Question: Help...getting married in March, in search of an affordable/good photographer and florist. Live in Northern NJ

Answer #1
Your Photographer should be at 1/3 of your wedding cost. You DO get what you pay for! (Believe me - I know!) Cheap and quality don't usually go hand in hand. I say fork out the most you can for a photographer and dont cheap out. You'll seriously regret it if you do.
- answered by happilymarried

Answer #2
Christine Foster does amazing affordable photography. She works out of Philadelphia. I am not sure where in North Jersey you are but you might try her. My co-worker just had her in February, if you want to see her pictures check out the portfolio page and look at the bottom row, fourth dot from the right. (The M&Ms w/ Teresa & Joseph are hers as well!)

http://christinefosterphoto.com/Vision Master is good too but more expensive.

http://www.visionmaster.com/index.htmNot sure if you saw this but the NJ Weddings website has a photographers gallery with samples. You could see if anything there lights your fancy and then investigate their references.

http://www.njwedding.com/photogallery/Unfortunately I don't know any florists in North Jersey. Good luck and I hope this helps!
- answered by Kristy

Answer #3
I used the florist at the Sheraton Crossroads in Mahwah. It was 3 years ago he is still there. (201) 529-0660We chose red roses, 2 shades for the floral arrangements with red carnations to add fullness. I think it was $75 a centerpiece.There was one screwup he only left us one basket for 2 flower girls, otherwise everything else was perfect.Photographer I wouldn't recommend.
- answered by no_frills

Answer #4
Try this site...

http://www.newjerseyweddings.org/the search engine allows you to search by county. I would suggest that you meet with your photographer and florist first and see their portfolio. if you find someone you like but they are too expensive, tell them. the photographer I loved was way too expensive, so he recommended someone he knew that did great work but she was just starting out and didn't have any clients yet. If they simply drop their price, they probably arent doing much business... big red flag
- answered by twosey

Answer #5
You don't PICK one from online but seeing their websites and getting information that way will certainly be very helpful. You have to do the WORK sweetie - there's no shortcut. You have to simply narrow the choices down to 2 or 3 that are your favorites then meet with them. It's like an interview.
- answered by bestadvicechick

Answer #6
I'm a photographer and generally don't do weddings, but I can give you some pointers. First, there are different levels of wedding photography (in terms of price and what you get). The cheapest is generally under $1,000 and you can expect to find a fair amount of beginners, or a seasoned photographer that will keep it very basic. The next level is generally around $3,000 to $5,000. These are more professional photographers that might show up with an assistant or a second shooter and might dazzle you with their post production. $5,000 to $10,000 is stepping in the realm of luxury. You can expect two professional shooters, and a really nice leather bound album. Note that a really good quality album can run anywhere from $500 to $5,000 (cost), multiply that by 3 and you have what you pay for it. Then there are the $10,000 to $30,000 photographers. These people shoot with digital medium format cameras and will have an entire staff working the wedding.I'm also getting married and am finding it tough to find a photographer I trust. You might want to put an ad on Craigslist asking for samples and giving people a budget that you have set aside for a photographer. Be very cautious about working with someone who will work for less than $1,000 as they probably cannot guaranty consistently good results. You may also want to check in with a photography store like Penn Camera (not Ritz) and see if they can refer someone to you. If not, check with B&H in NY as they are the largest distributor of photograhy equipment and are bound to have some names for you.Good luck and congrats!
- answered by largegrasseatingmonster

Answer #7
I used Lamar Wedding Center in Montclair NJ. My pictures are beautiful. We bought a small package for $1100.00 and we got all of our proofs, the album and a 16 x 20 Photo and the disc with all the photos on it.www.lamarweddingcenter.com
- answered by EmmaNicole

Answer #8
I can't give you any specific names of vendors. I can suggest taking a look at www.pictage.com and viewing some of the photographers in your area. There are a lot who have websites listed along with prices and portfolios, etc. I have found a lot of great photographers through the site and I'm sure you can find the same.
- answered by VAWeddingSpecialist