Testimonials

Brides-to-be may have more options than they realize when it comes to planning a local wedding.

From photographers to Limousines, banquet halls to disc jockeys, some couples may find planning for the big day doesn't have to mean turning to services in Rochester, Buffalo or beyond.

Janis Brown of Wyoming said the first step she and her fiancé, Keith Dahl of Rochester, made in planning their July 28 wedding was calling Kevin Carlson of Carlson's Studio in Wyoming.

"Before we even set the reception place, we called Carlson's" she said. "It was the first call we made."

For Dahl and Brown, making the decision to go with a local photographer was the easiest choice they said they have made for the wedding.

Brown said two generations of Carlson's have photographed some of the most important days in her family members' lives. Clayton Carlson, original owner of the studio, and father to Kevin, shot her parents wedding and Kevin Carlson took Brown's high school senior pictures, her sisters wedding pictures and her nieces annual pictures since she was born.

"I know their quality is great and that was one thing I didn't want to mess around with for my wedding," she said. "The photographs are the only thing you have to remember your day by."

Kevin Carlson said he and photographer Brody Wheeler, have shot about 500 weddings during the past 10 years. The key to keeping a full wedding season calendar is people skills and friendliness the day of the wedding, Carlson said.

"You want to be the friendly guy who blends in instead of just a photographer who is checking off a list of photos," he said. "We try to be real friendly and smile and help out as much as possible."

Wheeler said the key to Carlson's Photography is helping the couple make an emotional connection with their wedding pictures. A photographer who is rude to a family member or makes the wedding party late to the reception, he said, will leave the couple with bad feelings about their pictures taken.

"I've seen girls who have beautiful pictures from another photographer but can't enjoy them because they remember that having them taken was not a good experience," he said. "You want to have a good time and have great photographs... that's what we do."

Carlson said he still shoots weddings on regular film but uses computerized technology to help with the sale and distribution of his photographs. Wedding proofs, for example, are displayed on a television screen via a computer so couples can create their wedding album by seeing exactly what the finished product will look like, he said.

The "Video proof book" can also be sent to family members who live out of the area and what to buy pictures, he said.

"We do the editing digitally and take the pictures (the bride) likes to create the album," Carlson said. "The equipment was expensive when I bought it (six years ago) but I knew it was worth it because of the service it provides our customers."