Booking venues to shoot

When the bride wants. Bridal and or engagement portraits done in a place other than the wedding venue do you make the arrangements?

Case in point I'm shooting a bride this weekend and the venue was super slow in getting back with me, even after 3 phone calls and 2 emails. Today they get. Back with me and the fees are far more than the bride is willing to pay. Luckily I always have a back up plan, so the shot will still be a go.

Got me thinking about how you all deal with this. Do you have the bride make all arrangements and you just show up? Or like me do you book the venue and pass the fees onto the client?

Sorry about the weird punctuation breaks. Typing on phone and I keep double tapping space bar.

I have never done anything like this before but if I were to start I would be willing to handle the booking of the venue however I would add a percentage as a convenience fee, or let the bride handle it all and I just show up.

Littlejon Dsgn wrote in post #14339109
I have never done anything like this before but if I were to start I would be willing to handle the booking of the venue however I would add a percentage as a convenience fee, or let the bride handle it all and I just show up.

The main problem with letting the client handle the booking are the forms the nicer places are requiring. Insurance waivers, proof of insurance, the shooting rules for the photographer. While most of the places require these forms once per year, some require them for each shooting session. If I have to communicate with them for these matters I may just as well handle it all.

That is a good point, however I would still make sure your getting a bit of the cut on the venue, your time is worth something .... then again not sure what your market is but your package may already make it worth it for you.

I would think it would be the photographers job. Although I never had the request.

Because of insurance requirements, I always do it. I may or may not add some kind of service fee. It is understood, however, if there is any sort of fee to allow us to shoot there, this is the client's responsibility.

michael Lee wrote in post #14339084
When the bride wants. Bridal and or engagement portraits done in a place other than the wedding venue do you make the arrangements?

Case in point I'm shooting a bride this weekend and the venue was super slow in getting back with me, even after 3 phone calls and 2 emails. Today they get. Back with me and the fees are far more than the bride is willing to pay. Luckily I always have a back up plan, so the shot will still be a go.

Got me thinking about how you all deal with this. Do you have the bride make all arrangements and you just show up? Or like me do you book the venue and pass the fees onto the client?

I usually do the research on the venue - if there are no fees, I do the booking/arrangements
If there are fees, I send the couple the info and let them make those reservations and take care of the fees...

If a photography license is needed/fees required I direct the couple to the appropriate website/organisation tell them what is needed and they get it for their shoot. Never had any complaints doing it this way.