our money...

ajerome21

i already sent it to you on the other blog u sent me. lol!

weezie825

Sweet- Everything is negotiable. Ask about wiggle room on the 200+ guest policy requirement. Plus, remeber that typically 10% of invited guests RSVP no. So if you are inviting 200, your final count should be more like 180, which would be under the "limit." To have a final count of 200, you'd probably be inviting close to 250.

mmattoon

I LOVE Jenni too. We met with Jen Lowe and Brian Ray too and a couple others as well. I loved both Jen and Brian as well but Jenni was the last person we met with and we just clicked really well with her and decided to use her. Mandi White is great too... she did b-pics for my bachelorette party! I would say that you should meet with Jen and Brian as you planned just to see who you click the best with, you know? You will be seeing them ALL DAY on your wedding so make sure you love him/her

taracy

We live in Fredericksburg, VA and are getting married at Lirio. I'm from HarCo, though. You might want to consider meeting multiple vendors in one spot. We met photogs at the barnes & noble in the power plant. You could see if a couple if them could meet you at the same spot, it worked well for us. We just spaced the appts. a couple hours apart.