Hey all,
I apologize for not getting this done yesterday but my internet decided to not work!
For those of you who don't know me; I am Amanda, John's assistant and as he is absent this weekend I thought I would write about why I hired John to capture my wedding 5 years ago. The reason I chose him was because, at the time, he was cheaper. Honestly my fiance and I had been to tons of bridal shows and every photographer's work looked the same and was priced really high. It became a daunting task to find somebody who could truly capture my day to match my personality and that was most important to me. John's business is located in Newton, IA which is where I am from and is how we met. The first great thing about John that I noticed was that he wanted to meet with me in person to discuss my vision for my wedding day. Now this was before I had decided to hire him, mind you... I was really impressed with how easy he was to talk to and that he was well prepared. He had several albums and portraits for me to look at. Seeing your photographer's work is so important but it is just as important to develop a comfortable, personal relationship with them. You have to remember that this person or people are going to be around you the entire wedding day; almost more than your soon to be husband. Don't you want to be comfortable and on the same page? I was so grateful that I had found such a personable and fun person to hang out with on my wedding day. I think we talked about general stuff for about an hour without even discussing wedding details during that first meeting. Not only was I sold on his fabulous work but more so on his personality.
As time grew closer to the wedding I had a consultation with John to go over specific's for the day such as times, locations, certain shots I wanted taken, etc. He enters into the wedding day knowing that formal shots are a must and keeps a list that he follows so that none of those important family pictures are forgotten so that literally you just need to show up looking stunning and smile! I showed up and smiled and laughed and had a great time. The day seemed to be a blur but I knew John had captured memories that would be there forever. Sure, I chose him because he was cheaper than his competition, and at the time he was less experienced, but I quickly learned that there was much more to choosing a wedding photographer than just the price. His work only gets better every year; and he keeps things fresh, that is, he delivers photos that are unique to you and your day. I urge you when looking for a photographer to capture one of your most important days to not only check out their gallery of work, but also meet with them in person, get to know them and their personality. You could really love a person's work but when you finally meet them they might make you uncomfortable, or worse they may be rude. You don't need that on your wedding day. With John you get nothing less than true professionalism, complete comfort, and crazy fun. After all, as he tells you on his website, "it's the experience."