The Wedding Guide
Tell Your Story.
About Me
Hello! I’m a “true-to-life” style photographer based in Raleigh, North Carolina with my wife, Samantha, and three kids, Ella, Maddie, and Jack.
With a background in Architecture and Fine Art Photography, I bring a unique point of view and strong sense of scale and proportion to wedding photography. Starting in 2007, I toured and showed my work in juried art festivals across NC, and quickly transitioned to portrait photography. In 2009, I began shooting weddings with my first contracted wedding getting the cover shot of Cape Fear Bride Magazine. I have since photographed clients all over the country and abroad.
I’m a pretty laid-back guy. My clients have consistently told me in reviews “…his calm demeanor and quick sense of humor has served him well in diffusing me as a stressful bride (as well as my family) on my wedding day.” This ease has made for strong and long-lasting relationships with most of my clients [friends] and has resulted in most of my clients coming from referrals. I love shooting weddings. I can ‘poof’ a dress as well as any MOH (I’ve actually shown a few MOH’s), pin boutonnieres, dry dripping bouquets, and keep up with all the movie quotes the groomsmen can dish out. But most of all, feel lucky that what I do allows me to witness time and time again, the joining of two lives, two families (or more), and two hearts. It’s that emotion of the day that I strive to capture as authentically as I can for you to enjoy and share with your family for years to come.
2024 Cover - Heart of NC Weddings Magazine
2020 Cover - Heart of NC Weddings Magazine
“I’ve told him before, and I will tell you now... Richard Barlow is ,my spirit animal. His work is magical. Beyond that, he kept me calm on my wedding day and made my HUSBAND feel comfortable in front of a camera, which is a miracle...”
My Approach
The first question you probably think of when looking for a wedding photographer is, “What’s their style?” Dark & moody? Bright and airy? Bold and vibrant?
My style is your style. I believe part of being a professional photographer is being able to adapt to your client’s needs and tastes. These are not “my” photographs, they’re yours. They tell your story, and I am here for it!
My task is to take photos of your wedding day. My goal is to capture moments that become pieces of art in which you are featured. From hair and make-up in the morning to the sparkler send-off, my documentary-style of photography will capture all the major milestones of your wedding day along with all of the small details and moments that will tell the story of your wedding day for generations to come.
It’s important to remember that wedding photos are not for today, or even tomorrow, they are for a generation from now when reminiscing on where your marriage began and sharing them with your children and grandchildren.
Getting married is one of the most exciting times of your life! It’s a time to reflect and a time to look forward to everything that’s to come. You’re probably overwhelmed with all the wedding information out there, but don’t worry; you are not alone. Hiring experienced and professional wedding vendors is the key to ensuring your day runs smoothly and it allows you and your families to actually enjoy your wedding day instead of stressing about the details. Lean on your vendors - that’s what we’re here for!
The information in this planning guide is meant to guide and inform you with your wedding photography options, pricing and packages, as well as the steps needed to book.
Snapping a photo is easy, but directing a client and leading them confidently throughout the process is something entirely different. This is something I not only strive to do, but enjoy doing each and every time.
Luxe Packages
THE HEIRLOOM PACKAGE | $7,500
Up to 10 hours of Wedding Day Coverage
Complimentary Engagement Session
10x10 lay-flat album with cover options
Website gallery with download rights
Two photographers on wedding day
THE BESPOKE PACKAGE | $10,000
Full Wedding Day Coverage
Complimentary Engagement + Rehearsal Dinner Coverage
Same-day previews for social media | Expedited delivery of final images
12x12 lay-flat album with cover options
Website gallery with download rights
Two photographers on wedding day
Special extras
“[Richard] is an incredible photographer and an absolute delight to work with. His skills floored us with both our engagement and wedding photos. Like really, we can’t even pick our favorites we just love them all so much! His ability to make you feel comfortable and confident was much appreciated during such a high stress day. Richard communicated so well throughout the entirety of our experience and went over the top with his time. He never overstepped, listened to exactly what we envisioned, and made sure to capture every shot we requested without fail. Plus the turnaround time was so fast and we always had gorgeous sneak peaks! ”
A La Carte
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ADDITIONAL SESSIONS
Compliment your wedding day photography with additional photo opportunities designed to add to your wedding story. All sessions start at $750 for 1 hour of coverage, and $400 for each additional hour.
