l a e R
STUDIO LAURENT
2014-2015
WHAT’S INSIDE: IMPORTANT QUESTIONS TO ASK PHOTOGRAPHERS 9 SIMPLE TIPS FOR A STRESS-FREE WEDDING WHY A DISC IS NOT ENOUGH HOW LONG DO PHOTOS REALLY TAKE? WHY YOU NEED AN ENGAGEMENT SESSION REAL WEDDING: VESNA & BOJAN’S SERBIAN Studio Laurent Photography & Design WEDDING IN ARIZONA
www.StudioLaurent.com
Studio L AURENT PHOTOGRAPHY & DESIGN
OUR STORY
STUDIO LAURENT PHOTOGRAPHY & DESIGN
International Award Winning Photographer and Visual Story Teller. Congratulations on your upcoming marriage! My name is Laurent and I was born in Paris, France. After growing up in Versailles (yes, not far from the famous palace) for almost twenty years, I moved to the USA to pursue my college education. Now, more than twenty years later, I am still here and enjoying life in sunny Arizona. Like many photographers, I have always been a very visual person and became interested in photography at a young age... My first camera was a Polaroid when I was 7 or 8 years old and I loved taking pictures of my family. In my teen years, I switched to a 35mm Nikon F501 camera that was offered to me by my parents and I used Paris and its street life as my canvas to practice my skills. This is also the time when I sold my first images. These were actually sport pictures from the French Open of tennis in Paris. College provided me some formal training and additional experience in photojournalism, advertising and graphic design as well as other visual and multimedia techniques. In 2007, I created Studio Laurent to combine my skills and passions into a creative photography and design studio. I am an on-location, natural light photographer and prefer to use natural surroundings and backgrounds but can also use artificial professional lighting as needed. In my spare time, I enjoy traveling the world as well as my close surroundings to discover other cultures, new landscapes, new faces and immortalizing these special moments with my cameras. Over the years, my photographic adventures and assignments have taken me to beautiful destinations throughout Europe, the Indian Ocean region, The Caribbean, Mexico and more than half of the United States of America. I look forward to discovering more places everyday. I am currently based in Scottsdale, Arizona and as you can tell, will travel anywhere in the world for your photographic needs. I approach each wedding with the desire to make your day as smooth as possible. I will do everything I can, even if it means doing non-photography related things such as fixing your bouquet, lace up your dress, finding your groom a pair of black socks or making a fool of myself to get that shy little ringbearer to smile for a photo. I have filled this guide with tips for helping you choose a photographer and embelished it with some of my images created while shooting real weddings. If you like what you see and find this helpful, we would be honored if you would consider choosing Studio Laurent Photography & Design to document your wedding day. Warmly,
Laurent Located in Scottsdale, Arizona, serving your photography needs worldwide. Fluent in French with basic knowledge of Spanish. Studio Laurent Photography & Design
www.StudioLaurent.com
letters from you
Domenica & George
“We couldn’t have picked a better photographer!”
Dalila & Brad
“These are so beautiful!! Loved every single one! You are such an artist!”
Vesna & Bojan
“You are amazing and we loved every minute of getting to work with you. We hope to work with you again!!!”
BOOK YOUR WEDDING IN 3 EASY STEPS
GROOM’S GIFT IDEA
Choosing us to photograph your wedding is simple. Just follow these three easy steps:
Choosing the perfect gift for your groom that will knock him off his feet.
