LPGA STATE FARM CLASSIC + Friday

Krystal + SHG 09

LPGA State Farm Classic

Christina Kim Teeing off at #11

Mayor Davlin bidding on winner’s choice of pro during the Pro-Am pairings party!

Lucheon at the Women’s Pro-Am on Monday

Attentive children listening to the Pro’s during the jr. golf clinic

Silent Action at the Pro-Am party

Brian Boes announcing the pairings!

 

Brett and Dana!

Halley and Colleen

This was awesome!  One of the groomsmen is a D-1 bball player at Drake and he jumped over the groom’s head!

We are in Chicago!

 

We, meaning Jason, Rachel and I, are in Chicago shooting Collen and Halley’s wedding!  Last night we were treated to a private trolley tour of the city, and it was amazing!!  That was after yummy Giordano’s of course.  More pictures of that later!!

Devin Moore + Pleasant Plains

I have known Devin since he was born!!  I cannot believe he is a senior!!  His mom and my mom are very good friends!!  I decided to get a little creative!!

Trent and Renee + Courtney Style

Wedding Blog + Photographer

Obviously, since I am a photographer, picking the photographer for my wedding was one of the top three most important things!!  My father is a minister at South Side Christian Church so I already knew that that is where we would have our ceremony!  I spent WEEKS searching for the right photographer.  I decided right off the bat that I wasn’t going to worry about pricing, as it was the biggest part of my budget.  Personally, I based the rest of my budget off of what I found most photographers to be charging!!  I looked in Bloomington, Peoria, Champaign, Springfield, Decatur, St. Louis and in three other states!!  Of course, if it were financially possible, I would have hired my friends Andy and Christine, but they are out in Cape Cod and the travel cost would have been enormous.  I had the same problem with my friend Andrew! 

I found that the professionalism of a photographers website was the most important thing to me.  If I wasn’t instantly impressed, I left the site.  This has opened my eyes to maintaining my website better so that people are instantly attracted! 

The next thing I discovered is that I really wanted photographers to get back to me as soon as possible.  If they didn’t get back to me within the day, it was likely that I had already looked elsewhere!  I got an variety of responses.  One company called me immeadiately, instead of emailing me back.  I found that very helpful.  Others weren’t as gracious.  Two photographers started out by telling me they weren’t sure if I could afford their services!!  I found that APPALLING!  I would never judge or guess what a clients budget is, ever!  Unfortuantely, they were crossed off the list (even though they were my favorite two choices and I would have gladly paid up to $4500 for their services.)  I called the amazing Jessica Strickland and she returned my call and even helped me work out a package that specifically fit my needs!  I truly wish I could have hired her, but after reviewing my budget, I decided I could find someone to fit a budget of around $3600 or so, considering all I wanted was a DVD. 

Eventually, after scouring the area for the perfect fit, Joe and I settled on Stephen Seward out of St. Louis.  He was very quick at responding to me and was extremely upfront with his charges and was very willing to fit my package needs.  He emailed the contract the next morning and we booked him!!  I am so excited to work with him and have him there on our special day.  It is very important to me that I be able to completely enjoy my wedding day without worrying about what the photographer is capturing. 

Some advice when photographer shopping…

1. Make sure to include your date in your email or phone message.  Photographers book very far in advance and they often need to know if they are available for your date.

2. Book as early as possible.  Two reasons, one, you get this years pricing in most cases, and two, as I fully know, people book their photographers up to a year and a half in advance.  We already have 16 weddings for next year.  If you are planning a May, June, September or October wedding, book early.

3. Visit their blog if possible.  I found that most photographers updated their blog at least once a week with their newest work.

4.  Ask about their payment plan.  Most places I contacted had a 1/3 or half down deposit with flexible payments.  If you can divide your payments up into every couple of months, it won’t pinch your budget so badly! 

5.  Remember, YOU are doing them a favor by hiring THEM.  They are working for you.  I found that some photographers had limits and their own idea of how they did things and I felt as the client, my needs were more important.

Tomorrow I will blog about The Rail, where we are having our reception!!

Puerto Rico + Pictures!