Searching for a wedding photographer...

I am taking this aspect of wedding planning VERY seriously. We have friends who are photographers (even professional photographers), but I really want to have someone present specifically for that purpose.

If you know us and are reading this, then you already know that we are a family of artists. I am a cartoonist and Nick (my fiance) is an electronic artist of sorts. He made my iPhone app and my comics website and colors my comics. So we've been looking for a talented photographer whose sense of style and artistic eye we like. Although I'm focusing my search in the Upstate New York area, as that is where our wedding will be, I'm keeping my eyes open for super-talented artists in other areas. I'd be willing to pay travel to get someone there whose work we truly admire.

These are the criteria I've been using while looking for a photographer:

-sense of style and artistic eye I appreciate. And is able to capture in my wedding photos - the romance I've seen in photos I've been collecting of weddings (see link below to Flickr album)

-who can captivate both the wedding AND the beauty of Letchworth State Park. This may be illustrated through photos they've taken in that specific park or of a nature portfolio.

-who would be willing to give us the raw images (my fiance Nick, being an electronic artist, can do color-correcting and editing of the photos)

-who is confident enough to direct our gregarious family into some posed shots (including directing my very fun-loving fiance into some more serious poses)

-passes the Nick screening (I'm not sure exactly what his criteria is actually)

If we like the person but end up needing to pay travel expenses, I'm hoping we'll be able to negotiate for a price that we can afford for the work, especially by minimizing the work needed (directing and taking the photos). We can even provide a hard drive to make things as simple as possible.

I've spent DAYS and DAYS on this search already.

One great resource I've come across is an Association of Photojournalists. I've found a number of very talented photographers there and would recommend that site to others.

Another thing I've been doing, is keeping an album on Flickr where I save wedding images I come across on the web that I like as examples of what I want from the photographer. Of course, much of wedding photography is protected on the internet and thus I haven't added those images to my public collection.

Some other ways I'm considering incorporating photography into our wedding... I'd like to create a sign-in / guest book for the wedding with photos in it of me and Nick. I think I'd be more likely to look back and read the sweet messages from friends and family if they were mixed in with photos. I'd also love to have a photobooth - both for entertainment at the wedding and as another means of getting photos of our guests.

So... We'll see how much of this vision I can bring to life! Cross your fingers for me.

Getting Organized

So I finally took everyone's advice and put a binder together. I'd picked up several bridal magazines in the airport on my way to visit my sister and had pulled out pages with bridal gowns and wedding rings that I liked. My sister had also given me some great bridal magazines she picked up for me with advice about favors and budgeting and invitations and such. The end result was a pile of paper that was in chaos. So I now have a binder with sections for:

-budget
-vows
-wedding rings
-photographers
-flowers
-location
-music
-dresses
-honeymoon
-invitations
-guest list
-food
-entertainment
-decor

And I feel so relieved to have everything in a place where I can easily refer to it.

We are tentatively setting a date for August 20, 2011. And we are seriously considering having the wedding at Letchworth State Park. We will be attending Nick's cousin Shannon's wedding in Buffalo, NY in July of this year, so we are hoping to allow time to visit Letchworth while we're in town. I am *in love* with Letchworth from all of the online photos I've been looking through, but I want to be sure that the photos aren't misleading. Plus, we'll also need to make sure there is a picnic area that is in a pretty location, so we'll have shelter in case it rains.

In the meantime, I've kind of been obsessing over flowers. I have been looking through friends' wedding photos that are posted on FaceBook as a starting place to figure out what I like. And I've become quite smitten with my college classmate, Leah's wedding bouquet. I hope she doesn't mind my posting some of her wedding photos here! She got her flowers from her family's garden, though, so she's not even sure what all was in there. So I've been listing some of my favorite flowers out that may correspond to the color combination. Here is the list I've come up with of my favorite flowers:

-tulips
-grape hyacinth
-wisteria
-red bud tree blossoms
-poppies

Now, the first two on the list, I can get from just about any florist. But the last 3 are much trickier. I can buy an entire Wisteria or Red Bud TREE, but no one seems to sell cuttings from these trees. Hmmm... And poppies? Well, I can buy poppy SEEDS off the internet for growing my own poppies, but once again... no cut poppies.

So I'm still brainstorming. Got any ideas?