MK Bridal Portraits - anyone ever been disappointed?

[wdwpluto]

Anyone ever been disappointed with their MK Bridal Portraits? We just got ours and we totally are. We had a lot of problems that morning...

(copied from an email to a friend sent to a friend before we saw the proofs)
So we get to the castle and the lights are off and there’s 3 vans/trucks parked in the circle (behind the Partners statue, in front of the castle).

Now I had my little heart set on pictures of the castle lit up (it goes from purples, to pinks, to blues) against the dark sky.

We never did get the lights turned on and it took us more than 30 minutes to get all the construction equipment moved. By that point it was daylight. No night portraits for us. (And they never turned the castle lights on) I was so upset. You know, they charge nearly $800 to do the bridal portraits, plus $150 for hair/makeup. AND the photographer said they shoot at least 2-3 days a week, so there’s really no excuse for all that crap. I tried realllllly hard not to pout, but the photographer knew that we were upset (ok, I was upset, therefore Kev got upset too because he knew how much I wanted this).

So anyway, we did portraits in daylight in front of the castle from 2-3 different angles. We also did shots by Cinderella’s castle and in the throne area for Cinderella’s Royal Table. (I have to say that the photographer’s choice of poses and what-not seemed rather un-inspiring)

The photographer also wanted to do shots in the Rose garden in front of the castle – more equipment ruled that out. So by that time I’m pretty mad.
(end)

and we're very disappointed with the finished photos which we just saw proofs of today. They're so far away and the posing (that's how the photographer put us) is awful. We're quite bummed because we'd hoped to have a nice shot of us in front of the castle to enlarge and hang in our living room. We feel like everything is just lackluster and not worth blowing up. Plus it will remind us of the only aggravation that we had during our weddingmoon, because everything else was FANTASTIC.

http://albums.proshots.com/disney/

SCANLON/BARBELY Bridal Portrait
Password: 51506

We used an outside vendor for photography of the wedding day (thank goodness!)

 

[hmp2z]

Honestly, I have seen MK portraits taken in front of both the castle by day and the castle by light, and I think that as a background for your pictures, this is the most beautiful lighting I've seen. That pink glow on the castle walls is just beautiful! In some of the night pictures, the castle's details don't show up as well, and it's darker, so the couple doesn't always show as clearly.
I think those photographers have a few standard poses that they use for MK photos - all of the ones I've seen have the couples in the exact same positions. That's not to say that DPS isn't a good photography service - their shots at weddings are much more diverse and interesting, just b/c the weddings themselves have more variety and room for creativity. Unless you and your husband are really spontaneous people who put themselves into unique poses, I think they just go with the same standard positions for each couple at the MK shoot.
This was actually one of the reasons why we didn't go with the MK photo shoot at our wedding. I didn't really think that the pictures I'd seen were dazzling enough to justify the $750 cost, and neither did Andy. They are beautiful and unique, but for us, we had enough beautiful and unique things at our wedding that MK photos would have been superfluous. We honestly couldn't have been any happier, no matter what extras we added to our wedding.
Did you see the samples before you went with the photo shoot? Do you notice a significant difference between your photos and others you've seen, other than the lighting issue and the construction issue? If you are disappointed b/c of the construction problems, then I think that is a legitimate complaint, but really, these photos look just like all of the other ones I've seen as far as the poses go. I think they're a very unique & memorable souvenir of your wedding - imagine showing your children and grandchildren when you were in a castle!
Cheers!
Heather W

 

[ahutton]

I really think it is hit or miss with who your photographer is. Our bridal shots were taken in EPCOT. We absolutely loved them. Our wedding photos we were not as pleased ith. They are a great memory of a beautiful day, but certainly not inspiring. You have some really beautiful photos, I'm sorry they are less than you hoped for. What you could consider is selecting just a couple favorites (one or two) that you can order larger prints of, and then take them to a good framing place that can mat them well, and adjust some of the "framing" of your pictures. That is the one thing that is my personal pet peeve of photographs, too much concrete in the bottom front, too much sky up above. Once upon a time someone told me to fill the frame with what you wanted to see, and my picture quality improved a bunch. The nice thing is that can be corrected with some good matting, and you don't necessarily have to go custom, places like Michael's have really nice stuff, I would just play with it.

 

[tinkpixiedust]

Your pictures are wonderful !!

I know that they're not what you had expected, but you have some GREAT shots. If you have your heart set on a picture for your LR, I would go with #34, as the coloring is fantastic. I would have to agree that with ANY of the Bridal Portrait packages you contract DPS for, you should always expect a hit-or-miss. Every photographer at DPS has a different style, so no two sessions will EVER be the same.

Regardless, I would be thrilled to get the same pictures you did. Hopefully, we will.

Donna
12/24/03
Disney's Yacht Club Wedding Gazebo

 

[Eeyore1928]

I love your pictures! If you wanted some closer maybe they can crop and come in closer with a proof that you like! I think they are great! You look beautiful! Congratulations!

 

[karenTX]

I thought #31 was beautiful! With the morning light hitting the castle...it looks pink/blue...just perfect!

 

[Janet2k]

Wdwpluto, congratulations on your marriage. I hope it is truly happily ever after.

I think you should write DPS and express your displeasure with your MK session. State the facts and your expectations. I am sure the two of you can come up with a solution that will make both sides happy.

By the way, your MK photos are lovely. They look exactly like other MK photos that I have viewed (I have seen many over the years). The other folks here have given you excellent suggestions on how to make the final product more to your liking, if you choose to go that route.

Again, congratulations on your marriage.