From The Wedding Report dot com

The average cost of a wedding drops another 14% in Q2/2009

The average cost of a wedding drops another 14% from $19,212 in Q1/2009 to $16,546 in Q2/2009. Results are based on 909 survey samples of both couples and wedding vendors across the US, a 3.25% margin of error. Average cost based on weighted average demand.

Here are what other vendors are saying about the market;

“I've been in biz 32 years (own a bridal salon) and I've never seen sales plummet like they have in the last year. Biz is down 75% and it’s the same for friends who own shops across the country. It’s so scary! I don't know if I'll last through the winter because of competition.”

“Brides are spending down in ways we have never seen before. They are waiting more to the last minute to buy. They are allowing family and friends to sway their buying decisions.”

Despite the additional slide in spending, there appears to be a leveling off. Samples from July 09 surveys already show a leveling in spending of bigger ticket items, an increase in the number of guests, and an increase in demand for destination weddings. It is too early to tell, but we could be seeing a bottom.

Items that saw the largest increase in spending; transportation rentals and decorations, with increases as much as 68%. Items that saw the largest decrease in spending; jewelry, reception and ceremony accessories, with decreases as much as 52%.

Items that saw the largest increase in demand; Combined services (ceremony and reception) including music and services related to the reception, with increases as much as 180%.

Items that saw the largest decrease in demand; items related to the honeymoon and day-of-coordination, with decreases as much as 54%.

Stanwood Camano News Wedding Guide

This year we had the honor of being chosen for the cover of the Stanwood Camano News Wedding Guide 2009.

Senior Ambassador Program

Senior Ambassador Program

• Be someone special in your school! Become a Hope Haven Photography Ambassador!
  
• Look to your friends and family to help you earn a photography session of a lifetime!
  
• A Referral* is a paid booking for a Family, Child, Senior, Maternity, Engagement, Wedding, Modeling or even Corporate Headshot session.
  

  For each referral*, Ambassadors earn:
  • $100 off their discounted Autograph Portfolio, up to the full price of the album
  • 5% off their photo order, up to 35%
  

All Ambassadors qualify for extraordinary, Ambassador-Only discounts

It is all about getting you and your friends the best possible professional photography for their senior portraits. Every Ambassador qualifies for very special discounts and extra products. Each Ambassador is automatically registered to win a Laptop, Video iPod, iPod nano and even $250 cash! Ambassadors can earn a free "Autograph Portfolio" with your 10 best portraits and room for all of your friends to sign. (Regularly an $800 value!)

All Ambassadors need to have their pictures taken between January 1st, 2009 and May 1st, 2009. As an Ambassador all you need to do is show off your photos from your free session with Hope Haven Photography. All Ambassadors should be representing only Hope Haven Photography during this time, and their Senior year. Remember….you don't have to be a model to be an ambassador, all you have to be is outgoing and spread the word.

BENEFITS OF BEING AN AMBASSADOR

• You get two photos sessions for FREE

• You get to SAVE HUGE on your photos

• You can get free products and/or free gift cards

• Parents can save some serious cash off senior photos

• There is NO cap to the amount of rewards you can receive via referrals

Hope Haven offering 16 Senior Portrait Scholarships this year.

Last year we offered senior portrait scholarships and we were very pleased with reception of the idea at the high school. This year we are very happy to announce we will be offering 16 such scholarships at 8 different area high schools. We have also increased the scholarship amount from $500 to $1500 each.

2009-2010 Hope Haven Mentor Series Scholarship

High Schools Invited

Stanwood High School
Arlington High School
Marysville High School
Mount Vernon High
La Conner High School
Bellingham High School

Each school will receive 2 senior portrait scholarships, valued at almost $1500.00

Hope Haven Photography will provide, completely without any fee, the following:
Session Fee – 3 Hour Session in Studio or location off-site - Value $500
Print Package (all prints are unframed unless otherwise specified)
Proof Portfolio – Value $150
1 – 11x14 – Touched up Image and Framed – Value $400
4 – 8x10’s – Value $100
8 – 5x7’s – Value $145
DVD Slideshow of Images - $100
DVD of low res images for web and email (with permissions for facebook and myspace) – Value $50


Deadline for application – March 15, 2009
Announcement of Recipients – March 31, 2009
Deadline for Portrait Session Completion – May 17, 2009

New Generations Portrait

We have taken 4 generations from my family and 'accidentally' created a phenomenon and are now offering this to the public.

We will digitally enhance up to 8 photographs and create a uniform work of art. Each portrait will be carefully integrated with the other to create a lasting and loving piece that will last generations.

We did all this and created this for our family.

Wedding Officiants

I am trying to get back to the idea of posting some (hopefully) helpful information for brides and grooms for their weddings.

