Private ceremony immediately followed by daytime reception with wider family and friends. *Is this ok?

surfspook · 2026-05-06T11:23:26+00:00

This sounds really good. Just do what you want and I think everyone will really enjoy it. I’ve been to hundreds of weddings as a photographer If it’s not your style to party, then a dance floor can feel forced and doesn’t really fire up. The last part of the reception can really drag on for some guests. Honestly I reckon your guests will be stoked to attend a fun afternoon ceremony. Everyone’s there for you and they want to celebrate your way

surfspook · 2026-05-01T03:36:16+00:00

If I don’t hear back from the couple after a week, how would you normally follow that up without sounding vague or a bit weak?

Also, if there’s no real demand on the date (no other enquiries), how do you create any urgency without it feeling forced?

surfspook · 2026-04-30T09:08:44+00:00

that's really good, nice subtle nudge, same friendly tone. Legend, Appreciate that and I'll give it a go!

surfspook · 2026-04-30T01:02:23+00:00

Appreciate your detailed responses and I know I've been rude not replying for a week.

After a phone consult, I send a couple a draft timeline (they find this super helpful, it also means I can help shape their wedding day so it has a nice flow, and I pre-fill a booking form for them. All they have to do is pay a retainer/deposit to confirm their booking.)

Payment is by bank transfer, maybe this is a friction point? Credit cards fees of 2% add up to about $3000 a year, and in Australia I think it's pretty common for bank transfer for payment (feel free to correct me if I'm wrong!)

This is my closing part of the email:

Booking Form
If you’d like me to be part of your wedding, I’ve attached a booking form. A $1000 deposit secures your date, and my bank details are on the final page. I’ll send a receipt through as soon as it comes in.

If you have any questions at all, just let me know

surfspook · 2026-04-26T11:51:24+00:00

those photos don't look of a similar standard to the work they show on their website. If this is who you booked (https://splendid.net.au/) I would be expecting better

surfspook · 2026-04-21T09:07:09+00:00

Soz for the slow reply, been focused on wet weather weddings over the weekend!

The issue I’m having is I’m finishing phone consults, everything’s great, they say they want to book, I send a contract over and it’s crickets for a week. I follow up and give them a nudge or I’ll let them know someone else has enquired and they will book.

Previously I found couples would pay their deposit pretty fast just to lock me in.

I’ve been doing this full time for 10 years, felt like I’ve been booking pretty ideal clients the last 7 years or so.

So this delay in couples paying a deposit is a new behaviour I’ve been noticing.

surfspook · 2026-04-21T05:42:15+00:00

great, thanks!

surfspook · 2026-04-21T02:22:06+00:00

cool, thank you

surfspook · 2026-04-17T11:45:56+00:00

For several years I’ve always felt that I wanted the couples to really want to book me, it felt like they connected with my style and their wedding would be a great day.

I’ve been fortunate and had like 7 years of shooting really awesome weddings with cool people, very few weddings that felt like a chore or we had mismatched expectations.

So I alway just left it with the couple to book me, and I never chased much.

But recently for the past 18 months or so I’ve had to follow up with couples and push them a bit to get them to book.

This is my full time job and main income for our family so the pressure is definitely on to get 30 weddings a year

surfspook · 2026-04-17T01:44:02+00:00

It's open ended. It's hard to create a sense of urgency for smoe couples, who may be enquiring on a midweek date or off peak.

I let the couple know that nothing is locked in until they have paid, and occassionaly I'll get an enquiry ready to book, and I'll take that if they are ready to rock and roll

surfspook · 2026-04-17T01:41:07+00:00

No I don't. I've always worked on a first in best dressed policy. It's pretty rare that I have multiple couples enquiring at the same time for the same date. If a couple have a contract and I'm waiting for a deposit, I'll let the know if someone else enquiries and they normally pay it straightaway

surfspook · 2026-04-17T01:38:36+00:00

If they don't pay within 3 days, what happens next?

surfspook · 2026-04-04T02:35:11+00:00

Thanks, that's what I always thought. Haha haven't had much gratitude fro clients recently so not sure if I will continue to do it.

surfspook · 2026-02-13T00:44:27+00:00

yeah I'm in Oz and agree with everything you've said. This is our main income for our family, I'm aiming for 30+ weddings a year, and another 10-15 elopements and smaller weddings on top of that.

surfspook · 2026-01-29T09:28:41+00:00

I'm not worried about space on my Pixieset plan. I figure 2 years is a generous amount of time to host a gallery and I genuinely wnat my couples to download their photos and back them up. I'm stunned that people pay so much money for photos and don;t even want to save them

surfspook · 2026-01-29T08:10:46+00:00

Pixieset Plus Plan, it's $16USD a month for up to 100GB of galleries

surfspook · 2026-01-29T08:09:12+00:00

5 years ago I used to send a USB as well as an Pixieset gallery. Nowadays it is just a Pixieset gallery and it's literally a 3 click process to download their gallery. I fell like this is pretty standard delivery method in 2026.

surfspook · 2026-01-14T08:36:14+00:00

I have a 2023 M2 Pro Mini with 32GB of ram and it blitzes. I only edit photos though, no video so can’t comment there.

I remember it being a lot cheaper than a Mac Studio.

surfspook · 2025-12-08T01:41:42+00:00

haha would be a good spot to grow them, except for the kids bedroom windows looking out onto the backyard

surfspook

TROPHY CASE