Bridal Portraits | Bridal Boudoir | Rehearsal Dinner
Trash-the-Dress | Encore -
WEDDING ALBUM
Heavyweight pages with faux leather & linen cover options
10x10:
30 pages / 15 spreads (75 photos) = $700*
40 pages / 20 spreads (100 photos) = $1,100
80 pages / 20 spreads (200 photos) = $1,30012x12:
30 pages / 15 spreads (75 photos) = $800**
40 pages / 20 spreads (100 photos) = $1,150
80 pages / 20 spreads (200 photos) = $1,400 -
HEIRLOOM ALBUM
Heavy “board book” pages with full leather, linen, suede, or velvet cover options with storage box
10x10:
30 pages / 15 spreads (75 photos) = $ 1,100
40 pages / 20 spreads (100 photos) = $1,500
50 pages / 25 spreads (125 photos) = $1,80012x12:
30 pages / 15 spreads (75 photos) = $1,200
40 pages / 20 spreads (100 photos) = $1,700
50 pages / 25 spreads (125 photos) = $2,100 -
All sessions shot on-location at the destination of your choice. Extensive photo retouching is available at an additional dee on a case-by-case basis.
Travel to all areas outside of the Raleigh/Triangle area of North Carolina is subject to additional travel fees.
For custom sizes, products, or any items not listed above, please contact me.
*Included in Heirloom Package
**Included in Bespoke Package
The Engagement Session
Congratulations! You’re engaged! Now to take the obligatory photos to capture this milestone by combing through Pinterest to find the best shots to take and the best places to… STOP.
Take a breath.
Close Pinterest.
Do you both really love walking through gardens or old barns together? Is that how you met? What are you guys really into? How did you meet? These are the questions I always as my couples when we talk about scheduling their engagement session.
Make. This. Session. Your. Own.
Find things to highlight your personalities and interests, both apart and together.
If you’re a little unsure, let me know and we can talk it out over a beer or coffee at your favorite spot to come up with an engagement session that truly showcases your relationship and the love that has grown between you both to get you to this point.
Are either of you nervous in front of a camera? As a bonus, doing an engagement session allows the three of us to get to know each other and you get a sense of how I work. So, when it comes time for the wedding day, it will feel comfortable and familiar.
The Bridal Session
The classic portrait session can be approached in a traditional or more modern style. The difference being the location and/or poses (or lack thereof). Most bridal portrait sessions tent to lean more traditional, but that does not mean you’re obligated to that.
This session is scheduled a few months before the wedding day when your dress is ready. It’s a good opportunity to do a trial hair and make-up, as well as try out your wedding bouquet style and dress fitting. I recommend doing the session early enough that if you notice any issues with the dress while walking around for this session, you have enough time to have them addressed.
Bridal Boudoir
Forget everything you think you know about the whole “boudoir” thing. Over the years, boudoir has grown in popularity, but I’ve noticed that they all look the same, and it seemed like the style and posing was just trying too hard. While shooting these sessions, I saw from my clients that they simply just wanted to look good and have fun! It was just as much for themselves as it was for their spouse (or spouse-to-be!) So I have sought to redefine the genre and make it accessible to all.
This session type has grown so much over the past few years beyond just weddings and bridal boudoir. So much so that I’ve created it’s own stand-alone photography brand within RBP: “Barlow Boudoir” (IG: @BarlowBoudoir)
These sessions are an experience and are tailored to each individual client in terms of taste, needs, and budget. This session can be a full-on turnkey pampering experience, or a simple session at your home.
Full, turnkey services can include location scouting and rental, full professional hair and make-up, wardrobe styling and selection, florals, and even spray tanning.
So bring your squad to cheer you on and your favorite playlist, and I’ll bring the mimosas. You’ll leave with some amazing images and have a blast!
Trash-The-Dress
This fun session isn’t exactly how it sounds, but it is certainly not for the faint of heart! This session is typically done after the wedding day in a body of water of some kind. Very common for destination weddings to take advantage of those once-in-a-lifetime moments and locations.
Tips from past experience:
- Soaking wet wedding dresses weigh a ton. Grooms be weary to think you can lift her out of the water!
- Crystal clear sea water rinses out well but be sure to use an outdoor shower when doing so (hotel maintenance staff may need to be called when you fill their drains with sand).
- Some brides have elected to purchase a “throw-away” wedding dress for this shoot in lieu of their actual wedding dress (budget permitting).
Rehearsal Dinner Coverage
So you’ve planned the wedding of the century, all the vendors are selected, deposits are put down, you’ve tasted the cake (the groom’s favorite part of the process thus far), narrowed down your guest list (again), and you’ve realized that there will be people at your wedding from all different parts of your lives from back home, to college, to the office, to your exchange family in Italy.
All in one room.
Together.
For the first time.
It’s pretty surreal and amazing.
