Should I Print My Wedding Photos?

Should I Print My Wedding Photos?

The great debate continues. Just kidding, this isn’t a debate at all. As an Orlando Wedding Photographer, I have to say that you should absolutely print your wedding photos. The old saying about what happens if your house is on fire, what do you grab first? You grab your wedding and family photos. As cheesy as the saying is, it’s true for a reason. Do this for me. Grab your favorite beverage, whether it be a fine glass of red wine, a pbr, or some apple juice. Now walk around your home, which is your favorite room? What room do you feel the most love in? Sit in your favorite chair and look around you. Imagine a portrait of your family hanging on the wall, what emotion does that bring? You’re smiling, aren’t you? I know you are.

Just a couple of days sgo, I delivered our Story Box album to a client for her maternity session. The joy and emotion that she displayed was amazing to see and as a photographer, worth all of the work and love we put into the wedding day or session. For my wife and I, we also printed our photos in the Story Box heirloom and get to see them every day, we love those photos. There is something wonderful about having and being able to hold these memories…and cry all over them. lol.

Let me ask you a question. How often do you go back and look at photos from major events in your life? I’m going to guess not often because they are on a flash drive somewhere or on Facebook and you only see them once a year because Facebook reminds you. This. Will. Change. Everything.

You get to see your loved ones whenever you want! Framed custom art of you and yours on your wall for everyone to enjoy, ask questions about, reminisce, and so much more. I apologize if I get carried away trying to persuade for this argument, but I’m all in on it. I believe it’s for everyone to enjoy. Our digital world is only going to become more digitized so these memories deserve a place, not only in our hearts but in our homes as well.

Orlando Wedding Venues

Orlando Wedding Venues

Orlando is home to absolutely beautiful wedding venues so whatever your style is, you have a lot to choose from. Luckily for you engaged couples, you can head over to www.weddingvenuemap.com and filter through all of the options until you see your perfect venue match. We’ve had the pleasure of photographing at most of these venues and each wedding is unique with great staff. I might be biased, but one of my favorite Orlando Wedding Venues is the Orlando Science Center where my wife and I got married <3 I have not had a chance to photograph a wedding there yet, but I look forward to that day! Without further adieu, here are some amazing Orlando wedding venues for you to help with your planning.

Orlando Wedding Venues

Venue Name: 1010 West

Venue Style Categories: Unique, Historic

Maximum Guest Count: 300

Price Range: $ Affordable

Indoor / Outdoor / Both: Indoor

Catering: Preferred List

Bar: Choose Your Own

Website: https://www.1010west.com

Email: info@1010west.com

Phone: 321-444-3584

1010 West is a hidden gem in Central Florida. Just south of downtown Orlando, it’s a unique space like no other. This historic airplane hangar has a modern, industrial vibe with a rounded roof and indoor market lights. The textures all come together just right including wood, brick and concrete. There is nothing like this venue! 

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Venue Name: 1885 Events at Rollins College

Venue Style Categories: Historic, Religious Setting, Unique

Maximum Guest Count: 200

Price Range: $$ - Average

Indoor / Outdoor / Both: Both

Catering: Included

Bar: Included

Website: https://1885events.com/

Email: cschloot@rollins.edu

Phone: 407-646-2541

Knowles Chapel at Rollins College has a long history of exclusive use for weddings granted to only their alumni. The college has added a new reception space with an outdoor or indoor cocktail hour area combined with a large reception space with a stunning fireplace focal point. The venue can be rented for both ceremony and reception or just the reception venue space and is also a wonderful option for Winter Park wedding rehearsal dinners. 

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Venue Name: 310 Lakeside

Venue Style Categories: Restaurant, Waterfront, Ballroom

Maximum Guest Count: 100

Price Range: $$ Average

Indoor / Outdoor / Both: Both

Catering: Included

Bar: Included

Website: https://310restaurant.com/orlando-310-restaurants-party

Email: events@310restaurant.com

Phone: 407-730-6249

310 Lakeside is located in the heart of downtown Orlando, just across the street from Lake Eola. With an intimate patio with a garden feel, you have endless possibilities of photo opportunities using this area for your intimate wedding ceremony or as the backdrop of your portraits. The indoor private dining is just the right size with floor to ceiling windsor and a romantic vibe. 

