Ciel Gardens

Tons of people have already asked me who I used. John was, by far, one of my favorite vendors of all time. His pictures speak for themselves, dont you think? He has an eye for capturing moments and making each one seem like its a piece of art. I cannot imagine having gone with someone else. He was easy to work with (I didnt even know he was there, unlike my videographer, who I mention below). He has done tons of weddings and is published in lots of magazines and has won a lot of awards. He and his brother, Joey, work together and they will not disappoint you (I will try to post some engagement shots below b/c Joey did those. They have similar style and are equally good to work with). You will have a set of photographs to cherish forever. It you splurge on anything, make it the photographer. Details count but you need someone who will make you remember your day fondly. That is the best advice I can give you. Also, make sure you connect with your photographer and that you like their work. If you dont like their work and go with them b/c they are cheap, you will regret it. Believe me. I have friends who wish they went with someone else. Anyway, my package cost me $6400, which is probably the most expensive package. I had 10.5 hours of photography (I paid for an extra hour), got 600+ photos with editing (You cant even imagine how many good shots there were my bio is only a small glimpse), a coffee table album, and the best thing of all is that I got all my proofs and get an electronic copy of all my shots. He has packages starting at $3500 or so, so if you are having a shorter day (e.g., 5 hours or so), like most normal people, do not rule out John and Joey b/c of costs!!!!

A small caveat about John and www.jkhphoto.com, however. We bought a package that came with a 30-page 11X14 album. We have yet to see that album – it took a while for them to show me the design, and I am still working on the album with them (almost one year after my wedding!). Apparently, this is not uncommon. I confess that we did lag a bit in picking pictures…but more to the point, they are photographers, girls, not album designers, as I’ve discovered. Also, they charge extra $$$ if you do not like their original album design (who ever heard of that?). Luckily, that clause did not appear in my contract so I won’t have to pay for the extra design costs. If I knew then what I know now, I would probably just hire them for the photography and design my own album through www.mypublisher.com (I have gone and done this and I love mypublisher. It’s cheap ($120 with the 50% code) and I was able to format it exactly like I wanted)This is something to think about!

Beautiful wedding photojournalism