Crichton Wedding by Laura Reaney

I have known Allie since middle school, so it was very exciting to see her get married and crazy to be photographing it! The wind prevented the ceremony from being held at the Squaw Valley High Camp, but I think the ceremony in the valley looking up at the mountains was even more beautiful. It was a tearful ceremony and Allie and Adam wrote their own vows, which I always love hearing. The girls were troopers as we took photos in the cold, they all looked wonderful. The reception was full of cute personal touches, it was obvious that Allie and Adam worked very had to make sure everyone enjoyed their special day!  

Woodley Wedding by Laura Reaney

With the beginning of Spring comes the beginning of wedding season! Cristal and Alex are some of the sweetest, kindest people I have ever had the pleasure of working for. I experienced a few photographic firsts with the Woodleys. We took their basketball themed engagement photos in Lawlor Events Center and on their wedding day we took photos of the entire wedding party under the Reno arch. Father Mike at Our Lady of the Snows was kind enough to ask me to take a picture of all the guests at the wedding ceremony and Sharon, the coordinator at Boomtown, made my job at the reception so much easier as she had everything scheduled down to the minute. There were so many fun traditions and dances at the reception that all the guests participated in. The Woodley’s wedding was so beautiful and fun, it has set the bar very high for the rest of my weddings this year!


Why I don't charge by the hour by Laura Reaney

Every wedding photographer knows how long weddings usually last. Every. Single. One. 

So why is it that some wedding photographers will charge you thousands of dollars for 4 hours of service (and only give you a limited number of photos in a limited number of forms, but we’ll talk about that later), and then charge you extra for every hour that they stay after that? Because they know that when the 4 hours are up and you haven’t even cut the cake or danced with your father or thrown the bouquet yet, of course you are going to want your photographer to stay. It’s your wedding day, everything looks so beautiful, all your family and friends are here and in that moment you don’t care what you have to pay, as long as everything gets captured. 

 

Photographers know that and will exploit it to their advantage. 

 

I don’t do that.  I charge one flat fee and with that you know exactly what you’re getting, including my services from the time you are getting your makeup done to the time you make your grand exit and everything in between. 

 

You should not have to think about what your vendors are doing on your wedding day. What if your caterer stopped making dinner half way through and said you needed to pay more for the rest of your guests to eat? What if your DJ stopped playing music before the party was over and said he’s gonna need a check to play any longer? These vendors have worked enough weddings to know exactly what is going to make your day easy and what is going to make them more money.  

 

Personally, I don’t get it. Aside from what I feel is my duty to capture every special moment of your special day so that you can share those pictures with your children and grandchildren and great-grandchildren, as a wedding vendor I get to be around some of the happiest people in the world on a daily basis. Who wouldn’t want to stay till the end of the party!