Early on in my business, I was taught to give sneak peeks to clients.

I would rush home from a shoot or wedding and give them a sneak peek within 24 hours because : 

1. I was so freakin’ excited about what we created, I just wanted to get into the work and share it
2. I knew my clients were dying to see something
3. I felt like I HAD to because that was what everyone else was doing (yeap, I did it because everyone else was doing it).

As time went on and I started to really think through things, I hit pause on sending sneak peeks (and I made my clients aware of this change) because as exciting as it is to get a sneak peek …. it can 100% make clients nervous about their photos.

What the heck am I talking about?

Just because I LOVE a photo of my couple or client, doesn’t mean they are going to LOVE it like I do. They might see the photo that I love oh-so-much and only see their flaws (like how their hair is laying or how not skinny their arm looks). We are our own worst critic.

Yikes. Yes. And it might cause them to doubt me, my work and what their photos are going to look like. By sending them one photo that they don’t like, you might have them thinking they won’t like any of the photos.

Eek…. no one wants that, right?

Instead of sending my wedding couples a sneak peek of one or two photos the next day, I send them about 10 photos within 72 hours of the wedding.

Monday morning, I sit down and I find and edit the following :

+ 3-5 photos of the couple from portraits (usually one from golden hour)

+ 2 photos from the ceremony (I go with the first kiss and them exiting/walking down the aisle — both are moments that make the couple so happy. They always love these!)

+ 1 photo of the bride + groom with the wedding party

+ 2 photos of the family (bride’s family + groom’s family)

By giving my couple 7 – 10 photos from throughout the day, it gets the bride and groom super excited for their sneak peek slideshow and it gives them a handful of images to post and share with friends and family. So even if they don’t love one or two of them, they have a few others that they can post as an announcement that they are married.

AND, I really believe it is so important to give the couple photos of both families at the wedding. If you aren’t doing this yet, START NOW!

Chances are the parents of your bride and groom don’t have photos with their daughter or son from the wedding — and if they do, it is a crummy iPhone photo, so give them something to share that looks good. It will earn you extra brownie points (and it is part of why I get so many referrals from parents of my couples).

What do you think about this? Is this something you have tried? I’d love to know in the comments below.

 

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