I see you babe, you are killing it out there in your wedding photography business! And maybe you’re thinking, how do I amplify this? How can I create these special moments during weddings to add to the magic? Today I am diving into a brand new series to Amplify Your Weddings. This episode is all about creating those mini magnetic experiences on wedding days. I cannot wait to share all the ways you can amplify your business starting now!

Today’s episode is brought to you by The Greenhouse, my resource garden for creatives to plant their dreams and grow money trees! These easy-to-use guides and templates will help you AMPLIFY your heart online and in real life to get dream clients begging to work with you year after year!

Review the Show Notes:

Creating A Magnetic Experience In-Person Starts Online (1:47)

Arrive Before Your Start Time (4:02)

Dress To Impress (4:37)

Study The Timeline and Prepare For Checkpoints (5:53)

Be Proactive and Helpful (7:19)

Create Memories Worth Photographing (9:20)

Offer A Parent First Look (10:05)

Moments With The Ringbearers and Flower Girls (10:43)

Moments With Grandparents (11:48)

The First Look (12:22)

As Guests Arrive (13:00)

Help The Vendors (14:14)

Let’s Do A Mood Check (15:20)

Keep Your Feet Moving (17:00)

Be Thoughtful About The Family Situations (17:42)

Be Strategic About Your Second Shooter (19:45)

Sunset Portraits (20:31)

Include Polaroids (23:02)

Tips For The Reception (23:38)

Remain Calm (24:30)

Hop On Over to the Quianna Marie Greenhouse & Resource Garden!

Review the Transcript:

Welcome to Quianna Marie weekly, a podcast for creatives who love to celebrate wins big or small by dancing in the kitchen photographers who are excited to serve their clients and friends who are ready to chase really, really big dreams. You can find all of the resources mentioned in this episode at quiannamarie.com/podcast. Join me as I share weekly motivation, chat about growing pains, finding genuine connections and celebrating your wins through the lens of a photographer at heart. Come join me for a dance party. Ready? Let’s go. Welcome to a brand new series called amplify your weddings.

I will be diving deep over the next couple of weeks sharing tons of education for wedding photographers. Now like I always say, all the education key tips and tricks that I love sharing can absolutely be applied to any business. However, I cannot wait for these next couple of episodes to truly help you amplify your brand. If you’re a photographer listening to this, like I see you, I see you babe, you’re killing it. Your images are absolutely beautiful. And maybe you’re just feeling stuck. Maybe you’re feeling like why am I not booking these dream brides? Where is all this business coming from? How can I get seen by more people online? Well, that’s what this whole series is for. amplify your weddings. For this first episode called amplify your weddings by creating magnetic experiences, I will be jumping right on board to share tons of ideas that you can create little mini magnetic experiences on wedding days.

All right, so let’s dive right into amplify your weddings by creating magnetic experiences. Before we even get started, I have so much to share about this, I have to remind you that creating a magnetic experience in person actually starts online. So I’m kind of gonna like skip around here. But before I can give you all these little tiny ways to super impress your clients and create these magnetic experiences in person, you have to absolutely have to have your booking, and your emails and your onboarding and contracts on point. Okay, stepping into that leadership role by being responsive and dependable and reliable is going to absolutely set you up for success. And I want you to think about that too. Even just for yourself. If you have a friend that never returns text messages, or is hard to get ahold of, I don’t think that makes them any less of a friend. But maybe that makes you wonder, I don’t know, are they even going to show up? When we go out with the girls tonight?

Can I plan a vacation with this person because they’re not very responsive, and who knows if they’re gonna respond, right. So that relationship starts on line. So as photographers and all small business owners, we have to remember that, that reliability, and dependability starts with emails. Okay, so let’s just dive right in. And now that we already have a CRM, I use honey book, which I cannot wait to introduce some incredible guest speakers coming up soon in the podcast, sharing all about your workflows and systems and how honey book can help you stay totally, totally productive and create that experience for your clients.

Let’s dive right into moments on a wedding day that will absolutely blow your clients away, create these magnetic experiences in person that make people want to share about you online share about you with their future referrals. And I’m a huge believer in not everyone is getting married. And I know that. But every single person knows at least one person planning a wedding, I guarantee it. So let’s chat about all those different ways. So first and foremost, I’m going to just dive deep, I started making a list of this and then it kind of blend into each other. So if you’re a list person, I’m sorry, it’s going to feel like a run on sentence. But there’s kind of key tips throughout the wedding day. And it absolutely starts with you getting a good night’s sleep and arriving before your start time.

