barbara_lucas_wilson

<p>I would suggest hooking up with a local place that does training and shows. My cousin has done that in the area and been very successful.</p>

<p>Crawled under the bride's dress to put a band-aid over her belly ring because the elastic top on her crinoline was pulling at it and was very painful. Helped hold the bride's dress while she went to the bathroom. Helped zip the bride into her dress. Helped lace the MOH into her dress. And that was all the same wedding.....<br>

Fixed bustles, veils, made sure that jewelry got put on. Calmed bride's, joked with Dad's, held trains, held flowers, etc etc. Anything to help out, it often gets me better pics in the end. :)</p>

We just recently started doing album design for our wedding clients, so I'm not an expert, but this is what we do.

Ask clients for images that they want in their album, we use FotoFusion software by Lumapix for the design part, and it's very easy to use, lots of options. Have the client proof their album, and when they've approved it, we send it

to whichever company we're having it printed by. They do the print and bind part. We got an album back from Black River Imaging yesterday and I was very pleased(after we got a couple of layout glitches fixed). Most companies use ROES software to upload the JPGs(or whatever format they prefer). I'm also waiting to get a sample for GraphiStudio, they designed part and I designed part, the proof looks great. I'm sure that others use different companies, but I imagine that the workflow is pretty much the same.

I'm a sole proprietorship working w/ a DBA, and I also have an LLC for the business, NYS.

Have you checking your state's Dept of State website for more information? The NYS one was very helpful.

I use an Epson 1800 to print directly on the printable disk, usually a pic of the bride's flowers, with the couple's name and date. I use a DVD case to print a custom cover insert with pics from the wedding, couple's name, name, place, and then our company info and copyright. I also just bought some cases from Neil Industries that use 2 pics and hold one disk(they have cases that hold 2 disks too). HTH

Depends on the volume and sizes, I have a service where they can order directly from the website(Black River Imaging). Or they can order thru me, but I only do up to 8x10, anything larger goes to the local lab, and they do a lovely job.

I run the marketing, client meetings, post production editing, mailings, etc.

We both take the pictures, the beauty of husband/wife is that I get the bride and her side of the family and the maids, the husband gets the grooms's side, etc. And we can swap angles and positions during the rest.

He's my webmaster, and helps with the slideshows, sometimes he's at client meetings.

It works for us, it's really my business and he's a great asset.

I would worry about it getting stolen...

I just started dealing with them, but I've had my phone calls and emails responded to in a very prompt manner.

I have friends who are videographers

www.beautifulmemoriesdv.com

their price list is on-line

I like the idea of churches being brighter...and I completely respect a house of worship and the clergy's preferences wrt photography. I think that couples need to be realistic about photography in a potentially dark venue, and guests need to turn off their flashes. I don't think that there is a right answer or an all encompassing answer, just personal preference and accommodation.

I use an Epson R1800 printer for my printable cds and dvds. Works great!

My husband and I have been to St Croix many times, and although we've heard of isolated incidents, we've never had anything happen to us.

A couple of things to remember, the beaches are all public, but sometimes the public has to park farther away from the beach than the resort guests. We bring scuba gear and never have a problem with leaving it in the room and doing other activities(and that stuff is expensive too). Divi Carina is on the East End, and it isn't close to anything at all(except its casino), so you don't have a city/town element to deal with. Check with TripAdvisor, you may get some good ideas from them too. I would take normal precautions, like I do anywhere we travel to. The USVI are different from most of the other Caribbean Islands.

Thanks for the input, it really has helped.

OK, now I feel dumb, what's OSP?

I was looking around and found DWF (Digital Wedding Forum), it costs $129 a year

to participate and claims to have 5000 wedding photography professionals that

are active members. I got to look at some of the archives and it seems like it

might be useful, but I'm not sure about the cost and if it's really worth it.

Does anyone here have experience with this forum?

They also have a deal where you can spend a little more and be listed on Wedfog,

a resource for recommendations for bride's.

Again, not sure if it's worth it. I already advertise on a local wedding

resource website (which has given us several clients). Any opinions?

TIA

Different color ink helps to show that it's an original signature.

Is there a local internet wedding resource site? I also pay for an ad on a website that forwards leads to me, but that hasn't even paid for itself yet. I've had more leads off the local site HudsonValleyWeddings.com and the price was reasonable.

I also made sure that we were listed in Yahoo local.

You could also send mailings or set up meetings with the local venues that you'd like to shoot at. These places often have a "preferred vendor" list that they give to bride's who have booked their event.

I have a videographer friend that does a couple of bridal shows a year, but the setup alone would break my small budget. Leave cards in bridal shops, or florists(I have a reciprocal agreement with a florist in the area, she has my cards, and I have a sample bouquet and her cards). Word of mouth will help too, give it time...

Dawn, I looked at many of your photos, and there are certainly several that I would have been quite happy with. Are these all of the photos from that wedding? Because I don't let the client see all the photos. They get the "cream of the crop" so to speak. We usually have between 800-1100 images. I edit out the bad ones, fix the remainder if they need it, and they usually get around 200-250 images. More than enough for anyone to look at. I also think that there's too much b&w, it's very distracting. i usually only do that on a few selected shots that look better in b&w.

I don't think that the bride knows what will make her happy at this point, so asking her, doesn't really help matters. I like the previous suggestion of the small album. Also, give her a couple of days to calm down, that might help.

I somethimes need to look through a wedding a couple of times before I'm happy with what I see (and editing will help that along).

Good luck, but since you haven't had complaints before, don't let it get to you.

Try Candid2000, you have to set up an account, but their prices are reasonable.

I filed for an LLC (state), also have the DBA (county), the business checking account, and liability insurance. So I'm hoping that it covers everything. I found pretty much all the info I needed at my state's Dept of State website. It described the differences between designations, had all the forms, the charges, etc. The winter has been quiet, but that just meant that I've been marketing, meeting with clients, and doing other misc things.

I tried to use the KISS principle when naming packages.

We have "Your Day" which is really our basic package,

and the deluxe is "Soup to Nuts".

But I really don't think it matters much to the client.

Your could call them "A", "B", etc and it would be fine for them.

Talk to your insurance guy, ours only costs $200 for the whole year and includes replacement insurance.

I always have a contract available at client meetings too. It's worksed so far for getting them to close at the meeting. I also recently worked up a separate pricing list for them to look over, and a Client Information sheet, that way I can write down all the details and get a better idea of what the day will look like.

My husband and I started shooting weddings last year(despite all the advice to the contrary on this board). Both of us have always been avid photographers, but had done nothing professionally(not even shadowed a pro). I offered to do the pictures of a friends wedding as their gift, the bride eagerly accepted, she knew this was our first, and said that she would be happy with whatever we got. I did some light editing, and handed her disks of pics, they were thrilled! And we were encouraged enough to start the business. We did 6 weddings last year(June-Nov), a mix of friends, family, and paying clients. We have 4 booked for this year so far. We're not art photographers, but we do look at other photo websites for ideas on lighting, posing, perspective, etc, and I read this board A LOT. The learning never stops. But I would consider our first wedding a success in the the pics were nice, and we learned a lot of what to do, and what not to do. Our season starts at the end of the month, and I'm hoping that it only increases with time.