What You REALLY Should Be Asking When Planning Your Wedding

Piqua wedding photographer

What You REALLY Should Be Asking When Planning Your Wedding
St Rose church Perrysburg wedding photography
He popped the question!  You said YES!  Now comes the task of planning your wedding!  But, where do you start?
tips for planning your wedding
Most brides immediately go online to The Knot or WeddingWire to begin looking for their perfect venue, dj and photographer.  Sites like these make it easy for brides to contact their favorite wedding specialists by clicking on the email link.  They even supply a pre-worded email to send.  It almost always asks for the same thing:  “Please send me pricing!” But what brides don’t realize is that every wedding specialist charges differently depending on what is right for their own business and the services that they provide.
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The better question to ask is: “What am I getting for my money?”  Since I am a photographer, I will use photography as an example.

Many photographers take lots of pictures on your wedding day.  Some take more than others.  Some only show you a few hundred.  How do they decide what to give you?  Some show you all that are taken but only allow you to pick a few hundred or an album.  Many only sell you prints of your favorite images.  Some give you all of what they took.  That is what I do.

Some photographers also provide a second photographer for your wedding.  Another question you should ask yourself is if this is necessary.  What do you get from the second photographer?  Do you get any photos?  Will you get all of their photos as well as the main photographer’s photos?  Do both photographers shoot at the same time?  Will they take turns taking photos?  Almost all of the photographers that provide second shooters do it differently to fit the needs of their business.

Their answers to these questions may surprise you!  That is why it is important to not only know how much they charge for their services, but to also know what you will be getting.  When comparing, you want to be comparing apples to apples, not apples to oranges.
photography packages that include photo booth
The same things can be said about photo booths.  Almost all of the area’s photo booths are the exact same thing.  They use software that automates the process.  You pick from a couple of props, step in front of the camera and take a couple of pictures.  The machine then prints out a couple of strips.

However, when it comes to pricing, this is where everyone is different.  Some charge for extra hours. Many charge to bring props.  Some charge by the hour.  Most charge for a background screen that is bigger than five feet wide.  They may also charge for different backgrounds.  Almost all of them charge for extra prints.  When you add up all of their extra fees, you wind up paying way more than you thought you were going to pay.
best toledo photo booth

Now for the example of what you get from my Complete Wedding Package!

My Complete Wedding Package includes all day wedding photography coverage with all of your images put on a decorative USB drive with print release.  This also includes extra locations for taking romantic photos along with the getting ready photos if you want them.  You will also receive a free engagement session and all of the images on a disk with print release.  Also included is a disk of all of your wedding photos set to music in a lifelong video montage.

This package also includes my Kurt’s Kustom Keepsakes green screen photo booth for your entire reception.  You get to pick 4 to 6 digital backgrounds from which your guests will get to choose to use at your reception.  Everyone in Every Photo gets a full 4×6 print Every Time they use the photo booth.

Plus, we print an extra photo to put in a 12×12 real scrapbook.  We have seen some photo booths use spiral bound notebooks and call them scrapbooks!  The scrapbook will contain enough pages to hold 200 photos taken in the photo booth.  Your guests get to sign and decorate the pages.  You will get to take the scrapbook home at the end of the night!

All images are posted to an online permanent gallery and your guests can download them for FREE at any time.  Depending on your venue, we may also be able to immediately upload them to your gallery for instant sharing.

Because our photo booth is not automated, we have a photographer, a computer technician, and someone to help with the scrapbook or pass out pictures at every event.  We are the only photo booth that provides choices of backgrounds for every picture.  That means that my staff will actually interact with every guest in every photo.  This ensures that your guests have a great experience at your reception!
what you should be asking when planning your wedding
Knowing what you will be getting for your money is a good idea for all aspects of planning your wedding.  Understanding the value of what you are getting makes you a savvy bride!
Piqua wedding photographer
For more information about Kurt Nielsen Wedding Photography, including pricing, please visit my website at:  www.kurtnphoto.com.

To check for availability and schedule your FREE Wedding consultation, please call:

Kurt Nielsen Photography
5431 Schultz Drive
Sylvania, OH 43560
419 885 7153

Feel free to make comments below and/or share this blog post.  Help spread the word and pin this image to your Pinterest board!

Party Portraits Are the New Photo Booth Trend

Party Portraits Are the New Photo Booth Trend

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The other day, The Knot released its “Hot Wedding Trends for 2017.”  While reading through the list, and passing through their usual dresses, colors, and invitations, I found something that they are calling “the new twist on the traditional photo booth.”  Of course, as a “photo booth” owner, I was intrigued to see what they were talking about!
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The New Trend in Event Photography

Instead of the traditional automated photo booth, which is what all of the local photo booths are,  according to The Knot, couples are having portrait studios at their receptions.  Well, if you have ever seen my Kurt’s Kustom Keepsakes green screen photo booth, you know that we are different than all of the other photo booths out there.  In fact, we “Are” a portable studio that does it with a green screen AND gives your guests choices of backgrounds for each photo.  And we have done it this way since our inception in 2009!
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What else we can do for you!

We can also do a more formal portrait using a studio backdrop and still be able to print on site.
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We can even use your own background or banner.
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Why do we do it this way when it is more expensive to do it the way we do? Furthermore, it means we need three people to be at every event when we print.  We have a photographer, a computer technician, and someone to help with the prints.  For this reason, let’s go back to when I first became a wedding photographer.

In The Olden Days

Back then (almost 30 years ago), there were no second photographers, no assistants, and no one to help the photographer.  We did every thing ourselves. We worked hard but never missed a shot (and this is how I still do my weddings)!  Plus, instead of taking the photos on the altar or at the park or the museum or wherever, we actually brought all of the stuff needed to take studio portraits to the ceremony venue.  We set up a backdrop and studio lights and actually took formal family portraits.

When I wanted to start a photo booth division of my photography business, I was looking for something different.  I thought back to how cumbersome it was to bring a studio with me, but, with today’s technology, I knew doing so would be totally different than what anyone else would be able to do.  Making it green screen would make us stand out from the crowd!  Hence, Kurt’s Kustom Keepsakes was born.
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At first, most people want to take a nice photo and not do the “fun” photos with props.  As the night goes on, they start wanting to have some fun. Because we do it as green screen, the guests are more likely to pose for the background image than just pose for a selfie or the photo booth.

Plus, because we give choices, we actually really interact with the guests because we need to know what backgrounds that they want to use and what look they want to achieve with their images.  We also print a full 4×6 photo for everyone in every photo, every time!
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Because we can create the backgrounds, there is no need for you to pay for a background banner with your logo and/or your event sponsors logos.  We can do it for you!  We can even do a jumbo background which is 10 feet by 20 feet!
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So what events can we do?  We can do almost anything!
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From daddy daughter dances to charity events, to conventions,
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and facilty closings.
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We also do Mother and Son Senior Luncheons, to VIP meet and greets and fundraising galas, and of course, school dances, proms and after proms.
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We have even done special shopping events at the mall!  As I said, we can do just about anything, and that’s what makes us different!  And yes, we even travel!
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For more information about Kurt’s Kustom Keepsakes green screen photo booth, including pricing, please visit my website at  www.kurtnphoto.com.  Be sure to check out my Complete Wedding package which includes all day wedding photography and my photo booth for your entire reception!

To check for availability and schedule your FREE photo booth consultation for your event, please call:

Kurt Nielsen Photography
5431 Schultz Drive
Sylvania, OH 43560
419 885 7153

Feel free to make comments below and/or share this blog post.  Help spread the word and pin this image to your Pinterest board!