I'm depressed

marburs

So I get back from lunch and I got an email from that photographer I was really interested in... their prices have gone up $1,000 since 2009. I dont know what to do, I really loved their pictures. 

hey_its_jenn

I would ask her to work with you.  I think she would rather sign you at a cheaper price than loose an interested client altogether.  Or I would ask her to ask her if she would be able to hold the '09 prices.

McBridetobe

I hate when that happens!  Think you could negotiate at all?I almost died when our hall charged us the '08 prices accidentally on our final invoice....we booked in '06 and the increase was freaking unbelievable!  (They adjusted it, of course.)

frognjessi

I was just going to page you to ask you!  That sucks so bad.  I don't know what photographers go for actually... I booked Randi before I even got engaged!  lol I was so happy to let her know when I finally was engaged!  lol  Maybe they could put together a package that fits your budget?  I guess it is just going to come down to how important photography is to you... if its super important, can you cut back in other places of the wedding?  GL!

frognjessi

Yeah, what if you do what Jenn said... ask if you book in 09 if you can get the 09 prices?

McBridetobe

Oh, the rates should definitely be for the year you book, not the year of the event! 

marburs

I am actually using Andy hutelmyer per reccomenedations form you guys, and his prices went up a good amount too. I asked him if I could have 2009 prices since thats when I'm booking, he said no- and now I feel bad/weird for even asking.  I'm still going with him, cause his prices are still a little lower than most- but I dunno.  Weddings are so expensive.  I have a running list of 13 photographers from you girls on here that I trust the most (I wrote them down when you guys mention them) and I think I will look them all up and get prices for all and then decided what to do. you're right- I need to cut back somewhere else, I just dont know at this point where, I dont have much of an organized budget...

stargazer10

That sucks.  When I was calling a few different photographers, they wouldn't even give me an estimate because they didn't have the 2010 prices yet.  It was frustrating.

McBridetobe

WTH?  I have never heard that before!  I got the 2006 rate for all of the vendors that I booked early, and then the 2007 rate for the rest of them!  Anyone else?

kwynn

Sara, use the Knot's budgeter. It is pretty close to accurate as far as what each component should cost given your dollar amounts.Lastly, I have heard of people doing that (2009 prices for 2010 weddings). But I think that only works for the typical cost-of-living type increases and not if a vendor gets much more popular. It works best if you do not have an in-demand date. Check the contract, but most have a clause stating that the price may be subject to increase or is not locked until you are 60 days out, etc.What is your photography budget? If you lay it out here in black and white, I'm sure we can think of some that are within that budget.HTH!

marburs

what budget?  hmmm... dont know.  I'll have to go do that budgeter thing.  Only- I'm not even sure what my total budget is.  I know what my parents are giving, but I dont know what FI and I can afford... I guess I'll estimate- I'll be back!

KimWard

Aw, I'm sorry to hear that! There's got to be someone who will let you book now and lock in 2009 prices though- I did this with all of my vendors. To me, paying 2010 prices when booking now is unacceptable. GL, chin up- you will find a great photog in your budget, I'm sure.Oh, and about your budget/cutting back....was it you who was talking about having a photo booth? Sorry if I'm confusing you with another knottie, but if you were, that definitely something you could do without (just my 2 cents).

marburs

yeah, my mom wanted a photo booth- its already been cut. So, the budgeter says I have 1,200 for a photographer... but it gives me $1,000 for a videographer, and I think I may just pay a friend $100 or something to video the ceremony (is this a bad idea?).  12 hundred is not very much for pictures I'm finding out rainy day blues

dicer2

We gave a friend of my sister's $150 to video our wedding.  He captured all the main parts and even edited the video for us and it turned out amazing!  I definitely did not have a budget for a real videographer.

morainemom

KR - yes - we booked everything in the spring and summer of 2008 for my daughter's Oct. '09 wedding and locked into the current prices.I thought that the vendors had to give you the current prices if you commit and sign a contract and leave a deposit now.

LisaS1010

Sara - My photographer is $1300 including engagement pictures.  I don't get an album or anything but I get 10 hours of coverage, all of the printing rights, editing, etc. If you want the info let me know - he came recommended by another knottie jlryan.  Just thought I'd through that out there!  Also - I'm using Andy H as my DJ!  Booked him about a month ago.

marburs

Candice: ok, so- In all seriousness, did your sister's friend enjoy doing it?  Would he/she like to do it for my wedding? Would you mind asking for me?

EmilyBerdell

I agree with kwynn - it's not the norm to hold prices if the increase is due to popularity of the vendor, etc. They are in demand for a reason, so they can ask a premium price. I think the suggestions of saying, "here's what my budget is - is there anything you can do in this price range? " is a valid tactic. Are there any elements of your wedding you can DIY that you aren't planning on doing yet that will help keep costs down elsewhere so you can get the photos you love?My personal opinion is the photos and/or DVD are things that will be with you for the rest of your life and are totally worth the expense. Other things like centerpieces, favors, etc., will not be remembered beyond a few weeks at most, so that's a good place to be keeping costs low. Just my 2 cents.

