Guest Post

To Blog or Not to Blog?

Kat

September 21, 2012

Blogging. If you're in the wedding industry you'll be hard pushed to avoid it. Still a relatively new medium, the first blogs (called web-logs back then) were launched in the late 90s. The wedding industry quickly adopted this format as their own with many wedding suppliers now using a personal blog to promote their work and to connect with others in the industry as well as potential clients. There are even people (like me!) who make a full time career out of blogging. There are currently a reported 164 million blogs in existence, so how do you make yours stand out? Is blogging even right for you and your business? Two UK wedding photographers battle it out...

Something Borrowed, Something Roo: A Day With Katie

Kat

September 15, 2012

Allow me to start this post with a short disclaimer: this post is shameless. This post includes mentions of boobs, bottoms, and other jiggly bits. In this post, you’re going to see me in my undercrackers. This is a sight that few have dared to peek at – similarly; it’s a sight that I don’t dish out very easily. Like most women, there are bits of my body that I dislike for a myriad of silly reasons ("they’re too small!" – "it’s too big!" – "but that scar is so unsightly" – "overdue for a wax, much?"). For all of these reasons, and many more, I was beyond terrified at the idea of baring all at my first 'public' underwear fitting. The only other time I've ever let a professional handle my bits and bobs* was way back in my mid-teens, when I found myself crying in the middle of Marks & Spencer's lingerie section because I couldn't find a bra to fit my silly diddy boobs. My mum promptly marched me into a cubicle with a lovely member of staff who measured me properly, and I walked away with two beautiful new sets of underwear, and a whole load of new-found self-confidence. Such an ego boost! On the tube to Ladbroke Grove, I had a cheeky spritz of deodorant and tried to harness the emotions of that previous positive experience – hopeful that this one would be just as good, if not better.

Great Expectations

Lisa Devlin

September 11, 2012

Today I want to tackle the tricky issue of managing client expectation in the wedding industry. Sooner or later no matter who you are or what level you are at, the chances are that you will encounter some sort of complaint or confrontation in your business. We work with people who are often planning the biggest experience of their lives and there can be a lot of pressure all round. A wedding can be a bit like all your Christmases at once - if your family all get on then brilliant, but a wedding can often highlight any issues too. Then there are all the money concerns connected with weddings. Good for you if you have a bottomless pit of cash to splash, but for many couples a wedding can be a huge financial strain on them or their immediate families. Add to that some of the other pressure that couples can put on themselves... Like making their day the stand out amongst their circle of friends, getting super carried away with how their wedding is going to look, or being obsessed with making their wedding 'blogworthy'.

Feel the Fear

Lisa Devlin

August 28, 2012

When I first moved to London, my flatmate at the time had a book called Feel the Fear but do it Anyway by Susan Jeffers. Not really being one for self help books, I never got round to reading it but as it hung around the lounge, the title really spoke to me and it's kinda hung around in my mind ever since. At the time I had pulled out of doing a degree in fashion and textiles after it had dawned on me that I wasn't anywhere near as obsessed with fashion as my fellow foundation students who had got onto the same degree. They were going to college in Victorian Underwear and thick black tights while I was still channelling Neneh Cherry in a purple satin bomber jacket with a spiral perm (hey, it was twenty years ago!)

Bitchless Bride on Rock n Roll Bride: Life Before Wedding Planning…

Kat

August 18, 2012

Bitchless Bride is back! And today she wants to remind you why you're getting married in the first place... in her own inimitable fashion naturally. When it all gets too much, step away from the wedding planning people and remember the lurrrrrve.

Something Borrowed, Something Roo: The Groom’s View by Lamb (AKA Mr. Roo!)

Kat

August 6, 2012

When I started thinking about my special suit for our special day, I knew more about what I didn’t want, rather than what I did want. From the off we knew our wedding wasn’t going to be Royal Ascot; I definitely wouldn’t look right in a top hat and tails, plus Roo may have baulked at the idea. I also new that I didn’t want to rent a suit; as is evident with most things we’ve chosen for the wedding, we aren’t fans of the (con)temporary. We’re given more to the robust, the long-lasting, and sentimental. This suit was going to be mine, forever. The material chose itself - robust, long-lasting, sentimental? It had to be tweed.