Okay, this is really important because I know wedding season can be crazy. I know that a lot of us are juggling a lot of things, whether that be home life with small children at home, or whatever the circumstance is I get it. Sometimes we’re not even just sleeping in general. But it’s important to prioritize your nutrition, your water intake and your sleep before wedding day, showing up to a wedding day looking like a hot mess and being tired with puffy eyes.

And just kind of like showing up with a bad attitude is absolutely going to set the tone for the day. And this includes what you’re wearing. Okay, so this kind of rolls into the next step, which is dressing to impress. Now, I’m not going to get too particular about this because I feel like every single business, every single person has their own personality and their style. And so I don’t like making these blanket statements that you have to look like a business casual person at all.

I mean, I know some incredible photographers that show up literally wearing converse and holey jeans and I I mean, that works for them. Totally not my style. But I want to kind of keep this blanket statement open to share that when you show up, people are going to be judging you, and they are going to have an opinion of you. So for example, I typically I call myself a cartoon character, because I typically wear just a black dress, it’s usually about, I don’t know what that length is called, but it’s just below the knee, and has pockets of course, so I can whip out my phone for behind the scenes clips. But I try my hardest to look like help look like someone who was there in a professional manner. But also feeling kind of nice, so that if I was photo bombed in the back of wedding portraits, I don’t look like I’m just wearing khakis and a T shirt. Right.

So like I said, I’m not being judgey you are welcome to wear whatever you want. But definitely dressing to impress and feeling good in your own skin and in your your clothing for the day absolutely sets the tone. Another way that you can create these magnetic experiences is by studying the timeline and feeling well prepared for checkpoints of the day.

Okay, so I will in an upcoming episode, we will be going really, really deep into timelines helping you create a timeline for success for your couples. But I wanted to share this quick tidbit about actually studying that timeline for checkpoints. Now, we absolutely do not have to have that timeline memorized. I’m not telling you to do that. But we should have notes on the timeline that we create for what time that guy should be getting ready, or what time the bridesmaids should be leaving for the venue if they’re getting ready at a hotel. What time is the absolute latest that we should be hopping into the limo or the Uber or somebody whose car to get to the next location. Let’s say for example, a bridesmaid is frantically running around and looks to you and ask, okay, what time should my mom be ready? This is the sister of the bride. Right? And what time should mom be ready?

Okay, so for you, I’m not anticipating that you need to have that memorized. But you should be able to quickly look at the timeline and give her an answer within 30 seconds. Okay, because she is looking at you for answers. And by you elevating yourself as that expert, as someone who knows, is going to absolutely set you apart from anybody else. Okay, like I said, you don’t have to have this memorized. But just having a good game plan and these checkpoints is absolutely going to help them remember that you’re there to help them. Okay.

Another way to be super amazing and create these magnetic experiences is by being very proactive and helpful in the morning. So just as people are rushing up to you to answer timeline questions, they may be in a rush for Scissors, scissors, or something that people are always searching for. I always keep a pair of scissors in my camera bag, I can’t tell you how many times I have stepped up and I’ve actually curled bridesmaids hairs on wedding days, I have sewn like pieces of the dress that have ripped I have cut off pieces of the bridesmaids like that loopy piece of fabric that we use for the hanger. I’ve actually cut that off and use that as a little locket tie around the bouquet.

Okay, so I’m just sharing some kind of like wildfire extreme moments that could happen on wedding days that absolutely take you away from being the photographer in that moment. But it aligns you as being a helpful hand and someone that they can depend on throughout the day. Okay, I mean, at any given moment, I’m pouring champagne. Now granted, I’m, I’m still doing my job.

Okay, I want to I want to paint the picture for you as a wedding photographer that I am still absolutely shooting the details and capturing fun stuff of the day and getting ready details location shots, like I’m still doing my job. However, I’m also human. I also want to be that honorary bridesmaid or think of me as like that sister that or that cousin, maybe cousin that didn’t make the cut for her wedding party, but I’m there to help.

Okay, so being really proactive, not just for your wedding party, but also vendors is going to help. Once again, I can’t tell you how many times I have helped a florist unload her flowers. And as she’s setting up, or I’ve helped a videographer kind of get set up I’ve set my details aside I was done with my details, but I left them there so that between video and photo, we could have cohesive detail shots. Okay, so these are all just really simple examples of how I’m stepping above and beyond my photography duties to truly help make the day even better and run smoothly. This is another fun idea to um, I’ve noticed this trend a lot recently where a lot of the bridesmaids will request a first look with the bride or I’ve done toasts with groomsmen and I love adding like that next level.

