Here are some of the Wedding Photographer Tips:
As a wedding photographer we have an extremely important, stressful, and fun role as we are one of the first vendors that most brides book. After they are done asking us about professional photobook and what they should wear to their engagement session, we usually go from being just their photographer to becoming their advice connoisseur on all things wedding.
After all, why shouldn’t we dispense our advice – we have captured many different weddings either as assistant or main photographer – we know the ins and the outs, and we know how it feels behind the scenes and sitting front row to the show. Not only does it create a better relationship with your client – but it brings in more cash and business for you!
One advantage to becoming your bride’s go-to person for wedding advice is all the future referrals you will receive – which means more money for your business and less advertising! The best reference for this is a scene from the movie Jerry McGuire where all the other sports players see the amazing relationship between football star Rod Tidwell (Cuba Gooding Jr.) and his agent Jerry McGuire (Tom Cruise) and turn to their agents and say, “Why can’t we be like that?” – you want yourself and the bride to be that awesome example, and there is no doubt the single bridesmaids and guests will take notice!
Another advantage with having a better relationship is you will experience better upsells because the bride and groom trust you with their money and most likely will also use you again in the future for portrait sessions!
It is essential to build a great rapport with your potential customer from the first phone call and meeting – they expect you to know about photography but if you can also give suggestions on the rest of the most important day of their lives you’re their new best friend!
Therefore, I would like to share recently what a friend of mine (who is also a wedding DJ and officiant in Ohio) asked on his Facebook: “To all my married friends, back when you were planning your wedding, what was the ONE thing you wish you would’ve known/someone had warned you/told you about?”
One great response that stuck out to me was:
“If it’s overwhelming, pick a few things that are super important, bust some butt on those, and delegate the rest. If you compromise on the things you find super important to please others, you risk kicking yourself later.”
How true is this advice! So often as photographers we bypass upgrading our customers because we believe that they can’t afford the upgrades or we don’t want to overwhelm them.
However, in reality we should be that one vendor that they are willing to downgrade their Hummer limo in order to move money around to afford the professional photobook they loved at the wedding expo months prior.
It is our job to become that indispensable vendor – you are going to have the better relationship (in most cases) to the bride than almost any other vendor aside from maybe the wedding coordinator and officiant – so why shouldn’t the bride believe you when you say that they will want this wedding album as a treasured heirloom instead of a DVD of small files? Why shouldn’t the bride believe you when you say that a second photographer is worth the extra money when they can capture all the images they want for the day? Why wouldn’t they trust you as much as any friend who really cares about their day?
After all, the bride should leave the consultation knowing and firmly believing that you really care about their day and in turn, you will have them smiling in every photograph with confidence in their photographer, their wedding day, and their future.
Photo: goodbride.com
