The Wedding Show

I've always been fascinated by weddings. There's a surreal quality to them where everyone involved seems to pretend as if they are someone they're not. Or maybe a better way to put it is that everyone involved agrees to be the best version of themselves for the day. It's no wonder people want elaborate wedding photo packages to commemorate the event.

Recently I attended my first wedding show, which was geared toward the Chicago bride. I was an observer, not a participant, and I attended with a female friend of mine. We posed as a happy couple to get a sense of what an actual Chicago bride and her groom might experience at one of these events and to try to find affordable wedding packages.

The pressure was incredible. From the very beginning the message sent to a bride is that your day must be PERFECT!!, with the implied message being that if your day isn't PERFECT!! then you have failed in some way. There were a lot of expected vendors at this event -- bakers, DJs, florists, and photographers, all beaming at me and my friend, all dying for us to sign contracts that will lock in a date and guarantee their rates, which were anything but affordable.

Of course I knew weddings are expensive. And I even had an inkling of how expensive, but what I wasn't prepared for was just how difficult it would be to find a top-quality wedding photographer in Chicago who provides great value. Now, to be fair this was my first show and I plan to attend a few more before I sign myself up.

I've been studying weddings in general and Chicago brides in particular for months now. I think I have at least a fair understanding of the industry. For instance, I can tell which is a dress for the upcoming season and which is from two seasons ago. I'm a retired actor. I can spot the difference between costume-quality and real quality from across the footlights of a runway, and I can tell you that the dresses I saw were of inferior, yet were going for top dollar. I've worked in restaurants for years. I know a cake mix and one made from scratch. I know quality, and in terms of Chicago wedding packages, I wasn't seeing it.

One of the reasons Archetype Images has been slow in entering the wedding market is because I wanted to develop my own style. Just as with headshots, there are thousands of photographers doing the work, but I don't want my work to look like everyone else's. Yet, going from one photography booth to another, I could not see much difference in quality of work. The larger studios displayed a wide array of quality, from beginners with consumer cameras, all the way up to gifted photographers with state-of-the-art equipment. But they were all charging for the top line talent. What’s more, there were five booths, and yet we only met one actual photographer. To me that was shocking.

I've done two weddings now, I can tell you that I would not be happy with my work unless I know something about the bride. It's the same way with my headshots and the publicity shots I do. I have to feel a connection to the event in some way. To me, going to a large, impersonal photo studio would be a lot like going to someone new to do your hair for your wedding. Yeah, you might look good, but the day is all about presenting the best version of you, and only someone who has a connection with you can know what that is. It's all about capturing a unique vision of the best version of the people and doing it without pressure. A Chicago bride needs an affordable wedding package that reflects her own sense of style, and that's my goal.