I met Olivia and Garrett through one of my business (and real life) besties Bre! However, nothing about it was “conventional”. Let me tell you how it all went down!
Olivia and Garrett got engaged and, like most couples, they asked their friends for referrals when it came to wedding vendors. Everyone wants to hire someone with a friend’s stamp of approval or read reviews online about who carries with them a positive experience. So, Olivia’s friends and family went to work and sent her lists. Friends asked her what her “style” was and when she and I chatted about it she told me her answer was, “I honestly had no clue, nor did I even know what that meant!” (If you’re in the same boat, don’t worry! I have a blog post coming about this soon..)
Since Olivia didn’t exactly know what she wanted, she hired someone that her sister-in-law recommended. She saw his portfolio, met with him, liked how professional he was, and signed a contract. Phew…one less thing to worry about and one more box to check off a very long list of wedding “To Do’s”.
Time for Engagements
Olivia and Garrett set up a time with their newfound photographer to shoot engagements. As a photographer, I use this time to get to know my couple and let them get to know me. Everyone is a little nervous leading up to this session. Most people have never been professionally photographed. Most feel awkward or tell me, “We don’t know what to do or how to pose.” To which I ALWAYS respond, “You don’t have to know or do anything…that’s what I am here for!”
Okay, back to Olivia and Garrett! Like most couples, these two love birds planned on using the pictures from their engagement session for their save the dates. The day of their engagement session arrives, the pictures come back and that’s when Olivia KNOWS.
While her photographer was kind and professional, the pictures he took for them were NOT what she envisioned. So, apparently she DID have a style. And this wasn’t it.
What’s a Girl to Do?
So here she is, with hundreds of photos she doesn’t love, yet contractually obligated to continue and use this photographer for her wedding day.
Can she cancel? Can she AFFORD to cancel?
Her answer was simple- she couldn’t afford NOT to cancel. She knew she would regret saying nothing. She did not want the same type of photos from her wedding day. And EVERY bride deserves to LOVE her wedding images! So, back to the drawing board she went. This time, at least she knew what she did not want. Olivia was on the hunt for someone that she knew she HAD to have shoot her wedding day. That’s when she found Bre, but unfortunately Bre was BOOKED. Luckily for Olivia and I both, Bre sent her my contact info! I’m sure she thought Bre was crazy since they live in TEXAS and I live in UTAH. But I am so dang grateful she did!
Starting Over
Olivia reaches out to me, explains her unique situation, and I tell her how lucky she is to be in this situation in the first place. This is truly the WHOLE POINT of doing an engagement session. It is THE BEST way to get to know your photographer. I would seriously want to crawl in a hole should someone not be madly in love with the love and memory filled photos they hired me to capture.
So, just know this: don’t skip it. Don’t try to “save money” and decide you don’t need one. Wedding professionals and those who hire them NEED them! Plus, if you hire the perfect fit, you will forget that you are even taking pictures in the first place!
Olivia said, “Looking back at our session, while we absolutely LOVE our images, we LOVED the time we got to spend with you more. We truly forgot that we were even being photographed.”
BOOM. MISSION ACCOMPLISHED.
Fast forward to wedding day, I show up and I am greeted by all her friends and all her family, RAVING about how much they loved their engagements (YAY!).
Sweet Olivia said, “I went into my wedding day knowing exactly what to expect and I had no doubts in my mind I would LOVE our wedding images just as much.”
Time to Party
The wedding day finally came and it was ON!!! Olivia and Garrett had THE most incredibly fun bridal party and you could tell just how EXCITED everyone was for them to be married! It was such a special day, but one of MY favorite moments was the first look with her Dad! Both a little anxious, and BOTH a little emotional seeing each other on wedding day! Their tender and emotional embrace had me TOTALLY tearing up behind my camera…which I tried to pull off as “seasonal allergies”. From there, it was time to get hitched and let me tell you, they had THE COOLEST ceremony space! I LOVED all the concrete and gorgeous window light! They partied into the night with a PACKED dance floor and honestly the whole day/night was a total dream!
There is just so much to say about Olivia and Garrett’s wedding day, but since I have already written a novel I’ll let the pictures do the rest of the talking. Haha! Enjoy!
