The title says it all - this is a long overdue update to my working practices.

Covid was hard on every business, and I finished my last Covid wedding in November 2023. When the couple booked 5 years previously, they were just starting Degrees at university and were living with parents, no kids. When they finally got married, they were both looking at Master's qualifications, had 1 daughter, and had bought a house!

During that time of 2 1/2 years, I photographed 194 weddings. No mean feat when you are a lone self-employed individual! That also meant that I realised that I had been doing a lot of things previously that perhaps I shouldn't have been doing, were not charging for things I should have charged for and being far too nice and lenient with regards to running my business!

So, I have spent the last 7 weeks looking at my business process, business model, and what I have lost in terms of revenue for not charging correctly, for being "nice", etc. That's not to say I'm still not a nice person (I am!), but being nice, I shouldn't be taken advantage of.

It's just me.

No one else. Just me.

I make all the sales, marketing, web design, wedding fayres, editing, shooting, design, accounting, invoicing, blogging, sales, meetings, pre-wedding shoots, weddings, editing of all the photos, networking, training, HR, camera & equipment maintenance, H&S and a whole load more.

If you are self-employed, you get it. If you are employed, think about all the stuff you do at work...and all the stuff everyone else in your company does to make sure the company works - I do all that myself.

Just. Me.

I also have the same issues as everyone else does: family health, my health, both physical and mental, vehicles that go wrong, shopping, sleeping (6hrs 18mins average per day in 2023), pets, house maintenance etc, etc.

So when things go wrong, #bekind. Don't rush in and demand I fix it immediately or you'll take legal action. A simple email or text or WhatsApp or FB / Meta DM is sufficient to get the ball rolling. I may have just let something slip, and if it's my fault, I'll fix it ASAP. Based on previous experience, though, it's probably at your end - missed emails, didn't read the contract, things happened in your life that made choosing the wedding photographs drop behind the curve etc.

e.g based on a real couple...

You get married on 1st June 2022. You get the edited photos back by the 14th of June and a request for you to choose the album photos. You wait 6 months and send them to me. I send a draft back in 2 weeks. You then wait 3 months to check the draft and make changes. I make the changes and I wait another 2 months for you to check those changes and sign the album off for printing.

It is a total waste of time and energy on your part to shout and scream at me that you have been married a year and don't have your album - it's your fault!!!

Changes Being Implemented

Some of these changes will be for new couples/bookings, and some will apply to previous bookings. I will be sending out amendments to contracts with the charges were required.

1. Album Design. I'll only be doing this twice a month, not as and when I get a set of images through as I had previously. This will enable me to focus on the designs during a full day of concentrated effort.
2. Album Printing. As mentioned above, twice a month. It will also mean I don't have to wait in constantly for albums - I'll get album deliveries more spaced out but in bulk.
3. Paying external suppliers (events, photographers, etc) will be done fortnightly, not at ridiculous times of the day and night, as I have done for those suppliers to get the money as soon as possible.
4. Number of pages in your wedding album. This will now be "as per contract". If you ordered 20 pages, you are going to get 20 pages. Previously I used to add in a page or two if the images you chose need the extra space. I didn't charge for this; as you can imagine, I didn't receive much in the way of any thanks either. So if you want extra pages you will have to pay - details in your contract.
5. Metallic Gloss pages will now be charged. Again I used to add a couple in as per my discretion. I pay extra for this type of paper, and whilst it's not a huge amount, every wedding gets an album, so it all adds up.
6. Booking Fees reminders. I'll send a reminder once for your booking fee. If it is still not paid 48 hours after the invoice date, I'll remove the booking and cancel,l your wedding with me. I realise it's financially tough out there...so you also have to realise it's the same for self-employed businesses.
7. Online Gallery - if your contract says six months only gallery, it will be removed 6 months after your wedding. If you want to download the photos, you can. If you want to keep the online gallery you can for a charge of £25 per calendar year, payable in advance. It's much easier for you to download your photos.
8. Lost Wedding Photographs - If you lose your wedding photographs and IF I can find a working copy in my archives (old hard drives) then you WILL be charged £125 in advance for me to upload them again. They are YOUR wedding photographs and are YOUR responsibility to archive not mine. I can not guarantee I will keep copies of all the pictures I take.
   • I have previously dug deep into my archives and found and uploaded images from as far back as 15 years ago. What hurts is the total lack of "thanks, really appreciate that" from couples for whom I've done this.
9. Album design times. Couples contact me 2, 3, 4 and 5 years after the wedding to sort out their album. I've been generous and allowed them to do this. Not any longer. My older contracts state 12 months to sort the album out; my newer contracts states four months. After that, you will be offered the choice of sticking to the contract (I choose the photos and print the album as is), or you can request a refund of the cost of the album, and I'll close the contract with you.
10. Album Covers. Text only unless you wish an image on the front and then it will be an extra charge of £25.
11. Album Colours. When I visit you, I show you a selection of albums and colours. If you don't tell me what colour you want, when you send me your wedding photos for the album, I will choose one that works for your wedding and colour scheme. My decision is final. If you don't like the colour I've chosen, you can buy another album from me at cost price. So far, out of over 800 albums I've had two people not like the colour...so I think I'm doing ok there.
12. Choosing Album Photographs. If you want me to choose the photographs for your album, you will go to the back of the design queue. That takes time and isn't something I plan into my costs.
13. Parent books / smaller albums. If you want individual images in those, there will be a design fee of £125 per book/album. Designing takes time.
14. Digital Cosmetic surgery, of any kind, will charged as per my contract. I've been way too lenient in this regard. This includes teeth whitening, tattoos and a myriad of other stuff.
15. Call out fees for me to visit you to choose album photos, design the album, or tweak the album. This will now be charged at £125 per call-out fee. My time is important.
16. Album changes will now be charged once they go past the number indicated in your contract. The album will only be sent to print once any extra charges have been paid. Agaiun, I have been far to lax in this regard.
17. Album Delivery - If you want your album then please try and accommodate me. I often have about a dozen albums arriving at a time (and with the change above I will have more), and it takes an evening per face-to-face album delivery. If you can collect it when I ask you to, please do so. If not, I'll be sending an invoice of £20 for you to pay for the delivery if your album is more than a 50-mile round trip from Chepstow (NP16 postcode).
18. Album Sign Off. If I send you an album draft and you wait longer than 6 weeks to check it, I'm assuming it's okay for printing, and I'll send it for printing. It is YOUR responsibility to check the album design and get back to me promptly. I'm honestly fed up of couples who wait years before getting back to me. Price increases affect my business!
19. Use of my images by other wedding suppliers or anyone else. Don't give me images to anyone else. Section 3 of my contract states this explicitly. If you do this, I will assume you have broken the contract deliberately, and I will act accordingly.
20. Deferred payments. This is a biggie, so pin your ears back. Currently, I don't charge for deferred payments, and several couples have abused this over the past 18 months. I have lost out financially due to this. In the future, deferred payments will be limited to two calendar months after the wedding date (which is, in fact, three months after the balance invoice is due). You will get an invoice when the deferred payment is due. Failure to pay that invoice ON TIME will result in a further administration charge of whatever interest rate the Bank of England has, currently 5.25%.
    • Per my contract, you do not get the images unless you have paid. The wedding gallery will be locked until full payment is made; you can only access the pre-wedding shoot gallery.
      • Example.
        • You deferred the final payment of £1,000 for two months after the wedding date.
        • You will get an invoice 2 weeks before the deferred due date
        • If the invoice is not paid on the due date, that invoice will be cancelled, and a new one will be issued with the added charges.
        • £1,000 will incur an extra charge of £52, so the new invoice will be for £1,052
        • If the invoice is still not paid after 6 months, I will instigate legal action to recover the debt.
21. I'll bend over backwards to sort it out if it's my fault.

