Exclamation! (aka photographer reveal)

So I ever-so-meanly left you with a bit of cliffhanger on my photographer search. Won't do it again, promise! At least not this time.


So you all should know by now that Weddingbee is a great resource for finding vendors; they have a specific vendor section, but I actually like searching through the boards to see who recommends certain vendors, and what their relatively uncensored opinions are.

My key word search was along the lines of "inexpensive DC/MD/VA photographer". Of course, I could have written my own post and asked the boards myself, but why not use the resources that were already there first?

I found several threads where upwards of 20 people left helpful suggestions of photographers in the area, but I learned one key thing: "inexpensive" and "cheap" are relative terms. What is low cost for one person may not necessarily be low cost for another. As I mentioned, some photogs go up to $6000+ for a few hours of service, so some people may think that $3500 for a full day is a good deal. And it very well could be for some folks.

However, we are working with a $2000 budget at the absolute most. It used to be even less than that when I was hell bent on having a videographer. Since we nixed that idea, we expanded the photography budget a bit.

News flash: you can't really get a good, photojournalist photographer, with assistant/second shooter, for all day coverage in the DMV area for under $2000. It's virtually impossible.

Unlike Mr. Lolcat's mission, which is actually impossible.

I say virtually because.. well.. we of course found someone. I don't even remember how exactly I stumbled upon Exclamation Imagery, but I did. I heard good things and that they had "reasonable" pricing, so I emailed to find out price points, packages, etc.

A few days later, I get a call from Laura, the lead photographer. We talked about mine and Scot's wedding, what we were looking for, and what she had to offer. I heard her say something along the lines of "packages around $1700" and immediately asked her to email me a copy of as much information as possible.

We met with her the following week, and I have to tell you, I have no freaking idea how she can only charge what she does for full day coverage, two photographers, retouched images, and a photo album. She could (and should) seriously be charging way more - the photog gods must have been looking down on me when I found her.

Want proof? Check out some of her work:

All photos and more can be found on their Facebook page. Can you tell I love the faded look?!

The best part is that Laura, the lead photographer and one of the ones that will be at our wedding, is seriously the coolest person ever. She's fun, spunky, personable... and short. So she told us that she'll bring one of her tallest assistants (think 6'+) to shoot with her, so they get all sorts of different and fun angles. I literally cracked up when she told us that, but it's something I never would have thought of, and am so glad that she did! She also waived the travel fee (she's based out of Virginia and we're getting married in NE Maryland) since we booked quickly, and so far in advance.

Bonus: She just won one of the 2011 Brides Choice Awards on WeddingWire!

So all in all.. we're getting two amazing photographers for an entire day for under $2000. It's a steal, if you ask me. And I couldn't be more excited!!