Every time you close a wedding, you secure a good chunk of next year’s income, but what if we told you that you can get even more profit from every wedding contract you close? Thanks to the post-wedding reportage and the other extra services you can offer to the bride and groom, such as: albums, pre-wedding, enlargements in special formats, albums for parents, slideshows, etc., you can increase a little more the budgets you close with your clients.

Because sometimes it happens that many couples hire the most standard or basic package when they have not yet worked with the photographer and do not know him in depth, but when they see the way he works and the value of each extra service, it is much easier to get them to hire you for a reportage after the wedding.

That’s why today we’re going to give you some tips on how to sell your post-wedding photo shoot to many more couples.

Learn how to sell your post-wedding shoot to couples.

What does a post-wedding photo shoot consist of?

A post-wedding shoot is nothing more and nothing less than a session that takes place after the wedding (usually when the couples have returned from their honeymoon), where the bride and groom put on their wedding day outfits and enjoy a little extra session.

This type of reportage gives the couple the opportunity to be more relaxed during the wedding day and to have a more creative type of images dressed as the bride and groom.

First of all, if they don’t know the virtues of this type of more creative sessions, the vast majority of brides and grooms will not want to hire an extra service they know little about. That is why it is important, on the one hand, to define your own style when it comes to a post-wedding reportage, and on the other hand, to learn how to transmit all this information to your clients.

It is not enough just to inform that you do post-weddings, you have to sell this type of service just like you do with weddings.

Why is it interesting to promote a reportage after the wedding?

Nowadays, the vast majority of brides and grooms want to enjoy all the preparations for their wedding day and spend as much time as possible with their guests. Years ago, when the ceremony was over, the couple would abandon their guests and spend 1 to 2 hours doing the photo shoot, thus missing the cocktail party and that little time chatting and greeting their guests before the banquet.

Now, such long photo shoots are not usually wanted by the bride and groom. It is true that all couples want to have a memory of their wedding and take photos alone, but they also want these sessions to last as little time as possible.

This is arguably one of the most important reasons for a photographer to sell photographs after the wedding. In addition, the vast majority of photographers, when they have a session of this type, quieter and more relaxed than on the wedding day, take the opportunity to enhance their creativity and take much more careful images where they will be able to control the location, the lighting and the couple.

5 tips to make a post-wedding reportage more attractive to clients

If you want to improve your post-wedding photographs so that your clients say “yes I do! To do this extra session, below we are going to give you 5 recommendations to make this post-wedding reportage much more attractive for them.

1# Surprise couples with a post-wedding reportage that is different from the wedding

As we were saying, many photographers take advantage of this type of more relaxed bridal sessions to create much more artistic and careful compositions. On the wedding day, couples usually want a quick reportage so they don’t miss the aperitif and also, photographers are very conditioned by the property where the wedding takes place.

For post-wedding shoots, time will not be an issue and you can make sure that the location is much more appropriate for the type of photos you want to take.

That’s why it’s important to offer couples an alternative wedding reportage on their wedding day that they like and that they find original. Because if you are going to offer them more of the same, their answer is likely to be “no thanks”.

2# If the bride is daring enough, propose a trash the dress

A very original idea that will allow you to take some unique photographs is the trash the dress, a trend that came from the USA a few years ago and that can help you to get some amazing photographs.

Trash the dress, which is the same as trashing the wedding dress, consists of proposing to the couple a very peculiar photo session where the dresses can be somewhat damaged. Here you have to appeal to the fact that the dresses can be taken to the dry cleaner’s and they will look as good as new and that they will not be able to wear them on any more occasions.

Some ideas might include:

• Photos in the sea, in a river or lying on the beach.
• Throwing holi powder or coloured paint during the report.
• Getting mud all over themselves as they go through a lush forest and end up climbing a beautiful mountain.
• Horse riding.
• Or any other crazy idea you can come up with for the bride and groom.

It has to be said that not all couples will be willing to get their wedding outfits dirty for the photo shoot, but you will see that as you get to know them.

3# Look for original locations

As we said, locations are important for good post-wedding photos. On the day of the wedding this will be an element that you will not be able to control, but after the wedding, you can advise couples on locations more suited to their style to make this type of photoshoot more eye-catching.

As a marketing strategy, you can also encourage them to have this fun session in a place that is special to them, such as the place where they met, the village where they spent their summer holidays as children or any other location that is a little more special to them.

You can also offer the bride and groom a destination post wedding in a foreign country. Go to Paris, Rome, New York or any other city where you feel comfortable working and where you know that the photos will be unique for the couple.

4# The timetable is also important

When planning a post-wedding photo shoot, you can agree with the couple to do it at sunset, for example, if it is in a natural setting. And if they choose urban photos, starting the session during the day and finishing it at night with the city lights in the background will allow you to play with the lighting and create different atmospheres in the post-wedding shoot.

5# Use accessories

When planning a post-wedding shoot, you can incorporate a series of elements into the photographs to make this session something different for the bride and groom. The use of coloured sparklers is very common in this type of reportage and it is a very good idea to add a touch of colour to the photos.

You can also encourage the couple to wear something different that day than on their wedding day, such as a t-shirt, an accessory or simply that the bride wears her hair down. This will allow you to offer a more relaxed and closer to the couple photos.

If you have a pet or children, you can also ask them to bring them to the photo shoot, which will make for a fun and quirky family session.

As you can see, the important thing when planning a post-wedding is to have ideas and to carry them out in time. If you want to improve your wedding reportage, in the following article you will find many more recommendations that you can follow.

>> Tips to become the best wedding photographer

Explain to the couples what this post-wedding photo shoot is all about

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Another point that is really fundamental when it comes to closing more post-wedding photo shoots is that your couples know what this session consists of. It seems obvious but sometimes we forget the fact that the bride and groom don’t necessarily know all the advantages of this type of reportage and that’s why it’s important to explain it in detail.

At Arcadina we provide you with all the necessary tools so that your clients and those who are not yet clients know what a session of this style consists of and why they should have one too.

Here we leave you more tips to go further with your pre-wedding, wedding and post-wedding reportage.

>> Marketing tips for wedding photographers

Earn more income from post-wedding photography

We know that every wedding you close involves a huge amount of work on your part. Promoting the wedding campaign, answering emails, conducting interviews with couples, following up on budgets, etc. That’s why, once you have managed to get a couple to choose you as their wedding photographer, it will be much easier for you to “sell” them a series of extra services, such as the post-wedding, for example.

To do so, organise an original and fun after-wedding report and explain it in detail to your clients and to those who are not yet clients.

And just as you have to prepare a wedding and post-wedding, both when it comes to selling them and surprising your couples, you will have to act in the same way with the pre-wedding shoot. That’s why in the following post we’ll tell you a bit more about this other extra session within weddings.

>> How to prepare a pre-wedding photography session?

This time we wanted to share with you the interview of a fantastic wedding photographer, our friend and ambassador Carlos Felipe Ortiz.

>> Arcadina has a new ambassador, photographer Carlos Felipe Ortiz

And finally, we would like to know how you sell your post-wedding photographs to your clients? We’d love to read your answers in the comments.

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