How to turn down a client?

Just looking to know if we are not alone. Someone messages us, we say we are available they date they are looking for, they meet with us. They decide they liked what they heard, but we aren't so sure. We believe their style and vision for their wedding doesn't match with the type of work we do. What do you all do in this same situation? How to we now say we can't do their wedding, and how do we say it?

spesmeadeus wrote in post #15224821
We believe their style and vision for their wedding doesn't match with the type of work we do.

Tell them this. If they insist on hiring you, insist that you do it your way.

IMO, the best way to proceed is to be completely honest with them. Let them know about how you feel and (if possible) suggest another photographer who may be a better fit. IMO, it's far better to politely decline a job when you feel that your style won't meet the clients expectations than to take it on and end up with a disappointed client.

Ya this is more upfront in our minds now because we just did a wedding that we had reservations about and now wish we would have stuck with our gut.

Tell your client you want a face to face meeting and advise them at the meeting that you re-evaluated their event and let them know what your thoughts are and help them find some sort of solution.

I know what you mean. It's a tough call to make sometimes. On the flip side, I've had reservations and went against my gut only to have fantastic - better than expected - results and everyone was over the moon.

It is tough. I had to turn down a huge opportunity in my business that could have netted me at least the retail cost of a Canon 1Dx for one night. I didn't because of logistics and a huge potential of things to go sideways.

I turned down a wedding once and told them I didn't think I was the right photographer for them. They didn't like it. Still, I'd do it again, but I wouldn't go into any more detail than "not a good fit" or "I can't do what you want/the style you want".

What JRA said. Refer them to someone and maybe you will get a refer fee

If they didn't book, tell them someone now has and you are unavailable.

So times it's better to avoid the complete truth in order to save hurt feelings and lengthy explanations that they will never really be happy with anyhow.

glumpy wrote in post #15225315
If they didn't book, tell them someone now has and you are unavailable.

So times it's better to avoid the complete truth in order to save hurt feelings and lengthy explanations that they will never really be happy with anyhow.

Nothing wrong with telling them the truth. If I was a client and was told by the photographer that he thought he could not meet the style I was looking for, I would be very impressed with that person and possibly using them in the future. Lying quite often comes around to bite you in the ass. Nothing wrong with the truth.

The more complicated the situation the more money you have to charge. If it sounds like to much for you to handle then take on more help. With the extra dough you can bring another shooter. I understand that sometimes people have no bearing on what is possible. 18h days..to many locations. All you can do is tell them straight up this is what you can do and stand by it. If you take the job have a seperate contract of liability to have them sign laying down certain stipulations that are specific to the job. One of the bigger studios I work for has a separate contract for jobs that have tight timelines. It states that the quality of the images can be compromised because of the lack of time allotted.

If you have not signed a contract, I would simply say that you have booked a destination wedding in Fiji for that same day and provide referrals to 3 other photographers. If you have, then you should talk to your lawyer to pull out of your obligation properly.

being up front seems like the better way to approach this, but from experience it will lead to questions and them wanting to convince you that you are wrong, and maybe them thinking you are saying one thing but hiding the real reason... could lead to multiple emails/calls...

or just tell them that between the time you met and now, someone or something has scooped up that date

Why are people afraid to tell the truth? If you cannot deliver on what the client wants...there is no shame in telling them this. To me...that is what professionalism is all about. Lying your way out is NOT PROFESSIONAL....period​.