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Venue Name: Azalea Lodge at Mead Gardens

Venue Style Categories: Garden, Park, Ballroom

Maximum Guest Count: 150

Price Range: $$ - Average

Indoor / Outdoor / Both: Both

Catering: Included

Bar: Included

Website: https://www.dubsdreadcatering.com/azalea-lodge-mead-gardens

Email: events@historicdubs.com

Phone: 407-650-9558

Newly managed by Dubsdread Catering, the Azalea Lodge at Mead Gardens has both natural beauty and rustic charm. The 48-acre garden is full of tucked away spaces for the perfect photos. This wedding venue has multiple ceremony location choices and is famous for its amphitheater. With new upgrades coming in 2020, the reception space is a blank canvas for you to design. 

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Venue Name: Bella Collina

Venue Style Categories: Ballroom, Golf/Country Club, Elopement

Maximum Guest Count: 250

Price Range: $$$ - Luxury

Indoor / Outdoor / Both: Both

Catering: Included

Bar: Included

Website: https://www.bellacollina.com/weddings-events/weddings

Email: weddingsandevents@bellacollina.com

Phone: 407-469-4941

What’s not to love about this Tuscan inspired wedding venue? As one of Central Florida’s most sought after spaces, Bella Collina has the feel of a destination wedding to Italy just 35 minutes from downtown Orlando. The beautifully landscaped grounds provide many options for ceremony options and both indoor and outdoor reception spaces. 

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Venue Name: Dr. Phillips House

Venue Style Categories: Garden, Historic, Inn / B&B

Maximum Guest Count: 200

Price Range: $$ - Average

Indoor / Outdoor / Both: Both

Catering: Included

Bar: Included

Website: http://www.drphillipshouse.com

Email: angie@milleniacatering.com

Phone: 407-716-5627

Charming is the perfect word to describe this unique downtown Orlando wedding location. The outdoor garden has been upgraded with beautiful pavers and overhead lighting. The indoor venue area feels like you are having a wedding at a grand victorian home with connected spaces. Make sure to tour the wine cellar - it’s one of our favorite rooms! 

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Venue Name: Falcon's Fire Golf Club

Venue Style Categories: Ballroom, Golf/Country Club, Waterfront

Maximum Guest Count: 200

Price Range: $$ - Average

Indoor / Outdoor / Both: Both

Catering: Included

Bar: Included

Website: www.falconsfire.com

Email: llyons@falconsfire.com

Phone: 407-390-0982

This country club setting is very private but close enough to the action Central Florida is famous for. The best part of this venue is the ability to customize everything from your ceremony location to your package choice. The spacious, newly renovated ballroom has a feel of country club tradition with soft, warm tones and decorative chandeliers. Their flexible team is willing to make anything happen, including a helicopter arrival. 

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Venue Name: Luxmore Grande Estate

Venue Style Categories: Ballroom, Historic, Mansion

Maximum Guest Count: 200

Price Range: $$ - Average

Indoor / Outdoor / Both: Both

Catering: Included

Bar: Included

Website: www.luxmoregrande.com

Email: events@luxmoregrande.com

Phone: 407-749-0783

Have you dreamt of hosting your wedding at an estate home? The feeling from just driving into this venue is just over-the-top luxury. From the entrance fountain to the white pillar facade and the grand staircase upon entering, you feel like you stepped into a chic southern estate. This venue offers both indoor and outdoor event space and is available year-round for rental. 

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Venue Name: Orlando Science Center

Venue Style Categories: Museum/Gallery, Skyline/Rooftop, Unique

Maximum Guest Count: 250

Price Range: $$ - Average

Indoor / Outdoor / Both: Both

Catering: Required List

Bar: Required List

Website: http://www.osc.org/meetings-events/weddings/

Email: htillem@osc.org

Phone: 407-514-2290

Think outside the box of what you can do with this unique wedding venue. The Orlando Science Center offers a beautiful skyline terrace with downtown views in the distance. Thinking more about celebrating inside? They have unique spaces including DinoDigs and Our Planet that allow for a fun, eclectic wedding. 