Okay, so I love I’m an i idea generator and I love creating memories that are worth photographing. So one thing I love to do, for example, with the groomsmen is when we’re doing a toast, I’ll ask maybe the father of the groom, or an uncle or I don’t know maybe one of the groomsmen that seems a little outgoing and outspoken and I would ask them to give a toast. Okay, so it’s super, super like on the fly. But that is a great way He just once again create a memory that your groom may not have been anticipating. Okay.

Another way to create a magnetic experience is offering a parent’s first look with each other. This is so fun because a lot of times, parents like they’re in a hurry, they typically aren’t even dressed at the right time. Or maybe they get dressed too early, and they feel kind of bored sitting around waiting for the next event of the day. But having a moment for parents to have a first look with just each other, I think is so cute. So we often do possibly a parent.

First Look, whether it be the father of the bride before, you know before we do the first look with the couple, or sometimes the mom will do a first look as well. But doing it for each other is just just so cute. So I love incorporating that if we have time, of course. And then I also have in here flow dances and moments with the ring bearers and the flower girls. So I think it’s so special when you see that little flower girl go from her little pajamas to her sweet little dress, typically, not all of them. But most little flower girls are just so ecstatic to wear their top tap shoes and to wear their little dresses for the day. And I love capturing little slow dances with her uncle’s or with her aunts. And same thing with ring bearers. It’s so fun. If there’s time to have the groom, or maybe some of the uncles of their in the wedding party to help the little ring bearer get ready.

I just think it is just so adorable to see them tie in their shoes. And having these big burly men helping these little guys with their suspenders and their ties is just the cutest. And once again, these are moments that we are triggering, right? Like we’re asking, Hey, come over here in this light near this window, and please do this for us. Okay, so they may think it’s like a photo OPT, but also you’re creating a core memory for the wedding day. And for these young little guys.

Another moment similar to that are creating moments like clasping jewelry for grandmothers. So this is really sweet and not always limited to the girls getting ready spaces, but also the gentlemen to if they have massages or they have stuff going on, especially with like grandpa’s, I love having the groom offer to help him class a watch, you know, maybe adjust his tie, things like that, once again, we are coming at them with the camera in their face. But at the end of the day, they have those moments to think about. Alright, I’m still rolling. There’s a lot more guys.

Okay, so it’s it sounds like a run on sentence. But another time that you can create magnetic experiences is like during the first look is capturing if they do a vow exchange or gift exchange. This is a really great time for your couples to exchange letters to read little love notes to each other. Or if you’re a couple is kind of like that’s not really our style, or oh my gosh, I don’t have time to find the words. I’ve even offered a sweet little slow dance with a couple during the first look. And this is a really sweet moment to just truly embrace each other.

And once again, you’re creating core memories that have nothing to do with the photos. We’re just happened to be taking pictures of that moment. All right, as guests are starting to arrive. This is what I call the cruise ship. Welcome photos are often identified as prom photos for young couples and families as they arrive. So I don’t know if you’ve ever been on a cruise before.

But typically, it’s funny. I think it’s honestly for security reasons. So they have an actual photo of every single human that enters the boat that’s like where my safety brain comes on. But on cruise ships usually when you walk in, there’s like a little backdrop and it’s it’s cute. It’s like a generic Welcome to and has like the boat name on it or the ship name and everyone gets a photo.

So I love implementing this same strategy for wedding days. So it’s typically not myself it will be a second shooter or an assistant for the day. But I love having them set up in one specific area typically near the parking lot or the entrance of the venue where as guests start arriving they get those prom photos and they love it.

They absolutely love it everyone is looking good everyone is dressing up and especially this post quarantine time when celebrations are really kicking back up again. Some of these people haven’t even worn high heels or put on mascara in literally two years. So they absolutely feel their best and they want to be photographed. So that’s a great way to also create those magnetic experiences. Okay so also helping vendors capturing behind the scenes for them as the magic is absolutely unfolding before your eyes. So as the altar turns from this kind of like shoveled flower mishap situation to all of a sudden like before your eyes it turns into this gorgeous, gorgeous Arbor and backdrop. I absolutely love capturing those behind the scenes, photos and of course video clips to for vendors and absolutely offering a hand if they need of, you know, a bucket of water to be dragged across the ceremony space, get it out of there. I love offering a hand. And then of course, this is another great time to stick to the timeline and gently push people along. So if that means helping to wrangle guests if they’re kind of taking their time to be seen Maybe they don’t want to sit in the sun quite yet, they’re waiting for the last possible second to be seated for the ceremony, whatever it may be, maybe that is getting the bridesmaids to get it together and put their shoes on and put their little final lipstick touches on with our touch ups.

