Chicago wedding photographers

September 2, 2012 11:31 AM

Please recommend a reasonably priced wedding photographer in Chicago!

We're having a tough time sorting through all of the potential photographers and have been surprised by how expensive they can be. Have you worked with someone you liked and whose price you were happy with? Thanks!

posted by AceRock to media & arts (6 answers total)

We hired a friend who does general professional work and also teaches at Columbia College. He did a great job and we really liked his no-fuss attitude. He put up all the photos to a website for us; we could download them and get prints with whatever service we liked, and didn't copyright anything. MeMail me if you'd like his contact info.
posted by hydrophonic at 1:20 PM on September 2, 2012 [1 favorite]

A friend of mine has had beautiful pictures of her older daughter that I've always admired. Turns out that they were done by her sister-in-law, who has a day job but is trying to get more experience with events. We met her for engagement pictures a mere five days before the wedding (Labor Day last year!) and were thrilled with the results on both days. She was super friendly and easy to work with, and the pricing was great.

I'll send you a MeMail, along with a link to my Flickr account (has selected pics) and hers. She is currently out of the country on vacation, but will be back... I don't know, maybe a week or so? She's checking email.
posted by Madamina at 3:00 PM on September 2, 2012

What price point do you consider to be "unreasonable?"
posted by damiano99 at 8:14 PM on September 2, 2012

I don't know what 'unreasonable' is to you, but I used I Luv Photo for my wedding in January, and got great results. They are a husband/wife pair, so you get 2 photogs for the price you could pay for one. This is a good deal. They also let you have digital copies of all of the pictures, both online and on a custom DVD set they send you later.
posted by Fig at 9:16 PM on September 2, 2012

OP, I'm having the same problem - I'm not really prepared to double the cost of my wedding with a photographer. Everyone I find online starts at like $3000, which is just...so much money.

Though I haven't booked anyone yet, I've had luck finding less expensive photographers by calling storefront places in my neighborhood (this'll work less well if you live near downtown, but up on the far north side, it's been pretty effective). Frequently they don't specialize in weddings, but I don't really care. Photographers in the outer ring suburbs also seem to charge less (more like $1500-$2000), and many will travel into the city for free. If you have a Gmail account I can hook you up with my spreadsheet.

And I'd bet you could find a Columbia College/other art school student to do it for pretty cheap, just for the experience - Craigslist to find them?
posted by goodbyewaffles at 7:20 AM on September 3, 2012 [1 favorite]

If you're willing to put together your own album, and am looking for photos on a DVD type of arrangement.. we were happy with this guy. This was a few years ago, so you can contact him and see if he still does weddings (does more concert/news photography).
posted by ejaned8 at 8:29 AM on October 2, 2012