FAQs for Weddings
What are your packages?
Please view our main website under Information-Prices. We are not one of the photographers that make you contact us before we tell you our prices.
How early in the wedding planning process should I book?
It really just depends on how popular your wedding date is. The sooner you can book the better off you will be (especially if you LOVE our work). Some dates book as far as 12 to 18 months in advance.
How do I determine my wedding photography budget?
Figure out what your overall budget is for the wedding. The average percent is around 15% of your total wedding budget. It is important to consider how important the photography is to you. The more important the more of your budget you should spend. Just remember that photos are what remain after the day is over and captures those memories.
How far will you photographer travel for our wedding?
We will travel wherever needed. 50 mile radius (from McKinney Texas) in included in our wedding packages. Anything outside of that is additional. We also do destination weddings.
Do you offer discounts for certain weddings or events?
Since there are only limited weekends in a year, and we get many requests for certain dates we limit the time that we offer discounts. I offer a 20% discount to encourage clients to book weekday weddings.
Weekday weddings- Monday through Thursday
I do not offer discounts for small weddings or for service personnel unless you are booking during times listed above.
If I hire the studio, who actually shows up to photograph the day of wedding?
We have 3 main photographers and 4 assistants. We all have similar photography style but we all have different personalities. We try to match each wedding with the appropriate photographer that will best fit everyone’s needs. We are all rock-stars when it comes to wedding photography.
If your wedding falls on a date that happens to not be very busy you may even get 2 of our main photographers.
Can we upgrade our package after we book?
Yes, you may upgrade but not downgrade. Upgrade is allowed as long as it does not interfere with another obligation.
Someone I know has offered to do our wedding photography for $X amount, do you price match?
We do not price match as for every photographer has different level of experience and knowledge. Some photographers offering it at a lower price can be just starting out or do it on the side. They also could be cutting costs on things such as insurance or backup gear. Simply put- we do not negotiate our prices.
Why will you copyright the pictures taken at our wedding?
The minute we click the shutter we own the copyright. Copyright is often confused with print release. We do offer a print release but we own the copyright. We allow you to make prints from a disc of your images for personal use. We do not allow you to alter, publish (not even on Facebook or MySpace), or sell the images without our consent. We offer consent (in writing only) with the understanding that we receive full credit for the images (our name is displayed as the creator/copyrighter) and we do not allow manipulation of any kind. Our reasoning is because if you alter the image in some way that is inconsistent with our style, and then credit us, it misrepresents our art.
What kind of portrait sessions do you offer for my wedding?
- Boudoir- the bride takes these prior to the wedding and gives them as a gift on the wedding day. These pictures are tactful and are a great gift that groom’s love receiving.
- Engagement- The bride and groom before the wedding in casual clothes and setting. These can be used for display at the wedding.
- Bridal- These are of bride in her dress before the wedding. These are also used for display at the wedding.
- Trash the Dress- This is done after the wedding. The bride (and groom if wanted) takes pictures in the dress (tux/suit) without worry of ruining it. This does not mean you actually have to ruin the dress though. Many times the dress can be cleaned back to the normal state.
Should we do engagement photos?
I HIGHLY suggest this. This is the best way to get to know the people you will be working with on your wedding day. You might even do this before you book your wedding to see if there is compatibility with the style you are wanting. To make sure PERSONALITIES match.
How far in advance do we have to do our engagement photos in order to have a framed portrait displayed at our wedding?
I suggest for my clients a minimum of a month in advance. You want to consider the time of year that your wedding is as well. If it is in August, it might be beneficial to do engagements in May or June before the weather gets REALLY hot.
What kind of equipment do you use?
Before I go speaking terms that are over your head I will put things simple. We shoot with digital professional SLR cameras. We have a number of different lenses to get different effects and wide range of zoom. We also have backup gear (just in case).
What is your style of photography and what does that mean?
We are photojournalistic. This means that we shoot your wedding with very little posing. We capture the day as it happens. We do the traditional family pictures though like for it to be limited. We may make suggestions (like where to stand during cake cutting) and have been known to take the bride and the groom away during the down time at the reception for some 1 on 1 pictures.
What is the advantage to having two wedding photographers shooting simultaneously? Do you offer a package with just 1 photographer at a lower cost?
There are so many benefits to having 2 photographers on your wedding day. You get different angles in your pictures. There is so much going on at wedding at time that it is hard for 1 photographer to be capturing everything going on. Should camera equipment decide to fail at an important moment, there is someone available to capture the moment. Holding a camera for hours straight can be very difficult; having 2 photographers allows 1 to rest for a short time during down times. We will NOT shoot a wedding with just one photographer.
Will you hold our date or call us if someone else requests that date?
Without a contract AND a retainer (50% of the wedding package amount), your date is considered available to all other inquiries. We have had wars to the point that we sent a contract to someone and another couple calls up wanting the same date and willing to pay and sign a contract instantly. Once we have a contract and retainer we consider your wedding booked.
What do you require to book our wedding day?
To book us it is a 50% deposit as well as a contract we need you to fill out. If you are interested in booking let us know and we can send you a contract to look over. We need to know the date to make sure we are available. We need to know the location of the wedding in case we need to charge for travel. Also, we need to know how long you are wanting us for.
