selling pics to the florist, coordinator, etc.

I've been contacted by an event coordinator about a wedding I have coming up this weekend. She wants pics of the ballroom, table-settings, flower arrangements, etc. for advertising purposes.

I told her that I've been contracted by the bride who is basically my boss for the day, but if I get a chance after the portraits and before the reception, I'll take some ballroom shots and sell them to her later.

Now, assuming I get some high quality ballroom shots (I'm planning to put some time into them and use lighting, etc.) what do y'all think is a fair price for doing this? I'm thinking that I'll deliver 10-20 great images for print and web advertising.

That's a potentially touchy issue, which could actually end up benefitting you if handled properly.

I routinely shoot pictures of the setups, flowers, etc. anyway for the bride as something she may want included on a disk, in her album, as part of her proofs, etc., so I don't really consider it extra work.

Now, does this event coordinator also "wear the hat" of a bridal coordinator? If so, she may be in the position of steering business your way. And if that's the case, on the subject of "partnering" with another vendor, it should be no big deal for you to toss a few prints her way gratis. She could end up returning the favor with job referrals. I have a similar relationship with a local caterer.

I don't think I'd give her 10-20 nice prints for free, but certainly several at no cost would be fine. Pleasantly tell her this, and that if she'd like additional shots you'd be glad to have those printed at some modest cost for her. You may want to consider something like a 25% discount if she wishes to purchase above and beyond the "courtesty" prints.

I don't think I would charge unless she offered to pay. For a vendor that's in a solid position to offer referrals - like a planner or a reception site - I would go pretty far out of my way to help them out.

ALWAYS give ANY photos to ANY vendor FOR FREE. I don't even watermark them! I know I didn't need to yell that, but just wanted to make sure it's understood how much I believe it

Seriously though, vendors are your friend. How they help you is referrals. How you help them? Pictures of their trade! You might give beautiful images to some vendors who NEVER refer you anything -- still give, give, give. Strong vendor referrals -- especially the higher you get with pricing -- is unbelievably valuable.

Bobby

_______________

San Diego Wedding Photographer (blog)
Twitter -- Facebook
the Raddest Photo Trip Ever!!!
Come on the next one Dec 6th-19th 2010!!!!!

Getting high quality shots of the room, the flowers, the linens, and all the other details, is part of the job of shooting a wedding, (all of which the B&G paid for) so sharing those files with vendors should be a no-brainer if they'd like copies.

Totally agree with Bobby... I would NEVER charge for photos to other vendors.... these relationships are too valuable. I send them out ALL of the time.... Hell, I even give them to the vendor if they didn't specifically ask. But they're ALWAYS so pleased when I do. It makes them talk about you to their friends, fellow vendors and brides... in turn, getting your name out there and getting more work. Sending a file doesn't cost you anything, and believe me, you'll get a good return.
If she wants high quality prints, just charge her your cost.... nothing more.

I always give any vendor any prints they want for free, and sometimes given digital files too. I always take detail photos anyway, but if specific ones are requested I take them too.

I also give them for free and am delighted for the opportunity to do it. These are very valuable relationships. Not just the planners but the DJ's, florists, etc. It's not uncommon for me to seek out these vendor after the wedding to make images available to them. I will, however, watermark them. At least with vendors with whom I don't yet have a relationship. The watermark is small and not intrusive. If I do already know the vendor and can count on an appropriate credit or they've already referred clients my way, I don't worry about the watermark.

This week I have a wedding where the florist requested photos under similar circumstances. I will need reminding but I see no reason not to provide those photos. I asked them to confirm permission with the bride beforehand, which they did. I don't intend to charge for them: It's positive feedback for me.

I'll add to to the chorus.

Just give the coordinator some photos, and don't charge for them. The few dollars you might make is dwarfed by one referral she could send your way.

Heck, I'll go even farther and say it's a GREAT idea to give real prints! I just spent about a hundred bucks on a huge collage of images for a wedding planner I love working with mounted on a foam board. 9 detail images and 3 of my favorite images of the couple. She'll display it (she flipped when I gave it to her), be able to sort of brag about her details in the shots, the inquiring couple will see my photos of the details, and then they'll also see my shots of the couple mixed in -- and hopefully that'll bring them to me

I've gotten about $30k worth of weddings referrals from two wedding planners in the last couple months.

Another great thing to do -- submit the weddings to magazines! They LOVE if they get featured. They want to use you again in the future in hopes of you getting them featured. It's a pain to submit them, but it's a good idea

I'm just rambling now

Bobby

_______________

San Diego Wedding Photographer (blog)
Twitter -- Facebook
the Raddest Photo Trip Ever!!!
Come on the next one Dec 6th-19th 2010!!!!!

Absolutely agree with everyone here.....gratis is the way to go. Referrals are the best business builder by far and the more vendors you have sending clients in your direction, the better off you are.

From the "happy couple" perspective well over ten years ago:
We provided the venues, and all pros with a contact list for all the other pros and venues.
I know our photographer (pro) did get the flowers, buffet, cakes, and reception decor for those providers.
I also know the bakery, florist and reception site inquired about the photographer and videographer. Not sure what they worked out, but the proofs had many commercially appealing "enticers" for future business.

Baker and florist have "idea" books of past work to extract opinions from those who have no opinion on their own wedding details. Reception site did as well, but we visited receptions in person to steal ideas.

The photographer himself would refer pros, if needed. Of course, those were professionals in every sense of the word and he was always comfortable working with them.

Personally, our pro likely made many friends and mutual referrals with those images from our wedding.
In the case of my sibling's wedding, the photographer and videographer steered customers from an unprofessional florist. Florist was gone less than a year later.

Consider the extra prints up to 8x10 free advertising for yourself

I will always give prints and files free to vendors ... makes good business sense and as we all work together it just seems the right thing to do

Too often the wedding industry is full of back biting ....

+1 for what everyone else is saying, its chicken feed compared to what others are doing to form relationships with other vendors and venues.