Brides keep in mind the pictures that you see at any studio and / or website are their ABSOLUTE best, so just b/c you are blown away by a few images, it does not mean the results you get will be at the same caliber. I spent a lot of time telli...ng Brian &James that I wanted creative, artistic and fun pictures, what I got was an insane amount of staged pictures, most of which did not really show faces and / or expressions. I had two weddings receptions, both of which Bleu captured for me. I flew James from Bleu to Orlando for my Hindu wedding, and with the exception of a handful of staged pictures of my husband and me, my husband &I weren't captured together all throughout the night. James made me feel very rushed and as soon as he did his obligatory hours he was out...he basically watched the clock the entire time he was there. The pictures from my NY wedding were worst which is sad b/c while James never had any professional training (yes their photographers do not all have professional training), Brian has, and I expected so much more from him. Back to the point at hand, we don't have one candid image of my husband and I together...not on the dance floor, or of us speaking to each other, or anywhere else for that matter. To be fair, some of the images were good, but they were just not worth the premium of $6,300 (plus travel and hotel). After telling Brian (one of the owners) that I didn't think the pictures came out as well as I expected, I was basically treated like crap from then on. He was very defensive and not receptive to any constructive feedback. To make clear how awful things became, I got married in April of 2011, and received my album finally in June of 2012. In addition I practically designed the album myself b/c they decided to stop putting any effort towards my project. To be honest, I don’t think I would have even received my album when I did, if I did not threaten to get the courts involved (Brian was not returning my e-mails or phone calls for a full 2 mos). Brian and his colleague Charley were rude and spoke to me in very degrading / belittling manners b/c there was no longer a reason for them to be polite. If you decide to go with Bleu here are some things you should be mindful of:
1. Where is says that your final payment is due upon proof pick up, fight for that to say album pickup.
2. Have them specify how they define "changes" as it relates to the album. In my contract I negotiated 3 sets of changes, but when we got to planning the album, I made some drastic changes during my 1st set of changes and I was berated and ignored for 2 months thereafter.
3. Have them specify what they mean by gift box on the contract. When Brian sold my package, he showed me a beautiful keepsake box that the images come in. When I got the images they were in a cardboard box. This was in the contract so I questioned it & he told me that my album would come in the keepsake box, but months later when I actually received my album it was in a cardboard box.
4. I got a 11x11 3 page custom designed bridal album. When I was sold the album I was told it would hold 80 images beautifully, but on the contract they wrote "up to 80 images" & when it was time to make the album they told me that they recommend 60 images.
5. Have them specify in the contract what type of retouching will be done. When Brian sells, he has there is heavy retouching of all their images, NONE of my images were retouched.