Illinois-Chicago

BURBS PHOTOGRAPHY CHOICES!!!??? HELP!!

I am so confused with what to do??!!! I am interested in Janet Johnston who is a private photographer, or Essence which is a bigger company.  I also am meeting with Jolie Images next week, also another bigger company. Janet did a friend of mine's wedding last year and I loved the pics, shes a little pricer.  Don't know anyone who has used Essence, and they paired us up with Eric Lipe to do our wedding if we choose them.  Bigger company=less espensive. Dont want to make a wrong decision, feel like this is just as important and the venue site, maybe even more important!!! any suggestions!!??  Ceremony is in Bloomingdale, IL reception in Elk Grove Village, IL

Re: BURBS PHOTOGRAPHY CHOICES!!!??? HELP!!

  • chiboo9chiboo9 member
    First Anniversary First Comment
    edited December 2011

    We booked with Jolie Images. Their packages and prices are unbelievably affordable, and the quality you get is the same as other companies/photographers that charge double. Don't let the 'big company' aspect turn you away. They do have a ton of photographers, but the staff is super friendly and helpful. They're not so in-your-face and aggressive like other big companies, which I really liked.

    If she's still available, request for Shanie as your day-of photographer. She's super cool, and she also shoots all the engagement sessions for Jolie. So you'll have an advantage of meeting and working with her (if you plan on doing an engagement session) prior to the wedding day. For other photographers, I don't think you get to meet them until a week or so before your wedding day.

    Good luck! Photography is definitely a very important aspect of your wedding. For me, at least. So go with who you're comfortable with. :)

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  • edited December 2011
    I used Essence, went to the Orland Park office. Our photographer was Mike something.

    No complaints. You can like Essence Photo & Video on facebook, and then you can see all the albums of recent weddings. Mine hasn't been posted yet.
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  • edited December 2011
    Be careful with the "affordable" option. Two of my coworkers recommended Studio One in Naperville to me. Their prices were good and so we signed them. And we got what we paid for. The photos are fine but they aren't spectacular. There are very few that I really want to print out to be able to look at everyday. We got a bunch of group photos where someones eye was closed or someone was not looking at the camera. Not a lot of really awesome images like I see other couples have. So just be careful because you get what you pay for.
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  • kellycatalokellycatalo member
    First Comment
    edited December 2011
    I also went with Jolie Images. We took our engagement pictures already and I couldn't be happier. Plus, no matter what package you get, you get the same amount of time, etc. They are really friendly and their studio is REALLY cute, plus they seem to be really accomodating. They have a TON of photographers to choose from, so you can look through all their sample albums and pick the style you like.

    PLUS they sell you the copyrights so you can just have a disk and get them printed yourself, so you're saving a ton in the long run, because instead of paying $10 for a print (like my friend's wedding), you can just upload them to walgreens and get them printed like normal pictures.
    Happily married since 9/1/2012!
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  • edited December 2011
    We went with JolieImages also.  They were amazing. We had our engagment pictures done about a week ago. We have recieved our disk and the pictures are easy to upload to the computer.  We went with Ron as our photographer.  I am hoping to set up a meeting before the week of the wedding, but I am really not to concerned about it. 

    Shanie did a fabulous job for our engagment pictures.  I reccomend Jolie. 
  • rj1821rj1821 member
    First Comment
    edited December 2011
    Our photographers are a husband/wife team Miller and Miller Photography.  They are on the higher side as far as cost but they are so worth it!  They just did our engagement photos and we are bringing them with us to Mexico for our wedding.
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  • edited December 2011
    We went with Deonna Caruso for our pictures. We found her through friends of ours that actually just got married last night. Their engagement pictures came out really nicely and we took ours last weekend with Deonna. We're also having Deonna capture our wedding day. 

    You can see some of her work on her blog http://www.deonnacarusophotography.com/blog/ or her website http://www.deonnacarusophotography.com/index2.php?v=v1.

    Essentially we went with her because we really liked her style, she was extremely friendly and made us feel comfortable from the first meeting with her, and her prices were just in our budget. 

    Good luck with the photog search! I definitely know how stressful that can be.  
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  • BetsyGIles19BetsyGIles19 member
    First Comment
    edited December 2011
    You should check out DW Johnson.  They have an awesome artistic eye, their bread and butter is other work besides weddings.  I know someone people are like no don't go with someone like that but I went to high school with one of the photographers and she has done numerous friends of mine weddings.  Also another one of the photographers has done weddings of daughters' of ladies my mom works with, if that makes sense haha. 
    They are a bit pricey but I really had them scale back the package to full day and rights to finished images and it was a little less than $2,500.  I know that's a lot for not much package but in my opinion I'm not going to pay a couple hundred for a book we'll look at maybe once a year.  I'm planning on doing a nice cheap book through like snapfish or something.  Seriously check out their work it's beautiful and I think it's totally going to be worth it!
    http://www.facebook.com/pages/DwJohnson-Studio/107530442639150
  • edited December 2011
    We are using modern image photography out of downers grove. They recently opened a Orland park office. Everyone who works there is super friendly and always helpful. And they have great prices and package options. They also offer photo booth and videography. Www.modernimagestudios.com.
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  • divadancer11divadancer11 member
    5 Love Its First Anniversary First Comment
    edited December 2011
    One thing I will say about Jolie is that yes they have great prices however they are a photographer/videographer broker....meaning they call photo/video people out of a rolodex, none of the people are employees of Jolie.....that was not something I was happy about. If you have Eric you will be happy!!!!!! We didnt go with Essence as they were kinda rude and ignorant in the sense that they wouldnt throw in an engagement session as our wedding is on a Sat and they were not worried about not booking that date if we decided not to go with them. Essence is a company that I have always wanted!!!! But because of that we are not! We are going with an independent photo/video and paying a little less but getting so much more than what Essence could provide for us! It is a very important decision to make and take your time as you will have the photos forever!!!!
  • edited December 2011
    wow i didnt know that about Jolie, they were my favoring choice but i'm gonna have to keep looking
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  • edited December 2011
    with jolie, i got to pick my photographer.  go to www.jolieimages.com/photographers to see samples by initials.  mine is CG.
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  • edited December 2011
    with jolie, i got to pick my photographer.  go to www.jolieimages.com/photographers to see samples by initials.  mine is CG.
    Wedding Countdown Ticker
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