p.1 #1 · Prospective bridal client wants to see complete weddings...Thoughts?
Hey everyone. We do bridal consultations a few times a week but I just had my Thursday afternoon appointment email and ask me to bring many "complete wedding galleries" with me to the meeting. In 7 years I have never had a potential bride want to see complete weddings from beginning to end. My issue with this would initially be my past clients privacy. There are photos of them getting dressed, family members, intimate moments, etc that I wouldn't want the whole world to see. Another issue is that I do not print out and keep 2000 photos from a wedding just laying around my office for potential clients to see. What are your thoughts on this request?
p.1 #2 · Prospective bridal client wants to see complete weddings...Thoughts?
I would have no problems showing a full wedding. I would definitely chose one that has nothing "revealing" (or I would hide those specific images). Personally, I think it is quite rational for a person to ask to see a full wedding...I know that I would ask the same thing.
p.1 #3 · Prospective bridal client wants to see complete weddings...Thoughts?
Meh. She doesn't trust you and thinks she'll figure out if you're good by looking through a full wedding. What she doesn't know is that she'll get bored long before she makes it through a single full wedding, let alone "many", and that it ultimately won't make her trust you any more.
We'd show an album or a blog post (our blog posts are between 100 and 130 images per wedding), but we wouldn't show a full wedding, let alone "many" full weddings. We'd explain our position and be prepared to let her go for a client who'd be satisfied by our blog portfolio.
p.1 #4 · Prospective bridal client wants to see complete weddings...Thoughts?
We post our weddings in a shopping cart system, so just bring a ipad or laptop and let her look through the wedding. The bride & groom give the password to others and the average wedding will have around 30 family & friends looking at it so I don't see the harm.
This is the complete wedding, not the select few that might make it to Facebook.
p.1 #5 · Prospective bridal client wants to see complete weddings...Thoughts?
share them
I have a few up on zenfolio and should add more. Most clients get an idea from the blog posts I do but rarely I'll get asked and without a doubt I can share a bunch weddings. Consistency is important to clients.
Aug 14, 2012 at 01:25 PM
marti.g3 Offline • • • • [X]
p.1 #6 · Prospective bridal client wants to see complete weddings...Thoughts?
Yeah just take a laptop and let her look through your online proof galleries.....no need to show her the unedited raw complete files.
p.1 #11 · Prospective bridal client wants to see complete weddings...Thoughts?
I give everyone who inquires with me access to three full galleries and encourage them to ask to see the same from anyone else they inquire with. I'm incredibly proud of my full galleries, much more so than my blog posts or portfolio. When they hire me, they can rest assured that my coverage is good from beginning to end and I'm not thrown off by different lighting situations, weather, etc... Consistency is key.
If you can't prove to them That you can pull off amazing coverage from start to finish, someone else will. So if you have to get permission from past clients, I highly suggest doing it.
If a photographer wouldn't show me full galleries, I would be concerned they had something to hide.
p.1 #12 · Prospective bridal client wants to see complete weddings...Thoughts?
I always offer to show full weddings to potential clients. Especially if I have a wedding from their venue. It has always been a positive experience for me.
p.1 #13 · Prospective bridal client wants to see complete weddings...Thoughts?
In addition to showing the bride a complete wedding album that was part of our samples, I'd go back to our production area and bring back a current wedding. That gave them an idea or out consistancy, that we weren't "one hit wonders". It really worked to our advantage.
p.1 #14 · Prospective bridal client wants to see complete weddings...Thoughts?
It's not showing them the weddings that necessarily concerned me, it was the request to bring those wedding with me to the meeting. We are extremely proud of all the weddings we photograph and our work speaks for itself. All my editing is done on our desktop iMac so I don't have a 500gb laptop to take with me to show her weddings. That's where my questions came in. Thanks guys!
p.1 #15 · Prospective bridal client wants to see complete weddings...Thoughts?
danvprod wrote:
+1
Also a great way to manage expectations.
+2 I would NEVER hire nor recommend friends hire someone that didn't show them a complete wedding. Too many people can get a lucky shot and put together a blog post but much less can provide consistent wedding to wedding results for a complete set.
p.1 #16 · Prospective bridal client wants to see complete weddings...Thoughts?
Actually I also encourage people to demand full wedding display from other wedding photogs. What I show is- 1 album (book)- 1 wedding. Of course I show more than 1
I think it's a great way to show your clients that you do a consistent high level work all the way, not just a few good pics from a whole day.
Showing what you are working on is another good idea.
Unless you have something to hide...
p.1 #17 · Prospective bridal client wants to see complete weddings...Thoughts?
I'm uploading a full wedding right now for a prospective client. No problem at all. As much as I like to control what clients see, I stand by my work and am more than willing to let a possible client go an extra step if it helps them book.
p.1 #20 · Prospective bridal client wants to see complete weddings...Thoughts?
It's not an irrational request considering there are photographers out there that build websites based on images they grabbed as a guest/uncle bob at a wedding. I told a buddy of mine to ask to see a complete wedding coverage when he was looking for a photographer(I was in the bridal party) and we caught 2 different photographers that had not actually shot a full wedding. One of them had a website with images from some kind of workshop and I could tell right away they were not from an actual wedding when he sent me the guys website.
