Myth:

You should book your first wedding for free to build a portfolio.

Myth:

Your best bet of finding wedding photography clients is on social media so you better always be on the hunt.

How to find wedding photography clients 

5 Simple Steps

Be sure your business has the foundation to legally & successfully photograph weddings.

Ensure your business is legally registered.

Before finding wedding photography clients you’ll want to be 10,000% sure your photography business is legal.  No matter how long you’ve been charging for sessions or even weddings, you’ll want to ensure your business is legally registered within your state.  

Find instructions on how to legally register your photography business here.

Since you’ll inevitably be charging more for weddings than sessions you’ll also want to set yourself up well for tax time!  As soon as your business is legal begin researching the different taxes your state & the federal government requires from businesses and business owners.

Insurance is another biggie you’ll want to consider!  You’ll want insurance for your camera gear as well as liability insurance for the weddings you’ll be photographing.

This insurance company has very reasonable rates for gear & liability.

Get the proper gear.

FOR THE FOLKS IN THE BACK: Do NOT photograph a wedding without a dual-slot camera.

Be sure you’re photographing RAW images on both cards, and have two reliable hard drives to back images on.

Protip: once you’re finishined backing up both cards somewhere, separate them so that even if both hard drives fail you have two copies of your wedding clients’ images.

Second protip: don’t buy photography gear (even SD & CF cards) from Amazon!  Instead buy directly from the manufacturer or a photography gear site like this one & this one so you have great customer service that will work with you concerning your gear.

Now that the boring prelim stuff is over–let’s hop to the fun part!

Build your portfolio in a few different ways.

When trying to find wedding photography clients, they’ll no doubt be searching for someone with great photos and previous experience–especially if you want to charge much at all.

You’ll need to build your wedding photography portfolio.

Build your wedding portfolio by photographing newlywed couples in their wedding attire.

You can use these portrait images all in your marketing so that wedding clients see your photography style and experience.

Check out wedding venues in your area on instagram, see if they have posted & tagged recent couples, and then message the couples to ask if they’d want to model for you to get more “wedding photos.”  

It may take a few tries to find a couple willing, but it’s definitely worth it!

There are more steps on creating a more elaborate styled shoot here if you want something bigger to organize.

Build your wedding portfolio by attending styled shoots.

If the idea of stalking & messaging couples makes you want to crawl in a hole, then try & find some styled shoots in your area.  This is a great way to build an elevated portfolio without having to do all of the organizing.

Just be sure you’re clear on who to tag and give credit to if you decide to post those images later.

Keep in mind you also can’t pretend the styled shoot was an actual wedding when speaking with potential wedding clients.

Build your portfolio by second shooting with other wedding photographers.

Try & familiarize yourself with wedding photographers in your area and offer your services.  

Depending on your experience level you may want to offer to second shoot for free for a few weddings.  If you have a lot of photography experience feel free to offer your services at an hourly rate, but be sure there is an advantage for the photographer bringing you on for a day.

Start a blog on your website to attract engaged couples.

SAY GOODBYE to hoping to stay relevant on social media.  On your own blog on your own website, wedding clients will FIND YOU.

By starting a wedding photography blog to attract engaged couples, you’ll invite wedding photography clients right to your doorstep where they’ll see those beautiful images you’ve taken, see your packages, acknowledge your expertise and so much more.

You’ll no longer be competing for the wedding photography clients’ attention on social media.

By starting a wedding photography blog and presenting your portfolio, knowledge, and personal approach to photographing weddings, wedding photography clients will inquire and book.  

To find wedding photography clients by blogging you’ll want to optimize your website so that it will rank on Google for keywords.

For your homepage choose one keyword you want to rank for.  For example, you may want to rank for Tampa Bay wedding photographer or Arkansas wedding photographer.  Be sure whatever you want to rank for that your website only has one your homepage trying to rank for that keyword.

Your blogs, however, should be trying to rank for questions or search queries potential wedding clients would have.

Your future wedding photography clients may be searching things like, “where to get engagement photos done in Detroit?” or “best wedding venues in California.”

Try to get in the mind of your future wedding photography clients and blog about the questions they have!  This will bring them directly to your website and prompt them to inquire.

Which leads us to the next step on finding wedding photography clients!

Network within your local wedding market before expanding to travel weddings.

If you’ve gotten this in your search on finding wedding photography clients (or rather getting them to actually find you first) then you’ve already started networking on a small scale by second shooting.

However, it’s always a great idea to attend in person events at venues, wedding showcases, etc. just to make your face a familiar one to other wedding professionals.

Join local wedding vendor facebook groups, look for a rising tide chapter, and think creatively about how to connect with other wedding professionals to find more wedding photography clients.

PLOT TWIST: I’m not recommending becoming a vendor at wedding shows or events of the like.  In our experience and the in the experiences of our other wedding photographer mentors, these events are not where you will find wedding photography clients.

If your end goal is finding wedding photography clients that are ready to pay you a profitable amount (we mean the kinda income that let’s you not only pay yourselves regularly… but lets you rest well at night knowing your bills & debts are paid), then you will find those clients elsewhere.

Where do you find wedding photography clients like this?  The kind with big budgets that actually value your work?  On Google, my friend!  Which leads us to our next step on finding wedding photography clients.

Book couples with ease using package psychology & killer sales calls.

Once you find wedding photography clients via the blog on your website, you’ll have to have packages they want and be in contact to book.

Some general tips on building packages for wedding photography clients:

• Have packages that vary in the amount of hours such as 8, 10, & 12 hour packages.
• Have packages that offer single or multiple photographers.
• Have packages that offer complimentary items such as engagement sessions and prints, etc.

Those tips should help entice the wedding photography clients to inquire with you by seemingly offering a lot of free value to their packages.

Once they inquire you’ll want to rock their socks off with a sales call!

Once the wedding photography clients find you via your blog and inquire, you’ll want to schedule a consult call or booking call!

This is as important for you as it is for them!  Just because you’re finding more wedding photography clients doesn’t mean you want every single job.

Some wedding photography clients may not jive well with your approach or the wedding itself may feel out of your comfort zone.

On the phone call get a feel for if they are the wedding photography clients for you by following this flow of conversation:

• Get to know them better (outside of who they are in relation to their wedding).
• Talk a little bit about yourself.
• Ask about their wedding plans and how they envision the day itself to go.
• Add a valuable idea to their wedding plans to showcase your excitement and expertise.
• Recommend your upper or middle wedding photography package, but get feedback on which package they feel is great for them.
• Ask for the sale before moving on any further.
• Open up for any questions they may have concerning wedding packages, their plans, or your approach, etc.
• Give a warm goodbye & immediately get to work on their contract & invoice to send over.

CONGRATS!  Now you’ve seen the 5 steps to finding more wedding photography clients without all the hassle of social media!  If you this leaves you with any questions, feel free to email me with questions or feedback!

We’d love to help you find your wedding photography clients as your business grows!