disney or randy chapman?

[lorapinky]

hi!

bit of a problem, me and my partner are deciding between either having disney take our photos on our wedding day or have randy chapman do it? we see pros and cons to both and wanted some much needed advice from disney brides!

we want lots of photos for the family back home and unsure who would be best! we like the fact that with disney we can add the black and white photos etc, but we have heard such good things about chapman photography too!

is disney photography any good? we get married in 6 months!!! so really have to decide? any help from you all will be valued and much needed! thank you

 

[melmel]

I'm not married yet, but i'm having an intimate and decided it was worth the money for Randy, from what other brides have said. I did upgrade to have black and white for I think about 80 dollars extra (MUCH less then disney's price) and I know that as part of my package with Randy I get all of my pics on cd, that I can print myself, no extra charges. And Disney doesn't offer that without a large fee. Hope this helps. Melissa

 

[Lisa1976]

I had an intimate wedding last December and we decided to go with Randy Chapman instead of Disney and I am so glad that we did. I couldn't have asked for anything more from Randy my photos were fantastic and we got soooo many, over 250 in an album and on a disk. If you look at the comparisons with Disney, yes we had to pay extra to have Randy but you only get 12 photos with Disney in an album and then they choose them, I know we would have gotten them on disk too, but wasn't the same.

I would definately recommend Randy, he is quite possible with the DIS brides too.

 

[Kismetdreams]

Randy was not available for my wedding day, and we actually considered moving the wedding date because of it! I do love Randy's work and have been to an event where he did the photography and he is great to work with!

If you are interested in him, make sure you get ahold of him quickly, as he books up over 2 years out in some cases.

Also, if you want B&W photos, you can always make them B&W digitally, after the fact. It is very easy to do with simple and inexpensive photo editing software. Some websites (ofoto, shutterfly) will allow you to change your photos on thier sites and order them however you like them!

 

[Tinkerboo]

Hi all

Having heard nothing but praise for Randy Chapman on these boards, I just wanted to clarify what happens in relation to Disney if you choose to use him and not them.

Do they charge you a fee because you're not using their photo services, or do they not mind? I'm a bit hazy on this as I remember reading somewhere that if you wanted to provide your own entertainment, for example, you had to pay them a fee to be allowed to do so. Is this the same for photos/video?

Also, who would be your recommended videographer(s)? Are Disney the best option for this?

Any advice gratefully received!

Toyah

 

[Kismetdreams]

The answer to the photographer fee with Disney despends upon if you are an Intimate or Custon wedding...

Intimate...You will have to forgo the DPS that comes pre-paid with your package. There are some substitute photo pakages available, but a discount on the MK session is no longer one of them. Be sure to ask your EM for more info regarding the packages.

Custom...There is an "escort fee" of $90 for 3 hours (minimium), with a continued fee of $30/hour. So basically it's $30/hour, but you have to pay the fee for at least 3 hours, even if your photographer is only there for 2.

Video, again, this is totally opinion, but there are lots of faves for Disney brides...STVS being #1 on the list...

STVS Wedding services
www.stvsweddings.com/
800-352-4720
stan@stvsvideo.com

There are lots of other vendors in the Orlando area, and a listing on yourfairytale.com as well.

Do your research, price out the vendors, ask for samples, and look over on the knot for reviews/suggestions, as well as reading the wedding recaps here.

 

[megan926]

DON'T DO DISNEY!!!!!!!!!!! GO with Randy! That's just my opinion. We had A LOT of problems with Disney photography. I wish I went with Randy! Good luck!

 

[FutureAshleyDukes]

We have Randy booked for our wedding this May. We really lucked out and got him with only 4 months before our wedding. Honestly when I did the math we would actually be saving by having Randy do our intimate. Randy gives you a CD with your negatives while Disney charges for theirs, also Randy would be less expensive to buy prints from. So honestly in some cases you might actually be saving by going with Chapman photography. I know that the case might differ between US and UK brides, but in our case we were saving quite a bit.

Ashley

 

[LUVTGR]

Randy is the best! I love my pics and he will do anything you want at a much better price than Disney. I got both colored and blk/wht and I love the fireworks pics.

 

[Kristi1357]

DON'T DO DISNEY!!!!!!!!!!! GO with Randy! That's just my opinion. We had A LOT of problems with Disney photography. I wish I went with Randy! Good luck!

We used Disney and LOVED our pictures! In fact, I just ordered another 8x10 and purchased our negatives from them and the woman at Disney Photo was great!

It all depends, I guess. I'm sorry you had problems with them. My wedding was relatively long ago, 5+ years ago. Maybe their photographers have gone downhill since then? I would have hoped not though.

 

[megan926]

Kristi1357---Disney photography really gave us the run around. They "hid" a lot of info. that we should have been told about. The pictures, themselves, came out nice, but what we got for the cost was HORRIBLE! The proofs were all off centered, and not all of them came. We had to deal with several different people who had no clue what they were doing.

I'm glad yours came out nice and you loved them. Unfortunatly, that wasn't our experience!

 

[lorapinky]

we have just booked him this minute so thought you would all want to know!!!

Thank you for your advice. I am having disney do the MK session and the hooneymoon session so can have best of both worlds! am really happy that i have booked him! yippy!

5months and 30days till i go to disney!!!

i have added the black and white package on does anyone know of any other things that he does as special add ons?

thank you all for your help it was much needed!

 

[Kristi1357]

Kristi1357---Disney photography really gave us the run around. They "hid" a lot of info. that we should have been told about. The pictures, themselves, came out nice, but what we got for the cost was HORRIBLE! The proofs were all off centered, and not all of them came. We had to deal with several different people who had no clue what they were doing.

That really, really STINKS!!

We had the event manager from you-know-where, so I know how frustrating it can be! In fact, we seriously considered cancelling the wedding at WDW just weeks beforehand since she messed our plans up so badly. We considered doing something small at home instead, but our guests had travel arrangements, flights. etc. Thank God Justin took over and made everything right, and then some!

 

[Tinkerboo]

Kristi1357 - Event Manager from where?? There's a bad apple among the bunch?? I can't cope with the thought that I might end up with someone incompetent and unhelpful organising my wedding 3000 miles away from me!!!

Please tell me this person doesn't work there any more?!?

 

[tinkerbela]

randy hands down. he is a wonderful photographer and his pictures are gorgeous. he is definitely worth having at your wedding.

 

[Snow_White]

I'm so glad to hear all the good words about Randy. We decided to book him for our wedding on Nov 1 too!! We got the big package (abour $2,700 if I remember right)....it's such an amazing value when you compare it to Disney's prices!!!!!!!!!!

Jennifer

 

[dreams91]

Randy is the best!!! I decided two weeks before my wedding to cancel Disney and go with Randy. I still think it is the BEST decision I made!!!! He is very nice to work with too.

 

[lorapinky]

hi, does anyone know how long it takes for the photos from randy to come after the wedding?

 

[hmgolden]

We got our proofs from Randy about 5 weeks after our custom wedding.