After a couple of phone calls or emails answering a couple of basic questions, we generally want to schedule a time to either meet in person, or if not possible (our destination couples can relate to this) we set up a video chat to have a “face to face” discussion about all things “wedding photography.”

We start with the location, the type of ceremony and reception you plan on having, and move onto the details of how many people you’ll have in your wedding party, and how many guests you expect. From there we really dig into how you envision things going the day of, all the while taking mental notes on how we can best serve you, and if we are a good fit for you both stylistically and financially. We have learned that it is always best for our clients to absolutely love not only our work, but also our personalities, as you will be spending more time with us during your day than with any other vendor you hire (and sometimes even your family). We want to understand your vision, and help you be confident that we can deliver, so trust is a huge factor in deciding on a wedding photographer.

We will also go over our packages, our beautiful custom wedding albums, your digital files, your rights with those files in regard to prints, and all of the other cool stuff we do for you.
As veterans of hundreds of weddings, we also help you to work out a rough timeline that can be a deciding factor in how to budget for your wedding photography. Many people think they need eight hours of wedding day coverage when they are having a small backyard wedding, and others think they only need two hours of wedding day coverage when they are having a catholic wedding ceremony and a massive reception for 500 guests across town. We can strike a balance for you that is based on our experience with different types and sizes of weddings, and create a game plan that allows you to make the most of our time with you on your wedding day.

THE BOOKING

So we got together and you’ve decided you want to have us as your wedding photographers, which is awesome. The next step is to have you take some time to look over, understand and then sign our wedding contract. The contract protects you and lays out expectations for both you and us, and makes things official so we can then move on to the creative aspects of your big day. At the time of signing, we require a retainer fee to hold your date.

Our contract is digital and done all online, so there is no need to fax or scan papers back and forth, freeing up time and making things quick and painless.

THE IN BETWEEN

In the months leading up to your wedding we have been researching your venue (if we’ve never worked there before), talking with you, your wedding planner and DJ working out the final timeline details and making sure we know what we need to do on our end to deliver amazing wedding images to you when it’s all said and done.
Generally you will hear from us a few times over several months, and then as the wedding day nears you will hear from us that week, and again the day before, and usually an hour or two before we arrive on site.

THE MORNING

So the big day is finally here. You’ve planned all you can plan, you’ve busted your butt getting every little detail just right, and you are waking up and probably having a mimosa (or ten) and preparing to start on your makeup and hair. If you’ve booked us for full day coverage, you can expect to see us right about the time the makeup artists and hair-stylist show up, and generally we will come in, introduce ourselves to you, your bridesmaids and close family that are there with you. We then head over and introduce ourselves to the groom, his groomsmen and whoever else is likely in his room drinking tequila and listening to loud music/watching sports on the flat screen (yes that is generally how it goes).

After a quick round of introductions (and shots), Jo generally heads back to the bridal suite and starts photographing the ‘getting ready’ process for the bride, and Jason hangs back with the guys and captures plenty candid images of their ‘getting ready’ time. Often times we will switch sides for a bit to get a different perspective on the pre-wedding rituals and switch back again.

THE REVEAL

Once everyone is dressed and looking fly, 99.9% of our clients opt to have a “first look/reveal” prior to their ceremony. We take the bride and groom (separately and often via golf cart wheelies) and we go to a location away from the hustle and bustle of the site preparations for a first look. We will put you both back to back (picture a gunfight at the OK Corral) and on the count of 1…2…3…you both turn and look at each other for the first time; but in this case without trying to remember not to trip over your dress as you walk down the isle, or with 200 sets of eyes staring at you, and you can really take it all in, let the emotions flow, do whatever feels right in that moment (which is often laughing through tears), and we stand well away and just capture it all on camera.

There are several other great reasons for doing a first look:

• Often the venue gives you a certain number of hours to hold your ceremony and reception, and being time-limited means you should maximize that time by doing a first look prior to your ceremony so you aren’t using up valuable reception time after.
• With sunset wedding ceremonies becoming the norm, there is often little light left for shooting photos, let alone the normal 90 minutes or so that we utilize to shoot your bride and groom portraits (those amazing magazine-style images you see in our gallery are done before the ceremony in almost every single instance). There is usually just enough time left after a sunset wedding ceremony for us to get your family formals done, and then it’s dark and freakin’ cold out!
• Considering it’s your wedding you would be surprised to learn that the bride and groom often get little time together on their wedding day. Having a couple of hours of alone time prior to the wedding not only gives time to get your bridal photos done, but gives you time to have a chat, share some alone time, and just soak each other in. BONUS: We can also get the bridal party photos done before the ceremony, leaving only the family formals for after the ceremony, which gets everyone to the reception quicker (and trust us, people are HUNGRY by this time, including the bride and groom). DOUBLE BONUS: Your cocktail reception just went from an hour down to 30 minutes, and you just saved money! *CHA-CHING!

THE DAY AFTER

Many of our clients want to do a trash the dress/wreck the dress session the day after the wedding. They are always a blast and you can see some amazing shots of those sessions in our gallery. We also have clients that choose to do the trash the dress session weeks later depending on their schedule. If you are leaving for your honeymoon, you can expect that within a few hours you’ll find that we have posted a couple of our absolute favorite images from your wedding on our Facebook page already (we get excited, we can’t help ourselves).

THE WEEKS AFTER

Since we’ve returned to our lair (some call it a home), we have been hard at work editing each and every single great photo from your wedding, and we are hard at work either designing a custom album for you, or updating our blog with our favs from your wedding. Within several days we will generally post a blog or Facebook status showing off several of our favorite photos. A few weeks later the images are usually edited and uploaded to your private client gallery (takes 3-4 weeks generally).

THE ALBUM

From there we consult with you on the layout of your custom album. We lay it all out by hand, designing each page in a way that tells the story of your wedding in a beautiful way, preserving it for a lifetime as an heirloom to hand down to your children, and their children’s children. The albums are hand made in America, hard bound with flat folding pages which display your wedding photos in brilliant, vivid detail. You have options of gorgeous leather, metallic, acrylic and even linen covers. The sky is the limit when it comes to the design; options to emboss, engrave, custom cover cutouts and much more are all there for your album!