Pre-Consultation & Wedding Plan

 

I know, it sounds like work, but I promise it really isn’t. This is where we’ll work out some of the fun details of your day and wedding images. Chances are this is your first time planning a wedding, so I’m happy to help share my experience of wedding timelines, expectations, common traditions, etc. You may have also hired a wedding planner as well, so please feel free to invite that professional to bring his/her insight to how the day and wedding images would be orchestrated.

This is also a great chance for me to get to know you as a couple and for you to get to know me as an artist. “Why would I want to get to know my photographer?” Well besides my natural charm and really laid back personality, when you say, ‘I do’, to hiring me as your photographer, you are giving me this really neat front row seat into the intimate bonds and love that you share with each other, family and friends... something that I take very seriously. As I get to know you, I will also get to know your ‘couple style’ which I hope will be reflected back into the images that you will receive. 

During our consultation I will listen for values, interests, tastes etc as you share what you envision to be your perfect day. You will share your concerns, questions and ideas with me and I will answer to the best of my ability. I will also share my artist brand with you which will include my passion and what my eye as an artist is drawn to. 

 

Leading up the Wedding Date

 

Don’t worry, I’m not going away just yet. I’ll be in touch with you throughout your pre-wedding day journey just to make sure that we’re not leaving out any details and that your planning is running as smoothly as you are. I am available any time by text or email (I will try my best to respond within 24hrs) to answer any last minute thoughts or concerns you might have. I will also be there to pull on for ideas or advice at any point as well throughout your planning process if or as needed. With the experience I have in the industry, and the variety of weddings I’ve seen I’m able to offer some ‘what and what not’s’ all wedding related.

Lastly during this planning process I will be in touch one last time before the big event just to check in. This ensures that if any changes were made along the way that I’m able to swing along with them like a pro.

 

The Engagement Session

 

Now I already know that I’m working with only the best, because all of my clients are just that...the best! That means that you are already so well equipped to handle anything that is thrown your way with elegance and poise like you’ve been working for GQ or Covergirl for all these years now. But if you’re anything like me, getting in front of a camera is well, scary...terrifying in fact. So how do I know you are going to be a pro at this? Experience. 

The engagement session is the ‘ice breaker’. It’s a fun and relaxed way to allow your ‘blue steel’ to get comfortable with my camera and my work style (and if you don’t know what ‘blue steel’ is, seriously, you need to watch Ben Stiller’s “Zoolander” on Netflix for your next date night).

Actually, it’s nothing like Zoolander. In fact it’s really fun! All the couples I’ve worked with leave just as giddy and in love as the first time they met, and they find the thing they feared is actually SO MUCH FUN!

I often tell my couples to make a day of it and romance the heck out of it...plan a nice dinner or time alone after the session, enjoy a nice sunset or stroll along the lake. Trust me, you’re not going to want to let what you feel go.

And with that, you’re ready to look your very best for your wedding day. All fears and unknown gone.

 

The Wedding Day

 

The Big Day has finally arrived and you are likely full of a whole range of emotions. All your hard work and planning is finally being put into action as you give your love to each other. You have the full support of friends and family who are celebrating with you today. You are likely nervous and excited all at the same time, but you are both beautiful and alive! Take a deep breath and unplug every heightened nerve. This is a perfect day, and you are going to have the time of your lives. So relax now and have fun with each moment of the day. 

The day will start with a handshake and a hug. I will do my best to relieve your nerves and make it as fun as I can for you, your bridesmaids and groomsmen. But I will not be in the center, you will, as I weave in and out of your day trying to stay as invisible as possible in order to capture as many candid moments as I can. I will also lead and guide again when it’s time to make those stunning moments and opportunities come to life.

Now the amazing thing about weddings are as planned as they are, they hardly ever go 100% as planned. That makes it fun. Depending on the weather, the timing of the flowers, your hair and make-up artists or whether the groom is on the 18th hole still or not (trust me, this is a thing), planned timing can get a little out of order. Because of my experience of a typical wedding day I’m ready to move around the day in a way that makes it seem almost like it was all just as planned. Even if that means holding the hands of a shaking bride...helping her to breath, or reassuring dad with, ‘just a few more minutes….she’s stunning!’

And with any of these ‘out of order’ events of the day, I always tell my clients, enjoy every moment of even those! Because this is what your wedding day was made up of….life! So take it ALL in.

 

What happens after the last good-bye of the evening?

 

Well now you are Mr. & Mrs. and you are about to embark on the greatest of journeys together. My advice if I could; First, please take every moment you can to look into each other’s eyes and embrace every new ‘first’ together. And second, keep embracing new ‘firsts’.

You finally said your last good-bye to cherished guests of the night, you are exhausted and on cloud nine. Now likely preparing to get away from it all and escaping to your honeymoon as husband and wife, and so it’s maybe not your first thought, but possibly your second…..“how did the images turn out? Did she make me look great? Did all the details of this incredible day get captured?” So to put your mind at ease I will post some of the images to my blog and social media feeds for you to go back to the memories of the day and share with loved ones while it is all still fresh in your minds. And if you ‘like’ my Facebook page or follow me on Instagram you will continue to get updates on your images as they come in. 

 

Product & Delivery

 

Your digital images will be ready for you within 6-8 weeks following your wedding day. You will receive an email with a link to your private online wedding gallery. This gallery is a beautifully laid out collage of all the images of the day. (the same gallery that you will have received for your engagement images) The images that will be provided are all formatted for social media in smaller files and watermarked. So go ahead and download them all and reuse as often as you want on social media. You can also share the entire gallery and build your list of favorites (for the printing package we’ll build together)

From there, once you’ve had a chance to pick a few favorites I will work to put together your printing package (Coffee Table book & 16x20 professional print). You will also receive all your digital images in high resolution (no watermark) for endless printing, on a wooden keepsake USB along with your printing package. This USB will contain both the engagement and wedding images.

 

So is this the end?.....not at all!

 

Part of what I do is capture your STORY! I was there with your blushing cheeks and laughter during the engagement session and I was there to capture that first kiss as husband and wife, (and not going to lie...cried when everyone else did throughout your wedding day). 

But your story doesn’t end there. This is why I’m now offering Milestone Sessions as a part of my wedding packages. This might be a maternity session, new house lifestyle session, anniversary, or even a new puppy. This will most likely be a little less posed and more organic session in nature. Lifestyle sessions are simply capturing your life as it transitions; it’s real, fun and relaxed. It’s your story lived out. 

The moments pass quickly, but let me help you freeze some of them for a lifetime as though you’re in back in the moment again.

Apart from all of that I would love to hear from you as a friend and not your photographer, and trust me when I say, “I’m not just saying that”. I would really love to hear from you. Feel free to drop me a line or email me. I would love to hear about what is new in your lives and how you are doing. Let me know about the burned gourmet dinner that resulted in Kraft dinner and laughter, or the Ikea furniture assembly that left you looking at each other with blank stares. I would love to hear all about them.

Feel free to follow me on my blog or subscribe to my email as well to receive any promotions or keep up on my work of storytelling other’s stories just like yours.