Planning a wedding can be a long, complicated process. I want to simplify it by answering a few of my most Frequently Asked Questions regarding photographing your wedding.
Why aren't my prices listed on my price page?
The simple answer is that everyone's wedding and what's important for them to have photographed is different. I want to talk to you about your wedding, yes I mean actually talk on a phone. I can find out more in a fifteen minute conversation about what you're looking for and if I think I'm the photographer for you than I can in multiple emails back in forth. After our initial conversation, I will happily email you the link to my rate sheet with different package options available. I have options for a simple beach ceremony (2 hours for $1500-no getting ready or reception) all the way through capturing every moment of your day (10 hours for $6500). Prices vary based on length of session and if there is any extensive traveling involved.
How many hours should I book you for?
Everybody has a budget so you need to decide what are the most important things you want professionally photographed. For many families, you have planned this entire event down to the last detail and want to have photos to remember all of it. To capture all of those moments, I need to be there with you so you should book the full day. Some couples want getting ready shots, others don't. Ask yourself, "What's important to me?" I've never had a couple tell me I stayed too long or took too many photographs, but I have had people tell me they wished afterwards they had booked me for longer.
Have you photographed here before?
There are so many great venues here in Florida and I may or may not have shot a wedding where you are planning yours. You should know it doesn't concern me in the least whether or not I've shot there before. If I have, then I go in with a plan of how I want to capture your day. If I haven't, then I love the challenge of figuring out new angles and it's all coming from a fresh perspective. If I haven't photographed there before, I will stop by the venue before your wedding day and scout it out, looking for windows, light, the dance floor, etc. As a photographer, I am a bit of a planner and approach every wedding with a loose plan of how I would like the day to flow.
How many pictures will I get?
Again, each wedding is different and I hate to put a number on it. On average, you get 60-70 finished photographs for each hour I shoot. When I photograph your family formals, I may shoot several of each group knowing that I'll be culling out shots of people blinking or looking away. When I'm shooting your couples shots, I may shoot a lot but in the end I'm looking for that "moment" when you forget I'm there, you give each other that genuine look, smile or laugh. That's the photograph you want. I photograph as many details of the wedding, your family and guests as time allows. If you want more details, more family portraits, more genuine moments, more getting ready or more reception memories, I need the time to get them and that means it's best to choose a longer package.
How long will it be before I get my photos and how do I get them?
It is in the contract that we sign that you will get access to your final gallery within 45 days of your shoot. That is fast in the world of wedding photography. I pride myself on this fast turn around time. Please realize that every single photo in your gallery has been edited for color, sharpness, and quality. Since most weddings happen on the weekend, I can be found most weekdays sitting at my computer, editing wedding images. It isn't a glamourous process but I want you to have only the best images from your day. The internet actually makes my job easier to deliver you your images. When your Gallery is finished, I add you to my Clients page on this website. You will get an access code to your private gallery which you are more than welcome to give to friends and family. You can access your gallery for three months and download some or all of your pictures to your own computer. In addition to downloading them, you can have professional prints made and sent directly to you. I don't require you to buy your prints from me, but I do use a professional lab which uses 100 year guaranteed paper with the highest quality ink and color correction. Sure you can take your images to the drug store to have printed out for cheap, but I can't guarantee the color or quality if you do that. I also create customized photo albums from your favorite wedding photos at an additional cost if you want a Wedding Album.
What is a "First Look" and should I do one?
A first look is when the bride and groom see each other for the first time on their wedding day BEFORE they walk down the aisle. It has become more popular in recent years but whether or not you do one is up to you. Most of my couples still want the first time they see each other to be the moment when they walk down the aisle but for some couples the wedding day can become stressful and spending a few minutes together ahead of saying "I Do" can help relieve their anxiety and nervousness. For larger weddings, doing a First Look and even family photos before the ceremony, gives you more time to enjoy your cocktail hour and reception after the wedding. There is no right or wrong way so whichever way you want to do it is fine.
*Abby and Ryan decided to do a first look because they got married at 4 pm in June and knew it was hot and humid. They wanted to see each other and take couples and group pictures before the ceremony while everyone's hair and makeup were fresh*
Are you planning this wedding without living close by?
I have to admit that one of my surprises being a photographer in Florida is how many couples DON'T live here and are planning their wedding here as a destination wedding. I often get inquiries from out of state and out of town so how do I handle that? It always starts with that first email or phone call. One of the reasons I like TALKING to clients is because you can start to get a feel for me as a person and not just an anonymous website. If you happen to be traveling down here before your wedding as you are getting plans sorted out, I love to meet in person for a consultation. If you are flying in a few days before your ceremony, I will absolutely come meet you, walk through your venue with you and talk about the details of your wedding day. If all of that isn't possible, it has happened a couple of times where we do everything over the phone and I meet you on your wedding day.
