Meet Our Vendors: Paparazzi

Because we have such awesome vendors, and because Mr. Goodlaff and I can't help but constantly talk amongst ourselves about how fantastic they are, over the next few weeks, I'm going to properly introduce you to our vendors (a few of whom are friendors), tell you why we picked them, and share how they are helping to make our wedding day a fabulous reality. 

First up?  Our Photographer!

Early on in our wedding planning process, we decided that we would try to include our family and friends in our wedding as much as possible.  This means having people lend a hand with their talents (Daddy Goodlaff is making our cake topper and our archway) and really using our connections to find great vendors. I have to say, we totally lucked out in the photography department. 

Our photographer is one of Mr. Goodlaff's longtime friends from his hometown--a "friendor", if you will. Right after we started looking for our vendors, he brought up the idea of his friend, Niki Ross being our photographer, and after checking out some of her work, we were sold.  We met with her a few months ago, talked details, and settled on a price, and agreed to wait until Fall to do our engagement pictures.  Well, Fall turned into Winter, and we were finally able to sneak our engagement pictures in on the very last day of the last weekend in January.

We picked Niki not only because she is Mr. Goodlaff's friend, but because she's incredibly talented.  We knew that we didn't want your typical stiff wedding photos, but wanted our pictures to have a lot of heart and a lot of fun, with a bit of modern edge.  Plus, having known her for so long, Mr. Goodlaff was already comfortable with Niki, and it certainly didn't take long for me to be at ease either, which is really a crucial element to getting good pictures.  It really was an easy vendor decision. 

Our engagement photo session was a blast, and Niki was so easy to work with.  We spent nearly all day together, and were able to take pictures in several locations and two different outfits.  At first, it was really weird, and I felt strange having to pose and try not to look goofy, but Niki put both Mr. Goodlaff and I at ease, and soon it felt almost natural. That said, that's about as close as I ever want to get to being followed by the paparazzi.

Here are a few teaser photos that we've seen so far:

All photos shamelessly lovingly borrowed from here.



Niki has blogged some of the pictures she took that day (including the ones above); head over to her blog, and check them out!

Was picking your photographer an easy process?  Are you using any "friendors" for your wedding?