COVID-19 is causing lots of uncertainty, especially for wedding photographers. Wedding photography often puts you in a room with 100, 200, even 300 people who have often been traveling. It’s no surprise that this pandemic has had a major effect on the weddings industry. Many photographers are facing postponements, cancellations, and halted bookings. In a time where no one is certain on the next steps, let’s talk about keeping your wedding photography business moving.
Let Your Clients Know You’re There for Them
Keep the lines of communication open with your clients. This is a very scary time for a lot of marrying couples. Since there is not a lot of understanding on how COVID-19 is going to impact weddings over the next few months, it’s understandable that many engaged couples are feeling uneasy. Make sure you reach out to them–– whether it’s via email, phone, text–– and let them know that you’re willing to work with them. Your wedding photography clients will be thankful that you are being proactive.
Be Flexible With Your Wedding Photography Clients During COVID-19
Yes, your contract should be protecting you in case of cancellations or postponements. The coronavirus, however, is relatively uncharted territory for a lot of photographers and their clients. Consider yourself in their position and try to have some empathy. It’s likely that if these couples are postponing their wedding due to coronavirus, they’re having to double their stress and financial burden by essentially planning a second wedding. Being flexible with your clients in case of postponement is something they will be so thankful for. In a time when other vendors may not be so forgiving, show a little compassion.
Suggest Elopements as an Alternative
Why should couples wait to marry their best friend? Suggest elopements as an alternative to having their big wedding now. Many couples who elope also like to throw their reception later. Give potential couples and clients with upcoming weddings the option to do an elopement shoot with you now and have you shoot their reception later.
Open Up Family Sessions to Past Clients
To supplement any lost income, open up family sessions to past clients. Assure them that you are taking proper precautions to keep them safe and well. During this time of uncertainty, some photographers may choose a pay-what-you-can structure, while others may set up in-home sessions at a fixed price. Having in-home sessions can keep families at ease in the comfort of their homes.
Set Up Sessions for the Late Summer/Early Fall
Do your best to continue with business as usual. Set up engagement sessions for the late summer and early fall. You can accept deposits now to carry you through the next few months of uncertainty. Booking this far in advance will help to stabilize some of the lost income in the meantime. You and your clients are all hoping that things will normalize by that point in time. Booking sessions now will give your clients something positive to look forward to.
Moving the Needle in Your Photography Business During Coronavirus
Use this time as an opportunity to find other ways to move the needle in your photography business. Since so many clients are at home, trying to find things to stimulate them, start showing up for them. Share your work on Instagram more, show up on your Instagram Stories –– give them something positive to look at. This is an opportune time to work on your marketing efforts, if nothing else. Catch up on website updates, social scheduling, blog writing, and ad copy updating. In a time where we don’t know what’s coming next, the best thing you can do is bring some light into your clients’ worlds.
I’d take time to examine your current workflow. What bottlenecks have you encountered during the busy season? How can you tighten up your processes? I may be wrong but there are only so many weekends in the year. As weddings keep getting “pushed” we may all find ourselves working later in the season: November – February, as the canceled weddings vie for dates on the calendar with couples who are currently in the process of booking dates for themselves. Depending on how long this virus keeps couples canceling dates, good old fashion supply and demand will kick in and we might find ourselves very busy. Are you ready?
I love this post! Helped me come up with so many good ideas! Hard to find a light at the end of the tunnel with all the virus has brought but this has really helped me change some of my perspective and redirect my plans! :)
I’ve been wondering how other photographers and event planners have been navigating social distancing as well as small business ownership so am very grateful for this timely article!
From what I hear from fellow photographers and videographers around in Europe, is that basically the whole event, wedding and portrait industry is on hold because gatherings of more than three people are illegal. Unnecessary movement is also prohibited. So like most, I'm busy at home cleaning & backing up my archive, updating portfolios, supporting others in social media and thinking about marketing steps.
Very good article, thank you! That's exactly what I needed to read about because the whole virus situation influences the work as well, weddings are being postponed.
Love this article! thank you for sharing these bright ideas, being positive at this dark time is really an uplifting experience. There are many articles on planning weddings but this post has made my day. For more great wedding ideas, check us out on https://www.weddingwishlist.com/wedding-board/
Looking back at this article, I'm sure most folks thought early on that we would be in a better position by the first of September. Since this appears to be here to stay for a while longer, these ideas are worth even more than in April. I'm working to book engagements and then hopefully elopements or micro weddings to follow up.
Good luck to all my fellow photographers.
We'll make it through.