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Molly & Dave – A Custom Heirloom Wedding Album & Presentation Box

After each wedding there is a ton of work to be done. All the photos must be downloaded, backed up, culled and selects edited. Then digital copies are uploaded for online presentation, client discs created and meetings scheduled. Most important is drafting my clients’ wedding album. I always present clients with a draft album design because it eases the design process. Clients may choose to change a little or a lot, but a good draft offers an excellent starting place. The final album and presentation box just arrived for Molly and Dave, and I could not be more amazed with the results.

Molly and Dave's custom heirloom wedding album and proof presentation box

Like so many of my clients, Molly and Dave chose a matching proof presentation box and wedding album crafted personally for them by the amazing team at Cypress Albums. For the exterior, they chose soft tones of platinum and green. The Heirloom album is wrapped beautifully in Japanese bookbinding silk, debossed with their names and wedding date. They also choose to include a presentation box to preserve and protect their wedding album. The box is also a great display piece. Concerning color, their choice reflects something I recommend – match the exterior design to your home decor instead of your wedding colors. This is because the album often ends up on display.

Molly and Dave's custom heirloom wedding album and proof presentation box

For the interior design, Molly and Dave chose to stick with our contemporary, clean look. The wedding photos are simply presented on a white background to best highlight the imagery. This clean design is always in fashion, so their wedding photos won’t suffer from changing trends. Molly and Dave also chose to include detail photos, which provide context to the album.

Molly and Dave's custom heirloom wedding album and proof presentation box

Completing the set is the proof presentation box. Each wedding photos is professional printed and presented in the gorgeous box by Cypress. Like the wedding album, Molly and Dave chose to match proof box to the album design. I love how the soft green ribbon ties the two together.

Molly and Dave's custom heirloom wedding album and proof presentation box

A big thanks to Brooke for modeling. The album weights a ton, so I needed a strong lady. I love you, Sweetheart. For those reading, I just go word more results are shipping my way. Hopefully I will have a chance to show more client designs in the near future.

With a Bang!

A single component of being a wedding photographer can be very tough, and very rewarding – constantly working with new people. Not only must we work with brand new couples, but also florists, cake artists, wedding planners and venues. On the one hand, starting a rewarding relationship can be tough. Conversely, new relationships that really blossom can last a lifetime. With new clients, I like to help the process along.

To kick things off with a bang, I always greet new clients with excitement. Weddings are a really exciting time for couples and I want to contribute to the enthusiasm. After the boring contract business is done, I want to make sure the excitement builds right away. I take time to send couples an email right away. I greet them with honest excitement. After all, I really am excited to be working with them and to start a new relationship. This kind of opening helps reassure any client that they made the right decision. The news is filled with sensationalized wedding horror stories, so reassuring your clients can make a big difference.

A week later, I follow-up with step two. No, I don’t send them some FAQ document or more things “deal” with. Instead, I send them a simple gift, and the gift is something personal to me. A core component of my brand is the idea of a “gift,” so offering my clients something at the beginning really helps to under-score my brand.

If this concept sounds right for you, but you feel it might be too expensive, you’re be over-thinking it. The gift I offer is small and inexpensive. What’s important is that the gift is personal to me. So how did I arrive at this specific gift?

I often greet clients in my home-office with fresh cookies. It’s just a great way to start a meeting!
The sweet treats are a specific memory from my youth that I am excited to share. Hopefully, this creates a personal connection.
Last, I want to underscore my gratitude with personalized thank you note.

In the future, I will be adding some more components that will allow the welcome gift to be personal to my clients as well. Are sweet treats not right for you? All that’s needed to come up with something unique and personal to you is a small time investment.

How to build great relationships with wedding clients

On a completely random note, business has been growing by leaps and bangs lately. So much so that the shipping department needed a new employee. I recently added “Hector” to the staff 😉 I expect he will improve productivity. And yes, I do name inanimate objects around the office. Weird, but that’s me.

Gravity & the Importance of Thanking the Team

This morning I have been sitting in my office doing chores. Then it dawned on me – my chore this morning is actually pretty important and could be of interest to others. So here it is – gravity and the importance of thanking the team. Yes, I am might use a space analogy to demonstrate the importance of team work and recognizing good work. I have to warn you though, this post could get a little punnie (Ha!).

The Bride and Groom are the stars at any wedding. All of the vendors then orbit around their gravity to form the wedding event. As a photographer, I’m a small part of the wedding solar system. Every satellite in the team has to do a great job with beautiful synchronicity to create an amazing wedding for our clients. Team work is crucial, and so is giving thanks. As just a small part of any wedding, I should be thankful to all the vendors who keep the wedding running and looking amazing. The day of the wedding, I make sure to personally thank anyone I can find. I also like to follow-up later with a more substantial thank you.

The follow-up really helps to cement my heart-felt appreciation, but it also pays additional benefits. It gives me a chance to market my business (albeit slyly) and to strengthen my brand with others. All of this will help me to find and work with my perfect clients. Whenever possible, I try to include a little gift for the vendor.

Including an album for the vendor is a perfect choice. It communicates the quality of my work – but also the quality of the vendors. When done right, albums can be effective and affordable-ish. I deliberately choose images that reflect the vendor’s best work. I make sure these are printed large and get attention. I also make sure to use the vendors name and logo in the layout. The rest I fill in with great photos showing the happy couple. Collectively the album is about the vendor. But it is also about my work.

I package each album nicely and in a manner consistent with my branding. I then take the time to hand-write a very personal thank you note. Both of these actions ensure I am remembered as a person and as a business – separately. I want them to remember that it was nice working with me. I want them to say “you should hire Hunter Photographic”. Hopefully the difference between those two points is clear.

I don’t create a personalized album for every vendor. Instead, I start by picking the ones who’ve done an amazing job. After all, I want to work with a great team. Second, I also consider vendors who seek a similar client as myself. This helps to ensure I find the right clients in the future. Unfortunately, I don’t have the time or resources to send a personalized thank you to everyone. Instead of doing something small for many, I do something big for a few.

Why go to all this trouble? Here are a few reasons –

Brand recognition and distinction
Increased marketing reach
More contact with the type of couples I love
Giving thanks feels great and it’s the right thing to do!

Marketing your wedding photography and strengthening your brand with vendor thank you gifts.

So that was my chore today. I’m excited for two reasons. First, some friends will receive gorgeous gifts that they deserve this week. Second, I’m also excited for what the future could hold. I’m definitely looking forward to new doors opening.

Category: For Photographers