AMK2009

I know my photographer's prices have gone up a ton since I booked her forever ago.  She did a great job at the wedding, but I'd never pay her now prices for photography.  I don't see how vendors can raise their prices so much from one year to the next.  It's kinda crazy.

marburs

oh!  could you send me the info?  I'll post my email address in a seperate post so I can delete it... (youll see why I need to do that...)

frognjessi

Sara, I still don't know my budget.  lol  FI and I decided we wanted to stay under a certain number and then put in order what was important to us.  It's still hard to have a budget set in stone and we're only 3.5 months out!  My parents already gave what they were contributing and his parents say they are but we don't know for sure how much and I refuse to let him ask!  haha.  So you're definitely not alone not having a budget!

marburs

this budgeter says I have $500 for invitations... and I plan on DIY those- so that'll save. Jessi- yeah, his mom said she would contribute a specific amount, but that amount keeps changing and I feel weird asking her exactly what it will be.  My parents were very specific about what they will contribute- I think I'll be like you tho, I'll never really know my budget until all the checks are written! Weddings are expensive.

hey_its_jenn

Angela, I met with Tami based on your recommendation and I thought her prices were SKY high.  She seemed nice enough and all, but she kept going on how she needed to raise her prices MORE to get in with the 'in crowd' of Pgh photogs.  I was just completely shocked about her arrogance, honestly.

McBridetobe

We had FIL's BF record the ceremony and a few parts of the reception for us...I don't regret it at all.  We've watched it exactly once. 

jennybean2010

FI and i are not going to hire a videographer, despite ppl telling us we will not regret having the video of the wedding so that we can see the parts we missed. we plan on purchasing a decent video camera (i'll prob spend my black friday running with the crowds for something) and just asking our BP to pass it around throughout the night, or whoever would like to take some time with it. we just can't justify spending the $$, esp when both of us hates hates hates seeing/hearing ourselves on tv. i don't even like recording voicemail greetings with people around, and NEVER let it play it back to me so i can hear how it/i sound! shudder. we're spending 2500 on our photog. we sat down with her and came up with a package that works for us. all digital, 8 hrs, no albums. it seems like not much, but we love her so much and loved the epic session with her that we had to find a way to have her. we're paying for the unlimited pics basically, rather than limiting it to 500.

marburs

I'm pretty good with photshop and wouldnt mind printing many of my own pictures- theres some good websites out there right?  Basically what I want in a photgrapher is the rights to all the pictures, I want 2 photographers- one for each of us when we are getting ready, and for them to stay for almost the whole time- I want some good shots of everyone having fun at the reception...

jennybean2010

my sister does photography and uses bayphoto.com to print her pictures and to create albums. photogs use some sort of site to create their albums, they don't do it themselves. i hear shutterfly makes awesome albums also.

AMK2009

Angela, I met with Tami based on your recommendation and I thought her prices were SKY high. She seemed nice enough and all, but she kept going on how she needed to raise her prices MORE to get in with the 'in crowd' of Pgh photogs. I was just completely shocked about her arrogance, honestly. I agree.  She's very nice, and she did a great job, but I looked at her prices on her website a couple months ago when I was looking at my wedding pics online and I was shocked by how much she raised them.  It's like she literally doubled her prices since I booked her.  She did tell me a while ago that she was raising her prices because she said that when her prices were so low, people didn't want to book her because people thought she wouldn't be that good because her prices weren't high enough... which I thought was kinda crazy, but whatever.  I'd never pay her now prices.  I think we paid $2100 for everything we got, and if I were to book the same thing today, I'm pretty sure it'd be well over $4000.  No wedding photographer is worth that, in my opinion.

AMK2009

My opinion on videography (not that anybody asked :P) is that it's totally worth it to fit into your budget.  I've watched my video at least 7 times since our wedding, and I love it every single time.  I'm so glad we got it.  We only paid $550 for our videographer, so it was 110% worth it.

colleenmclaughlin1

sorry to be late on this, but I'm using Time Stand Still Photography.  When I met with Scott, he was great.  It's an all digital package and he showed me samples of what his shots look like when you print them and blow them up from like shutterfly or something.  He's laid back (ie not pretentious) but still serious about his job.  Right now it's just him, but he said he may hire a second photographer soon.  It was fine for us because FI & I are getting ready at the same hotel, so he can bounce back and forth.http://www.timestandstillphoto.com

morainemom

Sara,A lot of the professional photographers use www.mpix.com for their prints and also albums.