How To Plan Your First Wedding Styled Shoot | Wedding Planning Q&A

Hi and welcome to Union Podcast.

My name is Jamie Wolfer and I'm a wedding planner who absolutely loves to share how I got started and scale my business to above six figures in this amazing and occasionally extremely competitive industry. In this podcast, I share the tech, tactics, mindset, and mistakes that got me to where I am today. No gatekeeping, no cloak and dagger, just full disclosure and a little humor along the way. So whether you're a planner or a solopreneur, my goal is for you to be a better business person than I ever could have been and support you on this journey. I let's dive into this week's episode. Today's episode is one of my favorite things in the entire world, and that is a live Q and A from one of our union mastermind calls.

I know you're going to love it.

Take a listen.

I'm trying to plan Slash host by first styled shoot. Ooh, this is very exciting. I really want photos that are showcasing me and my eye for design on my website and Instagram. Great. See, we're already talking about how we're going to implement the type of clients that we want. We need to put that out there. I also want to use this as an opportunity to get some branded images. Is this an obscene request?

Oh, I don't think so.

How would I bring this up to the photographer? Although. But why do you want branded images? I don't know. Then why we have a need for branded images? How would I bring this up to my photographer? I really don't want to step on any toes, but I also want to make it clear that I claim ownership of the style shoot and host the shoot myself. Okay. Okay. I want to reach out to a specific photographer since I know her personally and I'm hoping it'll be less awkward since we already sort of know each other. I know that style shoots are usually hosted by photographers, and I don't want to come off as rude, pushy, or anything in any way. Like I'm undermining, undermining her and her experience. Everyone rolls their eyes at micromanagers. Even if I can't use the photographer I already know, I still feel this way about other photographers who would be my runner up. I guess my questions are 1. Can I have my photograph? Can I ask my photographer to use this time as a styled shoot and a branded shoot? I would obviously pay for the branded service. Okay. 2. Is it okay to ask my photographer this? Is there anything I should do to make sure that this is a good experience for everyone involved and Three, Other than securing a date, venue, photographer, decor, what are some things I may be forgetting about? Okay, so one, what is the need for a branded shoot? Perhaps I'm not quite understanding the, that the importance or of specifically a branded shoot. Because at that point usually you can get by with a style shoot and not spend a ton of money. Oftentimes it's collaborative and you can get the photographer to come in for free. You can usually get a dress for free or very, very cheap. Florals is usually one of the biggest hard costs that you have. You can't really get around that. You still have to get florals. So I've seen photographers, planners and florists go in together on that. So the florist isn't putting that whole bill. So styled shoots are intended to not be super expensive. It's intended to be networking, collaborative, so you can all leave with the photos. So I guess my question is, Brittany, like why specifically do you want this to be a branded shoot and to claim ownership of these photos? Because, because in my opinion, I actually think it's a really good idea to not do that and let these other vendors use these for their websites, for their Instagrams. Because at this point, if you're going to have them come into a photo shoot, right, and none of them can use it because you own the photos and it's branded and it's just yours, then you are looking at paying the florist probably more. If you have a cake decorator, if you have any decor that you're using, you could be paying more for that. So instead of as collaborative like hey, let's come together and everyone shares the images, you could be paying a lot more out of pocket to all these other vendors. So that's something important to keep in mind. Not quite sure again the difference between like why specifically we want the branded. That's just where my mind immediately goes when it comes to these things. Is it okay to ask your photographer this? Yeah, I mean you can ask people literally anything. Just how you phrase it, how you say it, that matters. Is there anything I should do to make sure that's good experience for everyone involved? Yeah, I mean, I think you're, I think you're going about it the right way. I, I, I wouldn't not make this same request myself. I, perhaps I misunderstanding the importance of it, but I personally would just be like, just let everyone come together, do the photos and then when they're posting them on their website and their Instagram and crediting you, right then you're introducing yourself to a new audience. But if you own the photos and they can't do that, you might run into a little bit of an issue or you lose out on that opportunity to be showcased to a new audience. Other than securing a date, venue, photographer and decor, what are some things I might be forgetting about? Models, if you'd like to have those. Let's see, outfits. Outfits can be a little bit of.

