Warning for Brides Wanting Outside Photography AND MK Shoot

[Crickety]

I just received this from our wedding coordinator and thought it may be of interest to other brides. We are more than upset about our options and honestly I'm feeling horrible. One of the main reasons we wanted Disney was for the MK/Epcot shoot, but hearing about other brides experiences with Disney photography we were looking into outside photography. Now we are stuck on what to do. Hopefully knowing this information ahead of time will help others make an educated decision.

As of January 1, 2012, it is no longer an option to have Disney photography along with an outside photographer. We did offer this option in the past, but it did not work well. If you book an outside vendor for photography, you currently have two options:

Schedule a Family Portrait Session in exchange for the included wedding photography. If you choose this option, you will lose the advantage of booking the MK session earlier than 45 days as you no longer have Disney Photography for the wedding.

Do not schedule anything in exchange for the included wedding photography. Basically, you would forfeit this part of the Escape package. However, since it is included- you would still be able to book the MK session as soon as your contract is signed.

 

[kiss da girl]

First, I am so sorry they just dumped this information on you! The timing and the rule change really sucks.

Second, I'm surprised it took them this long to realize how much they were losing in photography.

Thirdly, "As of Jan. 1, 2012"? It is March!

Best of luck in your decision and hope it works out for you the best way it can!

 

[NoOrdinaryPrincess]

:

 

[lurkyloo]

Disney also offers a dessert party photo package as a swap for the Escape package photography (2 hours of photography, prints/disc cost extra).

Having two swaps for the included photography is a considerable improvement over last year's policy, which gave brides no option to swap the photography. Also, it is very rare in real life for wedding photographers to allow couples to hire a different photographer to cover their events in tandem with the main photographer. Too many issues with who's shooting what....

Do not schedule anything in exchange for the included wedding photography. Basically, you would forfeit this part of the Escape package. However, since it is included- you would still be able to book the MK session as soon as your contract is signed.

According to this, you should have no issue if you simply skip the swap. You keep your outside photographer AND you get to book more than 45 days out.

 

[Crickety]

I just wanted to update everyone.

FH spoke to Karen over at DPS, and she listened to all of our concerns regarding using their service. Our top priority was ensuring we had quality pictures of our ceremony. We would be crushed if our pictures arrived and were horrible. Another big concern we had was a few of the Disney photographers use an artistic? style that really doesn't suit us. I really hated the fact that you have no clue who will be showing up come wedding day. How in the world can anyone be at ease if they don't have any say in who is shooting their big day? Photographer A's style might be exactly what one bride is looking for but completely wrong for the next. It was really bothering me. lol I really really REALLY dislike certain poses, as in they make me cringe every time I see them. I didn't want to be flustered on my wedding day with a photographer trying to have me do certain things. (Sorry for ranting, but the thought give me heart palpitations)

Karen was so sweet about everything, and really worked through this to make a compromise that we felt comfortable with. After speaking with her, we will be using DPS for our wedding. Now we just need to decide if we are ok with the high res DVD or if we need the archive one. Apparently the high res one will print nicely up to 8X12, I think. Does anyone have experience here?

 

[CositaRicaFabulosa]

As of January 1, 2012, it is no longer an option to have Disney photography along with an outside photographer. We did offer this option in the past, but it did not work well. If you book an outside vendor for photography, you currently have two options:

Schedule a Family Portrait Session in exchange for the included wedding photography. If you choose this option, you will lose the advantage of booking the MK session earlier than 45 days as you no longer have Disney Photography for the wedding.

I know this is no longer an issue for you, but I wanted to respond in case any other brides/grooms check this thread. We had an Escape wedding at WDW in late February 2012 and chose to work with an outside photographer for our ceremony. We also booked a Bridal Portrait session (at DHS, not MK) using DPS. In January 2012, we booked the Family Portrait Session with DPS that was the exchange for the wedding photographic package. So, we got everything, as Carrie suggests is possible.

I didn't have a particular photographer in mind for the two shoots using DPS, but while we were discussing floral with Rosie, I told her which other BP session photos I'd seen on the web and liked, and she booked the BP with one of those photographers. I called DPS myself to book the FPS, and they selected a photographer after I told them a little about the family members who would be at the shoot and mentioned some of the photos that I really liked from their web site. I haven't seen the photos yet from any of the three photographers who we worked with during the week of our wedding, but the two DPS photographers showed us some of the shots on the viewfinder on their camera, and we were very happy with them. (I also heard from our BP photographer that the FP photos looked awesome, which impressed me a lot because our FPS was at 5:00 pm and the BP was the following morning at 7:00, so clearly this is a hard working group of people.) So, although we haven't seen the final photos and can't comment on them, I can say that working with DPS to get things booked and choose photographers who were right for our style was a very positive experience for us. (And if the Karen mentioned from DFTW was Karen Skilling, she is The Best!)

Thanks for posting the new rule for other couples to keep in mind, and thanks also to Carrie for clarifying.

 

[Crickety]

I am so happy to hear you had a nice experience with DPS. I am hoping to have the same. We actually spoke to Karen Chandler, not Skilling, but she was extremely nice and comforting. We didn't feel we were being unreasonable with the situation, and thankfully after listening to us she felt the same. As long as we have nice pictures to capture our special day I'll be happy.

 

[ckpoodge]

Now we just need to decide if we are ok with the high res DVD or if we need the archive one. Apparently the high res one will print nicely up to 8X12, I think. Does anyone have experience here?

The archive one doesn't print well over 3 x 5 in my opinion. We are waiting until 3 years have passed, then we will get the hi-res at 1/2 price.

 

[pixie921]

The archive one doesn't print well over 3 x 5 in my opinion. We are waiting until 3 years have passed, then we will get the hi-res at 1/2 price.

Actually, the archival one is the expensive one that allows you to do the larger prints. The high-res is only good up to the smaller sizes.

 

[lurkyloo]

I think the confusion is due to the fact that Disney used to say that the proof disc they throw in free with many packages contained images that were "suitable for archival purposes only" —meaning that they were too small to print but, I guess, you could "archive" them on your computer. Kind of confusing now that they're using "archival" to describe the disc with the highest resolution images and "hi-res" to describe images that only print up to 8x12 inches!