“Charles Maring. He took great photos, and stayed out of the way. Ask friends for referrals. Don’t feel pressured to meet with a million different people.”
—Valerie, 32, and Daniel Fred, 33
“Kathi Littwin. Our wedding planner, Ellen Kostman, introduced us. Kathi had shot at St. Patrick’s Cathedral before and taken great pictures. She had several great assistants, and shot black-and-white and color, digital and film. The photos were crisp, and there were dozens that I had no idea were even taken. Best of all, for an extra $500, we got all our photos on DVD. Our advice is to ask if the photographer has shot in that particular venue before, and get the rules and regulations of the location—how much access will the photographers have? Also, think about what you want your eight-by-ten wedding photo for the mantelpiece to look like, because getting that one terrific photo family and friends can frame is key. All in all, the cost of our wedding photography was $7,500.”
—Christine Whelan, 29, and Peter Moyers, 29
“Shawn Connell at Christian Oth. He was recommended by our wedding planner, Loulie Walker. I am very picky about the way I look in pictures, and of the 1,000 pictures we have from the wedding, I wanted every single one of them. Basically, if you’re really serious about someone, have them do your engagement photographs so you can get a better idea of his/her personality and talents. Shawn was amazing and he cost around $8,000.”
—Heather, 26, and Alexander Wood, 26
“Steven Polanco. We chose him because he does more artistic photos and was willing to give us the CD of images. We really thought it was important to look for someone who’s going to take photos that don’t look like everyone else’s.”
—Karina Grant, 23, and Garland Harwood, 27
“O Zhang. A friend who works at a gallery suggested her. O is primarily a fine-arts photographer, so she was cheaper than typical wedding photographers and had an unconventional style. She was only $700! O’s pics were artsy—some were blurry with blown-out color, and some of the people looked transparent. Cool-looking to some eyes, but not what someone would think of for wedding pictures. We didn’t appreciate all of them at first glance, but we have grown to really like them.”
—Tim, 36, and Alexandra Rogers, 31