It will probably come as no surprise to you when I say that finding our wedding photographer was #1 on my wedding priority list. More than anything, I want to have beautiful pictures to look back on and remember the very best day of my life. Being a wedding photographer myself,custom bobblehead, I know how incredibly important finding a photographer who matches your style and vision is. I’ve also found that in order to really get the best images possible, you really to have to click with your photographer and feel both comfortable around them and confident in their skills and abilities. After all, they will probably be within a 10-foot vicinity of you 90% of the day, so it helps to hire a photographer you truly enjoy being around.
When Mr. C and I first got engaged,,, probably within the first few weeks, I was already researching local photographers. We had already sat down and made a rough estimate of our budget, so I knew the local ballpark that I had to stay within. While our initial budget was fairly small for everything we wanted from our photographer (all-day coverage, digital copies of images, and print release to name a few must-haves), I was willing to spend a little bit more if it meant hiring someone whose work I truly loved.
After researching prices for some of my favorite Lancaster photographers, sticker-shock set in and I began to get extremely frustrated and discouraged. My top pick’s all-day packages started at $6,000, and as much as I would have loved to hire them, there was no way I could swing that. I started going down the list of photographers whose work I love, only to find out that,personalized bobbleheads, again, they were all way out of budget. I finally decided that in order to get everything I wanted from my must-have list while staying in budget, I’d have to search for an up-and-coming photographer. Since I myself was just starting out (and practically begging people to take a chance on me) I wanted to give the same opportunity to another newbie photographer. Of course, I still wanted to love their work, be confident in their abilities, and connect with them on a personal level.
Little side story before I continue: I used to be a personal style blogger. Yes, as lame as that probably sounds, I totally loved it and loved getting to know other lovely ladies through the blogging community. I stopped about a year ago, as I just lost the overall love of it when wedding planning and school began to take over my life. I still kept in contact with some of the women I met through blogging,customized bobbleheads, including my very best online friend, Kristina.
Kristina was also a personal style blogger, and one day while in blog land, I stumbled across her little corner of the internet. After chatting for several weeks, we quickly found out that we were pretty much the same person, and a beautiful online friendship was started. Kristina was planning her own wedding at the time, while also starting up her own photography business. We instantly clicked as friends,customize bobblehead, and I loved watching her photography abilities + business grow. We had Skype dates every few months (her living in Texas and me living in Pennsylvania),personalized bobble heads, and we would text or call each other randomly throughout our days to chat about photography or random things that were happening in our lives. Over the course of year or so, she went from being an online friend to someone I would now consider one of my very close friends. The internet can be weird like that.
Last spring, when I was seriously stressed out about finding a local photographer to shoot our wedding, I vented to Kristina,.,The Quest for a Photographer, a former bride that knew the stress of planning a wedding all too well. In the middle of our photographer conversation, she texted me something along the lines of “If you want to pay for my plane tickets and hotel room,personalized bobblehead, I’ll shoot your wedding for free. ”
UM. WHAT.
I asked her if she was being serious because, really, how awesome would it be to fly in my blogger-BFF to shoot my wedding? After she confirmed that yes, indeed,customize bobblehead, she was serious about her offer,custom bobbleheads, I got to work researching plane ticket costs from Texas to Pennsylvania. I was bound and determined to make this happen. Aside from absolutely loving her work,personalized bobblehead, I realized how incredibly cool it would be to finally meet face-to-face after being long-distance besties and to have her photograph our wedding.
It turns out that even with the cost of round-trip airfare, hotel accommodations for two evenings, and a rather large tip “just because,” flying Kristina (and her hubby!) in from Texas was STILL less expensive than I budgeted for. Thank you, wedding gods. You’ve totally had my back.
Hiring Kristina come and shoot our wedding was no doubt the very best wedding decision I’ve made. I get to have one of my closest friends by my side on my wedding day, and I know she will do an incredible job photographing every aspect of our day. She’s pretty excited to shoot a “destination” wedding and to visit Lancaster for the first time ever. We may or may not text each other randomly “THIS IS REALLY HAPPENING” with the current countdown and various emojis to express our excitement.
Our journey to finding our photographer was certainly unconventional, but Mr. C and I both know we made the right choice. Although Kristina is relatively new to the wedding-photography world, we trust her 100% and can’t wait to see how she documents our wedding day!
Anyone else hire their photographer after connecting with them online?
*All photos by Kristina Ross Photography
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