Believe it or not, there are still some things in the photo marketplace that are trending upwards, and one of them is sign-in books for weddings. Think about this from a marketing standpoint: You offer your wedding clients a chance to do an engagement session bundled with a sign-in book a few weeks prior to their wedding. Your customer is blown away by your creative genius and they can’t wait to put their images on display for their guests and replace the tired old guest book with the pen that looks like a feather. Once displayed at the wedding reception, their guests will marvel at your stunning photography. When the evening is over, the value of the book now filled with handwritten sentiments just shot north of priceless in the eyes of the newlyweds. You’ll sleep better because you’ve just showcased your work to the scores of people who attended the reception—some of whom may be getting married soon, know of someone who is, or just may need a good family portrait!

So how do you get your wedding clients to commit to purchasing a sign-in book from you? Just tell them about all the upside:

• You can schedule your engagement session whenever and wherever you want! Point out to your customer that unlike wedding day photo sessions, their engagement session need not be geographically convenient to ceremony or reception locations. Maybe they’d like to do a session in the city because their wedding day events will be out in the suburbs. Perhaps they’d like to go to the place where they met or had their first date. Or, maybe they’ll want to schedule a session out in the snow or fall leaves because their wedding will take place in July. So what if it rains on the scheduled engagement session? Unlike the wedding day, you can simply reschedule the engagement session!
• Engagement sessions are often less stressful than wedding day sessions. There is no worry of being late to the reception or incurring  overtime charges from the limo company. You’ll have more freedom to pose the couple lying in the grass, or sitting on a fence without risking damage to her wedding gown. Consider allowing your couple an outfit change for different looks during the engagement session. The bride-to-be will appreciate the fact that she can rock a pair of boots or bright colored top for the session, or put her man in those jeans that she just loves on him.
• An engagement session gives both the photographer and the couple a chance to “test drive” the experience and set expectation levels on both sides of the camera before it’s too late. Couples can get a feel for you and how you direct them and what the end result will look like in the images. As the photographer, you can make your customer more comfortable by taking the extra time to explain your own creative processes, lens changes, test exposures, etc. so that on the wedding day, they will be more likely to trust you, your choice of backgrounds and lighting and, no, that trash can over there is not in the shot!
• You can also point out that any of their favorite engagement session images can be used as something of an introduction to their bridal album. You might even pave the way for an additional “trash-the-dress” session (with or without the actual “trashing” part) to create a whole seasons of love story!

Take a look at the sign-in book sample album below created by Zookbinders customer Shawna Shields of Narrow Road Productions in Soldotna, Alaska. Shawna books her wedding customers in an inclusive package that includes wedding day coverage, bridal album and an engagement session. She is able to then offer the sign-in book from the engagement session at a very attractive price and she says that fully half of her customers will make the additional purchase. Shawna reports that while she and the bridal party are busy taking photos on the wedding day, the sign-in book is doing its job generating a lot of buzz during the reception cocktail hour, and she passes out abut ten times  more business cards as a result!

Zookbinders offers products perfectly suited for sign-in books starting at just $87 for an 8×8 PhotoBook with up to 20 sides. Make a bigger splash with a PhotoBook Plus or LustreBook starting at just $142 or $180 respectively for 10×10, 12×9 or 12×8 sizes. When uploading your order in ROES, select the sign-in book option under “event type” in the review order screen, and your book will ship with two permanent, quick dry markers perfectly suited to write on either of the available glossy or matte paper surfaces we offer (we still like matte paper for this application as this will minimize fingerprints).

So this wedding season, consider showcasing your work with a sign-in book for your bridal couples. Remind your customers that you are selling memories and that their engagement sign-in book and their bridal album will be  family heirlooms from the day they bring them home.

Oh, and don’t forget to bring plenty of business cards to your next wedding!
Click here to see more work from Narrow Road Productions or visit them on Facebook.