A Wedding Show Lesson
The weekend before Thanksgiving, we exhibited at the JJC Renaissance Center Wedding Show held in downtown Joliet. The Renaissance Center is a beautiful facility and Susan Stockwell put together a great show.
I brought along our family point-and-shoot to snap a photo of our booth. You can see that I used a small part of our space for my caricature business, Smiley Faces Toons.
We talked with about thirty Joliet area brides. Most all were planning their weddings for mid-summer 2012 or later. As a wedding photographer, I know how quickly my calendar can fill up, so it didn't surprise me to talk about dates that are sometimes a year away. Of course, I've had couples that call and need a photographer for a date that might be a just a month away as well!
What did surprise me as I talked with the brides was a recurring theme of three things.
First and most common were the frequent comments on our wedding album design. Brides, their friends, their mothers and even other vendors mentioned how much they liked our wedding albums. I tried to make sure that every bride knew that our wedding photography is tailored for them and we then continue the custom attention into the wedding album. I hand-design every wedding album using the shots from the day to tell a story through the wedding photography. I make a special effort to include detail work such as the pattern and fold of the wedding dress, the bouquet, reception decorations, etc.
Our wedding albums are hand-assembled at the book binders with pages constructed of actual Kodak photographic paper adhered to a stiff core. What really makes our wedding albums special is a custom designed photo front cover, spine and back cover.
When we decided to offer books like this several years ago, I wanted a final product that was a piece of art for every bride. I wanted something that I would be proud to have in our home. From the outstanding comments we received, I think we've achieved that goal.
The second thing I noticed as I talked with brides was an immediate appreciation for our wedding packages. We've made special effort to build quite a bit of value into our wedding photography packages. All of our wedding photography packages come with a DVD of all the wedding photos in the original, hi-res format. We do not limit our shots, so that means every couple will be getting a lot of wedding photographs. We include an online gallery in most of our wedding photography packages as well as a fine art wedding album. You can see all our wedding packages by clicking here. The brides I spoke with really liked our wedding photography packages. It made me feel good to know that we're offering services that people appreciate.
The final thing I noticed was that people had questions and were sometimes surprised by my answers. Do I have to buy a minimum number of prints? No, buy whatever you like. How much does the wedding album cost on top of the packages? The wedding albums are included with our Classical, Romantic and Modern packages. If I wanted you to take photos in a certain style, would you be willing? Of course, it's your wedding day and these are your wedding photographs. I'm so happy when a bride comes to me with an idea. I think it's a lot of fun to help turn her vision into a reality that will be enjoyed for years. These were some of the questions.
I don't know how other studios work, but I think of Mastin Photography as a partner in any wedding. You are hiring us to do a job and we will do the best job we can for you in the way you want it done. Wedding photography is art at work. To be successful, both art and work must be included.
The Renaissance Center show was a good time. I'm glad we had a chance to meet so many people and talk about wedding photography and how we might help them. Congrats to all the soon-to-be-married!
From behind the lens,
-Bill Mastin
December 1, 2011