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Venue Name: Paradise Cove

Venue Style Categories: Beach, Waterfront, Elopement

Maximum Guest Count: 300

Price Range: $$ - Average

Indoor / Outdoor / Both: Outdoor

Catering: Required List

Bar: Professional Bartender Required

Website: http://www.paradisecoveorlando.com

Email: kayli@paradisecoveorlando.com

Phone: 407-239-6939

Have you been dreaming of a beach wedding but the thought of everyone driving to the coast is just too much work? Look no further than Paradise Cove, central Florida’s only beach-style wedding venue. Perfectly situated on Little Lake Bryan in Lake Buena Vista, the white sandy beaches, swaying palms, and cypress trees transport you to a hidden paradise. This venue is perfect for a wedding in paradise.  

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At Wedding Venue Map, our mission is simple: We give everyone searching for a wedding venue one place to go to find EVERY one of the options and be able to sort by what specifically they are looking for. Find your perfect wedding venue and then come back for a curated list of the best wedding vendors in Central Florida. 

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Thank you Shannon Tarrant and everyone else at Wedding Venue Map for helping couples all over Central Florida!

4 Tips To Help Choose A Wedding Photographer

Here are 4 tips to help you choose a wedding photographer

I’ve seen online that lot of brides and grooms-to-be have been asking how to choose a wedding photographer. I’ve come up with 4 simple tips to help you choose who would make a great fit.

1. Personality - You’re going to be with your photographer more than you are going to be with anyone else that day, even your soon to be significant other. Sorry, you’re stuck with us :P We’ll be photographing from the beginning of the day until the very end and you want to be sure that you have someone there that keeps calm, stays professional, and enjoys the day. I always recommend having conversations and meetups beforehand so you can get to know our personality as well as who we are as a professional. Communication is a big factor in the client | Photographer relationship. Also, engagement sessions are a huge plus, you get gorgeous photos and you can see if you mesh with your photographer before the big day and see how they work! Check out this blog post for more information > Why Do Photographers Recommend Engagement Sessions. <

2. Style - Every photographer has their own style of photography and editing so you’ll have to do your research in regards to what you prefer. The styles range from cinematic, romantic, photojournalistic, light and airy, documentary, dark and moody, etc. I like to describe my style as being vibrant, photojournalist, impactful, and fun.

3. Experience - Time for more research! Isn’t that exciting! At least you have a lot of resources to help you. I love the internet. Experience is going to differ depending on the type of person you hire to be your photographer. Less expensive options might not be as attentive during the time leading up to the wedding, they may offer less communication. More expensive options could offer printed, tangible heirlooms so you have something you can pass down to your children. Find out what the experience is going to be like when you have your initial conversations with your photographer. See if they have that energy you’re looking for. It all comes down to what you value.

4. Portfolio - This is going to be the fun part! Scour the interwebs and find all the profiles you love. I say ‘love’ because you want to love your wedding photos. The best way I found to do this is in a Google Sheet or a tool like that so you can come back to it later. Check their portfolio images but also see an album. A lot of the time, blogs have a bunch of images you can see from a wedding, for example, > Stefanie + Jesse's Bella Collina Wedding. < Stefanie + Jesse’s blog has a bunch of images that aren’t in the portfolio tab of our website. Enjoy this part of the wedding planning journey. Picture you in these images, imagine where you’ll hang them up in your home, and how excited you’ll be to relive your wedding day!

I hope you enjoyed these 4 tips to help choose a wedding photographer!

Why do we recommend engagement sessions?

Great Question!

Ever After Farms Engagement

First off, Congratulations on your engagement! It’s such an exciting time and keep in mind that this will only help your wedding day be epic! Now that you’re engaged, what’s the next step!? I remember when I got engaged… even as a wedding photographer, I was like “damn, not really sure where to go from here, lol.” Luckily, my wife is really amazing at planning. This is a question I get a lot from couples that recently got engaged. The engagement session is the PERFECT next step and there are a couple of main reasons why we always recommend having one. But first…What is an engagement session?

