The VP Experience

Hi, friends! This blog post will be dedicated to the process of working with me for your wedding photography from start to finish. Here we go...

Hi.. ITS ME! Jen. The photographer excited to be invited to one of the biggest days of you LIFE!

If I had to explain my style (and this is super hard to do) the word that comes to mind is Emotion. Emotion is what inspires me, emotion is what fuels my creativity, emotion is what I want you to feel when you look at my body of work. I do my best to stay away from trend photography when it comes to post processing. While ALL my work is in fact edited, I keep a light hand with it. So, that brings me to the second ‘word’ in my style description: Timeless. You’re hiring me to document an important moment or milestone and I would be doing you a disservice if I wasn’t providing work that would hold the same wow factor now than it does in five, ten or twenty years. I like my work to be (and to stay) relevant.

I’m big on transparency so I wanted to create a guide of what you can expect of me throughout your wedding planning journey. If you’re reading this you’re likely engaged or planning to get engaged in the near future.. I think that deserves a giant CONGRATULATIONS! It’s such an important and fun time in your life and I’m so excited to play a part in it. Wedding planning isn’t easy so please consider this as my welcome and offering to be present and help you along the way.

Inquire
The first step in building this relationship is the initial inquiry. Most couples reach out and the first question that comes out is.. “What do you charge?”. While I know working within your means is very important, it’s equally important to find common ground. In order to best serve my clients, it’s SO incredibly important that they LIKE me. Not me as a photographer; Me as a PERSON. I will literally be your shadow on one of the biggest days of your life; Your for-hire BFF. In order for you to be comfortable in front of my camera, you need to find yourself comfortable with me. There’s so much importance in finding that connection. If you follow my contact page on my website, you’ll notice a slew of questions. These questions were put there with the intention of getting to know you.

Locking in your date
You’ve browsed some full galleries, we’ve discussed your plans for the big day and there’s no doubt in either of our minds that we’re going to have so much fun together. The next step is locking it down! My schedule is available for weddings on a first come, first serve basis. In order to secure your date (which means it’s no longer open for anyone else) I require a few things from you. The first being an e-signed contract. This contract will have lots of important details about what we can expect of one another so I highly encourage you to take some time to read through it all. I’ll be here, happy to answer any questions you have or further explain anything you need clarification on. In addition to that contract, I do require a retainer. This retainer is deducted from your balance owed.

Couples usually reserve my services around a year in advance, but every situation is different and I welcome almost all of them. You’re welcome to reserve my services up to 18 months in advance.

Keeping in Touch
I like to check in every so often, even when the wedding is still 6 months out. I realize that wedding planning is a revolving process and love hearing the progress made and also offer up my support if anything is needed. Even if it may not be photography related, don’t hesitate to drop in my inbox and ask!

Timeline
Whether you hired a wedding planner or not, I will always put together a preliminary wedding day schedule to help keep your day stress free. I know that you’ll enjoy the day the most when you’re relaxed and laid back; and I know that I’ll produce my best work when I’m not rushed. I like to offer suggestions when it comes to the flow of the day to ensure that we have sufficient time to capture all the important moments, as well as transition in between them with ease. It’s important to me (and you) to get the most out of our time together, so I intend to prioritize coverage around your most anticipated events. Even though I work up the initial schedule, we will work together to customize it so it’s absolutely PERFECT for you and your guests. It’s never too early to start preparing your timeline, as it is used by many other wedding vendors to help coordinate the layout of your day.

Read more about timeline prep HERE.

The Final Countdown
Your wedding balance comes due 30 days before your wedding date. At this time, I’ll reach out with the amount owed and acceptable payment methods to make it quick and easy. At this time, we’ll finalize your Timeline and continue getting SUUUUUPER excited for the day to finally come!

ITS FINALLY HERE!
The day of your wedding comes around and you’ll know exactly when and where we’ll meet up. I love spending time with the bride and groom separately before the ceremony for details and candid moments (because the little in-between moments are everything to me!). Be sure to gather up your detail items and set them aside for me so when I arrive I can get right to work! These items include your invitation, the rings, the dress and shoes, the tie and cuff links, flowers and boutonnieres, and anything else that holds sentimental value to you.
Throughout the day I’ll reference the timeline we created together to keep us on time and on track.

The Aftermath
I love sharing some preview images to my social media accounts and blog not too long after your wedding. You’re welcome to use the images while I process the rest. Galleries are generally ready for delivery within 6-8 weeks after the I-DO’s. They’re delivered to you in a gorgeous web based proofing gallery. From that gallery you’re able to browse, share, download and even order products like prints, albums and wall art. This online gallery is accessible for 90 days after going live so it’s super important you download the full high resolution images before it expires. Once you have them on your computer immediately back them up to at least two locations. I highly recommend using an online cloud based storage platform as well as an external hard drive. Amazon allows unlimited web based image storage for Prime subscribers. Maybe I’m dating myself here, but I remember when floppy disks were a thing. I look at CD’s and thumb drives in that very same way - they may be great now, but in a year they may be obsolete. Choose wisely.

I am so excited to be part of this journey with you! Thank you for your trust and support.