You say yes to a lifetime of marriage with your partner and practically right away the questions of what your wedding day is going to look like begin. It all can be very overwhelming. You are overcome with happiness & joy of (finally) receiving the ring you have wanted on your left hand your entire life, and maybe a touch overwhelmed with all of the decisions that are coming your way for a wedding day. I feel you. When it was time for my wedding day rehearsal our officiant was asking what I wanted for a part of our wedding day. I looked at him and as kindly as possible said, ‘I have absolutely no idea. This is the first time I am getting married. I don’t know what I’m doing.’ You may be able to relate to that sentiment. Although I can’t make any decisions for you, I can at least walk you through what your wedding day photography can look like from inquiry to gallery delivery with me.

Step One. Decide an estimated date/timeframe and location for your wedding and inquire with me through my website.

I know it is tempting to start filling our inquiry forms with wedding vendors as soon as that ring is on your finger. However it is incredibly helpful to at least have an estimated date and location first. I don’t want to waste my time or your time discussing booking if I am not available for the date you are looking at. If you don’t have an exact date for your wedding, no worries! As long as you have a couple date options or a month & year in mind, I can share my availability and move forward in discussion. For location, maybe you don’t know your exact venue yet but there’s a big difference on what I can provide for you (and pricing) if you are getting married in Adams County vs STL or Florida. Knowing that you are looking at getting married in Quincy or Columbia, MO or your family farm in the middle of nowhere is an important detail to have when you inquire with any wedding vendor. Most vendors (including me) have a travel fee if you are a certain mileage from their home. I charge a travel fee if your wedding venue is more than 60 miles from Mendon, IL.

Step Two. Receive pricing, availability and other wedding package information.

After you inquire I will respond within 48-72 hours with the wedding packages I offer and whether or not I am available for your big day. This email will tell you all of the official things like pricing, number of hours I am available for your day, number of photos you will receive, additional things you can add to your wedding package like a second shooter, and much more. It will also tell/show you all of the fun things like multiple example images from previous weddings I have done, reviews from previous couples and my favorite parts of a wedding day. This email will propel you to know whether or not I am in your photography budget AND if I am the photographer you want to spend hours with on your wedding day.

Step Three. Decide I am the photographer for you and BOOK YOUR WEDDING PHOTOGRAPHY!

This is a very happy day for me. You have talked with your partner, family and friends and have decided that I am the photographer for your big day. You will then respond to my previous email telling me what wedding photography package you want, your fiancé’s first & last name (as well as yours), your official date and where exactly you are planning to get married at. These are the essential details I need to send you a contract and add you to my calendar. Once I have that email in my inbox I will do a little happy dance in my head (really, I will) and begin to prepare your contract and invoice. To officially book your wedding day, I require a signed contract and $250 nonrefundable deposit (this is subtracted from the total amount due at booking). I will send you your contract and invoice asap so we can ensure this process goes quickly. Once you have signed that contract and paid your deposit through the invoice or Venmo, we will move to the next step.

Step Four. Schedule & shoot your engagement pictures!

Step Five. Discuss wedding day timeline & plan the nitty gritty details of your wedding photography.

This step can truly happen anytime during your engagement. However, I always reach out 4-6 weeks before your day to start this process if you haven’t already. It is imperative that we have a detailed timeline lined out before walking into your day. This tells us when what photos will be taken, when family & bridal party members need to be dressed and present and any other important details of your day I may not know about yet. If this feels overwhelming to you, don’t worry. That’s what I am here for! I will send you a questionnaire that breaks down your day and gives me a surplus of information that ensures I will not miss any important detail during your day. I will take your answers from this questionnaire and form a rough draft timeline to send to you. From there, we can jump on a call, get coffee or continue to email back and forth to iron out any details! The goal is to have a perfectly planned wedding day timeline completed at minimum of one month prior to your wedding day. (If just thinking of your wedding day timeline is making you sweat, read this blog post for some peace of mind & basic tips.)

Step Six. Final details shared, received and solidified!

A week before your wedding day I will reach out one more time to confirm the final timeline, receive your family photo list and ask any last minute questions I may have. This is also the time that you send me any possible changes or details you had missed in the last step.

Step Seven. YOUR WEDDING DAY!

Step Eight. Sneak Peeks!!!

Step Nine. Edit, edit, edit… and gallery delivery!

I take the next 6-8 weeks to sort, select, edit and upload your wedding day images. Your wedding day gallery will include a minimum of 500 images, and it takes some time to ensure that all of those photos are truly perfected. Once I have finished editing I will upload your entire gallery to the same link your sneak peek was sent on and email you the good news. Your wedding photos are here! Your wedding day photo link is live for at least a year. After one year it is *not* my responsibility to continue to store your wedding images online, so please be sure to download them to one or two devices.

Step Ten. Say farewell & hope to see you for your next stage of life.

Once your wedding photos have been sent to you, my job is technically done. You will receive a thank you in the mail within a couple weeks after gallery delivery and then just a couple more emails from me. One of those emails will tell you some of my favorite ways to display and use your wedding photos so they don’t end up rotting on the link above. And one last email will ask you to leave me a google review so more couples just like you can find me to photograph their wedding. After I send that final email I always feel a little sad. I have spent the last year (give or take) prepping and planning and getting to know you. I have become your marriage’s biggest fan by this point in time and never stop feeling so grateful that you had me capture one of the best days of your life.

There are a lot of things that go into planning your wedding day. A lot of vendors to book. A lot of decisions to make. And so much more to celebrate. Hopefully this helps you better understand the process of wedding photography with me, Rachel B Photography, specifically. If you have any more questions or would like to inquire with me to photograph your wedding day, you can do so HERE!