George Street Photography?!

I looked into them for my wedding, I'm in Madison. They continually called and emailed without giving me the basic information that I was asking for. Needless to say I was not impressed and went with a really amazing girl here locally.

They were at a bridal show when I was at one in January. I loved their photos they posted online but then I realized that all their photos didn't come with dates so I don't know when they were taken.

From my understanding, you have zero clue who is taking your photos until very close to your date. Turn around for photos may take a long time.

You should google search reviews. I've seen great ones and I've seen shady ones. It seemed to iffy for me because it depends on who happens to be your photographer that day.

The whole time, the person who was contacting me was a "consultant" basically a sales person in charge of my area.... which wasn't what I was looking for.

One of my bridesmaids has a contract through George Street. Since George Street is a national company, they choose your photographers for you. She doesn't always meet with her bride and groom prior to their wedding day, which can be stressful. Otherwise, she says they're a pretty decent company where all of their photographers are professional.

I'm using Georgestreet for my October Wedding and this is my experience so far:

Photos:

I met with a rep before I signed the contract and they showed me portfolios of 3 different photographers. Of those 3, I picked my favorite and they booked him for me when I put the deposit down. I met with him some months later for my engagement shoot and he is really awesome, but that is luck of the draw. He said he likes having contracts with georgestreet because taking photos is what he likes to do and that gives him a chance to do just that without dealing with all the editing and stuff that is more time consuming and not as fun to him. I will get a second photographer, but we don't get to know who that is ahead of time. Not even the photographer can pick his own second. Once you sign up you don't have to deal with a rep anymore, they actually have a team of photograph coordinators and they are all very responsive to emails.

Video:

No idea who this is going to be. I guess he'll just show up and we'll see how it goes.

I have the edited engagement photos and am very happy with that so I have confidence in how the wedding ones will come out too

Hope this was helpful!

Thanks for the feedback! I have an appointment scheduled for next Wednesday to meet with the consultant to go through different options etc. Just figured I would see what it is about because the pricing for the combo package was pretty good.

They are expensive

Where are you from? Where are they based out of? I feel like my friend shoots for them but not 100% sure

I only recommend sole proprietors. How anyone can sell a network of photographers and guarantee the results is really out of my comprehension.

What Celia said.

George Street Photography hires people on the spot, so when you book them, you have no guarantee who will shoot your wedding. It could be a really talented person, or it could be a newbie who has no idea what he is doing. And it's more often the second situation than the first!

On another note, they are all over Craigslist trying to recruit people. Not a good sign.

A friend used them and her pictures were so fucking boring. No thanks.

We are using them. We met the consultant after going through a "quiz" like thing at home so they could know the style we were looking for. At the meeting they showed a couple portfolios that reflected the style we had chosen. They say they only hire a photographer after a certain amount of weddings so I don't think they hire just anyone. The person we chose (we were told her name at signing) is lovely. It ended up she photographed a wedding of an acquaintance of mine. I've seen pictures from that wedding and they are awesome and exactly what we are looking for. I've been able to follow her blog and Instagram and have continued to fall in love with her.

The price was competitive but was a great price for the package we chose. Or at least in out area.

NO!!! They're a national company, and the rep you talk to is nowhere to be found after services are rendered....you don't know who your photographer / videographer will be. After all, part of the experience depends on their personality since they are an active part of your wedding. Those photographers are subcontracted by them, again not my favorite practice. Here is some specific info about how some of these national companies find providers. http://www.jayfarrellphotography.com/national-companies-wedding-photography/

David's bridal was hiring people off Craigslist, I mean really? It's better to hand pick vendors. Plus, these contracted providers show up knowing nothing about you and the time you'd normally spend with them planning and getting to know each other, is sacrificed because of going this route. Both very personal services, this seems like an impersonal route to go, and almost like "I'm tired of all this work, I'm just gonna hire someone that will hire my vendors for me" Long live independent business

All you're doing is hiring a middle man. I get emails from these companies asking us to cover a wedding, usually 4-6 weeks before the date, and they offer us usually half or less of what they're charging you.

Discussing options with them during your meeting is ok but I would suggest weighing all your options before signing any final contracts; such as asking your married friends who they used and so on. I have a few good friends that are photographers so we're getting a break on our photo's, word of mouth is always a plus. Good Luck!

The comment above is wise, word of mouth gives you some quality insurance.

But like I said, you can be lucky and get a good photographer. And all I hope is that people who hired them get beautiful pictures!!

However, like Jay said, you don't get to know your photographer before as well as if you hired an independent one, email them whenever you want, even for non-related topics. As an independent vendor, I get to bond with my clients, be friends with them and get more excited with them along the way. Tha'ts something I love to do and something you'll love to do too.

On another note, GS Photography contacted me to work for them and I asked what they wanted, what the deal was, etc, out of curiosity. They tell me they want their photographers to shoot Jpeg and not Raw to save time. Now that's another big red flag!!

Thanks for all the feedback. I have found some independent photographers that I am interested so I may cancel the appointment all together now.

I also met with them. They were expensive to me and not willing to design a package to my needs. While the consultant was nice , I did not. Like their " packages" and went with another photographer / videographer and we got exactly what we wanted at a more reasonable price .

I ended up going with the 2nd photographer I met, a local one whose work is on my venues website. Best deal I could find and her pics are amazing. I would rather do business with the little guys than a nationwide deal anytime.

I foolishly signed on with them very soon into my wedding planning.

After reading all this, I am now terrified to see how my photos will turn out...my wedding is less than three weeks away.

They are very obnoxious. I went to a bridal show and they got my email address from when I registered. They proceed to send me an email a day trying to get my business and then started calling every other day. Even after i told them i wasn't interested, they stilled tried contacting me. I ended up blocking their number and email because they wouldn't stop.