February 7, 2024

Why Wedding Photography Consultations are the best way to quote

Why Wedding Photography Consultations are the Best Way to explore Wedding Photography Pricing

For over 10 years, Cameron from Sunlit Studios has been meeting with couples who are considering us to photography and film their wedding through Wedding Consultations.

A Wedding Consultation is a one hour long chat that allows you to collect all the information you need. It’s a pressure-free, no-obligation, relaxed experience that we believe is beneficial whether you proceed to booking us or not!

At a consultation, couples are able to:

Sit down with our team and have their needs heard
See and handle example Wedding Albums
Receive Professional advice on how to schedule a relaxed day
Receive a customized quote based on the coverage needed and inclusions wanted
Have all your questions answered
Figure out if the vibe and personality of our studio and team is the right fit

Our decision to provides quotes only after meeting with couples was made for the benefit of you – our potential future clients.

Why we give customised quotes at Wedding Consultations

1. You don’t know what you don’t know.

Unless you have been married before, choosing your perfect photographer – one you are never going to regret – is going to involve a learning curve. It’s not as simple as getting a price for a number of hours – each studio is likely to offer a different service, different artwork inclusions, different editing inclusions, and different pre and post-wedding care.

Some of the many common “Oh, I didn’t think of that!” moments we hear during Wedding Consultations are:

~ Whether it would be best to have one photographer or two

~ What the difference is between colour grading and professional retouching – will your photographer edit out that pesky pimple or remove that exit sign?

~ What sort of backup systems different studios have in place in case of sickness, file corruption and data storage

~ What the difference is between a leather bound book and a lay-flat album

~ How many album pages you are likely to want in your album

~ Whether there are inclusions you want that you may not have thought of, such as parent albums, venue pre-visits, engagement shoots, artwork.

~ What format and size your digital files will be in and what copyright permissions you’ll have.

The Wedding Consultation is our attempt to ensure any couple that decides we are perfect for them, reaches that decision in a fully informed and educated way.

2. Knowing your final numbers helps with budgeting

Part of the consultation process is our professional assistance in planning out the timing of your day to ensure it runs smoothly. It also allows us time to get the photographic results YOU want.

Another benefit is this allows us to calculate how many hours of coverage you need for your day.

We also can figure out what artwork inclusions are important to you and customise our Collections accordingly. Perhaps you realise when you first hold our albums in your hands that a larger album is more important then wall art, or the other way around. Perhaps you realise you want four parent albums, or several gift prints.

3. The Personality Vibe Check

Consider that your photographers are likely to be with you for anywhere between 4-10 hours on your Wedding day. They actually spend more time with you then your own family or bridal party on your day… so liking them is of some importance!

Perhaps you are awkward and need that bubbly personality to bring you out of your shell. Or you anticipate you’ll be a nervous wreck and want someone who is so chill, they put you completely at ease!

You also want to really gauge what type of studio or business you are dealing with. Are you being listened to and understood by this studio? Do you feel they have your back?

If you want truly intimate, beautiful photographs, the relationship you have with your photographers is going to really come into play. You are unlikely to laugh your head off or shed a sneaky tear if the photographer in front of you feels like a complete stranger, or is intimidating in anyway. The relationship you build with your photographers and studio you are dealing with throughout the entire process is key to amazing, personal, intimate results.