PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE help me select a photographer

I am getting married in the Riviera Maya area next spring, and need to choose a photgrapher quick before the dates are taken.  After narrowing the options down, I still have 5 that I like, Claudia Rodriguez, Sascha Gluck, Ivan Luckie, La Luna, and Del Sol. If you have worked with these photographers or companies please let me know what you liked/didn't like about them.

I'm obviously biased..... so I'll let our brides do the speaking for me.... here are more than 100 very real testimonials...

As of Oct 3, 2011:

Here are 64 reasons why you hire del Sol   http://www.bestdestinationwedding.com/products/del-sol-photography/reviews

Here are 37 reasons why you should hire La Luna

http://www.bestdestinationwedding.com/products/la-luna-photography/reviews/

(keep in mind, you can PM any one of these brides)

Hope that helps
cheers!
matt

419soon2bebride, Welcome & Happy Planning! There are so many brides on here that have used each of the photographers that you mentioned and all (from my research in choosing a photog) are dynamic in their own right. From the number 1 Del Sol, to La Luna their sister company to Ivan Luckie (my photog of the day) to Claudia and her team. I don't think that you can't go wrong. So, what I did in prep for FI (whose work schedule is crazy) was to narrow down my top five which resembled yours pretty much. From there I read reviews and ranked them. Then contacted each vendor to see what we were getting for the price etc. FI and I are paying for our own wedding and 6 months into our new home...so our budget automatically wouldn't allow us to use some. From there our list grew to 2-3. With packaged being so close with the remaining we then narrowed it down to the wedding day and TTD. In my opinion (which is just that ;-) It's a tough decision but one in that you and FI with the help of the pictures and reviews on this site will have to dig into.

I am getting married in the Riviera Maya area next spring, and need to choose a photgrapher quick before the dates are taken.  After narrowing the options down, I still have 5 that I like, Claudia Rodriguez, Sascha Gluck, Ivan Luckie, La Luna, and Del Sol. If you have worked with these photographers or companies please let me know what you liked/didn't like about them.

I know what a tough decision that is! It took me DAYS of searching through photographers in the Riviera Maya area and looking at countless photo galleries. But I just kept going back to Del Sol and La Luna! Their photos just STUCK in my mind. Every time I looked at another photographer I would compare their photos to Del Sol or La Luna's. After realizing that, it was just a matter of contacting them and getting quotes. I knew that photography was one area I was NOT willing to compromise, and would rather spend a good chunk of money on that as opposed to an expensive dress, jewelry, shoes, centerpieces...etc.

Melissa handles all the initial questions/inquires/bookings for both companies, so it made it super easy. She is so sweet and helpful. By far the most pleasant person I have been in contact with during wedding planning process. Even just choosing a photographer within the companies was tough since they are all amazing. In the end we decided to go with Juan from Del Sol for our wedding day pictures and Matt for our TTD and can't be MORE excited!

I really believe you get what you pay for and with both La Luna and Del Sol you KNOW you are going to get top notch, magazine worthy pictures as well as have great customer service and life long friends! I have never heard even ONE negative from any bride about either company. They are simply the BEST!!!

I am so in love with the Del Sol & La Luna photo stories! (I have yet to find any other photographers with the emotion and color and lighting be so perfect) and I am in love with Excellence Playa Mujeres! (confirming our wedding today - it took a LONG time to find this resort) 

Is there really nothing that I can do to have everything come together?

Does anybody know or have any way to make this happen? If the resort wants extra money or something I would be willing to get less of a dress or flowers etc.to pay the fee and have the perfect photographer.

Wish I would have gotten married when everyone was friends. Now all I have to look at are other people's beautiful Del Sol photos at Excellence Playa Mujeres, but I'm not in the photo

Maybe I can personally invite one of their photographers as my wedding guest and then they could take photos? I'm sure someone has done that before....

There has to be a way! I just can't give up. Help?

I can only give you a couple reasons why you should consider Moments that Matter photography ... and these come in no particular order! You will also find a tone of fantastic reviews in the Vendors section... but I think the proof is in the pudding! 

Enjoy

Linkn

To be fair... I only used one wedding so you know what you can expect in your package!

I am in love with Juan Navaroo's work. He is unbelievable!! www.juanphotos.com

coconoir1908,

How did you arrive at Ivan?  After discussing the budget with my FI, we excluded Del Sol and La Luna solely on the basis on price and they were not flexible with the hours we needed for wedding coverage, which is understandable.  Their pictures are wonderful, however I like others just as much for a lower cost and others have agreed to be more flexible on our big day.  So, my finalists are Juan Navarro (added him after seeing his new price lists include photobooks), Sascha Gluck, and Claudia Photo.
 

Originally Posted by coconoir1908 

419soon2bebride,
Welcome & Happy Planning!
There are so many brides on here that have used each of the photographers that you mentioned and all (from my research in choosing a photog) are dynamic in their own right. From the number 1 Del Sol, to La Luna their sister company to Ivan Luckie (my photog of the day) to Claudia and her team. I don't think that you can't go wrong.
So, what I did in prep for FI (whose work schedule is crazy) was to narrow down my top five which resembled yours pretty much. From there I read reviews and ranked them. Then contacted each vendor to see what we were getting for the price etc. FI and I are paying for our own wedding and 6 months into our new home...so our budget automatically wouldn't allow us to use some. From there our list grew to 2-3. With packaged being so close with the remaining we then narrowed it down to the wedding day and TTD.
In my opinion (which is just that ;-) It's a tough decision but one in that you and FI with the help of the pictures and reviews on this site will have to dig into.

Jana297 - Juan was the very first photographer that I researched and contacted.  When we first started, we were hoping to pay less for our photos so we eliminated him, but now that we have decided to increase our budget for pics, he is definitely back in the running. I love his work also!

 

Originally Posted by jana297 

I am in love with Juan Navaroo's work. He is unbelievable!! www.juanphotos.com

 

 

 

I think you are already doing much of the work yourself.  I love Del Sol but they were more than we can afford.  Their sister company La Luna isn't much cheaper and I found the same to be true of Claudia.  I think if you have finalized the budget and reached out to those whose style you love to find out pricing, hours, number of photographers and have read reviews, that is the only way to determine who will best fit your needs.  I am doing the same research but haven't finalized a photographer yet.  That is my goal to be done with that by the end of this week as I am on vacation and using the bulk of that time to accomplish and cross off a few wedding items on my to-do list.  Good luck!
 

Originally Posted by 419Soon2BBride 

I am getting married in the Riviera Maya area next spring, and need to choose a photgrapher quick before the dates are taken.  After narrowing the options down, I still have 5 that I like, Claudia Rodriguez, Sascha Gluck, Ivan Luckie, La Luna, and Del Sol. If you have worked with these photographers or companies please let me know what you liked/didn't like about them.