Nora

Hi Everyone, Yes, I am the photographer that shot Josie's wedding and was sad to read here that she's having a bad experience with me since I thought the pictures came out very nice. I have contacted her privately to find out what the issue(s) is/are and if there's anything I can do about since this was the first I heard anything and don't know if she's unhappy with the quality of the photographs, my response time before/after, attitude the day of... I want brides to have a good experience and be happy with me and their photographs (as any professional photographer would) and I would say communicate with your photographer so that he/she knows what's expected of them before/during/after the wedding and if at any point you are unhappy then let them know first and give them the opportunity to fix it (if possible). If your photographer doesn't respond then absolutely post a bad review so to warn other brides. Obviously, I can't go back and reshoot the wedding but if there's anything that I can do now to help make her experience better then I will. I do feel a certain amount of responsibility in that most brides are hiring their wedding photographer for the first time and it's a one time deal so I try to anticipate and answer questions they may not even know they have but every bride has different expectations and some are ecstatic after the fact and others not so much so it's difficult to please everyone if you don't know what they want (i.e. more candids, more portraits, more details, less details, etc.) Occassionally shots of certain things get sacrificed for others and as a photographer knowing what's important to the bride helps in making that choice so communication is very important as it is in any relationship -Nora

I'm glad you wrote this review because I think that's the whole point of reviewing something, telling your experience so others can make a more informed decision. If people can't visit first then reviews are even more important! If everyone wrote glowing reviews about every resort/photographer/florist/etc. then the purpose of reviews would be eliminated. Thanks for your honest review of your experience

Quote: Originally Posted by gina g Hi guys, Posted something on here but i think it's gone to totally th wrong page...doh!!! Just booked our wedding at RPRM for 25/03/2011. Its the just the two of us travelling as this will be our second ( and last!) time, so any tips on what we can do to make it super special would be great! i have a few worries from readinf Trip advisor reviews of the hotel, does it really smell mouldy and damp!!!! thanx, Gx Hi Gina, Regarding the moldy and damp questions...after staying at a few resorts/hotels in the Carribean, the only ones in my experience that don't have that feel are ones where the rooms don't open to the outside and instead open to an air conditioned hallway where there's an extra buffer between your room and the outside. The only place that I stayed at that was like this was the Sun Palace in Cancun. There is so much humidity down there that I think a lot of people aren't used to it and to me it does feel a little humid inside the room but I am used to dry weather so if you're from Texas or the south then you may not feel it. After living in Vegas for 5 years I feel every drop of moisture in the air! -Nora

It's really devious for someone to plot out his cheating over time, exchanging emails and planning meetings. Plenty of times he could have said to him "this is not right and I shouldn't be doing this to my family" but he didn't. They even went out in public together so it almost seems like he wanted to be caught!!! I think there are some things you just can't forgive. I don't believe in divorce but in a situation like this I would say fraud is involved since the person is not the person you thought you married. He doesn't deserve her or any woman (except for maybe the girl he cheated with) and I think she should leave him and never look back.

The plus here is that you're date is a Friday and not a Saturday since I guarantee most great photogs are already booked for Saturday but may not be Friday and may be willing to work with you on price. I love Stephanie Williams Photography but I think she starts around $4K A photographer that I've personally shot with and recommend is Erika Earl. You can check her out at www.erikaearl.com

How do things like this happen? People you think you know aren't who you thought they were. She waited until she was 40 to marry who she thought was "the one" and he cheated. Stay strong Sandra!! There are great guys out there!

Congrats! I'll be shooting a wedding there at the end of June so be sure to check out the photos when they're posted!

He was the officiant at Jennifer's wedding (Outdoor_Girl1010) yesterday and I thought he was great. Very nice when I met him before the ceremony. Said there are no photography restrictions which is typical for an outdoor wedding but just wanted to be sure. I didn't hear everything since I was busy moving around and shooting and the ceremony listed only about 20 minutes but he was smiling the whole time which is always good. I've run into a few grumpy and/or mean officiants and he was definitely not one of them. Don't think you'll need to invite him for dinner. You can if you want but he seemed like a busy guy and probably does multiple weddings a day.

Don't know how much you need to stick to a Saturday wedding date but most if not all vendors will offer discounts for off-season or weekday weddings (i.e. Friday ceremony?) Most of your guests are staying longer than just a couple days anyway so why not have your ceremony on Sunday or even better a Thursday when the resorts aren't as busy? You'll get better service (in my opinion) since they won't have multiple weddings happening at the same time and you'll get MUCH better prices. Vendors typically only do one wedding a day so time is valuable on Saturday but other days not so much

I know how all you brides are interested in photos since reading reviews about a resort is one thing but, as they say, a picture is worth a thousand words! I had the opportunity to photograph Jennifer (Outdoor_Girl1010) and Cory's wedding yesterday at the Paradisus Palma Real in Punta Cana and it was amazing. Here are some of the photos and I will add a slideshow soon...

