The vast majority of my clients are getting married for the first time. So how does this all work? What is working with me as your wedding photography like? Read on! 🙂 Today’s post will cover what happens from first contact up to your wedding day.

Initial Inquiry

My first interaction with you as a client is an email! I have a contact form on my website (kinseyholt.com), and my email is listed there for anyone who wants to just email me directly! Either way, I get your email in my inbox inquiring for your wedding day! The first thing I do is check my calendar to see if I’m free for your date. Then, I send back an email with my pricing guide, which contains other information like what it’s like to work with me, what the whole process looks like, and what the different packages and products are! I also ask you questions like, “how did you meet?” and “what do you have planned for your wedding day so far?” I love to get to know my couples – the longer the email you send back the better!

 

Officially Booking Your Date

Once you’ve reviewed the info, and you decide you want to book me as your wedding photographer, you email me back and I get you officially booked! To reserve your date, you submit a signed contract and pay a retainer fee, all online. I set up your online “client portal” where there is a booking proposal and the contract. This client portal will house everything to do with your wedding and is accessible to you at anytime online with a password! Any invoices and payments are here, questionnaires, wedding details and your contact info. I email you the link and login info, you review the details and fill in your info, sign the contract digitally, and either submit the retainer fee via credit card, or let me know a cheque or e-transfer is on the way. Once payment is made and the contract is signed, you have officially booked me as your wedding photographer!

 

Engagement Session

After booking, we will need to book and shoot your engagement session! I have an engagement session prep guide to help you with deciding what to wear, tips for preparing that groom, hair and makeup, etc. Following your engagement session, it will take about 2-3 weeks to get your photos back. If there is a rush due to getting invites out on time, let meek now and we can work it out! I will also send you a bridal guide (I am just finishing working on a brand new bridal guide with a new design company and I am so excited to send it off to my brides right away!) with tips for all things wedding to help you in planning!

 

Questionnaires and Final Details

I will send you a few questionnaires before your wedding day – one is about you and your fiancé to help me get to know you better! The second is any details you want me to know about your engagement session – locations you might want to go to, or certain photos you might need for your invite (i.e. if you know you want a single horizontal photo, or you want a collage of photos for your save-the-dates, or a horizontal photo with lots of white space on one side for text, etc). The third questionnaire you receive is the wedding details questionnaire! This is where you get to let me know all of the important things about your wedding so I don’t miss anything and I don’t have to bug you when you’re enjoying your big day! This questionnaire includes a vendor list, your timeline, addresses of venues, and certain family shots you want. If there are certain special people or details you really want photos of, you can let me know here so I can make sure they don’t get missed! One bride had her grandmother making her floral arrangements, and requested a closeup shot of her grandmother’s hands working with the flowers. Another bride had a special bracelet made to remember someone special. Your wedding day is unique to you, and I want to make sure I know about all of the special details you’ve planned!

 

If I have any questions after going over your questionnaire, or you’ve asked me some, I will touch base with you to go over them before your big day. And then we will countdown until it arrives and I will see you then!