03/21/2017
So I started to think about what makes Skeleton Key Studios special, and out of everything I could write, one of my favorite lovelies Katy Romdall (and a SKS Bride) wrote this review on yelp for us. When I read it, I balled my eyes out, she totally summed up exactly the experience I want to give each and everyone of the couples that we work with
"Just incredible. Nichole and her team came to shoot my wedding 2 weeks ago and guess what? I had photos to share online within 4 hours of my wedding ending. Just as I was celebrating back at the hotel with my husband and we were talking over champagne about how amazing the wedding was, I got an email from Nichole with a quick preview packet of about 20 photos and a mini wedding video montage from just hours before. It was amazing!
This helped with two things:
1) I got to see my wedding photos so fast and keep reliving the best day of my life
2) I got to post and share those photos online. I know it seems like a silly thing to really NEED or want to do, but this allowed for friends and family online who couldn't attend to have almost live updates of the wedding. This was also special because it alleviated the need for friends/family who did attend the wedding to post their own photos. Everyone has the best intentions in sharing photos of events online, but sometimes those photos are dark or blurry or they might not catch you in the best light. Having Nichole provide photos right away meant that I could get professional photos ASAP to share that I was proud of and that I felt really captured the wedding.
More about Skeleton Key:
-They're insanely affordable and depending on your needs or specific requests, you can almost always customize a photo package or ask for a change in pricing quotes based on your needs.
-They were also really flexible about arranging a last minute, pre-wedding shoot. This provided us with an opportunity to meet the photographers and have them get to know us as a couple before the big day.
And while for many people the price and certainly the quality of the photos is most important, what I ended up loving most about SKS is their customer service. We got the BEST price and the BEST photos, I know it.... But what I think sets them out even farther ahead of the pack is simply how kind and generous they are. Nichole, our head photographer is married herself and has also attended many, many weddings. I found her to be a supremely warm and sweet person and all of her wedding experience made her an even better photographer because when she wasn't capturing amazing candid moments, she was offering to assist with things. She truly went above and beyond and I recall a few times seeing her pitch in with carrying things or showing other vendors where the kitchen was or opening the door for someone who had a big load in their arms, etc. It was nuts! She is so great at her job that she ends up doing two jobs at once. She captures all the right moments on camera and then finds time to help with set up and advice and basically anything you might need. I almost felt bad because she stepped in almost like a day-of-coordinator! But that's just who she is. She knows how important your wedding day is and more than just a photographer, she becomes your friend.
In fact - that's how she actually came to be my photographer. I first met her 2 years ago when she photographed a wedding that I was a bridesmaid for. We shared a ferry together back from Bainbridge to Seattle and chatted and got to know one another. And during that wedding earlier in the day she was assisting me with getting the bride strapped into her corset-style dress. She set up gorgeous shots to make it look like I was helping with getting my friend into her dress, but in reality I had no idea what I was doing so Nichole kindly took some set-up photos and then put her camera down and actually strapped my friend into her corset. She's a total pro and she did it better than I could have!
She makes great conversation and knows exactly when to be a fly on the wall or when to join a conversation or when to offer advice or encouragement. She is quick to run and grab tissues, to calm crying kids, and to really become a friend. I'm so impressed by her as a person and even more impressed that someone so kind and so genuine could be so talented at taking photos. She really does it all and I'd get married again (to my same husband, of course!) just to have her take our pictures. I literally couldn't imagine recommending another photographer in her stead - she's the best. She really is.
