We've noticed a few booking trends over the last couple of years, and one of those is that most of our couples book us 4-8 months out from their weddings. Our couples don't want long engagements, and that works great for us, because we get to focus on one year of CGP couples at a time.
When our couples first fill out our contact form and inquire with us, they often close their email asking what the next steps are. Every photography business runs a bit differently, so even if they've booked a photographer before or talked to one of their bridesmaids about her experience, they still aren't sure what to expect. So today I wanted to share a few things you might not know about the booking process.
- We keep the process simple: you inquire, we respond with our investment guide, you ask questions, we answer them, and then we do the contract and retainer online! It couldn't be easier!
- Bookings can happen in as little as 24 hours! A lot of our couples are referred to us by wedding vendors and past CGP couples, so they often know a lot about us before they ever send an inquiry email.
- We don't like to rush making big decisions, so we don't ask that of our couples either. We put a 48 hour hold on a wedding date after we receive an inquiry.
- We cap our weddings every year so we aren't too busy to give everyone the same experience. Depending on how they fall on the calendar, our max is 10-12 weddings.
- We also cap each month at 3 weddings (or less if we have birthdays or other big personal plans that month too!) So fall months can go FAST!
And a couple of commonly asked questions:
What is an investment guide?
- The investment guide is a short PDF that we send inquiring couples, telling them who we are, what it's like to work with us, and what our pricing is. And we have a page where past clients share their thoughts about working with us!
You talk about off-season all the time. What is that?
-Off-season (also called slow season) is December-March when fewer people get married. Most people don't want cold weather for their engagement sessions either, so we get a break from shooting. And we don't take weddings December-February, so we get a true break. It's a great time to work on all the 'business' stuff that gets set aside during the busy wedding months.
Do you still have availability this year?
- We get this question A LOT. And the answer is yes. We do most of our bookings January-March so dates are going quickly, but we still have openings! We only have 1 opening each for the months of May, October, and November. And we will cap off our year after 4-5 more bookings.
Every photography business runs a bit differently, so these things are probably not true across the board, even among local photographers, but that's how it works for us!
If you are getting married in 2018 and looking for wedding photographers, we would love to hear from you!