1. Look through this magazine and visit our website to make sure you love our style of photography. We want you to be thrilled with your wedding pictures, so loving our natural style and clean images is a must. 2. Contact us to see if your date is open and to set up a time to chat. We’ll talk about your wedding day, discuss the beautiful album options that we offer, and help you decide which package would be best for you. We’ll even help you select a date that we’re available if you’ve fallen in love with our work but don’t have a venue yet. Make sure you’ve checked out our packages and read through our pricing guide so that there are no surprises. Download it here: www.StudioLaurent.com/wedpkgs 3. Send us your contract and 35% retainer fee to book your date! Once we have these two things, we are officially your wedding photographers and the date is reserved for you!... YAY! It’s that easy. Contact us today to choose us as your wedding photographers. You’ll absolutely love working with us. Contact us at: www.StudioLaurent.com/contact
Boudoir photos are a gift that he’ll never forget, and you’ll love how amazing you look in the photos. We recommend Trisha Madrid Photography as she’s skilled in making women of all shapes and sizes look incredible. Get more info at: http://www.TrishaMadrid.com
CLIENT SPOTLIGHT
vesna & bojan We recently had the joy of photographing Bojan & Vesna’s wedding at Bojum Tree Hidden Gardens in Phoenix, Arizona, and it was everything a wedding should be. Not only were they surrounded by the people they love, it was beautiful and was full of the love and emotion that every little girl dreams of feeling on her wedding day. Here’s what Vesna & Bojan had to say about their wedding to help you in planning yours: THE BEST ADVICE FOR A BRIDE. Vesna says, “My best advice for a bride would be to just relax and enjoy planning the wedding as well as enjoying the wedding day itself.” THE BEST ADVICE FOR A GROOM. “The best advice for grooms is to help your bride,” says Bojan. “Help your bride A LOT.” THE BEST ADVICE THEY WERE GIVEN TO HELP THEM GET THROUGH THE BIG DAY. Bojan says, “‘Don’t worry, be happy.’ Bob Marley gave me that.” Vesna adds, “It’s true, though. It seems like the more you worry about things going wrong, the more things actually go wrong. It helps to relax and just enjoy the day and don’t worry about it. Delegate tasks to people you trust, and then rely on them. I didn’t even hear about some of the things that went wrong until after the wedding because my bridesmaids were awesome and took care of it for me so I didn’t have to think about it. It does help to have a personal attendant.” THEIR FAVORITE PHOTO MOMENTS. “There were a lot of pictures so it’s really hard to pick out just one picture that we really loved. So many of them were really awesome and amazing. We were really pleased with how they turned out,” says Vesna. “I really liked the one where we were dancing and Bojan dipped me on the dance floor after spinning me around. Laurent came sliding around us and I don’t know how but he managed to capture a really neat picture.” WHAT THEY LOVED MOST ABOUT WORKING WITH STUDIO LAURENT PHOTOGRAPHY & DESIGN. Bojan says, “We felt very natural working with Laurent. It wasn’t so much like you were photographing us as much as it was like you were just hanging out with us and happened to be taking pictures.” Vesna adds, “It was so comfortable working with you! You’re really easy-going and just know how to make people comfortable.” Studio Laurent Photography & Design
www.StudioLaurent.com
9 SIMPLE TIPS FOR A FABULOUS WEDDING • Select the location where you are getting ready with care. A bed & breakfast with lots of natural light will look much more beautiful in photos than a church kitchen with industrial appliances and fluorescent lights. Also, try to keep clutter to a minimum in the room. • Take lots of mental pictures throughout the day. While we’ll be there to capture images for your album, the moments where you stop to take things in will help keep the memories strong and fresh. • Find out what the rules for photographs are at the ceremony location. All venues are different, some restrict the location of photographs and even the times in which they are permitted. • Take the price tags and stickers off your shoes, even those found inside. The last thing you want to see is a price tag in the photo of your gorgeous wedding shoes! • Make sure to eat before the wedding. It may be hectic and you may be nervous, but it will be a while before you have the opportunity to nourish yourself during the reception. • Prepare an emergency bridal kit with clear nail polish, mints, a sewing kit, stain treater, Visine, safety pins, bobby pins, pain reliever and mini deodorant. • Allowing 50% more time for hair and makeup than you originally anticipated alleviates the number one reason wedding schedules end up running late. • If you are planning on having a receiving line after the ceremony, plan 30 minutes for up to 150 guests and an additional 15 minutes for every 100 guests over that. If you do not plan to do a receiving line, make sure you hide out of site after coming down the aisle or you will suddenly have one. This is another common place where schedules end up running late. • Above all, remember that your vendors work for YOU on the day of the wedding, including us. If you don’t want to do something, simply say no. This is your wedding day, and you don’t want to have any regrets.
