I would highly, highly recommend not doing this.
One of the biggest mistakes that I see a bridesmaid that breaks my heart is that they don’t try on their wedding gown when they pick it up from their seamstress.
So, hands down, the biggest mistake that I see couples making with wedding photography is hiring a friend to do it.
Something that happens over and over and over that I’ve seen over the last 20 years. We hire a stylist for a job interview or for going on that podcast or TV show or what have you. But are you hiring a professional virtual stylist for your wedding day?
Here’s why this is so important and so overlooked. At the end of the day, weddings over all the memories are there. What’s left? The portrait hanging on the wall. And what is that portrait? That portrait is about not only the emotions that you feel through that picture, but what the style is. Bridesmaids, Moms, tuxes… that style needs to be translated onto your photography.
And I’ve seen it time and time again where brides afterwards like, Oh, I made a mistake. I wish I would have seen this in a photo differently or I wish I would have picked something else different for my girls.
Hire a pro. Hire someone like myself to help you through the bridal imagery. How to save money on those things and how to not get hooked by all of the information that does happen. It’s natural.
So hire a pro to help you with your style.
I know everyone has a friend that’s a photographer, says they’re a photographer, but I think even if you’re hiring a friend who might be an incredible photographer, I would highly, highly recommend not doing this.
I had a couple of friends. They hired their friend. She said she could give them a good deal, but when they got the photos, they were actually displeased with them and added a lot of tension in the friendship. You trusted your friend to photographed your wedding day, and then your friend kind of screwed it up or didn’t deliver what you were hoping for.
Honestly, it’s just better to hire a professional and it’s going to leave you a lot happier at the end of the experience and they don’t do a good job.
You can leave them a nasty review on Yelp. You can’t do that with a friend.
If any work was done at your previous fitting or even if it wasn’t, try that gown on before you take it.
You never know if perhaps some of the work wasn’t done correctly or if you’ve gained a little weight or lost a little bit of weight. You don’t want surprises on your wedding day. And one of the only ways to ensure that is to make sure that you’re trying it on at your final stay.
And another pro tip, you never want to have your final fitting more than two weeks prior to your wedding.
Here are some tips and tricks to film a great video that stops the scroll:
You’ve got 3-5 seconds to stop the viewer’s scroll. Be creative… start with a phrase like:
We’ll put your name and bio in the title and links, so you can say something more general like:
Give them your hot take, and don’t hold anything back.
check out how Sal nailed it in this video and so did Megan in this one and Nichole told it straight (from her car).
Do you feel like the industry charges more “because it’s a wedding” and they know it’s an emotional purchase?
Do companies think that they can charge more for weddings since the bride and groom may be willing to spend more on their dream wedding?
Hey wedding pros – is this higher price tag justified? Why? Do you charge more for your service if it is a wedding?
This is a taboo topic, whispered but not discussed… until now.
Welcome to The Uncorked Project!
2 comments
I have been asked this so many times... does the wedding industry inflate prices when they hear it's a wedding?
Here is my honest answer (as a former wedding photographer)... NO. Did I charge more for a wedding than a 50th birthday party or a family portrait session? Yes, absolutely. I charged A LOT more for a wedding.
Was I taking advantage of the emotional sell? Absolutely not.
The main reasons I charged more for a wedding were: the unseen amount of work involved in the 12+ months leading up to the wedding, the skill level needed on the day, the INTENSE pressure to create perfect "portfolio level work" no matter what the reality of the situation- but mostly it is to compensate for the time AFTER the wedding in post production.
Little known fact about wedding photography - the real job is sitting at a computer editing photos. Photographers spend many hours behind the computer carefully selecting and editing photos. They make adjustments, crop, and adjust colors to ensure each image it's best. Don't forget the time it takes for batching, renaming, importing, exporting and uploading the photos and preparing them for delivery.
Do you think this justifies why photographers charge more for weddings than for other types of shoots?
Couldn’t agree more! And on the videography side its an absolute ton of data + editing discipline.
Its a double sided coin- weddings are extremely high pressure but also high reward when we nail it.
Our products (photo video) in particular are the only thing that genuinely will last forever . Having fun and ALSO nailing the product is worth the price of entry and frankly more.