Prepping Clients

One of the question’s I get asked most frequently when I tell someone that I am a wedding photographer involves the dreaded “B” word. Bridezilla. People ask me if I deal with “bridezilla’s” all the time.

The honest answer shocks people: Nope. Actually, never.

People think that is weird, but I don’t. I do a lot for my couples to make sure that they are well prepared. I want them to be stress free, so from our initial consult through delivering the final product, and beyond, I take pride in holding their hands.

Okay, not literally, but you get what I am saying.

When I was wedding planning, do you want to know what the single most stressful thing was? It wasn’t the big decisions or the all of the little things that sneak up on you; it was people that treated me like I knew what I was doing. What I mean were questions like this:

“What time do you want the limo to show up?”
“What time does the hair stylist need to start?”
“How much time do we need for pictures?”

Panic. That’s what I felt when I was asked those questions. Should I know how long it takes to have six girls to get ready? I’ve never had wedding photographs taken before – how long is appropriate? If I don’t know how long the pictures take, how can I know how long we need a limo?

I don’t want to do that to my clients. From the very start, I make it clear that we are in this together. They have never done this, but this is my career. I build them a timeline, and do my best to keep it on track on the big day. I give them a family shot list to give them an idea of what most people do, then invite them to add to or subtract from it to fit what they need. I give them what I affectionately refer to as a “Duh List”. My “Duh List” is little things that I have seen that make the wedding day smoother for my clients, and that help me to give them the most gorgeous images that I can. I make sure I have the numbers of Mom’s, Bridesmaids’, Groomsmen, and Vendors, so if anything should go wrong on the day of, I can communicate with necessary parties without the bride and groom being worried.

I have found that in doing this, I am able to serve my clients well, giving them more quality images, and keeping them relaxed and stress free. That way, they can focus on enjoying their day, and each other – which is ultimately the most important thing.