This topic is about wedding officiants. While there are so many types, the church-based minister, the brother who is 'on-line ordained', the professional officiant who does this as a living, and the justice of the peace, we have actually shot them all....well not literally, just with a canon. :-)

I don't think there is a best type. I can say that your officiant will make or break your ceremony and as such is an important decision. I have stood (yes, the photographers are almost always standing) through 95+ degree weather and heard the longest and most boring stories from some officiants to the most poignant and tearfully ceremonies that make it hard for me to hold my camera still.

So for my best input - here are some things that will help you determine which type of officiant is best for you and somethings to definently ask for.

1) In trying to determine which type of officiant, ask yourself, do you have anyone currently in your life you want to share such a sigificant moment with? This could be your current pastor, minister, priest, family member, doctor, lawyer, ect. If you do not, then you will want to consider a justice of the peace or a professional officiant. The justice of the peace will perform a ceremony only at the courthouse, so if that is not your venue of choice, a professional officiant will be the best way to go.

2) Choosing your officiant can only be done in person. In my opinion, email and even phone calls can show you only a small amount of information about a person. When you meet in person, you will see how they are dressed, how they present themselves, their manners, the care for which they speak. After all, you are hiring them to speak. If your officiant is cracking rude jokes the entire time you are meeting with them, reshuffle, redeal and move on.

So here, in my humble photographers opinion, is what is helpful in an officiant:

1. Ready to take over if needed, but willing to allow you to fully customize the ceremony to your specifications. There are so many neat 'meaning filled' things to do during a ceremony, that will have to be it's own separate blog entry.

2. Great communicator, both before being booked and after. A must-do is a planning meeting, held closer to the wedding to go over all the timing and the details. Some of this can be done over email and phone calls, but there is nothing that can replace that great face-to-face chat.

3. Attending the rehearsal, I cannot believe I have to type this. But yes, we have been to one wedding where the bride and groom didn't want to pay the officiant extra to attend the rehearsal. This is not requested, this should be mandatory. BTW - we as photographers attend rehearsals as well.

4. Make sure your officiant is working from something written down. You don't want your officiant trying to remember the vows (like a Chief Justice we all know) and messing them up on you very important day.

5. Finally make certain that your officiant has a plan for signing the wedding license. This can be a beautiful photo op and if done right can even make beautiful shots for your officiants album as well.

So that's it, the best information I can think of to help you find your best officiant. I can say this, I have two very close officiants, one is my sister and one is a very very good friend.

Wedding Packages and Prices

Just click on the image for a full size listing of our packages as well as a special discount offer.

NEW - We now accept monthly payments !!!

Season of Seniors

I so love the season of senior portraits. Getting to know these young people on the brink of theirs lives as adults is awesome. Here is just small sampling of the beauty captured this year.

Why no one else can photograph during the formal sessions?

I have a rule, or a very strong request during the photography of the formal poses. No one can shoot, except me.

Very often at weddings while I am making formal portrait photographs of groups of people, their friends or family want to stand next to me to try and get the same photo I am taking. This is not allowed for several reasons.

First, I am usually on a tight schedule as these photos are often taken just before the wedding ceremony is scheduled to begin and it is hard to stop and explain why I do not want them around with their cameras.

Some people have told me they think it is because I am afraid of losing revenue from print sales or that I am feeling jealous. It is not that. However, I did study with masters to be able to pose the groups in a certain way and achieve a brandable look for our company. It would be considered stealing to photograph someone elses work of art and that is what I consider our formals to be.

We often also use studio lights for formals, other flashes will interfere with these lights.

However the number 1 reason is I want everyone in my photo to be looking in the same direction. I illustrate this below.

Latest Wedding

I have fallen woefully behind in my blogging. All I can say in my defense is that I am not falling behind in my photo production for all our weddings. We are on time in all our deliveries and cranking right along as promised!



Here are a few of my favorite shots from the last few weddings. One is from Ray's Boathouse in Seattle, and the other is from the Lakeside in Seattle. Both made for beautiful weddings. But, nothing beats the staff at Lakeside! Enjoy!

Wedding Albums

Some of you might know that we use Graphistudio exclusively for our coffee table type Albums. What you might not know is that they are from Italy.

After sampling so many albums in the US, we turned to an international supplier to offer us the quality and cost effectiveness that we were looking for.

To see all the options that graphistudio has to offer please check out this link: http://www.graphistudio.com/usa/products/Book/index.html

With our extra's packages you get:
And 8x10 coffee table ablum, with 20 pages
Plus 2 parents albums
The Perfect Package and Lifetime Package add additional pocket book copies.

You might notice that we only increase our prices marginally to add these wonderful books, when other photographers charge a lot for albums. We feel that these albums are an important part of a wedding package. It is my hope that more and more brides and grooms will opt for the album package with the knowledge that these books will last a lifetime.

ENJOY!

PS - Book delivery is a big deal for us here, with wine and cheese and lots of fun!