A Lesbian Wedding From SkyeBlu

I am so excited to see that Danielle over at SkyeBlu (who we have booked to be our wedding photographer) has posted pictures of a lesbian wedding on her blog. As usual she has done an amazing job, and every time she updates her blog it only makes me more excited for our own wedding.

A Great Alteranitve to Favors

A few years ago we attended a friend's wedding and the thing that stuck out as the most fun in my mind was her photobooth. When we got engaged the first thing I thought of was having one at our wedding.

I remember how much fun we had taking pictures with the bride, stuffing friends in there, and being just all around goofy. The best part is the photobooth prints out two sets of pictures, so your guests get to take one with them, and with the second set they make a really great scrapbook/ guestbook that will make for a great keepsake.

We decided to go with Cheesy Photo Booths since their prices were so much more reasonable than the other companies we looked at. They also allowed us to check out their set-up at a wedding they were going to be at in the area before the guests arrived.

Their package is also very all inclusive, whereas with many of the companies I looked at charged extra for these things. With Cheesy Photo Booths we are getting six hours (though we will probably end up only using four), double prints, a cd with all the pictures taken, and a banner across the bottom of all the pictures taken. Also we will probably bring along a box of props so our guests can get silly, I'm thinking I will probably hit the after Halloween sales this year.

Disneyland's First (Legal) Same Sex Wedding

I got a really great e-mail out of the blue two days ago from a woman named Robyn. On August 2nd she and her new bride Sarah had the first legal same-sex wedding at Disneyland.

They went with Boutwell studios, which are some really talented photographers I was also considering for our wedding before I fell in love with the pictures taken by Danielle at SkyeBlu. Luckily for all of us Robyn and Sarah are featured on the Boutwell's blog so we all get a sneak peek at their fabulous wedding. The red dress is just amazing.

What To Do With All The Wedding Photos?

One great thing about our photographer is that included in her price are all the negatives from pictures she takes, and she also scans the negatives to create digital copies of the pictures. It's the best of both worlds. Also by having your negatives you don't have to go back to your photographer to buy prints or have albums made, which is how a lot of photographers make money. If negatives are not included in your photo package some photographers will charge you up to $1000 more if you want them. As you can see a "bargain" photographer can get expensive very quickly.

So you've got all these pictures, and what do you do with them? I really like the idea of creating your own large format coffee table book. One of the companies I am considering is blurb.com. They have been recommended by many of the brides on disboards.com and they have reasonable pricing. I just ordered a book from them this week and am very excited to see what the end result will look like.

I have not discarded the possibility of ordering one albums offered by SkyeBlu photography though. I got to see a sampling of them during our meeting with Danielle and was really impressed by the quality, beauty, and uniqueness of some of the albums we saw. One in particular was really nice and had a stainless steel cover and really thick pages, like you would find in a children's boardbook. The great thing is that all of these choices are still a long way off, so let's see how much money we end up spending before we make plans to spend more!

Choosing a Wedding Photographer

Choosing the right photographer can be one of the most daunting tasks of planning a wedding. There seem to be two distinctive price ranges for photographers, and most of the time it would seem that you get what you pay for. The Low range seems to be from $800 to $2500. Within this range you usually get a single photographer and maybe a simple album. The quality of work is usually not great or consistent, but there are always exceptions.

The higher price range can go from $5,000 to $9,000, and in these instances you are usually paying for multiple photographers, established businesses, and more high end final products. In this price range you can and should expect consistently great pictures, and if you have the money to spend all that's left is finding one that fits your style.

We ended up going with Danielle Biel at Skye Blu photography. Right now she's at the low end of the higher price range, and for the price she is a bargain. I love her attention to detail and she has a great eye for portraits. I found her by chance doing a google search, I fell in love with her work, and meeting her in person only cinched the deal for me.

There are so many things that I really loved about Danielle; one is that she shoots all her pictures using film. It is so rare and refreshing to find a photographer that uses film these days that it was definitely a strong selling point for me. Another one was that on her website each gallery is compromised of an entire wedding, and each gallery has lots of great pictures. Instead of some photographer's who will just show you some good pictures here and there. The truth is give anyone a camera, and they can take a few good pictures, so always ask to see albums that are comprised of an entire event.