Great title eh?!! A wedding photographer basically saying YOU may not be the couple they want to work with...and hence I won't take your money and photograph your wedding. Why? Read on.

Picky about choosing my wedding clients

I was at the ICC Wales Wedding Fayre yesterday. First time the ICC Wales had been open to the general public. Around 100 suppliers were in attendance (and if you were one of the few that dropped out...well you missed an amazing wedding fayre. Footfall was incredible, the atmosphere buzzing, the venue incredible and I won't be surprised if the organisers increase the price for next years dates).

I personally spoke at dozens of couples, my two fabulous assistants (Claire & Suzanne) spoke to dozens more. I think I gave out around 100 of my goody bags and inside each goody bag was my brochure, my pricing leaflets and a double sided flyer titled "Why Choose Andrew as your wedding photographer?" as well as a business card sized chocolate from my good friend Lee-Ann Smith from Printed Chocolates. By the way - those chocolates make EXCELLENT thank you gifts, wedding favours etc.

My team collected details from around 20 couples. And this is where the title comes in.

I was asked three times by couples if they could book me there and then. I refused. Instead we agreed a date and time to meet up to give us longer to chat about wedding plans, aspirations, details and give space and time for those couples and parents to think about the myriad of questions that they should be asking. Questions such as...

"Questions every bride or groom should be asking" or "36 Questions Every Client Should Ask A Wedding Photographer" or even "11 Reasons NOT to get in touch with Andrew to photograph your wedding."

YOU turned away £900??!! Yes. it's not about the money - it's about the job. it's about the value couples place on my services and it's about how much I think I can get along with the couple and if the couple can get along with me! You see, I have my very own checklist for selecting who I want to work with. I call this my Ideal Client List and is something I have spoken about at photography conferences in Germany, Holland and the UK, to other photographers as well on my business-focussed workshops and to those photographers I coach and mentor as part of being a Business Mentor for Business Wales.

Side Note. If you have just started in wedding photography out then yeah, take the bookings, take the money etc. Once you grow you WILL begin to realise who are YOUR ideal clients and you will start to put together your own list of criteria!

If you are only interested in walking into a wedding fayre, booking the suppliers based on a 10 minute conversation on the day and walking off you are not my kind of client. In my opinion you don't value your wedding as much as you should. You went shopping for a commodity, and a wedding should never be treated as a commodity!

If you declined to take a goody bag at the wedding fayre it was because you didn't want to give me your contact details. It's called the "Law of Reciprocity". You give me something, I give you something. It's the first thing I'm looking for in a couple at a wedding fayre. Those goody bags are expensive at around £3 each to produce. So that fayre cost me £300 in goody bags plus the cost of the 3 tables, plus the very large number of wedding albums, plus the banners, table cloths and my assistants do not work for free. All of that goes into my Cost of Doing Business (CODB) which is what I need to earn to run my business. If you don't value the effort that I put in, in running my business professionally and attending a wedding fayre you certainly won't value what I do for you at your wedding.

Oh, and if you do give me your contact details have the courtesy to respond to my emails, even if it is to say "thanks but we went with someone else". I won't mind in the slightest!!

Picky about choosing my wedding clients - Law of Reciprocity

It works both ways. You want a hand with looking for other suppliers? I can help. You want a brain storming session on creative things to do at your wedding? I can help. You want some advice on what makeup to go for? Yeah - I can help. You want some impartial advice on wedding dresses? I can come along with you or send me a few pictures and I'll give you my opinion. All of that builds up a level of trust that I really value with my clients.

My website is littered with blogs, articles, posts and pages about why to choose me, why not to choose me etc. If you come onto my website and click the link for weddings the first page that is shown in the menu is "11 Reasons NOT to get in touch with Andrew to photograph your wedding". I am actively TELLING you what I am looking for in a wedding client first and foremost. I don't want to have a meeting with you and turn you down. I'd prefer you just say "Looks like this guy isn't the one for us" and not get in touch in the first place. Same with the flyer in my brochures!

