We have the best clients, honestly. So many couples, past and future, have got in contact in the past week offering kind words and support! We really have appreciated it so much!
Whoever your wedding photographer is/was, I am certain that right now they are as stressed and terrified as anyone is. All of us have seen many of our bookings virtually disappear and face the next few months without any form of income. Because of the seasonal nature of the wedding industry, most of us have little work over winter so were banking on the forthcoming wedding season to pay our bills.
Of course, we appreciate that many of our couples are facing circumstances as dire or worse than ours, but if you can afford to do it, here are a few steps you take to help keep your wedding photographer in business.
Try to find a new wedding date that suits your photographer
…and your other small-business suppliers. This can be difficult, and coordinating your new date with all your suppliers will take time, but if you can find a date that works for everyone, it’s a massive help. Have a look at our guide that tries to take some of the pain out of rescheduling.
Book a couple, engagement or family shoot
UPDATE 07.06.20: With changes to the lockdown rules, we can now offer small family shoots and couple shoots outdoors within the Belfast area. For family shoots, we ask that everyone is from the same household or bubble. If you’d like to book a couple or family shoot with us please get in touch!
If your wedding has been postponed, how about booking an engagement shoot - you could have it on the postponed date if you like? Maybe you’re not getting married and just fancy a few creative shots of you together? Just contact us and we can arrange something.
We’re also available for small family shoots (immediate families that live together rather than large, assembled groups). Maybe we shot your wedding a few years ago and you’ve got a new family of your own?
Not only would this give us a financial boost, but the human contact (from a distance) would be rather lovely too.
Order a wedding album
We normally design albums in winter when we’ve more time to dedicate to them, but guess what? We’ve LOOOOOADS of time on our hands right now. If you were planning on getting an album, now is a great time. Maybe you want to get a smaller album for your parents? What better thing to do when you’re social-distancing/isolated than revisiting your wedding pics and choosing your faves.
Buy some prints
Our income has stopped, but our costs remain, such as hosting web galleries and slideshows. If you fancied some prints from your wedding for yourself or friends/family, ordering directly from your gallery will be a small but very significant help to us.
Sign a petition
Update 27.03.20: The government in the UK announced measures to help the self-employed today. Our work is seasonal (we earn 90% of our money Apr-Oct), but the allowance is based on the average earnings over the year, so we will see a massive drop in income. But still, we are incredibly relieved we can afford to pay our outgoings.
With that being said, there are many that aren’t as lucky as we are. Some wedding suppliers work part-time while doing PAYE jobs, some have been self-employed for less than a year. These people still need you to fight for them so they have a safety net.
If you come across any petitions such as this one, please take a few seconds to sign it. There are 5 million self-employed people in the UK and many of them are scared and effectively jobless right now.
Be patient. Be kind.
Love is patient and kind, apparently. Hopefully, our couples are too. All your suppliers are likely working hard to juggle rescheduling dates and bookings. You are incredibly important to us and we empathise with you completely. We are all working as hard as we can so please be patient with us and we can work things out together.