Advice Needed: MK Photo Shoot Worth It

[Pluto1976]

My DF and I are finalizing our budget and have noticed the costs of a few things have increased which is making us a bit tight. We really don't want to cut anything, but if we did we see not doing the MK Photo Shoot would save us $1000 between it's cost and the cost of her getting her makeup done on the morning of.

Has anyone regretted not having the photo session done? Is it worth having done? Curious to hear others thoughts on this as we need to decide by Friday.

 

[lurkyloo]

It's tricky - everyone who's done it, even those who didn't like the way their pictures came out - said it was worth it to them just for the experience of being in the Magic Kingdom all by themselves.

And the people who decided against it all say they are so glad they didn't have to get up that early!

It's really a gut thing - no way would I ever spend that much money on what amounts to 12 pictures (unless you pay through the nose for the disc of images) under any other circumstances. But... it's the castle! And me in my wedding dress!

One thing that might help a little - I realized I could cancel my hair & makeup artist for the photo shoot because they don't take any close-ups. Surely I can do a decent enough job myself that I'll look presentable in a long shot with the entire castle in the background

Also, you could cut out the bouquet refresh, if you're doing that. Again - unless her bouquet is a brown mass of wilted flowers, you aren't going to notice a few droopy petals here and there.

 

[purplegirl247]

I agree with everything lurkyloo said!

Yes, we did the Photo Shoot. And yes, we loved our photos. But we paid $800 for our shoot. $1000 would've had me waffling all over again; I do not envy you your decision! But to parrot lurkyloo, no need for a bouquet refresh or for hair/makeup. I actually liked that my wedding day pictures looked one way (hair half up, professional makeup for the closeups) but my MK shoot pics looked another (hair down, lighter makeup).

If your budget is really tight, and you need to cut somewhere, I suppose this is one opportunity you can let go (and I believe you have up to a year after your wedding date to get the shoot done; maybe you could save up money and do it at a later date??). We also bought our PhotoPass CD, which had a lot of fun pics as well, very high quality, but for less money (Well, and no wedding dress. But fun pics nonetheless!).

GL!

 

[Swmhc]

Did it, and glad we did. Nothing else screams "WE GOT MARRIED AT WDW" quite like a picture of you in your gown and tux in front of the castle without the mobs. Even people who think we were crazy for getting married at WDW comment on what a great photo and experience to have it done.

I felt the same way about Cindy's coach. I opted to cut that out and keep the MK shoot. Others might choose the other way around.

Like previous posters have stated, it depends what you feel will be the most memorable for the $$. I had silk flowers so refresh wasn't an issue. And we had our shoot the morning of the wedding, so only one make up and hair do, plus only one tux rental.

Tough choice...good luck !

 

[caryndisneydiva]

we aren't doing an mk photo shoot, and the only reason is that when we worked there, we NEVER went to mk...we always went to mgm or the world showcase...i'm goign to see if we can have an mgm shoot...we just love it there!!!

 

[Pluto1976]

Thanks for the advice so far ladies! I think Lurkyloo sums it up quite well. It's definitely a split down the middle. I agree it is allot of money for a handful of pictures.....BUT "It is the castle and she will be in her wedding dress"

Going back to the other hand getting up early on that morning is going to stink because a large part of our group is leaving on that Thursday and the night before allot of us are going to the Brewery place at Disney's Boardwalk. To put a timeframe on things we are getting married on Tuesday, relaxing on Wednesday and meeting up again with a large part of the group at the Brewery place. Now I would certainly like to enjoy a "couple" of beverages with everyone that night but really don't want to do that and have to get up at 4AM to put on a tux.

Switching yet again, Swmhc captures our feelings of "Nothing else screams "WE GOT MARRIED AT WDW" quite like a picture of you in your gown and tux in front of the castle without the mobs."

Were still thinking about it and I am going to review the budget again in a few minutes. I'll keep you posted.

 

[Wazzo]

I agree it is allot of money for a handful of pictures.....BUT "It is the castle and she will be in her wedding dress"

This made me wonder - about how many photos do you get? Are you guaranteed a certain number??

 

[WithDisneySpirit]

Did it, and glad we did. Nothing else screams "WE GOT MARRIED AT WDW" quite like a picture of you in your gown and tux in front of the castle without the mobs. Even people who think we were crazy for getting married at WDW comment on what a great photo and experience to have it done.

I felt the same way about Cindy's coach. I opted to cut that out and keep the MK shoot. Others might choose the other way around.

Like previous posters have stated, it depends what you feel will be the most memorable for the $$. I had silk flowers so refresh wasn't an issue. And we had our shoot the morning of the wedding, so only one make up and hair do, plus only one tux rental.

Tough choice...good luck !

I agree and we plan to have ours the morning of as well. Your silk flower bouquest looks beautiful in that middle picture. Is there anywhere I can see a bigger pic of it? Did you do a boutenniere for hubby? I had planned on fresh but was concerned that they won't be ready that early in the morning of the wedding??

 

[lurkyloo]

This made me wonder - about how many photos do you get? Are you guaranteed a certain number??

Yes! You get a standard folio that has 12 prints in the size you paid for (4x6 prints for $1,000/5x7 prints for $1,200). You also have the privilege of ordering individual prints from the website for astronomical prices!

Also, Pluto1976, you can schedule the shoot for anytime after the wedding, up to one year! So if you didn't wwant to get up early the day after your late night, you could do it a few days later.

 

[eeyorechic]

It really depends on what you want. We did it and loved it and our pics. If you love Disney and have some connection, the pics are priceless! If you want to check out our pics from a week and a half ago, just pm me to get the login info.

 

[Pluto1976]

Well from everything I have read here and thinking about it more I think we are going to do the MK photo shoot. My DF and I and I love Disney so having pictures in WDW at the castle will be priceless.

 

[Boo0105]

Have the packages for the Photo Shoot changed? Last year I got the folio with the 12 pictures (4x6) but I also received all the prints, about 40 more pictures.

 

[TinkerFairy]

Have the packages for the Photo Shoot changed? Last year I got the folio with the 12 pictures (4x6) but I also received all the prints, about 40 more pictures.

When I booked ours back in Feb. they told us we would get all of our prints as well, but, the package has changed since then, as well as went up in price.
We haven't been upcharged from the $800 and either way we're buying the hi-res cd.

 

[D&R love Disney]

I'm thrilled that we did it. We were lucky that back in 2004 we were able to get a credit towards the MK shoot since we used Randy for our pictures. I did my own hair and makeup so we didn't have to get up as early and the pictures still looked great. Flowers held up well too! We ended up with about 40 pictures and for me there is no better wedding picture than the one of us in front of the castle and the one on my favorite carousel horse.

 

[lurkyloo]

I just went back over my email with Disney photographic - it sounds like you still get 4x6 (or 5x7) proofs of all your prints, but only 12 are put in a special folio. The rest are loose.

 

[hmgolden]

Just wanted to add that if you don't opt for the bouquet refresh, DPS can take great photos of you without your bouquet as well. Some of them tend to actually be more creative than the standard ones when you have your bouquet. I haven't seen a bride who opted to forgo the flowers in a while, but I wanted to make sure you all knew if could be done.

 

[B2B-2008]

When I booked ours back in Feb. they told us we would get all of our prints as well, but, the package has changed since then, as well as went up in price.
We haven't been upcharged from the $800 and either way we're buying the hi-res cd.

Can anyone tell me how much the hi-res cd is for the MK photos as I keep getting mixed answers from Disney at the moment.