What happens with if we cancel our wedding?
I will need the cancellation in writing. As stated in our contract, all payments are non refundable. We reserve your date and time turning away all other potential clients.
How many images will we receive on the disc?
It depends on what all is going on during the length of the wedding. A good AVERAGE is 80 pictures per hour we are there. So for a 4 hour wedding you can expect to receive 320 pictures on your disc. This doesn’t mean from every hour you will get 80 images this is because some hours there is more going on than other hours.
Are the images edited?
We do basic editing to all pictures on the disc. On top of that you will receive many images that have special effects done to them. Each picture that has special effects is picked by us and enhanced. It is hard to give a number of enhanced images because it is based on time spent. If you get the disc and wish for additional pictures to be edited at that time we will do so for an extra charge.
Our location has a lot of restrictions, can you work with them?
We have locations that place restrictions on us due to the religious ceremony of a wedding. Though the bride and groom cannot expect the same results as if we had freedom to do what we wanted. We have worked in this situation many times and do what we can with what we are given.
How quickly will we receive our disc with images?
It really depends on how much we have going on around the time frame of your wedding. Most weddings our turnaround time is 2 weeks.
I have a list of pictures I want taken at the wedding, can I give the list to you?
We are photojournalistic meaning we capture the day as we see it. It is helpful if we have a list of formal group shots you are wanting in order from biggest to smallest. Remember, you are hiring us for our art and restricting us by making a huge list of photos restricts our creativity. Therefore, we limit the list to formal group shots and unique photos you may want.
What happens if you can’t make it to the wedding?
There are times in life where we do not have control of what happens. If something comes up and we are unable to attend (it would have to be a major life emergency), we will do everything in our power to find an equal replacement. If we are unable to find a replacement, we are liable to refund the agreed upon amount paid to us as stated in the contract.
There is a gap between our wedding ceremony and our reception. Do we have to pay for that time?
Yes, our time runs consecutively. I suggest if this is the case, that we do formal group shots during this time at a fun location. What better way to use this time than to create wonderful images you can cherish forever.
How much time should we expect our wedding photographer to need for formal photographs?
This can range a great deal depending on how many people and pictures you are wanting. I HIGHLY suggest reading my page on the bride and groom seeing each other before the wedding. There are many benefits to this including getting formals done ahead of time so that it limits the time between the ceremony and reception.
Do I need to provide a meal for you at the reception?
It is not required but appreciated. This is a great energy boost and great time to have a short rest. If the meal is served at the same time as yours, then we are unlikely to miss any important events taking place. Plus people do not want pictures taken of them stuffing their face.
Can we expect pictures of our guests?
We try to capture everything so that when looking back on the pictures you remember things, such as who was there. We cannot guarantee that we will get pictures of every guest but we do try to capture guests when they are going through food line, sitting at their tables, dancing and so forth.
Can you make me look thinner, prettier? How about smarter?
As a photographer we know tricks to make our clients appear a bit thinner than they actually are. Also with the aid of software we can enhance the images. With that being said, we are not plastic surgeons. We edit some of the images on the disc but if there is a particular image that you want more editing done to, we will do it for an extra charge. As for the smarter, the ball is in your court!
Will you allow our friends to take pictures at the wedding?
Yes, we encourage and let others take pictures but if they get in our way we will kindly ask them to move or stop. If they continue to hinder us we will kindly bring it to your attention so that we can stop babysitting and do our job the way we need to.
If our reception runs late, will you stay to cover it? How much more will this cost?
If we have no other obligations we will stay. The rate charged will be whatever the going rate for weddings is at that time (even if it is more than what you originally booked us for).
What is the online proofing?
This is a gallery where your images are displayed so that guests, friends, and family can view and order prints of your images. This is a huge benefit to you so that you do not have to deal with getting prints made for everyone else. Plus, who doesn’t want to share their wedding pictures?
Can I post my wedding photographs on my own website/blog/Facebook, etc?
We have online proofing so that you can show your friends and family. We do not allow images to be published on other websites without written consent. We do not want our work to be misrepresented. As long as you respect our work, we are likely to respect your desire to post your images by giving you the written consent.
Can I make copies of the disc of my wedding images?
We highly suggest this as well as making copies of the contract so you have the print release. You do not want to be tracking us down 10 years from now if you lose your disc. It is best to make multiple copies and put them in multiple locations (including giving to family members). We offer additional copies of the disc as well at an additional charge.
Can we send some of our favorite images to our other vendors?
PLEASE have the vendors contact us for images. They are more than welcome to look at your proofing gallery. Giving them copies of the images for commercial use is in violation of the contract and copyright. We are more than happy to work something out with them so they have images that represent their company.
How much input will we have in the design of our wedding album?
Very limited input is given to you in the design of the album. Again you hired us for our creativity. We will let you proof the album and make a few changes but at a point we will start charging for the changes you want made.
How quickly will we receive our wedding album?
This depends on a number of things. Things to consider are how many pages, how long it takes you to proof and approve the album and any special details your album might require. A good timeframe is about 1-2 months.