A struggle to figure out.

Models and outfits usually, I feel like, are always the, the one wild card for me. And then hair and makeup. If you are doing models, you can do a styled shoot without people. I don't recommend it. It's. You want your clients to look at these photos and picture themselves in it. And it's really hard to do that when you don't have people in it. So that might be the one thing that I would suggest adding to that. And it could be a couple that already got married. Maybe they already have their suit and their dress and so they could just come and it's like, you know, you get a free photo shoot as a couple. How cute is that? Love that. Or you can find models through photographers. They often have people that they can call. I know someone that did a lot of. What's it called, Magazine shoots. Porch. No, whatever it is, she did the fancy schmancy things and so she had like models on speed dial. So then it was just a matter of like getting the dress and securing the hair and makeup artists. So that's, that's probably where I'd go with that. And oftentimes you can get a hair and makeup artist that does both. So you can have one person that does both. Just make sure you're planning out your time accordingly. And also you still need a timeline for the events for that day because if you're renting a space, you need to make sure that you are like, you are ready to go as quickly as possible. So that could be. I mean, I'll never forget the style shoot we did at you and yours distillery in San Diego. We had two hours. It was $500 an hour. So expensive, they weren't even open that day. And so we just like, everything was preset outside and we just mobbed in and like set everything up as quickly as we could. While they were taking photos in one spot. We were like running over and doing something somewhere else so we could like make sure that our timeframe was. It was very sacred because I was not about to spend another $500 if we ran over that two hour limit. And I remember as we're leaving. I mean, I made this really big balloon arch. I made it the night before, so anything that you could prep ahead of time, again, if you're paying for the space, this is really important. And so we're dragging the balloon arch out, and the gal that works there is like. She's like, I've never seen anyone come in, set up, and tear down as quickly as you guys did. I was like, thank you so much. So having that plan in place, knowing and having everyone on the same page when it comes to a sense of urgency, and then having a really collaborative feel, I think is really important. And here's. That's kind of why I'm wondering about the branded shoot thing, because then you lose that collaborative feel, and it feels like everyone may be working for you. So then it kind of comes to the point where you need to have your fingers on everything, which you should do if it's a branded shoot. Right. You need to be in control of the way that everything looks, and it feels less like, hey, we're coming together to do this together. So it could affect the overall vibe, overall mood of the day, which may not necessarily be bad, but you may pay accordingly for that. So that's kind of how I'm seeing all this come together. Definitely think about timeline. Definitely think about getting some models in there. Um, yeah.

I'm only mildly embarrassed to admit that in the beginning, I printed out every single piece of paper, every single contract. I took handwritten notes and created a binder for every single one of my wedding planning clients. Now, in theory, that sounds really cool.

Uh, and I thought I would look.

Really cool showing up to these meetings with these binders that are full of all of these contracts with handwritten notes. But let me tell you, the chaos that ensued when I tried to stay organized on my own and got over five events at a time. It was a nightmare. Enter Honeybook. I am telling you guys, Honeybook was literally exactly how my brain was processing wedding planning, but just in digital form. It's so easy to go in there and make any sort of customizations that you want, from adjusting your contracts to adjusting your packages, maintaining conversations back and forth that not only pop up in the app, the website, but also in your inbox as well. It's a great way to stay organized.

So get out of the paper and get onto the Digital.

Head to wolfrenco.com HB and use code Union at checkout to get the best deal. We interrupt this podcast because there is something extremely special that I want to.

Share with you guys, I don't know.

About you, but for the last who knows how many years I have been using a frankensteined, googled, copied and pasted co contract. And while that is extremely embarrassing to admit to all of our listeners, I know that there are people out there.