YOUR WEDDING
A WEDDING DAY PHOTO TIMELINE A wedding is a whirlwind of events, gone in the blink of an eye. There’s little more important to a perfectly executed event than an organized timeline. If you are looking to effectively plan out your wedding day with your wedding coordinator or fiancé, here’s a look at how long things typical take from our point of view. We are here to help assist you in planning out your day so that you don’t miss a beat, so please contact us and we’ll be glad to help you create a schedule to make things go smoothly.
T GETTING READY PORTRAITS: 60+ MINUTES We generally arrive 60 minutes before the ceremony to document you getting into your dress, any touchups to hair and makeup, and connect with the Officiant or Venue Coordinator. You may want to add additional time here if you’d like photos at the salon, if you are planning a first look, or if you plan to do portraits prior to the ceremony.
T CEREMONY: 20-90 MINUTES Ceremonies will vary in length depending on the type of service you are having. Add a few extra minutes when planning your timeline to avoid running late if this goes longer than planned. With no receiving line, you can expect it to take 10-15 minutes for people to exit the area before starting formal group portraits.
T RECEIVING LINE: 30-60 MINUTES A receiving line for up to 150 will take about 30 minutes. Add 15 minutes for each additional 100 people in attendance at the wedding. Yes, it really will take this long. If you prefer not to do a receiving line after the ceremony, make sure to hide somewhere out of sight or you will have an impromptu receiving line.
T FORMAL GROUP PORTRAITS: 20+ MINUTES Plan for 2-3 minutes per photo for each combination of people, or 5-10 mintues for groups of 12 or more people. We will be working off of a list provided by you, but most people include immediate family, grandparents, and any others who have played a significant role in their lives. Most people have 8-12 group combinations and take about 20 minutes.
T WEDDING PARTY PHOTOS: 15-30 MINUTES Wedding Party photos take from 15-30 minutes depending on how many variations of groupings you want us to take. We suggest planning about 20 minutes for 2-3 full wedding party photos, photos of the men together and women together, and a photo of you and each of your wedding party members alone. Add travel time if necessary. Studio Laurent Photography & Design
T TRAVEL TIME: ADD MORE THAN YOU THINK When multiple people are traveling together, it always takes more time than you think to get everyone together and ready to go. If taking separate vehicles, add even more time for everyone to arrive and find parking. Better to over-plan how long it will take than not to plan enough time.
T COUPLE PORTRAITS: 30-12O MINUTES We like to treat this time as if it’s a date for the two of you. It’s one of the few times during the day that you’ll be alone, and while we will be taking photos, our relaxed approach to portraits gives you time to enjoy the fact that you are finally husband & wife. We can do these in as little as 30 minutes, but many couples schedule in additional time to get a larger variety of photos and have a little more time alone together on the day of the wedding. Because we want you to look as relaxed and natural as possible in these photos, we ask that no one else accompany us during this time.
T DANCE COVERAGE: 30-120 MINUTES The grand march and first dances generally take 20-30 minutes. After these are completed, we will continues to photograph the dance floor while also photographing the guests sitting and chatting at tables around the room. While 60 minutes is generally enough to capture the story of the reception, you may choose to have us stay later if you expect it to be a lively party, or if you want to take a bit of time to do some night photography before our coverage ends.
A few weeks before your wedding, we will provide you with a link to our Wedding Questionnaire form to fill out with all your wedding details including locations, family members, special wedding day events, timelines, group photos, vendors and much more. This information will ensure we are all on the same page for an unforgettable and stress-free event!
www.StudioLaurent.com
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IT’S THE LITTLE THINGS IN LIFE...