Referral Scheme

Not something new, but something that I have only messed around with in the past. I'm now instigating a more formal referral scheme:

If you refer a couple to me, who then go on to pass my stringent interview and they book (!!) , regardless of what collection the new couple books at, you'll get the option of one of these three things:

1. Four mini Accordion Books

2.An album size upgrade (from 8" x 8" to 10" x 10 or 10" x 10" to 12" x 12" or 12" x 12" to 12" x 16")

3. 5 extra double pages (10 pages in total)

4. A small 8" x 8" parent album with 10 double pages.

There are options in the list above that you can refer to and still get one of the above even after your wedding and even after your album has been delivered. Doing this reduces my marketing spend and thus allows me to keep my pricing lower!

To use this, you must ask your friends to state your names and wedding dates when they get in touch, not least because I can then reach out to you for your referral gift!

Google Reviews

These are really valuable to me. They give me what is known as "social proof" by the marketeers, essentially people like YOU saying how good, or bad I was gives people a better insight into buying. They also reduce my marketing spend as they show up on Google searches, and it gives me the edge if I have more 5* reviews than the next wedding photographer. It also strokes my ego, and we all need an ego stroke every now and again :-)

All my wedding galleries have three images that give you details on how to leave me a Google Review. Please use them! Ask your family and friends to leave reviews as well, that all helps small business.

Posting images on Your Social Media

I don't mind at all, and in fact, I love it - just please tag me in them. That tag really helps my social media reach and gives me that "social proof" thing. If you can't tag me, then a simple "www.andrew-miller.co.uk" is just as good. I get a real kick from images posted by couples on anniversaries, valentines etc. - especially years after the main event.

Interacting with my Social Media

A simple like, heart, laugh etc is always appreciated. A comment is better! Anything like this helps me confirm to the "algorithm" gods that I'm popular, and thus, my organic reach will improve...reducing my reliance on paid advertising...helping to keep my costs lower! So if it's IG, Meta or TikTok or YouTube - leave something ;-)

Other Photography

If you hear of any other photography jobs for your business - headshots for ID cards or LinkedIn, corporate events etc. then please think of me! You'll get my undying thanks and your company will get a hefty discount. I can do this mid-week without interfering with my weddings and is something I'm looking aty doing more of as I begin the downward slope to semi-retirement :-)

Last but Not Least

I am doing the training to become a Wedding Celebrant! So if you hear of couples who want to have a wedding that is different, then, again, please think of me! You will also get the referral scheme goodies if this happens. My Celebrant website is still under construction - Your Wedding Vows Themed weddings is a speciality, I love getting into costume!

p.s.

Stay in touch, drop me a line etc, if you need anything. Help with planning, table layouts, vows, and hymns. Anything. Always here for you