i love wedding consultations! it’s a chance for me to meet my brides {and future brides!!} and meet their significant other or their mother…whoever they decide to bring 🙂

i get a lot of questions about my wedding consultations, from other brides and photographers…so i’m going to shed some light on this highly requested topic 🙂
when i have a wedding consultation with my bride…i’ve already got three things answered. her wedding date, wedding venue and ceremony time. that’s it. that is all i need to know in order to tell her if i’m available or not.

i put a lot of personal information out on social media so that by the time my brides meet with me for a consultation they already know if they want to book me or not. my website and social media accounts are very good at attracting my ideal bride and repelling the brides that i am not a good fit for.

whenever i am meeting with a potential bride i bring a few things along. my laptop, my bridal guide, a sample wedding album, a sample bridal boudoir album and a few sample fine art prints. the tangible products help my brides see what my products look like and how my work looks printed! it also helps set me apart from the myth that this current generation is told…that they only need the digital files. the bridal guide that i bring is a layout of our meeting and the things we need to discuss about their wedding day. every image in the 76 page guide, is one of mine 🙂 so they’re seeing what my work looks like in a magazine as well.

when we get to the point in our discussion about what all is included in their package, i pull out the sample wedding album. they can flip through it while i explain the benefits to having an heirloom album. after seeing it…99% of my brides realize that they have to have it added on to their wedding package.

i discuss what time i would be arriving, what my second shooter is responsible for on the wedding day, how their family portraits will flow, when i photograph the details, how a typical first look progresses, the numerous photo opportunities on a wedding day that get overlooked and then i answer any and all questions that my bride has. i keep no secrets. it’s all laid out in the meeting. they know what they’re getting and what to expect. there are no surprises!

once we’ve covered all of the technical aspects of our meeting, i proceed to explain that i don’t book brides upon our first meeting. i give them a week to look over their bridal guide with their fiancé and discuss their options and contact me when they’ve made a decision. i don’t want my brides to ever feel pressured into making a decision at our first meeting while sitting across from me. this also gives me the opportunity to decline a bride if i feel like we’re not a good fit for each other. i hate to turn brides away but occasionally it happens. if i can’t serve them in a way that i know they are going to need on their wedding day then i tell them that. i want every single one of my brides to fall 150% in love with their wedding photography experience, from start to finish.

after we part ways at the meeting, i send a follow up email to them thanking them for meeting me…because let’s face it…we live in a busy world. they just carved out 1-2 hours of their day to meet with me. i am thankful for every potential bride that thinks i’m a good fit for them 🙂 it’s because of these sweet brides that i get to continue doing what i love. in the follow up email i remind them that i will hold their wedding date for 7 days and if another bride inquires about their date, i will notify them. I usually hear back from them within 48 hours, sometimes it only takes 4 hours.

once they’ve decided to book with me, i get all of the online paper work started! 🙂 and voila. that’s how a typical wedding consultation goes for me and my brides 🙂