DETAILS WITH MEANING, GOOD FOOD AND EATS, ALL INFUSED WITH CARE So many things are special about your wedding day. While they may seem like small details, the unassuming pillow your ring bearer carried might have been made from your Christening gown. Those shoes with the delicate pearl buttons may have been your mother’s. These are the smaller, sometimes unnoticed details that tell the story of your special day, that we document for you. Whether it’s your bouquet or your shoe or your something blue, it’s all a part of your distinct personality as a couple, an expression of who you are as you embark on the next chapter of your life.
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1. BRIDAL BOUQUET BY WENDELL DESIGN GROUP FLORIST WWW.WENDELLFLORIST.COM 2. RECEPTION CENTER PIECE FLORAL BY A PROPOS CREATIONS WWW.APROPOSCREATIONS.COM 3. FLORAL ARRANGEMENT BY WENDELL DESIGN GROUP FLORIST 4. LIMONCELLO GELATO BY HOTEL CA’SAGREDO, VENICE, ITALY 5. WEDDING RINGS MACRO PHOTO BY STUDIO LAURENT PHOTOGRAPHY & DESIGN 6. INDIAN THEMED CEREMONY AT SHERATON HOTEL DOWNTOWN PHOENIX, ARIZONA 7. FLOWER GIRL HAIR ARRANGEMENT BY THE BIG TEASE HAIR & MAKEUP 8. ROSE & CRYSTAL CENTER PIECE BY A PROPOS CREATIONS WWW.APROPOSCREATIONS.COM 9. MILLEFOGLIE TRADITIONAL ITALIAN WEDDING CAKE BY HOTEL CA’SAGREDO, VENICE, ITALY 10. WEDDING CAKE BY CREATIVE CAKES BY SUE WWW.CREATIVECAKES.BIZ
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THE PROCESS
FROM START TO FINISH The weeks prior to and directly following your wedding are busy times. Here’s a timeline to help you know exactly what to expect from us the weeks prior to and following your wedding. 4-6 weeks before your wedding: We will send you a link to our Wedding Questionnaire form to fill out with all the details we need from you for capturing the best images possible. 3 weeks before your wedding: Your final payment is due if you have not already sent it in. 2 weeks before your wedding: We look through your Wedding Questionnaire and connect with you if we have any questions or concerns that need addressing. The day of your wedding: We arrive at the scheduled time and quickly get situated. Then we follow your timeline and go through the day as smoothly as possible, giving you the best images we can create. Within a week after your wedding: Teaser images will be posted to Facebook or the social media of your choice for your friends and family to view and share if you chose to have teasers allowed on social medias. A few weeks after your wedding: We deliver your online wedding gallery images & information about ordering your prints & canvases. This generally takes 3-4 weeks. 2-4 weeks after your gallery is delivered: We deliver your digital images as well as share with you the album preview. We can discuss the album ordering process and options. 30 days after your album preview is delivered: You’ll make all your album selections and changes within 30 days of receiving your album gallery. Once you’ve given us your final approval, the album will be ordered with your desired specifications. Mini-albums or parent albums will also be ordered at this time as needed. 4-12 weeks after album approval: Fine art albums take approximately 3-4 weeks to arrive. Flushmount albums generally take 8-12 weeks to arrive. You’ll receive instructions about how to care for your album for years to come, and you’ll be excited to show all your friends how beautiful it is.
