Corey and I decided that we wanted to allot a substantial amount of our budget (my mom and dad are generously paying for a vast majority of the wedding) toward the photographer. If nothing else from that day lasts, the photos will, thus the memories. Just to give you a general idea, our photography was about 20-25% of our overall budget. While every bride differs on what they place priority on, photography was absolutely at the VERY TOP of our list.
We explored and contacted several photographers, these were at the top of our list, in no particular order:
They have a very vintage-y, sunflare-y, whitewash-y GORGEOUS effect in their photography- they were ultimately already booked on our original wedding date, but we loved talking to them SO much. Very nice people. Check out this feature – Paul McDonald and Nikki Reed. Gorgeous, right?
This guy caught my eye YEARS ago when I saw this one photograph he shot for an acquaintance’s wedding. He is also an architect and definitely had a similar eye to Corey and I. He has a very simple, artistic, caught in the moment look to his photos. He is highly recommended as well and super super nice.
Located in Huntsville, and recommended by Glass Jar – we really liked Ashley and Stephanie a lot as well. I found their photography to be whimsical and vibrant. There was an undeniable energy and life to all of their work. Check out this wedding they shot.
The first time I came across Stephen DeVries’ work was when he shot a friend of mine’s wedding. It blew me away. I dismissed him immediately because I thought he was going to be way out of my price range. And then I came across this wedding and I loved it so much, I decided it was worth a shot asking him. He works a lot with true film and black and white, and has a very timeless, photo-editorial look. He was the only person that we actually met with and I really loved him and had a good gut feeling about him. His albums, prints, and studio were right up my alley. We signed a contract that day and I believe it was the best decision we could have made.
At the end of the day – go with your gut. There are so many amazing photographers with SO many different styles, but Corey and I went with someone we knew whose photos wouldn’t go out of style EVER. Stephen is young, but really experienced and reasonable and understood exactly what we wanted. I can’t WAIT to see how our photos turn out! Just 5.5 more days!!!!!