Another Level

Lisa Devlin

August 3, 2012

I often get asked how can someone take their wedding photography business to the next level? Today I am going to give you some examples of things I did that worked for me, and offer some pointers for the direction you could go in. These are from my perspective on the industry. Sadly I'm not going to give you a magic formula to success but can start by saying that sheer hard graft plays a large part. What makes me qualified to talk about this? Well a few years ago I was maybe a lot like you. I was trundling along nicely and year on year the bookings came in. Yes, I was probably getting a little complacent.... If things were looking quiet I would take out an ad somewhere or submit to a magazine and boom, the phone was ringing again. But then things really slooooooowed down. My home life had been super busy... Hello two small blondes who are the best thing I have ever done but also the most demanding. Looking back I have no idea how I juggled things or got myself to any weddings at all but I did keep working. Then when the Winter kicked in and I had time to review the business, I was a little bit concerned that the next year's diary wasn't very booked up and being completely honest I wasn't that excited about many of the weddings.

Let’s Make the Web Faster – Images

Gareth

July 31, 2012

Beautiful photographs are our bread and butter. They're eye-catching, enticing and transcend language barriers. But they are often the heaviest elements on a web page and so they're the focus of today's article on speeding up your site.

Let’s Make The Web Faster

Gareth

July 24, 2012

At the School of Rock Kat talks about the importance of serving up a snappy website experience to your visitors. A statistic from Mashable claims that one in four visitors will abandon a website that takes over four seconds to load. While visitors do tend to be more tolerant of slower websites in image-heavy markets such as photography the underlying message is still important for us to hear.

The Purple Cow: A Guest Post by Charlotte White

Kat

July 20, 2012

"Well, it doesn't really have anything to do with cake. Shouldn't it be something a bit more 'cakey'?" he said. I was really excited to be sat in my first proper 'grown-up' business meeting, up until this moment. It was my first year as Restoration Cake and I was trying to get to grips with the concept of charging strangers for my creations. The afternoon was to be spent with a colleague who knew all the financial stuff. I went to the meeting with a website, a Twitter account, a growing list of orders, and a name.

Bitchless Bride on Rock n Roll Bride: Communication is Key

Kat

July 16, 2012

You may have seen me talk about Bitchless Bride before, especially on twitter. She is my new wedding industry hero! The alter ego of a wedding planner (and no, even I don't know her true identity!) who was sick to death of crazy bridezillas and mental wedding vendors, she set up her blog to give it to us STRAIGHT. I loooove her. She's a hoot. And hell, she rocks a pink wig. We're definitely destined to be BFFs. I just about wet my pants with excitement when her video guest blog landed in my inbox. Some exclusive Bitchless Bride on Rock n Roll Bride?! Hell. Yes. We are a match made in wedding heaven. Listen up brideys, listen up wedding suppliers, cos Bitchless is about to give it to you. No holds barred.

“How Do I Get More Likers?!” – Facebook Tips For Wedding Professionals: A Guest Post by Cathie Watts of Phunkey Photography

Kat

July 13, 2012

Originating from New Zealand, wedding photographer Cathie Watts of Phunkey Photography is a Facebook wizz. With just shy of 11,500 'likes' on her photography facebook page she boast more 'likers' than many full time wedding bloggers! So how did she get so popular on the social network? What things did she do to get herself 'liked'? This week I asked Cathie to share some of her top tips for getting started when using Facebook for your business. If you have any more specific questions for her, hit us up in the comments. I'd certainly love to read a follow up from her! Over to you Cathie...