Studio Laurent Photography & Design
www.StudioLaurent.com
VENDOR SPOTLIGHT
GROOVE MOBILE DJ SERVICES, LLC We recently had the pleasure of working with Dave of Groove Mobile DJ Services, LLC for Ashley and Jerrod’s wedding at The Anthem Country Club in Anthem, Arizona. He is very talented and creative while remaining professional and easy going. He will know exactly what music to play to keep EVERYONE dancing the entire time. He will also do a great job for all your necessary announcements throughout your wedding day without becoming the center of attention like some other DJs. And when the time comes he will also light up the room and your dance floor with some gorgeous customized professional intelligent lighting systems that sync with the music. Groove Mobile DJ Services, LLC is located in the Scottsdale/Cave Creek, Arizona area. To learn more, contact Dave at david@ groovemobiledjs.com or 480-227-5507 to schedule a complimentary inititial consultation or visit his website at: www.groovemobiledjs.com
DJ GROOVETECH MOBILE SERVICES, LLC “I’ve never seen so many people on the dance floor at a wedding!” “Best Wedding we have ever been to...” “Literally, everyone danced the entire night” “He didn’t play one bad song - that was awsome!” “The music absolutely made our wedding!” “We would absolutely recommend Dave to anyone for any occasion!”
CHOOSING A PHOTOGRAPHER
IMPORTANT QUESTIONS TO ASK PHOTOGRAPHERS Choosing a wedding photographer is a daunting task. With so many photographers, prices, and packages to choose from, how do you know they’ll do a great job capturing your memories? The last thing you want is to hire someone who will be a disappointment to you in service or quality. Here’s a list of questions to ask every photographer you meet to ensure you’ll get gorgeous images that you’ll love. ARE YOU A LEGAL BUSINESS WITH INSURANCE? It’s shocking how many people start photography businesses but never go through the steps to make it legal or get insurance. Hiring someone without these things is simply asking for trouble. DO YOU HAVE PROFESSIONAL BACKUP GEAR? Not only do you need to make sure your photographer has backup gear in case something happens with their primary camera on the day of the wedding (and it WILL happen at some point if they shoot enough), it’s important that their backup gear is also professional grade equipment so your photo quality doesn’t suffer. ARE ALL THE PHOTOS FULLY EDITED? We believe that every image from your wedding is important, so each photo is edited the same as you see in this magazine and on our website. Some photographers only do a “quick” edit unless you buy a print or put the photo in your album, so it is important to know what you’ll be getting up front, especially if they do additional editing to the photos on their website or in their marketing.
Studio Laurent Photography & Design
CAN I SEE A FULL WEDDING GALLERY? It’s easy to get a few nice shots from a wedding, but only skilled photographers can take quality photos the entire wedding day, especially in poor lighting conditions. We’re glad to give you access to a full wedding gallery to see that our quality extends throughout all of our images. ARE YOU COMFORTABLE USING FLASH? A good photographer will be very comfortable using a variety of lighting techniques, including off-camera flash. While some claim to specialize in natural light shooting, often times the reality is that they simply have not learned how to use flash properly for gorgeous images when natural light is lacking (such as in a dark reception hall). IS YOUR SECOND PHOTOGRAPHER ABLE TO SHOOT A WEDDING AT THE SAME QUALITY AS YOU? We believe that having 2 fully professional photographers helps you to get a more complete story of the day as a solo photographer cannot be capturing the both the main action and the reactions of your guests at the same time. However, some photographers don’t offer a second shooter as an option, or hire someone that doesn’t actually contribute to the final gallery in a significant way. DO YOU DO WEDDING PHOTOGRAPHY FULL TIME? Many photographers work a full time job while doing photography on the weekends. We’ve found that we can respond to clients faster and deliver images sooner now that wedding photography is our main focus and fulltime job.
