First of all, CONGRATULATIONS!!!
You are engaged.
This is one of the most exciting (and probably most stressful) times of your life. We understand – weddings are complicated and expensive. There are a LOT of decisions to be made in what seems like too little time. Everywhere you look, there seem to be many sources for great information to many of the questions you have and even to questions you didn’t know you had. Anyone and everyone seems to have advice to offer, and it is easy to get overwhelmed.
∙ There are color schemes to choose…
∙ You have to decide on who is in your wedding party…
∙ You need to be thinking about the menu and catering…
∙ There are important details to remember like getting your wedding license…
∙ You need to ask your officiant to perform the ceremony…
∙ You need to choose a PHOTOGRAPHER…
∙ and the list goes on and on….
We here at Land of Wild Designs Photography understand that this is a large task and you need help sometimes! You need do what is best for you, but we always suggest to plan this out, it is possible to have the wedding of your dreams. It really is!
This is how we go about it:
Figure out your budget – put it on paper – talk about it – AGREE and stick to it … (revisit it often)
Prioritize
- Cost
- Value
This is a challenge folks, because ‘Cost’ and ‘Value’ really are different.
What does it cost? Well, that will fit into the financial portion of your budget easily enough, but there is so much more to consider.
What is the VALUE? That is the question that stays with you for a while. You may spend money and recover any financial losses, but the value – well, that is something that means something to you emotionally and it is typically something that stays with you long after the financial part is forgotten. It is okay to use emotion when making these plans, by all means – it is your love that brought you together, your friendship that makes you want to spend the rest of your lives together. So how about planning the value and cost together – then prioritize and see where you are.
We suggest writing everything down with three columns following – value first and cost second – then in the third column, add your notes. Now that you have everything (or most everything, because we know this list changes frequently) start thinking/talking about what priority to place these items in
This is the way we see it…the longer it will last, the higher the priority needs to be. Let me explain. Hair and makeup will be gone the day of the wedding (or the next day), but the way they made you feel - made you look - the memory will last far beyond that day. The venue is only something that you have for the day usually, but the dream of having a wedding there - the way it makes your wedding come together – the memories will last far beyond. The Photographer will be gone after the last planned event at the reception in most instances, we are only going to be with you for the day, but the way we made you feel – the attention we paid to your desires will last beyond that day - - - and the memories – the photographs will be with you for long after your wedding day.
We don’t want to assume the priority you are placing on any one thing on your list – everyone is different of course and that is wonderful. But if Photography is a higher priority for you, please consider Land of Wild Designs Photography. We would love to talk to you and see if we are what you are looking for in a wedding photographer.
When we book a photography session, these are some of the little things that we ask of you – it isn’t too much, and it doesn’t seem important sometimes, but to us – it is very important!
We want to meet with you a couple times before the wedding – (in person would be great), but we can also do it through phone conversations, emails, messaging, etc.
Here are some of the things you may want to consider…
- to be sure to send us a wedding invitation if we are photographing your wedding. This is a big one folks! (When you schedule with us, we will make sure you have our mailing address)
- tell us what time and where you will be getting ready if you would like the ‘getting ready’ images included
- and please understand that we care about your images, we don’t rush wedding photography or the editing of your images, for this reason there may take some time (up to 2 months or so) to get your wedding photo portfolio. We will send you (or post to social media if you like) some previews, but the full portfolio will come to you customized after it is final. These are your tangible FOREVER memories and we want to do our best to get them right!