Chances are with all of these people from all of these places, there will be quite a few people from out of town, and these are people you’d most likely invite to the rehearsal dinner. Wouldn’t it be great if you could capture the moments with these special people just a little more and during an evening without the timeline as formality of the wedding day? Just everyone together for the first time in a while enjoying each other’s company (and the two of you in more comfortable clothes).
Rehearsal dinner photography coverage allows you to capture moments with these special people in your lives. On your wedding day, all 120+ people will want 5 minutes and a selfie with you. Give them a little more time and get some great images of it in the process.
Encore Session
As the name implies, this session is done after the wedding - an Encore, if you will. It can be done a week after the wedding, a year after, or even on the honeymoon! This session is meant to give the both of you the ability to get shots you would have never had the ability to on your wedding day, or even engagement. If you both love the beach, but your wedding was in a ballroom, it’s your chance to get what you want. (It also makes a great one-year anniversary gift!)
Some Encore sessions are basically wedding portrait sessions where it’s a chance to wear the dress one more time and shoot at a new location free of the pressure of a wedding day itinerary, or some couples choose to make it a simple portrait session.
It’s your shoot, you decide how you want to handle it!
The Wedding Day Details
Prior to the wedding day, we will work together (over a few coffees or brews, hopefully) to come up with a shot list and timeline for your day. If you’re working with a planner, I will work closely with them on this. This timeline should be conservative to allow contingency time, and travel time between locations. A wedding day is a “herding of cats,” so plan for it! The goal is to set a solid timeline everyone can work from so you can concentrate on getting married. Lean on your vendors to make it happen.
Rings, jewelry, hair pieces, flowers, shoes, socks, cuff links, letters, pictures, gifts, cultural items, invitations, programs, printed pieces, and any unique items you’ve put thought into! Many weddings today are inspired by wedding blogs and Pinterest. It’s important to capture the items that you’ve spent so much time, money, and effort on! After those items are captured, you can then post them for future brides to use for inspiration for their weddings!
WHAT TO BRING
CROWD MANAGEMENT
It’s important to have a wedding planner (or day-of coordinator / point person) who can proactively gather the groups when it’s time for the group photos after the ceremony. This part of the day can be a time sink since much time is spent searching for people that skipped out to the cocktail hour! I will work closely with this person to make sure we get through this part of the day efficiently. The last thing I want is for you and your spouse to have to worry about this.
You’ve done all the planning, you’ve hired all your vendors, everyone has flown into town, you’ve returned emails to 94 people the day before your wedding on where they need to be and when, even though everyone received a beautifully designed and printed itinerary in the welcome bag. You managed to wrangle your wedding party to be where they need to be the morning of your wedding. Now relax, let the wedding pros you’ve vetted and hired take it from here.
Now enjoy and soak it all in! Congratulations!
RELAX, HAVE FUN, BE MARRIED!
Frequently Asked Questions
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The are a number of amazing photographers in the world. What separated me from others is three things I hear my clients tell me, and those they refer to me the most: “Client service. Calming and fun demeanor. Dramatic photography.”
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Yes. Upon receiving your images, you will also get a full print release.
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There are at least two photographers, unless your package states otherwise.
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Although many of our sessions do get featured, this is not something that is guaranteed. However, if this is something you’d like to pursue be sure to talk with your wedding planner and/or designer to make sure your wedding design would be a good fit for a specific publication.
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Travel fees are based on the location, of course. For locations within a few hours of Raleigh, NC, the fee is based on the standard IRS rate for mileage. For location with extended travel time, out-of-state, or international travel, we will negotiate a fee based on travel fees required to provide the amount of photography requested.
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Absolutely! I love destination weddings and have been lucky enough to travel all over the world shooting weddings. Send us more information on your travel plans, and we will create a custom wedding collection to suit your needs.
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I highly recommend ordering prints through your wedding website print store, but it is not required. The difference in quality is huge when it comes to ordering through a professional lab, so we encourage clients to print directly through their wedding website print store powered by White House Custom Color.
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I use all of the latest professional Canon equipment. I shoot with Canon’s flagship DSLR & Mirrorless cameras as well as all pro lenses, among other gear. Back up equipment is always on hand, as well, in the event that anything should happen.
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Yes. I have on-site external back-up drives, as well as cloud back-up in case (heaven forbid) there is ever physical loss of the drives. There are currently terabytes of data backed-up and counting.
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Yes! From wedding coordinators to florists and caterers, I have worked with some of the best wedding pros in the area, many of which I call my friends. I would be happy to share their information with you!
SO WHAT’S NEXT… HOW DO WE BOOK?
Contact me with your wedding date to confirm availability. Once I have all of your contact info and wedding information, I will prepare a contract for your review and e-signature. Invoicing and contracts are handled electronically, and a payment plan will be set up to suit your needs.