Hope

My hope for amazingly incredible engagement and wedding photographs has come true! Yesterday afternoon Charles and I went to meet Wes & Danielle Hope with Hope Photography for the first time! I felt like I already knew them though because I've been a faithful stalker of their blog for months now! lol Seriously, when I first discovered their blog I was mesmerized by their work and spent TWO DAYS going through every single post! I knew I would just love them before even meeting them, their personalities show in their work and posting. And boy was I right, they are nothing short of AWESOME!

However, I was a bit anxious because even though I was fairly confident that Charles would like them I needed to know for sure. In my opinion, it's really important to feel like yourself, feel comfortable, have FUN, and feel at ease with your photographer(s). Without these things, I strongly believe that you don't get the same quality pictures. So it was crucial that Charles like them. No worries though....he LOVED them! Yay!!

I can't even begin to describe how excited I was that a) I signed a contract with the photogs of my dreams, b) that Charles loved them and c) that all this wedding talk really seems REAL now. Charles can testify that after our meeting with the Hope's I turned to him in the car and said "I can't believe we're really going to get married!" He said "When was the first time that it really hit you?" My response..."Right now!" haha This was our first meeting together as an engaged couple planning our wedding and it just really brought everything home.

Besides marrying the man of my dreams, sharing our incredible day with close family and friends, photography is right up there with the most important things for me. I'm on a tight budget and won't be having videography because I simply can't afford it. Photographs last a life time...longer actually. So it has always been my intention to go "all out" when it comes to our wedding photography. Before I even met Charles, I knew whenever I was going to get married that the largest amount of money would be spent on photography.

I'm a huge photography lover period. And dabble in some macro myself. That being said, I know what I want and what I don't want. I want incredible photos that tell the story of our wedding for generations to come. I want all the little details that would be forgotten over time captured in a picture that won't fade like a distant memory. I want all those special moments between my mom, my brother, Leonce (our pastor), Lindsey (my MOH), Javi (my bridesmaid), the flower girls, Charles and his guys and our close family and friends captured so they can never be forgotten. Images of us getting ready for the most important day of our lives. And so much more, I'll stop boring you though. ;)

Enough about all that, on to the details of the Hope's and their incredible work!

Their slogan/motto/compay saying is this: "Where there is love there is hope." Love it! Wes & Danielle are so easy to talk to, so much fun, make you feel at ease and comfortable, and are just plain old awesome people! (And no guys I'm not referring to your age!) Their photography style is along the lines of a photojournalistic (is that a word? lol) and artistic approach. They don't have a studio, they rarely pose pictures (and the ones that are don't look posed!), they capture moments as they happen naturally on their own and I love all of those things! I seriously couldn't have imagined being so blessed as to have them shoot our special day.

The package I selected contains the following:
- 8 hours of coverage by 2 photographers and an assistant
- Online gallery for 60 days
- Spiral bound proof book (most amazing looking proof book I've ever seen!)
- Engagement Session (includes online gallery and spiral proof book)
- 9.5 x 9.5" Fine Art Book (30 pages)
Plus, I'm adding the cost of a CD with all the engagement session photos with written consent to print them anywhere we like. (I'll talk about this again at some point because it has to do with our guest book.)
I'm getting all this for under $4,000.00!!

After the wedding we will get the Wedding DVD that has all the images from our wedding with written consent to print them anywhere we like. And I imagine we'll also be ordering some albums to use a gifts.

In all the research I've done regarding wedding photographers, it is unheard of to get TWO photographers and an assistant for 8 hours, plus the engagement session, proof books and an album for so little! I've seen some photographers whose packages begin at over 4k! I am ecstatic and cannot wait to shoot our engagement pictures and then have them shoot our wedding next year!

And now for some photos!!! (Click on the boards to view larger. All photos from Hope Photography.) Our photographers Wes & Danielle Hope:

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Some of my favorite engagement session shots:

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Some of my favorite wedding shots:
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Don't Wes & Danielle look like a ton of fun from their pictures!? And their work is to die for! Plus, how can I not love someone who wears a purple shirt in honor of me and keeps up with my wedding blog!? Thanks Danielle! I couldn't believe it when you told me you keep up with this. You're a mother of two precious little girls, a wife and have a full time job! When do you possibly have time to read my blog? lol

Charles and I couldn't be more excited to be working with you! May 2010 will be here before we know it! :)

So what do you think of their work?