Do you have insurance?
YES!!! I carry General Liability insurance to protect myself, you and my business. Often venues require a copy of this insurance and I'm happy to provide it to them. Not related to insurance but I'm also a member of Professional Photographers of America, have my Florida business license, pay my Sarasota county business license fees and pay Florida sales tax on all products and goods sold. Stephanie Snow Photography is a business and I file all necessary and legal business and tax forms!
That also means that I have to charge Florida sales tax of 7% on all wedding packages.
Do I need to feed you dinner?
On wedding days we eat a lot of granola bars. Sometimes I end up feeding the wedding party my granola bars because they got delayed and never had time to eat either. Wedding days can be long for everyone and please understand that if my assistant and I start shooting in the afternoon and are still at your reception at 9pm, we are starving too. I do kindly ask that if you book us for more than six hours and you are providing a meal for your guests, that you ask the venue to provide two meals for my assistant and I. Often venues have vendor meals, smaller portions of food, even a sandwich or a wrap that will help keep our energy up. We aren't looking to intrude on your expensive per plate dinner and we usually only have a couple of minutes to eat during the reception when there's a lull in the action, but you'll see that we are working hard and I really am not at my best performance when its late at night and I realize I gave away my last granola bar.
What is your shooting style?
This is definitely a case of what you see in my galleries is what you get. Different photographers have very different shooting styles so how I see the world and your wedding, is going to be different than another photographer. If I had to classify myself on wedding days, I'm a Lifestyle Photographer. What that means is I capture people in real situations in an artistic manner both in a candid way (like you getting ready and your ceremony) but occasionally "posed" by giving you some basic direction and capturing your natural responses after.
Couples often tell me they booked me because I capture real moments and genuine expressions. I try not to intrude (too much) on your day and I work to capture what actually happens. I'm always looking for the best shot of you and the people you love. There are times when I may shoot 15 pictures of the same scene, but in one of those shots is the moment that you laughed, cried, or forgot I was there. I may ask you to get ready in front of the window because I know the light will make you look beautiful, but I won't tell you how to get ready. I won't tell you how to cut the cake but I will position you in front of the cake so you are at the best angle. I don't interfere with your ceremony. I capture the moments that you create together. That said, I do take charge when it's time for the family formals. I know how to pose people to make them look natural, feel comfortable and create the most flattering photos possible.
*I enjoy taking traditional family photos but I LOVE the opportunity to create something unique, just for your family if I'm given the time!*
I like your style but can I see more wedding pictures?
For every wedding I photograph, there are usually between 175-500 finished photos that are in a private gallery for the couple. I try to find the balance between maintaining client privacy and using a handful of my favorite photos here so you can see the type of work I do. On my wedding page are a variety of photos from different weddings, both posed and natural. I also write short stories about many of my couples on my BLOG. Each blog post has more pictures from their day and shows a variety of getting ready, the ceremony, couple's shots, and the reception, depending on how long I was with them for. This is a great place to see how I've photographed other beach weddings or specific venues. My weddings the past couple of years have included Manasota Key, Bay Preserve in Osprey, Casey Key Resort, Venice Beach, Venice Yacht Club, Palm Island Resort, Manasota Beach Club, The Waverly, The Gasparilla Inn on Boca Grande, the Marriott Sanibel Harbour Resort and Spa in Ft Myers, Plantation Golf and Country Club, Lido Beach Resort, La Playa Resort in Naples, and a few others. I'm looking forward to photographing at a variety of locations this upcoming year. When we sit down for a consultation, I'm more than happy to show you some of the thousands of photos I've taken for other couples.
Why should I hire you?
By now you've navigated through my main page, probably my price page and are at the end of the FAQ's. You're still here, yeah! The fact is that a simple google search of wedding photographers from the Tampa area to Port Charlotte will give you more than 750 results. You certainly have a choice and of course I want you to book with me. Besides taking great pictures at reasonable prices with a fast turnaround, couples tell me I'm fun and relaxed. Couples love how much I communicate with them. From the first consultation to the Family Photo List we go over before your wedding, I want to know the important people and moments that YOU want photographed and I make sure I get them. I will always be your primary photographer. I am not a big company that will send out someone you've never met or had a conversation with to photograph your day. What you see on my website is my own work and that of my husband Mike, who is my assistant and second shooter. Would it help if I tell you I'm from Michigan and have mid-western values. I believe in doing what I say I'm going to do, I show up before I need to be there, I try to under promise and over deliver. If you still aren't sure, please call me at 305-849-3186 and lets talk or meet up in person for a consultation. I really am nice.
