Working with my couples on selecting the wording on their invitation can sometimes be a stressful, uncomfortable part of the design process. That’s because we are oftentimes dealing with unique family dynamics. Whether we have divorced parents, divorced and remarried parents, parents who are no longer with us, we’re trying to really everybody feeling honored. We want everyone to feel comfortable, and we want to present the names and the family in the best light possible to fit the tone and vision of the couple themselves. So I feel you. If you’re in a situation where you’re not sure what to do, there’s lots of options. No matter what your family situation may look like, one of the easiest entry points is to use the phrase together with their parents or together with their families. This works for married and divorced parents. This works for married, remarried, divorced parents. No matter what your combinations are, we have stepparents, we have unique family blended moments. Both of those phrases. Great entry points, keeping everybody feeling respected, honored, and included. If you do want to put true notation of full parent names, whether or not you have all of your parents with you or we have divorced parent situations, this is a great time to have a clean, clear, transparent conversation with your families. Ask them how they feel. If everybody is on board with having their names presented, you simply take both of your parent names. They would not be Mr. And Mrs. But they would be Mr. James Apple, Mrs. Sally Orange, and whoever else the parent name is. So we’re going to just separate them as their own unique entity that they are, but they’ll be listed on one line as your parent. If you’re doing traditional format where it’s brides parents request the honor of the marriage of bride, they would go first. If you’re listing all parents together, keep the bride’s family together separated if they’re divorced. Keep the grooms family together separated if they’re divorced, and we just proceed from there. If you’re working with a custom stationary artist, they should be able to walk you through many revisions and variations of this presentation until it looks and feels appropriate. Bottom line do what feels right for you and do what feels comfortable for everyone involved together with their parents, together with their families, or listing out the names. Anyone invited to your wedding knows you, knows your family. So this is not some amazing shock we’re throwing out them. Present your family the way you want it to be seen, in whatever way makes you feel comfortable. And remember, this day is about the two of you as a couple and everybody who loves you coming together. They’re just going to be so excited to be invited to this day. Trust yourselves. Go with what feels right.
Here are some tips and tricks to film a great video that stops the scroll:
You’ve got 3-5 seconds to stop the viewer’s scroll. Be creative… start with a phrase like:
We’ll put your name and bio in the title and links, so you can say something more general like:
Give them your hot take, and don’t hold anything back.
check out how Sal nailed it in this video and so did Megan in this one and Nichole told it straight (from her car).
Do you feel like the industry charges more “because it’s a wedding” and they know it’s an emotional purchase?
Do companies think that they can charge more for weddings since the bride and groom may be willing to spend more on their dream wedding?
Hey wedding pros – is this higher price tag justified? Why? Do you charge more for your service if it is a wedding?
This is a taboo topic, whispered but not discussed… until now.
Welcome to The Uncorked Project!
2 comments
I have been asked this so many times... does the wedding industry inflate prices when they hear it's a wedding?
Here is my honest answer (as a former wedding photographer)... NO. Did I charge more for a wedding than a 50th birthday party or a family portrait session? Yes, absolutely. I charged A LOT more for a wedding.
Was I taking advantage of the emotional sell? Absolutely not.
The main reasons I charged more for a wedding were: the unseen amount of work involved in the 12+ months leading up to the wedding, the skill level needed on the day, the INTENSE pressure to create perfect "portfolio level work" no matter what the reality of the situation- but mostly it is to compensate for the time AFTER the wedding in post production.
Little known fact about wedding photography - the real job is sitting at a computer editing photos. Photographers spend many hours behind the computer carefully selecting and editing photos. They make adjustments, crop, and adjust colors to ensure each image it's best. Don't forget the time it takes for batching, renaming, importing, exporting and uploading the photos and preparing them for delivery.
Do you think this justifies why photographers charge more for weddings than for other types of shoots?
Couldn’t agree more! And on the videography side its an absolute ton of data + editing discipline.
Its a double sided coin- weddings are extremely high pressure but also high reward when we nail it.
Our products (photo video) in particular are the only thing that genuinely will last forever . Having fun and ALSO nailing the product is worth the price of entry and frankly more.