The wedding day was beautiful and everything’s now over. It’s all done and it’s probably the Sunday or Monday morning after.
Apart from close friends and family, pretty much everyone is on a plane or a bus back home. It’s only been 24 to 48 hours since the reception but folks are already asking
“what about the pictures? When do we get to see them?”
And then it dawns on you, you never really cared to ask the photographer what next after the wedding. Sure he gave you a delivery date for the album, but there are a few things in between that you guys didn’t talk about after paying the deposit.
Photographers and videographers: Those “other” vendors
Photographers and videographers are in a really unique position. We are the only vendors whose assignments extend to well after the wedding. The caterer, decorator and the cake lady get to call it a wrap on the wedding day, or maybe a day or two after. But for the photographer and videographer, our deliverables come way after the wedding and not on the wedding day itself.
What to expect next?
What to expect from one photographer or videographer changes according to the workflow and customer service culture of the crew that you chose to cover your wedding.
Photographers and videographers all have different creative styles and we all are different in the way we deal with clients.
Workflows? Customer service culture?
Workflow is just a fancy way of saying:
“How we like to do things after the wedding, how we gather and sort through all the footage to make everything all nice and presentable for you… all the while keeping you updated”
And customer service for us means many things, but mostly:
“How we like to engage with you to make sure we deal with any questions that you have in a way that we can all be happy with.”
My brother and I, on photography only gigs like to make sure everything is ready for dispatch or delivery 3 weeks and 3 days from the date of the wedding.
If we happen to handle your videography, then that would be 4 weeks and 3 days from the date of the wedding.
Lets run through an example shall we?
Amazing Mandy and Cool Cletus
“Amazing Mandy” and “Cool Cletus” (not their real names) were clients whose wedding we covered on Saturday the 4th of July 2015.
They had us handle both the photography and videography for the wedding. We had everything ready to be shipped off to them about 9 days before Wednesday 05 August 2015 which was the date we gave them on the invoice for dispatch. If they had gotten us for photography only, then the delivery date on the invoice would’ve been Wednesday 29 July 2015.
“Classy Chi” (not her real name) who was the wedding planner seemed a little sceptical about our 4 weeks and 3 days claim because for her wedding she waited for up to 18 months for some of her photos!
The Monday morning updates
We like to keep clients updated on the progress we’re making with the footage via email. We could call you guys but I doubt its my voice you want to hear during your honeymoon!
The emails usually come in on a Monday morning (Nigerian time) and you can expect to receive not more than 3 of those updates since we usually deliver within our timelines we already discussed.
We don’t say much, but we check in from time to time to let you know when we’re done collating footage from the other members of the crew. After that we get in touch to let you know when we move to the album design stage and then in the latter email updates we try to confirm a delivery address from you guys so that we don’t send DHL off to the wrong house!
We do not update our website’s photo blog with your photos until we are sure that delivery has been completed successfully.
Social media, Instagram and Facebook
We have a social media and use of images policy which we explain to all our clients. We have no problem respecting your privacy if you object to your photos being used for our social media marketing and online promotions.
These are matters we like to discuss fully and come to agreements on before any deposits or payments are made.
Why the fuss about all this workflow and customer service dubs?
This seems like a lot to take in, but they are important.
These matters are the things that make the difference between waking up the next day and realizing you have absolutely idea what to expect next from the photographer, and being able to answer your mum and your friends confidently when they ask about the photos.
One thing is for sure, if you follow careful steps like this when interviewing photographers, you reduce the likelihood that you have to chase them down 12 months after your wedding.
PHOTO CREDIT: Ayede Film & Photography