Changing Your Persective: A Guest Post by Casey Fatchett

Kat

July 6, 2012

Ansel Adams famously said, “A good photograph is knowing where to stand.” I find myself coming back to that quote a lot. Not just as a photographer, but in life, I say to myself, “Why in the hell am I standing here? I should be standing over there!” As photographers, our job is to observe and document. Wait, that is oversimplifying. We look at the world and we choose a way in which to convey what we ‘see’ to others. That better? Anyway, sometimes, we get so wrapped up in what we are seeing through our lens that we don’t stop and take a look at our surroundings.

Stop Bartering Me!

Lisa Devlin

June 29, 2012

You and your product are awesome. You feel you have set a fair price for what you offer and in the words of our Cheryl "You're Worth It" Then what's with all the potential clients wanting to barter with you? It can be utterly soul destroying to be repeatedly asked to lower your rates because somebody else up the road is doing the same thing as you for less.

Why You Should be Hated: A Guest Post by Chris Barber

Kat

June 22, 2012

Perhaps supported by some kind of celebrity culture, but it seems to be widely accepted that in order to be deemed as 'successful' in mainstream society you have to be liked by as many people as possible. You have to have a certain number of 'likes' on your facebook page. You need as many followers as possible on twitter and your most recent blog post is only as strong as the number of comments that sit at the bottom of it. While this is not all together wrong, I'd like to start thinking about the other side of the coin for a minute.

Something Borrowed, Something Roo: The Rings

Kat

June 21, 2012

So Roo's been a busy bee for the past few months. Not only has she been planning her wedding but she's been up to her cute little eyeballs (can eyeballs be cute? I think hers can!) studying for Uni exams and turning in coursework. So she's had a little break from writing for the blog recently but I'm pleased to report that she's back! And as she's now on her summer break, wedding planning is ramping up full throttle as will be the blog posts. HURRAH. Over to you sweet cheeks...

Personal Posts – How Much Is Too Much?: A Guest Post by Sara Doron of Under the Vintage Veil

Kat

June 15, 2012

Hello, my name is Sara (that's me on the right) and I’m a share-a-holic. Confused? Let me explain. I’d say the majority of wedding businesses have blogs – and as wonderful an engagement tool as they can be, they can also be a little bit dangerous – and I’ll explain why. Let me preface this by saying that, as a blogger, I am a strong believer in sharing parts of your personality, your quirks, your likes and dislikes and your major life events with your readers. Being a human being is what distinguishes a blogger from a magazine. Unlike with a magazine, where readers buy a copy once a month, but are outsiders looking in on an experience, with a blog, people get to know you, follow your journey and interact with you, even come to care about you.

Why Video is the Future for the Wedding Industry: A Guest Post by Victoria Grech

Kat

June 8, 2012

In January last year I made a somewhat controversial decision for a stills photographer – to venture over to the 'dark side'. Yes, I wanted to see what film was all about and how I could use it to improve my wedding photography business. I had heard a lot of hype about DSLR cameras being able to record HD video and that had piqued my interest. With the two technologies being used side by side, was I missing a trick by not learning how to use film alongside stills?

The Importance of Communication: A Guest Post by Brett Harkness

Kat

June 1, 2012

If you read through a bridal magazine, you will notice that there will be plenty of ‘How-to’ articles and ‘What questions to ask’ advice pieces. There’s a reason behind this of course. For the most part, planning a wedding will be a very new experience for those about to embark on married life and guidance will be really important. Because of this, it isn’t uncommon for the happy couple to be full to the brim with questions, no matter what you are offering them: a venue, the food, photography. They will want to know about sizes, options and prices, and how you can help them to create their special day.

Why You Should Offer an Album

Lisa Devlin

May 25, 2012

As a wedding photographer, are you including an album with every package that you offer clients? I didn’t used to but I have recently changed this so that I do. It's been a huge few years for wedding photography. The arrival of affordable digital SLRs have of course impacted massively on how many people now offer their services as wedding photographers. It feels like a buyers market a lot of the time as anyone looking to book a wedding photographer in the UK has a huge amount of us to choose from. Potential clients are often putting their demands in at the initial enquiry stage instead of waiting to see what you offer. As an extreme example, I had this in my inbox a while back...

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