What is a Wedding Photographer Experience?
The word experience, it’s something that most likely heard while searching for a wedding photographer.
“We provide you a great-experience…”
But, what does that truly mean in the first place, a great experience?
Well, today, we’re going to explore what that is like with a wedding photographer and what that jargon behind it means as a couple searching for someone.
What is a “Wedding Photographer Experience”?
When you hear about the great wedding photography experience that you get with the wedding vendor, what you’re really hearing is how you will be treated.
Not only will you have great images, but you have a good time with the photographer too.
Truth be told, most professionals are going to provide you with a good experience anyway, they are going to guide you through the day, be professional and courteous to you, make you laugh, and help make you calm.
Some of the things that the experience can include:
Guiding you through the booking and wedding process with ease
Providing great communication to the bride and groom all throughout the experience
Having great knowledge about weddings
Being cheerful, pleasing, sometimes funny, and helpful
Helping putting you at ease through your wedding day
In addition to the experience, you should be getting good images with the photographer guiding you to some degree with posing, where to place your hands, how to look, and the like too.
The experience doesn’t end there, from the time you connect with the vendor, to a welcome gift(s) and your edited images are all part of the experience too.
Are You Paying for Wedding Photos, the Experience, or Both?
There is a fine line between paying for a photographer’s work and the experience that they provide.
The truth is that many times, you are paying MORE for the experience than the imagery that comes with it, it’s one of the reasons why photographers drive that experience, to justify an inflated price-point.
There is nothing wrong with that, in fact, it happens at many places, like a new car lot or new housing development for example.
However, you should know that there is a point at which the bill that you’re paying for is more experience than service/product.
Here’s a Secret We’re Not Supposed to Tell You
The truth is that most photographers reach a level of quality where they can raise rates to a decent level to make a living, then the “wedding experience” starts to kick into play.
Many times in the business world it’s called the persona of the business, what you believe it to be worth when you see it, the image of the brand of you will.
The secret is that we’re pretty much using just about the same technology, sure the cameras and lenses are different, but they’re just about all digital cameras with good enough lenses that can take good images.
The ONLY true differences in what we do are the style of imagery, the level of experience each person has, and the things that are wrapped out of it, like a package with the “personal experience” that you get when you book a vendor.
Take fast food for a moment, whatever your favorite burger chain is, MCD, BK, Hardees, Dairy Queen, Red Robin, TGI Fridays, Wendy’s, etc.
While the food may seem to be different the truth is that just about all of it comes through a couple of national distributors, US food Service or Sysco.
Sure, the fries may be cut differently or seasoned more than others, but the buns, meats, cheeses, fries, and condiments all come from just about the same factories and locations.
So, what’s different?
The experience that you get when you walk into a store, how they turn those same ingredients into their own versions of the plated foods, and of course how it tastes too.
Well, wedding photography is much the same way. We’re all doing it pretty much the same way, it’s what we do with your images and how they make you feel that is different.
How to Find a Wedding Photographer with a Good Experience?
It boils down to what you like about them, their work and their personalities too.
Not every photographer you run into is going to be for you, and that’s okay.
Sometimes we run across couples that just don’t fit our brand or maybe they don’t fit our style, no worries, there are plenty of businesses out there that will be right for you.
We do recommend a few things though and they include:
Having a signed contract
Making sure you understand what you are getting in the contract
Make sure they ‘click’ with you (not be your BFF, but have a good understanding of what you want and you mess well)
Look at past work, reviews and research them a little bit
NEVER sign a contract without at least meeting with them in person, via video chat, or phone. See what they are like beforehand.
Can you provide me with what your business’s wedding experience is like?
Sure, so when you connect with us at first, we love to hear more about you by asking you how you fell in love, you know, your love story.
From there a Zoom meeting is typically how Carole and I do things, we go over our services, get to know the couple, let them ask questions, and give them the next steps.
Booking is an easy process with everything done online and once we set you up as a client, we stay in communication with you about every other month or so.
It’s not just about what we’re offering either, we offer great wedding advice, tips, and tricks, sometimes a vendor recommendation or two, but we also provide little nuggets along the way.
From a couple of free welcome gifts to an occasional Starbucks giftcard, we try to keep our clients happy long before the wedding day.
Even during the wedding, Carole and I are fun-loving, sometimes a bit goofy and we enjoy having fun with the couples we cover.
Even long after the wedding, we are still covering them with a warranty, a thank you card, and even a small token of appreciation long after the wedding day too.
