It’s that wonderful glorious day!

You’ve been proposed to! Now you get to start planning your wedding!

What’s the first thing you’re going to do? Pick the date I hope. You can’t start much until you know when you’re going to do it. After you have the date locked and loaded the typical thing you do next is …. Find the place!

Many brides start off in this exact some order. They get the ring, date, location all solidified before they start picking their other vendors. What if when they went into their venues booking office they sat down to sign the contract and saw a stack of beautiful albums showcasing the venue they’ve chosen to get married at. They start flipping through this custom album and soon find themselves hoping for photographs just like the ones in that album. They look up long enough to ask “Who took these photos?” only to find that on the very next page they see who took the photos because it’s inside the album!

Once you’ve photographed at a venue why not share the love? I haven’t always done this. In fact, it’s more of a recent thing I was motivated to do by my friends, Melissa Jill. As you can tell from my little scenario above, the moment that bride sees your work, your album, your logo they already trust you. Why? Because the venue they’ve chosen to get married at trusts you. Otherwise they wouldn’t put you album with your cards on their desk IN THEIR BOOKING OFFICE! Right?

How many times do you think venues are promised photos and then never see them, or vendors for that matter? In the wedding industry today we all work so hard to perfect our own individual craft. There is 1 cake decorator, 1 make up artist, 1 florist and so on. There is also 1 photographer and they have worked hard to perfect their craft. Why not show a little love and share the photos we’ve all worked so hard to create!

I know, the first thing you’re thinking is, “But I don’t have time to make and send an album to every venue I shoot at.” Really, you don’t? Because while you were brushing your teeth some bride picked up my album and booked me! Maybe she hasn’t made the call yet but she knows who she wants. All because she saw an album that took about 1 – 1 ½ hours to make and about $5.50 in shipping to send. Not only do these albums give the venue something to show of their site but you get the exposure. Are you starting to see the win win situation brewing?

I also love to keep a few of my favorite mini-albums around the office just incase a bride missed the album at the venue. I can quickly pull out a tangible item that she can flip through and see what a wedding will look like at her wedding venue. Have any other ideas on ways to share the love with vendors in the wedding industry? Leave a comment and tell me what you’d like to see done or have done to work as a team with other vendors!