say cheese! (the photographer search)

...but not just any cheese-- pick a really expensive cheese. like a $40/lb. Roquefort.


yes, when Thurston and i began to seek out photographers we suffered from the same sticker shock that we did during both the band and venue searches. (and don't even get me started on the majorly high price tags involved with wedding planners. more on that to come...) when we spoke to people about what photographers might cost, they gave us some numbers. these numbers did not sound low to us. then we met with photographers and heard price quotes of twice what "people" had advised us they'd be. fun, no? to give you some context: the actual album (with a decent amount of photos in it) can cost upwards of $5,000. the parent albums? oh, maybe $1,800 or so each. (maybe more!) and this does not even include the 10 hours of wedding day photography + a second photographer. you could ask yourself the question: photographer or car?; choose "car"; and still save some money. scary stuff, y'all.

so far we have considered and/or have met with, the following photographers:

• Mark Nelson
• Harold Hechler Photography
• Tanya Tribble
• Gruber Studios
• Karen Hill
• Lilian Haidar

Mark Nelson

we knew we wanted a "photojournalistic" approach to our wedding. upon browsing photographer web sites, i immediately loved Mark Nelson's work. the photos of all the weddings were beautiful (as were each of the brides) and he really "got" my style. plus, Mark had worked in the Metropolitan Club before, and was on their "recommended vendors" list. we met with Mark on New Year's Eve day--it was snowy and wet out but we trekked down to Wall Street to meet with him.

i still loved all of his photos, but my mother was keen on table pictures/portraits. this came up at our meeting and my mom and i quickly realized we were polar opposites on this issue: i say it's gauche and she says it's necessary.* it seemed that Mark, like me, was averse to table pictures, although he could bring in a second photographer to get them done. (table shots or no, with a wedding of well over 200 people, a second photographer is kind of a given--there's just no way one guy could cover all that's going on.) we left Mark Nelson's and all were starving so we went to grab a bite and think about his proposal at the most expensive T.G.I. Friday's in the world, at 47 Broadway.

Harold Hechler Photography

we then spent January scoping out planners and dresses and bands (oh my!) so we did not get back into the photographer hunt until early February. our next meeting was with Harold Hechler Photography. HH does not advertise and has no web site. all its referrals are by word of mouth. Thurston and my mom *loved* the guy with whom we met. i liked the photos but found them to be a little not my more "photojournalistic" taste. which was sad because Art would have been superfun to work with and also HH's price quote was reasonable. i didn't yet rule them out, though, since we had a few more appointments coming up...

Tanya Tribble

Tanya Tribble is genius. her photos were exactly how my dream photos would be. and my mom and i adored her--bearing in mind that on your wedding day you spend, oh, about ten hours with the photographer, personality is more important than you might think. and she did Lulu Johnson's wedding. for-freaking-ever, i have been a huge fan of Betsey Johnson and her fashion show cartwheels (i think this somehow relates to her being written about in Sassy, but i could be wrong) and was very excited that should i choose to book Tanya, i'd be echoing Betsey's taste.

my mom had some qualms about working with a solo studio photographer, i.e., if Tanya gets sick on my wedding day, who takes the pictures? Tanya reassured us that she had a network of other solo photogs who came to each other's rescue in the rare event such aid was needed. that seemed to set my mom at ease. Tanya's price tag did not. but, her stuff was on a par with no other we'd yet seen, so... we kept our fingers crossed that a) she's negotiate; b) we'd get over our sticker shock; or c) we'd find someone else just as good for less. i was pretty sure we'd end up with a combination of a and b.

ok, to be continued. this is an overly long post!

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* with the JadedParents footing the bill for this whole affair, i am sure you can just guess whose opinion triumphed. wedding guests, get ready for your close-ups--tableside and all.