That is the time to gently push things along and get ready for the ceremony. And this is where I love to mention, let’s do a mood check. Okay, at this time, things may be going crazy, we may be running five to 10 minutes behind. Some of the bridesmaids may be across the venue and not where they need to be to be lined up. Maybe there’s a VIP, parent or grandparent that hits some traffic and isn’t ready where they got to be. Okay. This is where you absolutely need to do a mood check. Because if things are chaotic and crazy around you, and you have this anxiety and you’re stressed and you’re freaking out about the timeline, let’s just make things worse baby. Okay, so like this is where your vibe should be relaxed, ready to roll with the punches. And remember, at the end of the day, your job is to capture the magic, okay? Don’t be a psycho. Okay. Don’t add to the stress. Don’t run around with your timeline and being crazy about things and being pushy, like, I know that we have our own agenda for the types of photos that we want to create, and that we want to be the biggest advocate and basically cheerleader for our couples on their wedding day. But if you’re crazy and feeling full of anxiety, like people are gonna read that, let’s let’s not do that. Okay, let’s move right into the ceremony during the actual ceremony. While you’re photographing please be mindful of other guests during the ceremony.

At the end of the day. I say this often. But truly, the ceremony is the reason why we’re all here. It’s like, yes, we’re here to party. Yes, we’re here to celebrate. And yes, we’re here to have an incredible time. However, a marriage truly is celebrated with the ceremony. Okay, so this is when wedding guests are going to want to see they’re going to want to participate. And I just highly encourage you to keep your feet moving during the ceremony, do not just like stand up like a tree in the middle of the aisle, or right in front of one of the parents, I get it, we need to move around, we need to be there to capture the ring shots, we need to be there to capture the kiss and other readings and just kind of wiggle around the ceremony. And I’m a huge advocate for kind of being like light on your feet and just flying around the space and capturing all the angles.

But don’t be annoying and be disruptive. Okay? That is a way that you can create one of those magnetic experiences by showcasing that you are on your feet always on the go. But also not totally blocking someone’s view for the entire ceremony. So that’s been on the move. Okay, the next key tip is so of course, I love to kind of preface how important it is to have a list for your family formals and portraits after the ceremony, but sometimes it just doesn’t happen. Which i i roll with the punches, and I’m totally okay with that. For me as long as the right VIPs and the correct family members are where they need to be, whether that’s at the altar, or at a certain location for family portraits. As long as the right people are there, I can move fast and move quickly. Okay. But I challenge you to be very mindful prior to understanding the family drama, familiarize yourself with any of the parents or Reese or grandparents have recently passed away. We don’t need to know all the t okay, we don’t have to like know all of the family drama about the family. Like there could be recent voices or parents that maybe have not talked to each other for years and are, you know, coming together for the first time. I get it. Like I love asking those questions, just so I know.

So I can help kind of make things as comfortable as possible during this time. But I just absolutely have to mention how important it is to understand what family members are not there. So it’s just as important to know who’s there who’s on your list who’s at the cocktail bar, who’s in the restroom and who’s not where they’re supposed to be. But I also highly encourage you to do just a little bit of digging to find out what parents and grandparents are in heaven or no longer with us because I absolutely just cringe like it makes my heart hurt at the thought of any of us yelling out for the bride’s you know, mother when she has recently passed, okay, it’s just heartbreaking and we don’t want to ever put ourselves in situations. Now of course, things happen and we can roll it off our shoulders. And I mean there are little ways to kind of dance around this if things do get shouted or you know misinterpreted, but at the end of the day, it is absolutely our job to make this time feel seamless. And absolutely like well taken care of. Okay, like thoughtful about it. Okay. During this time too.

This is a great time for your second shooter to grab couple signature drinks. So I will typically send out my assistant to go photograph all the fun stuff happening during cocktail hour. Definitely photograph the food. I don’t always get to eat the food during the app. tazers and during cocktail hour, which is a total bummer, because my couples always pick super delicious food. Yeah, but that’s okay. So I always asked my second shooter to go, definitely grab photos of the food or their signature drinks and to also grab a drink for the couple. Okay, like I love incorporating those photos, of course, but making sure that they are top priority so they get to sit in between photos is important. And of course, continuing to grab those family photos and couples or prom photos during cocktail hour, my assistant is on lock to do that as well. Now rolling right into the slow dances during sunset portraits, sunset portraits, to me can be so magical and so heartfelt and just so dreamy, like I am obsessed with sunset portraits. Now, depending on the time of day, or even the clouds or the weather that day, we may not actually get those super like orangey glow images. And that’s totally fine.

