What You REALLY Should Be Asking When Planning Your Wedding
He popped the question! You said YES! Now comes the task of planning your wedding! But, where do you start?
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.
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.
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.
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!
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!
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
kurt@kurtnphoto.com
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Jenni and Matt had their Toledo Winter Wedding at St. Clement Parish. We started where the bride was getting ready, Tamaron Country Club, in the bridal room. Since the dining room was already set up for the reception, I was able to get a lot of the detail shots as well.
Then it was off to the church for the ceremony followed by the formal wedding party and family photos. 
After all of the formal wedding portraits were taken, the bridal party hopped into the party bus from Total Image Limousine. I followed in my car as we headed to the groom’s family’s house for some more family photos. Then the wedding party made a pit stop at the local grocery for some refreshments before heading to Downtown Toledo and Middlegrounds Metropark for some romantic and fun bridal party photos.
For more information about Kurt Nielsen Wedding Photography, including pricing, please visit my website at: www.kurtnphoto.com.
