Online Vendor Reviews

If your vendors had your more upset than bad weather on your wedding day, let others know.

Have you ever been out to a restaurant, only to leave so upset about the food quality, or service that you rushed right to your computer to give a them a bad review on sites like Yelp.com, Metromix.com or Citysearch.com?

While it may be little consolation after having a bad wedding experience, but some of these sites actually go beyond eating & drinking and your bad reviews or rave remarks for a vendor may just help sway another unsuspecting couple towards a great vendor as much as it could save them from a bad one. Not to mention give you a little more satisfaction than ranting on Facebook or Twitter.

As a home owner I'm a big user of Angie's List (a subscriber based rating service). While the site got some hype last year when they started doing medical reviews, I never knew until an issue of their monthly magazine did an article on wedding disasters, that vendors from caterers to photographers are also listed.

So don't forget after the wedding, post up your own thoughts on everything from your wedding vendors to your reception hall rental. You never know, some vendors check these site frequently and may even be grateful enough to give you a discount on future services (say maybe a photographer throwing in some 8x10's for free).

Also, if you're still in the planning stages, don't overlook using these sites for yourself, or to check on vendors you may already have booked to head off any possible issues that may arise.

On a final note; be wary of what you do put in writing. Especially if you had a particularly bad experience. Stick to the facts and try to keep any emotion out of it. The internet isn't as wild as it use to be, and liable cases are popping up all over the country. While a vendor might not win a case against you, they could ruin your honeymoon too, if you need to spend money on a lawyer to defend yourself in a liable case. And God forbid if you have to take the vendor to court for breach of contract. If that's the case, it might be best not to say anything till the trial is over.

www.VincentDavidJohnson.com

Save a Hundred Dollars on your wedding

As someone who was married with in the last 5 years, I can tell you without a doubt the best way my wife & I could have saved a few hundred dollars, would have been by not spending $15 each on a handful of magazines and putting those $30 or $50 fancy wedding planner style trapper keepers/scrap books back on the shelf at Borders.

Most of the info in there can easily be found on internet wedding sites, by bloggers and know-it-alls like me. Also, we forget sometimes the best resources are right in front of us. Chances are you know at least a couple of people who have been married in the last few years. Especially if you are younger.

While the popping up of sites like Yelp.com, Angieslist.com & the old tried and true Better Business Bureau BBB.org, are all great tools, nothing beats hearing it from people you know and can trust as opposed to possible fake reviews, or overly picky brides.

Be sure to ask more than just "Did you like them?", as some couples might have a different budget, different taste and hidden factors like their parents might have been paying some of the bills.

Also, if you are at a wedding take mental notes on how the vendors & their services were. Don't be afraid to ask to see a couple wedding video or album, most will gladly show them off, but don't assume if they don't have it yet it's the vendors fault. I routinely have couples who take between 4-10 months to get back to me on their albums.

www.VincentDavidJohnson.com

Blog Fade was so 2009

My son (Alexander Xerxes Johnson) & I. (photo by my wife Jang Mi Johnson)

So I think we can all say that pretty much world wide 2009 was a year quite a few of us would rather forget. Short of the birth of my first born child in June, I think I would have to agree.

I started this Blog back in the fall of 2008 and while I'll admit it's not the daily update of wedding trends all upcoming brides are looking for, I can't say it was ever intended to be update more than 2-3 times a month. I look at it as timeless information that should be read from the first to the last entry.

But, many of you might have noticed something internet trend watchers called "Blog Fade". Which is where somebody starts to blog, but for whatever reason, those blog posts fall from being frequent to none at all.

You'll also may have noticed my Blog Fade happened in June, so if you can put the pieces together, I've been on daddy duty most of the week, since the majority of my shooting work is done on weekends and blog entries have been push aside.

Eitherway, I'm posting here to tell you that 2010 is going to be a lot more active than the previous 6 months.

Look for;
Photographer recommendations
Best of images from weddings I've recently shot
Questions to ask your potential photographer
Web sites for wedding ideas & info
Post wedding ideas of photos & much more

Send me your feedback on photographers you've seen or used, as well as photo ideas you like or comment on my work & ideas. I look forward to hearing from you in 2010 and wish all you would-be couples the best in 2010.

Cheers,
Vincent D. Johnson

www.VincentDavidJohnson.com

Make your wedding more image friendly #1

Shooting into the Sun doesn't always turn out this nice.

Its All About The Light

The most common photography question I receive from people is "How do I make a good picture?" and I tell them its all about light.

Understanding how light works and where it will be on your wedding day is key to making sure you get a good photos.

Having professional gear, a degree in photography and 15 years experience helps, but that only gets you so far.

When it comes to your wedding day, think about the lighting.

One light that never changes is the sun. From the Druids at Stonehenge to the Aztecs in Central America, people have known where the Sun will be for millennia, so with the internet it shouldn't be to hard for you to knock it out in 10 minutes.

First up, where are you getting married? Church, park, beach, banquet hall, in a cave?
Second, what time are you getting married?

Forget about clouds or rain. If you are outside, think about which direction you will be standing, surroundings that may block light and how that effects your background as that is the one thing you can predict.

Having an October wedding at 5:30 when sunset is at 6:15 may give you that awesome golden light, but if you are in a small valley or depression, trees or hills may mask or block out that light.

Late afternoon can still give you harsh shadows, but the pay off comes in the reds, greens & blue sky.

Midday has it's issues as well.

Harsh sun from directly over head can make nasty shadows, but scheduling after noon may lead to it's own issues. I was married on the Chicago lakefront, on the patio of a beautiful fieldhouse. This put us between the fieldhouse (West) & the lake (East). Besides not wanting to have our wedding too early in the day, photos before 11am would see less true colors in the sky & the lake to the East. But after 1pm the patio area would be covered in shade, meaning to get proper color from my wife & I, the sky and background would have to be over exposed.

We settled on Noon as our start time and our ceremony was covered in bright sun light with a fantastic skyline and lake in the back ground.

Next time you'll see why I also mentioned indoor locations too.

www.VincentDavidJohnson.com