Tuesday, September 27, 2011

A picture is worth a...

thousand words DOLLARS?!  I have to say that what has shocked me most about wedding planning is the cost of photographers' services.  I know their job is not easy, the economy is bad, and they have to cover cost and there are a million other excuses obstacles.  But... really?!  Thousands and thousands of dollars? For minimal coverage and just a CD of mostly unedited photos? Ummm, I don't think so.

I have been on the hunt for a great photographer that will not total ruin our budget.  We started off with Photographer A.  I loved her, her prices were reasonable (though apparently I'm wayyy off in my idea of reasonable), her photos were lovely and she seemed very capable of handling our crazy mix of Puerto Rican and Italian relatives.  I didn't feel the need to interview any one else.  The best part?  She would be able to do our engagement photos before Luis left the next week.

So I had my hair done, forced Luis to go shopping for not only an outfit for him, but for one of me as well, AND was a total bitch all day out of nervousness.  (The next time any of you see Luis, high-five him for putting up with me.)

We sat in our car near Government Island, aka where we got engaged, and waited. and waited. and waited.  I decided to give Photographer A a call to make sure she wasn't lost.   (The island is a park that is actually behind some kind of crazy looking water treatment center with signs like "DANGER!" or "DO NOT ENTER!" or "BEWARE!"  Any sane person might have decided to turn around.)  Was she lost? Nope.... she was out of town.  Cue hysteria.


There had been a mix up of dates.... some how.  She was under the impression that our shoot was the following Thursday, despite the fact that I had been very clear about the specific date.

My brain reacted with this: OMGhow-could-she-think-that?!?!?I-said-LUIS-IS-LEAVING-ON-SUNDAY!!Idon'twantpicturesofJUSTMEEEEEE!!!

Thankfully, my mouth said, "OK.  Well that's fine. We can't reschedule, but I'll be in touch. Bye..."  I am also thankful did not mess up my make-up with any tears.  I simply did what any grown-up, engaged woman would do.

Yup.  I called my mom.

She rushed over to the park with her fancy-shmancy camera and my dad her assistant.  She took a lot of great photos - though no kiss-y shots because it was just too weird.  It wasn't the experience I had imagined, but I'm 99.9% absolutely thrilled with the results.

As for Photographer A?  She never really apologized, called me "honey,"and spoke to me like I was a child.  Apparently I wasn't totally clear with her about how I'm a grown-up, engaged woman.  The last person I want to treat me like a kid is some one I'm paying thousands and thousands of dollars.  I let her know that we were going to continue looking at options and thanked her for her time... and then thanked God we hadn't given her a deposit yet.

PS: Thanks, Mommy.  I love you and your superhero-abilities to solve all problems.

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