Wedding Update: The Photographer

(PICTURE: Huyen in front of the photo shop we'll be using!)

Last weekend Huyen and I went to a few photographers and frankly didn't like any. I've made fun of wedding photographers/books in the past on my blog because:

1. Wedding books are taken weeks or months before the actual wedding. The books aren't so much about the wedding but are more about looking like models in often over-the-top actions shots.

2. The books often have English in them. The English is generally spelled wrong and often nonsensical. Even worse, I had one student show me her book and she had some rap lyrics on a page which she probably thought were romantic...but were basically about "tapping that..."

3. The pictures are completely photo-shopped. Half the albums we saw were either in sepia tone or drastically over colored.

The positive part about getting a photographer is that their services include:
1. Hair and make-up for the wedding and rehearsal dinner.
2. Ao Dais for all the girls at the rehearsal dinner.
3. A wedding dress for Huyen (if she doesn't want to make one)
4. A giant picture of the two of us that will be put at the entrance of the wedding.
5. A bunch of other small stuff...

After feeling like it was impossible to get a good photographer, we got a recommendation from one of Huyen's coworker. We went to the shop and were immediately won over. The pictures the photographer took were beautiful and didn't have a trace of photoshop. On top of that, there was only a little English in the albums...which still had spelling mistakes.

We immediately booked the photographer and will be taking pictures in three weeks. We'll have a half day shoot at a few different locations in Hanoi. Regardless of how it turns out, it should be a fun day!