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PRESERVE YOUR MEMORIES
WHY A DISC IS NOT ENOUGH One of the first questions people ask when looking for a wedding photographer is if they offer all the digital files on a disc. In fact, many couples plan to only purchase the disc and aren’t interested in anything else. By only purchasing the digital images, you’re putting yourself at a huge risk of losing your photos in just a few short years. Many well-intentioned couples who only get the digital images never print their images at all, or only print a few for gifts or for display. Even we’re guilty of having a hard-drive full of photos of family that we simply haven’t taken the time to order prints of yet. However there’s a hug risk of losing the images and memories from them over time when you only have the digital files. With only the digital files, you are responsible for transferring the images from one type of digital media to another as technology advances every few years. Every time a file is transferred, there’s a risk of corruption. Not only that, but if life gets crazy and you fail to transfer it to the new media, you may end up with a beautiful disc of photos that you can’t see anymore because there’s no machine around to read the disc. This is why we believe that a professional wedding album is of the utmost inportance. Even if you never do anything except store it in a closet, you’ll still have images to look at and enjoy years from now with no additional work whatsoever.
In fact, we believe in this so strongly that we include an album in every single package we offer. We only offer professional, high quality albums made with archival inks and papers that are created to last for generations with proper care. We want the memories of your wedding day to be seen and enjoyed by your family for years to come. Don’t risk losing your memories. Make a beautiful album one of your priorities. We promise you will not regret it. You can read all about our beautiful albums and learn what goes into ordering an album by downloading our album guide at the following link: www.StudioLaurent.com/albums
ENGAGEMENTS
The beauty of engagement sessions... If there’s one thing I could go back and do over when we got married, it’d be to do an engagement session together before our wedding. I strongly regret not doing this. While we have beautiful photos that caputured our wedding day, we don’t have professional quality photos that really show who we were as a couple at that stage in our lives. I wish we would have taken professional engagement photos in the places where we spent much of our time together while dating. If we had them, our children and grandchildren could have a better glimpse into our lives at that time and we could more easily look back and re-live the memories.
Studio Laurent Photography & Design
Not only do engagement photos capture joyful memories of who you are as a couple now, they allow you to create fun images for wall portraits, a wedding guest book and Thank You cards. If we shoot early enough, we can also provide the images for your Save the Date cards and invitations. Images also add more to the story in your wedding album, capturing your story from your engagement to your wedding day. We’ll also travel if needed to get the photos you want. Best of all, this is a fun time for you. With our relaxed and natural approach, you’ll feel like you’re on a date together where we just happen to be taking photos. This time is for you. Enjoy it.
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Great engagement shoot ideas: ❤ Places where you spend lots of time together: You’ll look back at these photos in future years and smile thinking of all the lovely memories you created in these places. ❤ At the place he proposed: After all, what better way to capture an engagement than the place it all started! ❤ At your favorite restaurant: Meaningful memories happen with food, ambiance and your special song playing in the background. ❤ Doing your favorite activity: You both enjoy playing checkers. What better way to capture your personality than in the heat of game play, the agony of defeat, or the comedy of contemplating your next move?
❤ Where you first met each other: Whether your first meeting was a discussion at the library or fumbling for the door at the local coffee shop, going back to your beginnings is a marvelous memory. ❤ Images with your pet: What better way to capture your new family than by including a beloved shared pet in your session? ❤ Your favorite skyline: Your city is beautiful at any time of the year, and the skyline shares where you live now, a beautiful location that might change with time. ❤ A downtown urban session: Fun and funky, pictures in alleyways or in otherwise undiscovered locations of your area make for a more intimate view of the city.
❤ An amusement park: Nothing says fun like the Tilt-A-Whirl to go with your whirlwind romance. ❤ A romantic beach: In the morning, evening or any time of day, the sea meets an endless sky for a feeling of forever. ❤ At your favorite, cute coffee shop: Quirky and cozy, local mom and pop shops are a great way to take a quick break to refuel and to catch some local, architectural shots with you in the process. ❤ Seasonal: Catch the nuances of the seasons, including everything from a winter wonderland, to leaves of fall, to flowers in spring, to the lush, green summers in nearby beautiful fields and forests.
Studio LAURENT PHOTOGRAPHY & DESIGN
International Photographer & Visual Story Teller Serving Arizona and Beyond www.StudioLaurent.com info@StudioLaurent.com All rights reserved Š 2014-2015 Studio Laurent Photography & Design, LLC