Client wedding photographer Tips during this chaotic Coronavirus time
If you’re going to reschedule or if you think you might have to, start asking the questions NOW to your vendors. See when they are available, when the venue is available. If you’re waiting till the last second when they announce the venue can’t do it, your dates are going to be very limited. Ask them now, be ahead of the game and get the next best date for the venue and vendors you wanted all along. Right now because of the virus wedding postponements from april-may, i’m booking back to back Friday Saturday weddings in the fall, it’s already happening, if you think you can wait you may be let down.
If the photog is booked on your backup date, don’t panic. Ask them for their suggestions of friends that have a similar style. PS there’s secret\closed pro photog facebook groups for your local areas and states that could yield very good photographers in your budget if you had your photographer post in the group for you. I do it for clients when im already booked and it saves them a ton of time looking around. Often pregnant, or sick\injured photographers will post as well for available photographers when they’re in a pinch and it works. It’s a great support system but you may not be allowed in the group, so just ask your photographer to post locally for you.
There are more days of the week than Saturdays, and knowing this can save you a ton of money. Saturday you wanted booked? What about Friday? What about Sunday? If it’s a holiday weekend sometimes Sunday is the new Saturday. I offer discounts on non saturdays. Something to think about. Ive had pretty weddings on weekdays before in the afternoon, not all weddings need to dance till 11pm, so you can use that to your advantage.
Come the Summer and Fall, the photographers are likely going to go back to having full schedules and having the “power” back so to speak where their prices go back up to what their market and egos tell them they should be….but….right now, you the client, have more leverage than ever. People fully invested are looking for ways to make ends meet and are likely in a mode where they are needing deposits for the future to pay bills. I would guess that there will be no better time for discounts and deals than the next 4-6 weeks (or however long we are quarantined)
If you’re having to book someone new do your homework. Read reviews, look at their full wedding album galleries so you’re not duped by thinking a few killer shots on their portfolio is their “all the time” quality. Make sure you read the fine print and you’re not paying a ton later just to get your images in a medium you want.
Take a deep Breath, focus, and remember why you are getting married. Don’t lose track of what’s actually important in life.
Below is my most recent wedding, Matt and Mary. They pushed up their wedding, changed venues and had an immediate family only wedding to beat the quarantine (it was actually mandated while I was shooting the wedding so that’s how close they cut it). They knew what was important and put aside the spectacle of the wedding they had in their mind to focus on what was most important in their lives. Congrats Matt and Mary!
Mary and Matt, my first altered plan wedding from the coronavirus, but a beautiful day none the less
Wonder who’s going to win this battle (ps it was cold)