Here's a short little "two bits" from an independent wedding vendor who had once gone for bigger name vendors at her own wedding (and who regrets the inattention and too-high prices).
Perhaps you have a preference for the "tried and true" big names, and that is fine. But hear me out on some advice which may save you both headaches and moolah. Often, going with the independently owned and operated vendors can turn you out a much more pleasant and personal experience while planning your wedding and dealing with everything pre- and post- wedding.
The big name providers, the ones everyone seems to book because of their market saturation, cannot always provide you with the personalized attention you want when planning your event. It's a simple matter of over-saturation to make profit, and therefore each individual client gets less personalized attention to make way for the next flood of profit making clients. It's like you're on an assembly line. Big name photography companies (including the one I call "The Walmart of Wedding Photographers") have a system which is simply to make a sale to a client by a salesperson, and to be handed a photographer from a "call list" of contracted people who are the ones actually showing up at your wedding.
This raises your package prices, and more if the company has a retail studio space with that overhead they must figure into their prices. That big name company has to pay someone else to do the work, and you are picking up the tab in the package you are offered. Sometimes that's a BIG TAB! And you can get the same quality (if not better, for more personalized focus) by choosing an independent service provider.
If you go with an independent provider who has been offering quality services for many years, and who is the actual person who shows up at your event, you will be getting a much better deal. You will also be getting much more personalized attention too, because your photographs are handled, packaged and designed by one person, who responds aptly to your inquiries, and has full focus on you as an individual.
I stress this mainly with regard to photographers, not only because I am an independent provider myself, but because photography is the one thing following your wedding that you will be following up on (albums, prints, etc.), and you want good communication from a reliable entity who doesn't send you through a system of other people before your request gets processed.
It's just more personal. Personal and simple make it better! And more bang for your buck! Because we don't have to pay contractors to do things for us! We do them ourselves, because we know we do it right.
