Whether you are getting married in a mansion, a backyard, on a mountain top, standing in a lake or at any venue that holds a special place in your heart, I want to be there for every minute bit of the throw-your-head-back laughter sessions through the awkward dance moves with your grandmother and everything in between. Call me crazy, but I want you to actually be present on your wedding day, to FEEL all the feels – and let the photos basically be a time machine that takes you back to every bit of it.
Having peace and focus through planning your memories to passing them down to future generations is a big deal, and I want to help you make your wildest dreams and craziest ideas come to reality. In case you missed it, I was a wedding and event planner before I was a photographer, so when it comes to keeping your organized and prepared for your day – I’ve got you.
You make the first move in this relationship and we schedule a time to chat over tea, tacos or cheesecake (you really can’t go wrong here). We’ll chat about your wedding day plans, what’s most important to you and where your story came from and is heading. You’ll learn a bit more about me, my process, my sarcasm and my ability to find a solution for just about anything. We’ll discuss timing and how much time to plan for certain events of your day so that you can feel best educated when making a decision on your coverage.
You decide we’re the perfect match and decide to swipe right on us taking this journey together (yesssss!). You’ll be amazed at how easy it is to make your choice for your photography package and add-ons, review & sign the contract and pay your non-refundable retainer all online to officially take your date off the market (BOOM).
(Please note that no date is officially booked until both a signed contract and non-refundable retainer are received.)
Your engagement session shouldn’t just be something to check off the list, but an epic date night to celebrate and focus on each other. My couples all tell me how surprised they were with much fun they have during their engagement session – not sure what kind of torture y’all are expecting, but I promise it will be full of fun, laughter, intimate moments and so much love for one another that you’ll be so glad you did this together – and you might want to do it all over again. We work together to find a location that has meaning for you or that you’re just in love with and we match up our schedules to make it happen!
I include engagement sessions in my main packages for a few reasons. First, this gives us an opportunity to work together before the wedding, to get to know each other better, to see how I work and for me to see the types of things that make you come alive in your images. Second, getting to see images of you by your photographer before your wedding day can not only be a huge reassurance, but can also let you know things you want to do more or less of to love your images and experience all the more.
Whether you schedule your engagement session in advance for save the dates or you schedule it for earlier the week of your wedding for a little date night getaway as your excitement grows, you’ll cherish these images and this time together.
Leading up to your big day, you’ll get regular communication from me to help ask questions you may not have thought about in your planning and to help nail down your timeline – I’m here to answer any and every question you could possibly have about your wedding day. We will create a timeline that doesn’t feel rushed and allows you to take in every moment and enjoy every special memory. As your day nears, you’ll receive a final questionnaire from me to include more details about your day, important people, locations, out-of-the-norm photo requests and vendor details so that I can share all the goodness with the team you chose to make your day a reality.
Your day has finally arrived – YES! My team and I will arrive onsite before our contracted start time to walk over the property and review things for ourselves before connecting with you to get this epic party started!
Your own personal “bridal guard”. I view it as a huge part of my job to ensure you are enjoying your wedding day the best you possibly can. If I see you’re getting stressed out and need some space, I’ll check in with you to suggest giving you that space and will head off any questioners that are bombarding you a little too much. You need a minute just you and your mom? I got you. I’ll scoot everyone else out and will wait for your signal that you’re all good. Need some food or something to drink? I’ll be making sure you’re as comfortable and content as possible throughout the night.
Trusted family friend. Guests always assume I’m an old family friend since I’m so comfortable to be around and so welcoming to those around me. Besides being a huge people person, I also view it as my job to make sure everyone feels comfortable around me so I can capture the reality of your wedding day – not the unnatural posed moments.
I get just as excited as you do to see and share your images, so within 48 hours of your engagement or wedding day, I’ll release a sneak peek on Facebook and Instagram for you to swoon over. Your family and friends can all head over to the Gallery site to register for notification as soon as your images are fully finished. All final images will be ready within 6 weeks of your wedding day and you will receive an email with a link and password to login to your online gallery. This gallery and password can be shared with your friends and family however you’d like (I suggest social media) and they can purchase their own prints right there! You will also receive a download pin for the two of you to use so that you can easily download the high resolution files of your images right then and there instead of waiting for a thumb drive in the mail!
Since you’ll most likely be busy honeymooning and settling into married life, I go ahead and take what I know of your wedding day story and the two of you to create the first draft of your album design as soon as I finish editing the images. Once complete, I send you an email with login information to review the design and make changes super easily and all those notifications will come directly to my inbox. This makes the album review process easier and quicker than ever which also gets your album to your doorstep faster. You will get to choose your album cover material and text, and your album will arrive with an heirloom box for safe storage as you bring this album into all the future chapters of your story. Parent Albums are an exact design copy of your album but at an 8×8 size instead of a 10×10.
Becoming one of my couples doesn’t just make me your wedding photographer, but it makes you a part of the HCP family – and I cherish that connection and don’t want to lose it! As of 2019, all HCP Couples now have access to Maternity & Portrait sessions for the next chapters of your lives – because we’ve got a good thing going, and I’d like to keep it that way!
Learn more about Themed Maternity Sessions and HCP Portrait Sessions.
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