One thing Dan and I love about being wedding photographers is that we get to know so many amazing couples – we always love walking away from a wedding with new friends : )
One way we like to do this is by meeting with our couples – often times we’ll meet with a couple 3-5 times before their big day! Sometimes, meeting that often isn’t as possible if the bride and/or groom lives out of state. Every so often we don’t even get to meet with couples for an initial meeting and they have to choose who to book as their photographers solely based off of emails, pictures and phone conversations.
Recently, we had a bride who lives out of state and wanted to ask more detailed questions about working with us from a bride and groom’s perspective. So, I told her she could look through our blog, pick any couple and {with their permission} I would give her their emails and she could ask anything : )
So she picked Joel and Karen – we photographed their wedding in August of this year. Joel and Karen have very generously allowed us to share their answers to the questions. They each responded to her individually – so you can see their personal answers below.
Thank you Joel and Karen for your openness, honesty and kind words; planning a wedding can be an overwhelming task. There are a plethora of vendors to choose from in the area and we greatly appreciate your time in helping brides and grooms get a unique viewpoint of what it is like to work with Dan and I.
We are so very thankful for you two – for your advice on SEO and cars, your love for dogs and your kindness. You two are a perfect example of the reason we do what we do – and love what we do : )
Overall, would you recommend them as wedding photographers?
Joel: Yes, absolutely yes. I would hire them all over again. Every day, all day. Our experience was terrific. I will save the why as I believe your other questions kind of answer that.
Why did you choose DnK?
Joel: Well, about a year and a half ago, one of my groomsmen got married and he hired them. I was a groomsmen for him so we met Dan and Karin then. I interacted with them throughout the wedding and really liked how they worked as a husband and wife team. It was apparent that this wasn’t just random people assigned to a wedding, but they cared. They know what each other is thinking and they work as a team. Sometimes one will have a vision for a photograph and the other will follow along, and vice-versa. After my buddie’s wedding, I knew that someday when Karen and I got married they would most likely be our photographers.
Karen: Joel and I have been in a number of different weddings, and there was just something about the way that they worked with everyone while keeping the bride and groom’s interest in mind. Also, I have been very particular about photos my whole life since I like to scrapbook. Once I saw their work with people that I care about, I was sold.
Did they communicate well with you up to the Wedding? (Were emails answered promptly, questions answered, etc.)
Joel: Their communication is terrific. They text, email, call, etc. I know they are busy, but they were totally there for us. They showed up on time and left when they said they would. Communication is 100% to me. I work in social media, so if someone isn’t on it, drives me nuts. They are great.
Karen: I’ll mimic Joel, we are both in the digital space professionally, so communication is the most important thing to us. We still text with them even months after our wedding!
At the wedding, did they interact well with you and the other guests? (Did they make people feel comfortable, did you have fun taking pictures with them, did they take charge when someone needed to line people up…)
Joel: Day of the wedding they completely fit in. They worked well with everyone from the kids in our wedding party to our grandparents. They are very accommodating. We had a Jewish wedding and so there are certain rules about when and where you can take pictures during the ceremony. They made sure they knew the rules to make sure no rules were broken, but they also made sure that we still got the awesome shots we wanted.
Karen: I actually sat them at a table of people that were around the same age and had some of the same interests. I don’t know if Dan and Karin really had a good time or not, but everyone that sat with them said that they felt like they were guests since they fit in so well!
Did they seem organized and on top of things?
Joel: They were very organized. My family is ridiculously OCD. Karen and mother provided them a mile long list on an Excel spread sheet with all the photos they wanted including names of the people. Dan and Karin kept it on their iPad and used it as a checklist. They are very organized. Nothing was missed.
Karen: Along with this, Karin worked closely the day of with my personal attendant to make sure that she wasn’t “bothering” me with different questions if she didn’t need to. Seriously a.maz.ing!
Did they get all the pictures you asked them to? (Style and content)
Joel: Everything we wanted, style and content, was taken. They didn’t miss a beat.
Karen: The best part about this is that they got different angles for every “pose.” Since the two of them work completely in-sync, I couldn’t believe all of the pictures for the few different places, styles and poses we did – and they are all unique!
Were you happy with the DVD of photographs you received after the wedding? Did you use those pictures for anything?
Joel: Our DVD had everything in organized folders. It was perfect and just as promised. I believe it took two or three weeks after the wedding to get it; which is a decently quick turnaround time in my opinion.
Karen: They live a few blocks away from Joel’s parents. They dropped it off at their house so we didn’t have to wait for it to come in the mail!
Any reason you weren’t fully satisfied with them as photographers?
Joel: If the above seems to be singing some positive praises, it is. Honestly, I knew after my buddies wedding we were hiring them. We looked at a few other photographers to please the parents, but in the end it was our choice. My mother also was happy in the end, and so were we. I would choose Dan and Karin again every time. No, they didn’t even pay me or give me a discount to write all the nice things.
Karen: Joel pretty much covered the majority of your specific questions, but I will add in a few things. Overall, we honestly can’t say enough amazing things about the two of them and we have worked with LOTS of wedding photographers (as bridal party members). While their work is amazing, in my opinion, they are just incredible people to know and have in your life.
Trackbacks/Pingbacks