My wife and I recently got married in Mapleton and chose Scarlet Oak as our wedding photographer…read more They covered both our ceremony and reception. One service I really liked was their video coverage of the ceremony, speeches, and dances. We decided to forgo a videographer, and part of the Scarlet Oak package we chose included a stationary recording of the most intimate parts of the wedding. This alone was worth the price of their service.
The photos we received were great, and we enjoyed them very much. I also must applaud their professionalism when dealing with our guests. Gathering our friends and family for photos was like herding cats, but they kept a smile on their faces the entire time and treated everyone with respect.
Our only real problem was that we felt we were taken away from the reception for far too long. During our pre-wedding call with Bonnie, we went over which guests we wanted portraits with. We assumed these could all be taken during cocktail hour (we chose not to do a first look, so no photos besides the bride and bridesmaids were taken before the ceremony). In hindsight, perhaps that was unrealistic, but I wish Bonnie would have advised us otherwise. She also asked us during the call when we wanted to do our golden hour portraits of just the two of us. This was a strange question for me because, at any wedding where I had been a groomsman, the bride and groom did not do this. However, my wife liked the idea, and Bonnie assured me it would only take 10-15 minutes.
This was not the case at all. After all the dances and speeches, we were ready to enjoy the night with our guests, but the photographers told us this was the time to go take our portraits. It took almost an hour to get them done, and although they came out great, we were extremely dismayed to lose that time with our guests. We could literally hear songs we had specifically requested from the DJ playing on the dance floor, and we didn't even get to enjoy them. It really took the wind out of our sails, and I wish we could have had that time back. By the time we returned, they wanted us to cut the cake, and we did that as quickly as we could. After those photos were finished, my wife and I looked at each other and headed straight to the dance floor to make up for lost time.
If I could go back, I would have handled the photos very differently. As previously mentioned, some of our friends and family did not make it easy for the crew to knock out photos quickly during cocktail hour, but I would have gathered our parents, siblings, and wedding party, gone to a secluded area away from the rest of the crowd, and knocked out all of the group portraits and our formals during cocktail hour. All other photos could have been taken casually at the reception.
Would I recommend Scarlet Oak? Yes. They had great customer service, worked very hard at the event, and provided a great product. But be very clear with your expectations and what you want. We felt we clearly communicated our desire to enjoy our reception during the pre-wedding call, but it did not happen that way. Be a good communicator, make sure they are a good communicator, and this crew will be solid for your wedding.