A perfect photography equation = Craigslist + MyPublisher

I feel very lucky to have found the amazing photographer I worked with for my wedding.  As you may know from reading this blog, budget was top of mind in every decision we made, and budgets on photography was highly variable. We started looking at the standard pros in the area but their packages were in the $1000’s of dollars.  Our next thought was to ask a friend who was photography savvy, but she smartly declined as a main photographer given the need for specialized equipment in darker settings. I am glad she did, even though at first I was not sure where else to turn. That’s where Craigslist came in.

I posted an ad on CL for a photographer and explained what we were looking for. I also found a few people who were posting ads for their services and I thought I would reach out to some of them as well.  Within a matter of days I had several leads and viewed several portfolios.

Cliff Francoeur was one of the photographers who replied to my ad. He was very upfront with us about his skill areas and experience, and while he didn’t have a ton of wedding experience, his portraits and scene shots were truly stunning. He was a talented photographer looking to break into the wedding area.  He also seemed super willing to work with us on what we wanted.

Cliff made us feel like he cared about how our photos would turn out, and we did an engagement session and a tour of the venues with him to allow us to get familiar with each other and the day.  I appreciated how much time he spent with us – he really stood out among the others we looked at.

Cliff brought along Nathan Tia and Hanh Tran, also amazingly talented photographers, for the big day. The trio did a spectacular job and stayed with us from morning until late in the evening. We wanted to capture the getting ready photos, which had us starting in the late morning.  At the end we wanted to top the night off with photos on the roof overlooking the spectacular Boston fireworks, which started after 10pm, so you can imagine how long and hard these guys worked.  They brought specialized tools and equipment as well, ensuring I had the best possible photos. The portait above is my favorite of the portraits, and this shot of new hubby and I is a favorite couple shot.  This shot was taken on the roof with the Boston 4th of July fireworks in the background.

After the wedding we had over 1500 photos, and we narrowed down to about 700 or so that we liked.  With that volume of photos, we knew a traditional album wasn’t going to work for us. Plus, given all the effort we put into making the invitations, the placecards, the programs, the giftbags, *everything* – we had a story to tell and we wanted that to come through in our album. So, since I no longer had a wedding to plan, why not put those PhotoShop skills to good use and make my own album? I had ordered from MyPublisher before and liked the quality of their books a lot (I was stunned the first time I ordered from them).  Their canned layouts are ok, but I needed more and thus decided to make each page myself and import them into the MyPublisher tool.  Several weeks and ninety-four pages later, we had an album we were happy with.  We ordered a large one for us and 2 smaller ones for our parents.  Luckily, we finished while they were still having a 40% off sale!

If you are interested in seeing the finished album, which chronicles the wedding day, click the image below.

If that link doesn’t work for you, you can go to http://www.mypublisher.com/bookshelf/friendbook.php and type Order Number 1233145 & Password 2764416.

If you enjoy the pictures and wish to use Cliff, please let him know the Boston Bride sent you!

Swallowing the David’s Bridal Pill

(Image from RackedNY)

ABostonBride has lots of friends who have used David’s Bridal to cover all their bridal needs and have had good experiences with them. You can’t beat the fact that they are located all over the place, so bridesmaids everywhere can look at and order dresses without being near you.  The same is true for Men’s Wearhouse. If your bridesmaids and groomsmen are spread out geographically, these are great options.

ABostonBride, however, chose to get her dress at the Filene’s Basement Running of the Brides sale for a great $250 price tag. David’s had lots of great styles, but they can be moderately expensive for what you get.  $700 may not seem expensive for a wedding dress, but the styles have become very common. I’ve been to 2 weddings with the same exact style…2 years apart!

David’s offers so much in one place, which can be convenient for the busy bride. On the other hand, I’ve gotten my veil, shoes, and other accessories from online places and other stores for significantly less than what David’s charges.

In the end, I decided to use David’s and Men’s Wearhouse for only bridesmaid and groomsmen wear.  I like having a more unique dress, but having a common color for the bridesmaids helped a lot. For example, all the wedding vendors we talked to knew exactly what David’s Bridal Apple referred to – from the tuxes to the florist to our cake baker – and that kind of consistency really helps. So maybe a David’s dress isn’t in your cards, but for bridesmaids dresses, it certainly seems the way to go!