Who feel the same as I do.

And there were a couple things that kept me from actually getting an attorney drafted contract. Actually, no, there was one thing. It was so expensive and it seemed so out of reach. That's when I learned about Legally Set. You see, Coonby with Legally Set has created industry specific contracts for people like you and me working in the wedding industry. They're easy to customize, they're drafted by an actual attorney and not googled. Can you imagine that? And last but not least, they are so extremely affordable. So if you were like me and maybe using a less than appropriate and or legal contract, it's time to step up your game. You have no more excuses. Head over to theunionpodcast.com legally set to check them out. Use code union for 20% off your contracts.

How do you get referred to your ideal clients? When you take events all over the world and I'm not limited to a specific region, I specialize in destination events. You're probably not good. Well, okay. The only way that you are going to get a referral in my opinion in the situation, because I highly doubt that a lot of people are going to be like, oh, we're eloping. Oh, we're doing destination. Oh, you're doing destination two. I mean it's a very niche corner of the market. So the likelihood of you getting it from like word of mouth. From mouth, likely. If you get a hair from mouth, it's going to be on the lower end. I, I would think that the way you're going to get referrals would be through venues and or traveling photographers. Photographers who do the same exact thing but just obviously like a different portion of the day. That's who I would cozy up to. Right. Photographers would probably honestly be where it's at. Hey, you're a destination photographer. Tell me what you do, tell me how you do it. And you know, do you work with planners when you do these destination events? Because I want to get out there and I know having a planner makes your job easier as a photographer. So what do you think? That's how I would handle that as far as how to get more clients? Yeah, I would think that that does make it a little bit more difficult. I would go the networking route instead of Just referrals, but how to just find them in general? Social media is always a really great idea. A lot of people get scared of it, but this is how I got started and it does work. You just kind of have to put some skin in the game and pick a platform and just kind of run with it. And of course, we talk about that in the course in a lot more detail because, yeah, you don't have to have a social media presence or you don't have to have a robust social media presence to be good at being a wedding planner. However, if you take advantage of social media presence, you could honestly blow up. I started a wedding business exclusively with a wedding venue that has been closed for almost 10 years. What is a good way to market the business and get couples to book the venue? Okay, so it's been closed. People aren't aware of it. Okay, and now you're starting up your business exclusively through this venue. The way to market it and get couples to book, I would go expo, Expo, because a venue is like obviously permanent location. So go to your closest expo. For us in San Diego, this was brilliant. This was such a great way for us to get clients. And we were in Murietta, so we're like halfway between San Diego and Orange county, so we could have gone to either. But the big bridal, the wedding Expo in San Diego was popping, so that would be a great, great thing to do. You could also host your own expo or like an open house night and invite couples. Free food, free drinks. Yeah, you're going to have to kind of toss a little bit of money at this and if you could bring in some other vendors, a DJ to play music, you know, those sorts of things that you can kind of give the couple an idea of what it would look like to have their wedding there. Then lastly, socials. Such a broken record with us tonight, but I do think that that is again, because what you do is highly visual, you can capture the venue in great ways. I would also encourage you to do styled shoots, contact photographers. Hey, we're looking to get our venue out there. Can we invite you to come do a styled shoot, contact other wedding planners? Which could be a little bit difficult given your situation. Right? You're like, that might infringe on what you're doing, but if it doesn't or if you're willing to let outside planners come in, that would be another great thing to do because then we're just really networking with local vendors to get you, to get you on the word of mouth train.

That's all we have for this week's episode. Guys, if you enjoyed it, do me a favor, screenshot that episode and share it on socials.

Tag me in it.

I would love to see Wolfer and Co. On Instagram. Let me know if you're enjoying it.

You can also let me know if you didn't enjoy it, but I'm probably not going to reassure that one.

I hope you guys enjoy this week's episode and we'll see you in the next one.