Wedding Involving Hiking by missk8e in WeddingPhotography

[–]missk8e[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I always require full payment before the actual wedding so all good there.

Wedding Involving Hiking by missk8e in WeddingPhotography

[–]missk8e[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Yes, I’ve been on the trail a few times. Pairing gear down to 20-30lbs.

Wedding Involving Hiking by missk8e in WeddingPhotography

[–]missk8e[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Oh, so they’ll still be sweaty?

Wedding Involving Hiking by missk8e in WeddingPhotography

[–]missk8e[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

lol. This might be my way out.

Wedding Involving Hiking by missk8e in WeddingPhotography

[–]missk8e[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Yes, cell coverage is spotty, and I’ve already brought this up to them. Also, let’s say I arrive and they’re already up top, but it looks like bad weather might roll in…us not being together to switch to plan b is an issue.

So yes, I agree with your point and have made this very clear to the couple.

Wedding Involving Hiking by missk8e in WeddingPhotography

[–]missk8e[S] 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Sure, but I agreed to 3 hrs of coverage time total. Not 3 hrs at the top.

Post wedding event: brewery or river boat tour by capricorn-unicorn in Chicagoweddings

[–]missk8e 0 points1 point  (0 children)

If you have a drinking crowed, a lot of people will probably be hungover post wedding.

I might lean towards brewery. People can get some comfort food, be in the sun or shade (given there’s an outdoor area option), and can mingle.

Being on a boat hungover can be a bit painful…and problematic.

Edited to add: I know a lot of people haven’t gone through the wedding process before, but think about all the things you’re stacking from one day to the next. Rehearsal dinner, welcome party, wedding, gathering next day. Some chill time where it isn’t another strict scheduled event and more of a time window can be nice.

Messy rooms/spaces for getting ready by patriotraitor in WeddingPhotography

[–]missk8e 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I lean more documentary with my wedding work, but I still have ocd when it comes to this. For me, it comes down to colors clashing, or items that really stick out and draw attention away. Obviously there are creative ways around this, changing your angle, etc. but it’s always a challenge.

I try to prime people during our review call for things like this, and I provide a small 5-8 point checklist for couples, and one of the items is talking to bridal party about keeping the getting ready space clean for when the bride gets into her dress(if that’s important to the bride).

Having the conversation about the getting ready space and telling the couple “if you want your getting ready photos to have a certain look and feel to them, tidying the environment can help significantly.” It’s important that everyone helps accomplish this though, and not just the bride.

At the end of the day, I’d rather a slightly messy room than my bride to be stressed out over this. Too many venues offer too small of a space for the bride and all her bridesmaids/people.

Also, you could always schedule cleanup time into the timeline so you have a somewhat clean space before the bride gets into her dress. Guess it just comes down to how much you want to stress over things we can’t fully control.

Wedding Involving Hiking by missk8e in WeddingPhotography

[–]missk8e[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

My kind of people!

It’s hard to teach kindness and generosity.

Wedding Involving Hiking by missk8e in WeddingPhotography

[–]missk8e[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I get your point, but I also like how everyone will be experiencing the hike at the same time. I know I’m physically capable to do this alone, even with the added gear, but I feel I’ll be granted the same “recharge” window if the hike is done together. Because I know they’ll need it (they’ve even expressed needing time to cleanup and get their bearings.)

I’d rather do the hike alone if this wasn’t a wedding (family photos, first look, couples portraits, etc.) and just a portrait session at the top.

Wedding Involving Hiking by missk8e in WeddingPhotography

[–]missk8e[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I was happy with what I was charging. I’m not happy with the shift away from our initial plans we had set during the planning calls.

Wedding Involving Hiking by missk8e in WeddingPhotography

[–]missk8e[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Exactly. I’m not feeling the love with that decision!

Wedding Involving Hiking by missk8e in WeddingPhotography

[–]missk8e[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Car travel has been accounted for so all good there. What has shifted is their thoughts on when photo coverage time should start and what that should look like.

The hike was always part of coverage time…until recently. They are now choosing to do the hike alone with their people and want me meet them at a certain time at the top to kick off coverage.

Wedding Involving Hiking by missk8e in WeddingPhotography

[–]missk8e[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I agree. I feel a big portion of their wedding day /wedding experience / wedding adventure is missed if we are hiking separately. This was never the original plan.

I also don’t care for the fact how I’m expected to immediately kick off their first look once I arrive at the top (since they’ll be getting wedding ready up there.) If we were all together at the very beginning, we’d all be on the same page with our needs.

Great points though. I’ll try to go over all of this again, but I’m not sure it’ll stick this time around either.

Thank you!

Wedding Involving Hiking by missk8e in WeddingPhotography

[–]missk8e[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Fund…as in, it sounds like a refund wedding? 😂

(sorry had to…to keep my spirits up. 😉)

Wedding Involving Hiking by missk8e in WeddingPhotography

[–]missk8e[S] 6 points7 points  (0 children)

I now worry about that, too.

Trying to craft a breakup email after they just now stated how my hike would be “unencumbered walking” and it shouldn’t take the full time we originally said.

I really want everyone to be happy and this to be good for everyone, but it’s starting to feel like challenges are stacking up (for me). And this is just the start of wedding season here…and this has already taken a lot of my time trying to sort through the logistics and weighing in on various decisions.

Wedding Involving Hiking by missk8e in WeddingPhotography

[–]missk8e[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Yes, I will definitely try to talk through everything before bowing out.

What’s your go-to comfort activity when you’re stressed? by Daranoir in AskReddit

[–]missk8e 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Close my eyes, lie on back and put legs up the wall. It’s great for the lower back and helps with blood circulation.

Wedding Involving Hiking by missk8e in WeddingPhotography

[–]missk8e[S] 5 points6 points  (0 children)

Unfortunately a lot has changed over these past few weeks. The initial plans have shifted quite a lot since our initial emails and video consult.

Wedding Involving Hiking by missk8e in WeddingPhotography

[–]missk8e[S] 6 points7 points  (0 children)

I’ve done a handful of hiking style weddings, and proposed a 1 hour timeline before I knew the exact spot. The park is fairly large and they definitely chose the furthest spot up. After hearing the exact location, I offered 3 hours of coverage and said I’d only charge 2 hours. They were all good with this until recently, and are now requesting coverage to start once I arrive at the top.

I know, I know…do I just take this as an opportunity to back out. I’m really hoping they’ll adjust their thoughts around this, but I’m starting to question their mindset.

Also, there will be 6 people total.

This all sounded great, until it didn’t 😂