What’s more important to me, is making sure that my couples truly feel the love. And just like feel romantic in that moment with each other. I want them to look back at those images and think, oh my gosh, look at how in love we were and not think gosh Quianna or our photographer was just so talented. Like I don’t know, like, I know that sounds silly, but it’s true. Like I never want anybody to look back at my photos and think I was an incredible artist, I want it to be about them. I don’t want to be a third person in their photographs, I want them to only see each other and only see that love swirling around them. So a couple prompts that I love to ask them or I love to have my couples whisper three reasons why they got married that day, and why they love each other. Or another one that kind of gets a little fun and little giggly are three things that they’re looking forward to on their honeymoon. Now, once again, I’m asking these prompts of them, and then I’m stepping back, like farther away so I can capture that I’m not like up in their face zooming over their shoulders as they’re whispering these things to each other. Typically, I don’t even hear it. And I tell them not to ideal.

And sometimes I’ll hear some things or I hear those giggles or their cheeks get a little flesh, which I think is so cute. But once again, I am such a like such a stickler for photos and how people feel in that moment. So for example, if they are loving on each other and sharing these sweet things that they love about each other, I don’t want them to ever go back and have one of my brides think, oh, like my arm looks really fat in that photo, or oh my gosh, I’m laughing so hard. Look at my double chin. It looks so stupid. I don’t ever, ever want her or anyone to feel that. Instead, I want them to look past those flaws that they only see in themselves. And to think, oh my gosh, like, remember that. Remember what you told me remember what you said you’re gonna do to me on the honeymoon. Like I remember that. Okay, so we don’t get into details. But that’s a perfect example of how I am pushing that love and creating those magnetic experiences in person. Okay, key tip to this is a little sneaky sneaky. I always try to include a Polaroid. Like my actual Polaroid camera to photograph little snippets throughout the day, typically like one during the ceremony if I can.

And then a couple of course during their dreamy sunset portraits, this is a great way to just slip them into the pocket on the way out and just say, Hey, I love you so much. Thank you for an incredible day. And typically there’s tons of people swirling there and saying their goodbyes. And so it’s almost like a little mini commercial for yourself. As you’re walking out the door. People are talking about you. Okay, hopefully in the best way. And another a couple key tips about, like reception time is offering photos to the wedding party. Okay, so this is important because oftentimes, when my second shooter is taking photos of like, I call those the prom photos or even the beginning of the ceremony when they first walk up for those cruise ship pictures, right? The wedding party and their dates typically don’t even get that opportunity. So I always try to ask my wedding party, hey, if your boo is here, your significant other or your hot date is here and you’d like to get some prom photos. Let’s meet up during the reception. I would absolutely love to capture those for you.

Okay, family group shots, guests, cousins, coworkers, just keep shooting, okay? Because the more you can ask for those photos, people are once again going to just be so grateful for you and think gosh, your photographer is so awesome. Like they just captured it all. Alright, and then to wrap up, I can go on and on about all these little magnetic experiences. But in all just always, always try to remain calm, okay, they know your gear, have the confidence in yourself as a photographer. But at the end of the day, just be helpful and be kind and super proactive. The more easygoing and like everyone’s personality is different and I understand that. But truly, the more easygoing you can be by still being assertive and a way to help your clients create the most magnificent wedding experience ever, the more value you’re going to add to their day, you’re going to share your own expertise, you’re going to troubleshoot things when they need help put out some fires, you’re there to help. And you are truly just adding to the air of like you. If you could take your photos, if you can take your camera away from you on that wedding day.

How are you showing up as a helpful person on their wedding day? Because truly, that’s what they’re going to remember. Like, yes, I feel like a lot of us stand behind our images and we let our images speak for themselves and say, How would you not hire me? Look how beautiful these images are? That I’m sorry, baby. We are in a cutthroat world where so many people want to be photographers and I’m, I’m cheering them on. I’m educating them to do that to step into their power, but it truly boils down to you, your love and your personality. So today’s episode is brought to you by the Quianna Marie shop I have a whole green house and resource garden created and designated for you as a small business owner and photographer.

So hop on over to quiannamarie.com/shop to learn all about more resources and all of the things I have to offer about getting your business to just be amplified. Whether you are a wedding photographer, a seasonal photographer offering different types of photography and small business dream chasers. Okay, it is for you. So stay tuned. The next episode coming up next week will be all about amplifying your weddings with the perfect timeline. So I’ll be diving deeper into helping you as a photographer create a perfect timeline for your couples. Stay tuned and I cannot wait to chat soon. That’s a wrap on another episode of Quianna Marie weekly. Thank you so much for your listenership and support. You can find the resources and show notes for this episode and more at Quiannamarie.com/podcast. I’d be honored if you’d show your support by leaving a review and rating on your favorite podcast app. Until next time, keep on dancing.