Quote: Originally Posted by negrildreamer i met with several photographers and it was pretty standard to get payment in full before the wedding. there was also a deposit that was required. i am sure some newer photographers looking to get started in the business would be more flexible. maybe a student? I too require payment in full prior to the wedding especially for DW but in the US as well. If couples want to order additional products (i.e. albums, prints, canvas prints, etc), stuff that is not included in their package, they can definitely do so and pay at a later date. So I would say if you're worried then go with a low package and add stuff later (you may pay more). Also, see if if the contract states that the photographer guarantees the pictures delievered within a certain period of time. Most photographers are the ones that supply the contract but I don't think it's unreasonable to request that an addendum be added stating the expectation of the couple of the turnaround time for the pictures. If a photographer quotes you a certain amount of time and sticks to it then he/she should not have a problem putting it in writing. Newer photographers I'm sure are more flexible as well but be careful since you may get what you pay for. When I travel and have to hire a second photographer who I hardly know I have the same reservations (i.e. will the show, be on time, etc) so I always look at quality of the website, equipment and basically ask myself, does this person have anything to lose (i.e. reputation) if they flake the day of? If the answer is yes then I feel a lot more confident than hiring someone who emails me pictures they took at a relatives wedding that they uploaded on smugmug. Make sense? Professionals have their reputations to protect.

Hi All, Sorry I haven't been on here all weekend!! I planned to post the winner on Friday before a wedding that I shot on Saturday but didn't get a chance Anyway, there were TONS of great entries and I enjoyed reading them all. I am going to contact everyone who didn't win individually. Many who had weddings on Fridays or Sundays didn't get chosen just based on dates available and my being booked on that Saturday and not wanting to cut it too close with travel. With all of that being said, it was too difficult to just choose one winner so there are two.... Marissa and Patrick who are getting married in Jamaica on November 23, 2010 AND Kendra and Derek who are getting married in Key West on August 9, 2010 CONGRATS to both of you and I will be in touch with you as well as everyone who entered. Thank you for taking the time to enter and I look forward to posting the photos here at a later date!

Quote: Originally Posted by DreamingofSunshine Hi Everyone! My name is Lynn and i have just confirmed to have my wedding at the RIU RM Dec. 4th 2010. I'm super excited to be having it there and even more excited to have found this forum about the place. I've spent a lot of time reading and you guys seem to know a lot. its comforting that the same questions i have other have had too. On a side note i have also just posted a :feels too good to be true i just won a free vacation post". i'll copy and paste what i wrote there because i'm really confused and would love your insight...... please see below ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ I went to a bridal expo a few weeks ago and today i got a call that i had won a prize. Apparently i won an all inclusive vacation but in order to get it i have to sit through a 90 minute preview presentation. the organization is National Health Styles see website below. National Healthstyles Foundation Since we "won" the drawing we are guranteed the prize, however i'm a bit skeptical of this since its seems "too good to be true" . Has anyone heard of this foundation? been to a preview or have any idea of its legit? Any advice is greatly appreciated. Thanks! Lynn A few words of caution regarding the too good to be true prizes. My FI and I went to a few of these and you WILL get what they promise HOWEVER you have to jump through a lot of hoops and in the long run you probably won't use the prize you earn. We entered drawings at a local bridal show in LA and we went on two presentations. Although we "earned" our prizes which was an all expenses paid vacation to Cabo for 3 days and 2 nights AND a 2 night hotel stay in Palm Springs (or a few other cities to choose from) we never actually got to use them. For one thing, the 3 days and 2 nights in Cabo didn't seem like enough since we would be traveling 2 out of the 3 days. There was still a $100 tax each that we had to pay (and I believe we did) but then the days we requested were never available and it had to be Tues-Thurs, blah...blah...blah. Basically we wasted our time going to the presentations and never got to use our prizes One other time we did go on another presentation for time shares in Las Vegas for 2 tickets to Mamma Mia which we did get and used (worth $150). In hindsight, we were there a lot longer than the actual presentation and wouldn't do it again since it ruined our day. They provided transportation to and from our hotel but we had to wait for 20 minutes before the presentation which lasted an hour, and then had to wait another 20-30 minutes for them to issue our prizes so we could leave and then instead of a taxi back it was a group shuttle that we had to wait to fill up before they would leave to drop us back off at our hotel. So, what was supposed to be a one hour presentation actually ended up wasting a total of 8 hours of our lives (4 hours each) for a lousy $150 while we were on vacation. Next time we will pay for the tickets ourselves instead of earning them the hard way.

I have been to Moon Palace once to eat dinner and will be there again in April 2010 and it is a gorgeous resort! Close to the hotel zone of Cancun but also off by itself and very spread out.

Quote: Originally Posted by JENANDKEV Maria, Just wondering when did you do the trash the dress pics like the one at the bottom of your post? Is it after the ceremony before the reception? Do you bring another dress to change into for the reception? The TTD session is usually done on a different day so that your hair and makeup don't get ruined as well as the dress on your wedding day!