Just as a refresher, here are some shots from Cliff at our venue:
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| Photo via Cliff Mautner Photography |
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| Photo via Cliff Mautner Photography |
And a few from Mike Landis:
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| Photo via Mike Landis Photographer |
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| Image via Mike Landis Photographer |
I had anxiety dreams about it for a week. Like to the point where Mr. Ly told me I needed to take a break from everything wedding related and focus on something else to be able to get a good night's sleep. And STILL I stressed about it. We had pros and cons for each. But I still couldn't choose. I loved both photographers for very different reasons and had a really hard time coming to any sort of conclusion.
I posted on Facebook eventually asking any of my friends who had used either photographer in the past to message me, and let me know how their experience was. I heard great things about both, and then I got one message that changed it all. My hairdresser sent me a message about how Cliff had shot her son and daughter-in-law's wedding, and she HATED him. I wrote back asking for more details, telling her how much we loved him, and really wanting the confirmation that hiring him would be worth spending almost 1/4 of our entire budget on photography. She responded that her son and daughter-in-law had felt the same way about him when they met him, then on the day of the wedding, he was a terror. These are her words, she said he was a terror, made the bride really upset, and wasn't cooperative with the photographs. This really made me nervous. I know he's a professional, and wants to get shots done in his way, but to be called a terror is scary. My hairdresser can be a bit dramatic and he was so laid back when we met, I needed a different opinion. I called my MOH who has had the experience to be in a wedding shot by each photographer. I asked if she noticed anything terror-like about Cliff Mautner at her brother's wedding. She did not, but she wasn't in the bridal party and only worked with him for family shots, so she couldn't really say how he was before the ceremony.
Surprisingly, none of this helped my indecision, I would say I had decided, and then an hour later go back and change my mind. In the end I told Mr. Ly that he had to choose because I was incapable of making a decision. He is a super rational decision maker, and to him the choice was easy. He liked Mike Landis a lot when we met with him, we haven't heard anything bad about him from people who have worked with him, and we love his pictures. The bonus is we will save almost $1500 by choosing him. Which we couldn't count in the actual decision, because we had to decided to take money out of the equation when making the choice.
Once he made the decision and with his rational thinking and calm nature about it, I was calmed. We signed the contract with Mike Landis, and I feel really good about that decision. I think if we had gone with Cliff, I would have been really nervous leading up to the wedding about what might happen on the day of our wedding. I am sure he is amazing to work with, you don't get to be listed as one of the top 10 photographers in the world if you're not, but once the seed was planted in my mind it was hard to shake.
I never imagined choosing a photographer would have been such a hard choice for me. I thought because I was so familiar with all the work of the photographers I like, it would be an easy choice. One would stand out among the rest, or there would be a clear winner. In the end, I feel good about the way we went, and I know we will have amazing photographs.
Did anyone else struggle with a decision so much they couldn't make the call in the end? Anyone else have their fiance make a huge decision for them?
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