Hilton Americas $900 Location Fee for Bridal

[ladydiva]

Today I have a bridal shoot scheduled and the bride is fearful of it raining outside. So I called The Hilton Americas Downtown to ask if it would be okay to shoot in the lobby area, etc. So I get forwarded to the sales director and she tells me that it would be fine, but I would have to pay a location fee of Even if my bride were willing to pay that much I would not allow her, I have heard of $200- $300 which is still quite high, but $900? Anyway, the reason for my post is to see if anyone could suggest a location for indoor bridals that is nice.

[Abel]

hey there Tawana...

i recall hearing about them switching their policy from free to paid. $900 is steep... i would rent a room for $100-150 for the night (even if you dont stay there) and then go shoot in the lobby as a guest.. hehe..

prolly wont work but thats just how my mind works.. hehe

[ladydiva]

thats exactly how my mind works too.. they stopped me on that one too :)
I will be leaving here early to go around and ask other places if it will be okay. So far weather looks like it may hold up, and we moved the shoot up to 2 to hopefully miss it. I am about to grow a gray hair, lol!

[bondarnes]

That's just their way of saying no without saying NO!

The Gaylord Texan in Grapevine charges $250.00, but they give you a hotel room for four hours to change and do hair and makeup plus a personal assistant from the consierge staff that can get you into areas that are not usually available. We were able to use a stairway in a restaurant that was not open at that time of day.

They had to do something after the first rainy weekend when two dozen wedding photographers showed up with brides in tow, blocking walkways with equipment and sometimes being rude to paying guests. (Hey buddy, can you move it. Your in my shot.)

[LoungeLizard]

...and what Don says is why I really don't blame these places for doing that. It bothers me as I'm pretty much without any indoor locations, but I've seen and heard of what other photographers have done in these places and I can't blame them at all.

I've heard of people at the Hilton moving stuff around in their upstairs lobbies and leaving them all over the place. It's a shame...really is. I believe we should all leave things as if we had never been there!

Tawana, check with some of your favorite good looking restaurants. Some will allow you (as long as you don't disturb paying customers) and have some great looking walls and areas.

[ndsimm]

I think we need to try and get with some of these places and see if we can negotiate a fee that would be fair to both parties. I mean this should be a win-win since it's also free advertizing for them when people ask where the image was taken
I've looked for places in Houston as well and there are none that I have found so far other than one place off Westheimer that charges around $200-300 and you have to schedule....I forget the name of that place though....

[bondarnes]

Originally Posted by ndsimm

I think we need to try and get with some of these places and see if we can negotiate a fee that would be fair to both parties.

Our local guild, Metroplex Professional Photographers negotiated with the Ft. Worth Botanic Garden. Maybe Professional Photographers Guild of Houston could do the same.

[Orogeny]

Originally Posted by bondarnes

Our local guild, Metroplex Professional Photographers negotiated with the Ft. Worth Botanic Garden. Maybe Professional Photographers Guild of Houston could do the same.

Maybe so, but seems to me that Ft. Worth is a long way to go to take phictures!

Tim

[Gateruner]

There is always the parking garage like we had to do with Raymonds Hell on Earth workshop.

[ladydiva]

Well thanks all for your suggestions, today I believe that I sprouted 3 gray hairs, at 1:45 everything seemed okay, so I thought thank God I can still shoot outside, however the bride was running about 30 minutes late. Then exactly at 2:15 the rain came down, not in sprinkles, but poured down. Mind you guys that my studio is only 5 minutes away from the place we were originally scheduled to shoot at downtown, but the bride was pretty much insistent that she did not want to shoot at the studio. Tried Hotel Icon, no such luck. I remembered what Jesus said about restaurants, so I started calling around like mad, and finally I found a place near the Galleria. I was practically begging at this moment I think they had a little pity party for me :) Eventually, everything turned out perfect because the bride knew exactly where it was, so I didn’t have to give her directions, she was already at the Galleria finishing up make-up, and the salon where she purchased her dress was in the same shopping center. After we finished at the restaurant, the salon owner allowed us to come inside and grab a few shots there as well. Our shots came out much better than expected! Soooo many lessons learned with this experience.

Again, thank you all for your suggestions!

[scottlyn]

Originally Posted by ladydiva

Our shots came out much better than expected! Soooo many lessons learned with this experience.

I am glad it all worked out! What resturaunt did you use, and when do we get to see the pics?

[mramos]

I've never shot there, but this place looks nice and is in that range.
Paraiso Maravilla
http://www.pmhouston.com/portrait.asp

[ladydiva]

The restaurant was Miles J, off Westheimer. I will post pics as soon as I get some post done. Stay tuned :)

[Holly]

I've never shot there, but this place looks nice and is in that range.
Paraiso Maravilla
http://www.pmhouston.com/portrait.asp

I've shot a wedding there - and you're right, it is very nice. Many gorgeous shots can be had - I think it is well worth the portrait session fee.