Your engagement session is all apart of the Sonacity experience. This will most likely be the first time you get photographed professionally as a couple, you get to document this remarkable part of your relationship with your best friend. Plus, it will most likely be the only time your fiancé says yes to doing this, so take advantage…unless they’re a photographer or model, because then you might have to do it all the time. Haha

Check out these tips as to why an Engagement Session is the perfect next step on the road to your big day!

1) You can be uniquely you as a couple!

This is YOUR personal session to be as you as you want to be. I’ve heard too often “Oh, we should have done something that was more “us.”” This is that chance! We send out a questionnaire to find out a bit more about your relationship. From that and our meet up or phone conversations, we can decide what the best type of engagement session for you. For example, the most requested location is the park, but if you’re not outdoorsy…(please mention that you’re both chefs)…we can absolutely have the session at your home while cooking and make it really fun! How could you not have fun cooking and eating. P.S. I have not done a session like this so, hit me up if you like this idea! Your engagement session is quality time you get to spend with your best friend, enjoy it!

2) This is the perfect opportunity to build a relationship and trust with us, your photographer :)

Being able to photograph you both as a couple before the wedding builds on this relationship. It especially eases your mind to see that we know what we’re doing. During your session, we are taking mental notes on what angles look good, which side of your face you favorite (fun fact: it’s the side you turn your face to take a selfie…try it!), and ten thousand other things you don’t need to worry about. We’ll do a mix of posed shots along with candids to get a great blend of images for your session and we absolutely help with the posing. During your engagement session, we’ll chat about more than your big day. I believe having open conversations leads to common ground and creating a great partnership. You can always feel free to tell us things you do and do not like.

3) Get used to having a camera in front of your face - make it easier on wedding day

South Florida Engagement

It’s a weird feeling having someone follow you around all day that isn’t your puppy, I totally get it. Having this session, allows you to get used to this idea. We’re going to be best friends on wedding day!

4) Images for your wedding day

Imagine walking into your reception room and seeing your beautiful engagement photos as a guestbook, or framed on the table. It’s ok, you can smile and kiss your fiancé now. It is super cute. <3

And since you’re already dressed up and feeling good…make it a date night!

Dickson Azalea Engagement

Top 4 engagement session locations

Engagement session are truly amazing and one of my favorite kinds of sessions to photograph. Take a break from your average selfie and let a professional do the work. This is a time where you get to let your hair down, get dressed up, and have fun with your best friend. No need to worry about what to wear or how to pose, we’ll help with that along the way.

These sessions are the best way for you to get comfortable in front of the camera and have fun while doing so. You’ll laugh, dance, twirl, and get some amazing photographs of you and your soon to be husband/wife.

Leu Gardens - This location is one of the places in the world where I don’t mind getting lost. This venue is filled with the most beautiful flowers and greenery you can enjoy in Central Florida. From events, to weddings, to engagement sessions, I always love photographing here!

Leu Gardens Engagement Photo

Downtown Orlando - How cool do they look!? There are so many ways you can light your subjects in the downtown area. So many different varying mini locations in this one large location! I love it! I was stoked when this couple opted for a downtown location because the the options for creativity are endless. For this image, I wanted to use a garage to have a dark background and be able to light my couple well. I told him to put on the glasses and she looked at him in the most amazing way.

Downtown Orlando Engagement Photo

Kraft Azalea Park - This venue is one of the most unique in Central Florida. A magnificent place for a proposal as you can see. The doric pillars give the image an epic kind of feel to it and I think they’re more Roman than Greek, but who am I to know that. I love how the soft light hits our couple here and plays with the motion of the trees in the background. It all comes together to make a beautiful image.

Kraft Azalea Proposal

Dickson Azalea / Langford Park - One reason I really love this location is because I can walk to it from my house :P Aside from that, the park always has great lighting so whether you’re having an engagement session or a family session, the photos will be beautiful! In Langford, there is a really cool boardwalk area that is the perfect spot for portraits!

Dixon Azalea Family Session