It’s easy to get carried away and talk about everything leading up to the wedding. But what exactly happens after the wedding?

Before the wedding, you’ll receive my wedding guide full of planning tips. We’ll talk a lot about the planning, the details and the timeline so we can create the most stress-free wedding day for you and I can capture it beautifully. But what happens after the wedding day as you receive your photos? Keep reading for why I won’t just email you with a link to your gallery and instead, will schedule a photo reveal party with you!

I won’t just email you your gallery.  

Here’s the thing. There’s a term in the wedding photography industry called “shoot and burn” and honestly, this is how I use to roll. Shoot and burn refers to the photography business model of photographing the wedding, editing the photos, and delivering an online gallery. Done. And while that’s fabulous for some, I believe my work as your photographer isn’t done until I’ve helped you do something with your photos to be enjoyed by you and your family every single day for years to come. Photographs and your story deserve to be printed and seen, not just living in a Facebook album soon to be irrelevant. I also know that getting a gallery and figuring out what to do next can be overwhelming! And with just an email, life will quickly take over and a year from then, you’ll still be talking about how you need to get your photos printed and framed instead of enjoying them everyday.

Instead, we’ll plan a photo reveal party!

Rather than simply getting an email, instead, when your photos are ready, we’ll schedule a time where you two can be together for the reveal and can commit a few hours to the process. You should be with your partner when you see the photos, not standing in line to checkout at the grocery store while your partner is at their desk at work. You can even invite family or friends that you want to be part of the reveal with you. And if that’s not all enough of a reason, then at the very least, life is short, parties are fun and the small stuff should be celebrated. So let’s throw more (small) parties!

The in-person photo reveal. Here’s what happens: 

About 4-6 weeks after the wedding, you’ll get an invite from me to schedule your in-person photo reveal party for a time when you and your partner can be together. You can invite any friends or family members you’d like and we’ll determine the best place to all meet. I’ll come to your home a few minutes early to set some things up so we can project everything onto a TV or larger screen for a better and bigger viewing experience than a laptop screen. Then, with celebratory champagne and snacks in hand, you’ll first see a slideshow that tells the story of your day! Then, I’ll open up your gallery and you’ll be able to look through all of the photos. Together, we’ll review your package and any print credits or albums you have and start talking about the process for choosing those images.

I’ll have a variety of samples of canvases, prints, frames and more so you can see, feel and touch everything and start to envision your photos printed. Finally, we can walk around your home to the various walls or places you’re thinking about displaying your photos and on the spot, I’ll create virtual mock-ups in the space to show you what various sizes and prints would look like so you can visualize everything in your own space!

The process typically takes about two to two and a half hours and when I leave, you’ll have a plan in place, photos ordered and you’ll know exactly what your next steps are so you can have your wedding photos on your walls in your home within 2 months of the wedding and albums in your hand within 3 months. 

And for my distant and out-of-state friends, we’ll schedule a virtual reveal!

While I would love to hangout in-person all the time, for couples that live far out from metro Detroit or out-of-state, we’ll schedule a virtual reveal. You’ll receive the same email invite to schedule your reveal and just like the in-person reveal, you’ll find a time you two can be together and you can invite anyone else you’d like to be a part of the reveal as well, if you’d like. Since we won’t be able to walk around your home and plan out wall art in-person, instead, I’ll have you send me a photo of any space you’re considering to display photos on with a regular sheet of paper taped up on it so I can scale everything.

Once you’re both cozy and with champagne and snacks in hand, all you’ll need is a computer and wifi (and you can get fancy and connect to a TV for a bigger display too), you’ll receive an email with a link to the slideshow! At the end of the slideshow, you’ll be redirected to your gallery at which point another email with instructions on using your gallery will have landed in your inbox. You’ll also receive some mock-ups of wall displays in the spaces you sent photos of! This way, you can visualize, to scale, what things will look like on your walls. From there, you can make any orders you’d like directly through your gallery or we can schedule a Facetime sesh and work through any orders or design ideas together so you can also have your wedding photos on your walls in your home within 2 months of the wedding and albums in your hand within 3 months. 

After the wedding, when the cake is gone, you’ve enjoyed your honeymoon and life seems to have taken over again, your wedding photos will still be there for you to help you relive the day and bring back those amazing memories! I want to make sure you get the best and the most out of your investment into your wedding photography. I’ll be there to walk you through the process of getting your photos off the screen and up onto your walls and in your hands so you can enjoy them for years to come! 

Are you planning your wedding day or have questions about the photo reveal process (or anything else for that matter!)? I’d love to chat! You can schedule a free consultation with me by clicking the button below. 

  

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