Browsing my Website - picky about choosing my wedding clients

So, you click onto the "What it costs" page - because we all know money and budget is important. I know it and you know it. Its why I have prices on my website and not just some rambling text with a contact form saying get in touch for a bespoke quote. (Because we all know that's just an excuse for the photographer to social profile you and increase the prices based on your post code or wedding venue ;-) )

I start by telling you I have had 26 years of experience. 26 years. I have been photographing weddings longer than many of my couples have been alive. I've been there, done it, got the scars, got the t-shirt and the stamps in my passport and I'm still doing it because I love it. That 26 years of experience is very very valuable.

Then I tell couples it's not about the price, it's about valuing memories. I tell them it's about investing in a wedding photographer who invests in their business to ensure longevity. You do want me to be around, as a business, when your wedding comes around in 2 or 3 years time don't you? Off course you do - that is why you don't cut corners on mission (wedding!) critical things like venues, photographers, dresses or suits for example.

Then I tell you about my discounts. I tell you who I give discounts to and what the discount is. I tell you to bring me Jaffa Cakes if you don't fall into the job role for a discount... and Jaffa Cakes will ALWAYS get you a flat 10% discount! I tell you about my Friends & Family discount. I tell you what my midweek discounts are and I even list out what days of the week and months of the year will get you that discount.

I tell you discounts are NOT accumulative. I tell you that price is the last thing you should be looking at when choosing a photographer.

In short I'm telling you that if you ask for discount after discount you're NOT my kind of client.

I then list out my prices and what include. I try and make it as easy as possible.

The prices on my website are NOT a start for negotiation

The prices on my website are NOT a start for negotiation. They are what I charge in order to run my business. Yes, by all means you can have a discount but after that DO NOT ATTEMPT TO NEGOTIATE AT ALL. It demeans you and you will lose. Do not ask for my "best prices" - the price is what it is.

I will quite happily walk away from you grinning like the proverbial Cheshire Cat because YOU ARE NOT my ideal client and I am more than confident that I will be able to secure enough bookings to pay my bills without dropping my prices. Especially if your wedding is 2 years or more away. In short WALKING AWAY FROM A DEAL IS BETTER THAN ACCEPTING A BAD DEAL.

Picky about choosing my wedding clients - your mates don't count.

I don't care if you promise to tell all your mates about me. I may not like your mates anyway so why would I want to agree to shoot their wedding? And if your mates are as demanding as you...well I'm putting my running shoes on and I'll be doing a sub 4-minute mile running away from you and them.

I don't care about social media sharing. I've got 6K+ likes on my Facebook page and lots and lots of interaction. My Instagram feed is a bit weak and I'd be happy to do a skill share with a potential wedding couple on that issue...but other wise promising to share me on social media "like mad" is like pouring a cup of water into the ocean. Your "like" on Facebook's 2.7 billion users is pretty useless.

Attempting to bribe me with food only works if the food is a chicken dinner cooked by my wife or the food in question is Jaffa Cakes. And then you are only going to get a 10% discount even if you bought me McVities the business.

And whilst it is really nice to sit down with your guests I use that time to back up my cameras on to a multiple portable hard drives and my laptop and then set up a Same Day Slideshow for you and your wedding guests to view. Besides, what happens if you put me to next a guest I don't like?!

Pre Wedding Shoots

If you don't want a pre-wedding shoot, fine. The price I charge isn't going to change.

I've not included pre-wedding shoots in my prices for years and years. I include them for free, because as business I have found them to very valuable and useful. It's a chance to recce the venue, to recce the routes in and out in case of traffic issues, to recce locations around the venue if you request a photograph that can't be taken at the venue (sunset images are an excellent example of this). It's a chance for the three of us to chat, discuss your wedding and get to know each other more. It's a chance to bring the kids along if you have them and make sure the kids know me before the day to save them kicking off in front of a stranger. It's a chance to practice where we will go on the day of your wedding, the type of photographs we can take, simple direction from me to give you both confidence in yourselves in front of a camera.

So telling me you don't want a pre wedding shoot tells me you're not really interested in me, my work or in fact yourselves. In short...not my ideal clients.

In Summary, This blog won't please everyone

Yea, I get that. But if it stops one couple from getting in touch and me having to turn them down it's done it's job. That is why I'm picky about choosing my wedding clients.

YOU do not pick me.

I DO NOT pick you.

We CHOOSE to work together.

It's a mutual agreement.

Yes, I'm picky about choosing my wedding clients