Vendor Search: So You Can Photoshop Me To Look Like Kim Kardashian, Right?"

These words may or may not have been the first that I spoke to our photographer when we had our first meeting back in May. She just laughed as if I was kidding so I laughed, too. "But seriously, can you?"

So now you know the inspiration for our wedding! We've been busy booking vendors so it's time to bring you up to date on those we've secured for the Big Day so far! Photography is a very important element to me, as it is to many brides. I can't wait for the day when I get a CD full of thousands of images!

Being the non-selfcentered bride that I'm working really hard at being, I wanted to include the Mr.'s perspective in our photographer search. One afternoon I asked him what he wanted. His response? "I don't care about it. I don't even need it. I'll remember how wonderful and perfect the day was for the rest of my life by re-living it in my head." Aw, how sweet. And then I went back to the photographer's website I was currently looking at, reminding myself to limit the things I ask his input on.

Since photography is one of the things we'll be paying for ourselves, I kept price in mind when beginning my search. I was hoping to be able to find a photographer who would basically allow us to create our own package which would hopefully help keep the cost down.

Things I Wanted:

- Two shooters
- At least 10 hours of shooting time. Some of my most favorite pictures of weddings are the ones of the bridal parties getting ready and the ones of the bride and groom exiting the reception. I knew we'd get all the goodies in the middle but wanted to make sure the day was perfectly captured from start to finish
- An engagement session (still haven't broken the news to the Mr. about these yet...he isn't the biggest fan of pictures.)
- Full rights to the photos. I plan on making our own album to both save money and have a finished product that represents us
- Someone I connected with that had a great sense of style and enthusiasm. Since the Mr. hates taking pictures, I needed someone he could have fun with and let loose for in order to get those great shots

Things That Weren't As Important

- A Bridal Session. I spill things. All things. Put me in my wedding gown for two hours a month before the wedding and I guarantee you it'll end up with lipstick and coffee down the front of it before we're fifteen minutes into the session
- A professional album (see above)
- Rehearsal dinner photography. I have quite a few girlfriends who are bloggers themselves so I know cameras will be out and snapping away happily throughout the evening.

The search became frustrating when it seemed like I wouldn't be able to find the photojournalistic style I was looking for at a price we could afford. I thought I had clicked on every single San Antonio photographer's website until I came across Nachyelli Photography. Her style was unique, pictures were great and prices were just what we were looking for. I immediately emailed her to see if she had our date open and, if she did, if we could set up a meeting. She responded super fast and she had our date available! We scheduled a meeting and I became giddy with excitement as it seemed we were getting close to booking our first vendor!

Nachyelli and I met one morning at a local Starbuck's and we instantly connected! We chatted for about 30 minutes before even getting to the photography nitty gritty. She's planning her own November wedding so it was fun to trade ideas. She ended up pointing me in the right direction for quite a few vendors. When we got down to business, she ended up letting us create our own customized package that included exactly what we wanted for a price that literally made my jaw drop. I knew then and there that we'd found our first vendor!

I left our meeting with a contract in hand to take home to the Mr. He saw that I had done my research and I was really excited so we signed the contract and sent it off! Booking our first vendor has made it seem so real and made the excitement meter soar! In less than 9 months, hopefully we'll have pictures like this to look forward to:







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