You finally booked that full-service, top-tier wedding of your dreams. The designs that have been living inside your head for years are finally going to come to life. As you sit down to revel in your success, you can’t help but worry: Will I ever get the photos back from this one?

As a photographer who works very hard to ensure that everyone involved in a wedding day receives photos of their hard work, it’s hard for me to imagine not sending the photos to everyone. However, not every photographer shares as freely and intentionally as I do.

It’s just not part of most wedding photographers’ workflow to send the photos to all the vendors after the wedding.

At the point you are emailing the photographer directly to request the gallery a week later, they are already onto editing the next one. Your request slides to the bottom of an endless list of daily to-dos.

Many wedding photographers think tagging the vendors on social is enough.

We all know that’s not enough.

You need the full gallery of images to choose from to show off your work and move your business forward. But, don’t worry. If you want those photos of your work, I’ve got you.

Follow these 7 simple steps to break down those barriers between photographer and creative this year and start building your portfolio to its potential!

This is your year!

Step 1: Learn About the Photographer Before the Wedding Day

One month before the big day, ask the client who the photographer is.

Look up their website and social media accounts, and decide for yourself in 5 minutes or less: are these photos on brand for my business?

When you go to their website, don’t forget to click on a blog post or two to help you answer the following questions as you view their work:

• Do they feature floral designs?

• Do they take photos of the tablescapes?

• Do they know how to pose couples to feature the flowers?

• How long have they been in business?

• Do they show potential for future growth?

• Pay attention to the style of the photos, price range, and quality of their photos in general.

If the style and quality of the photographer is on brand for your business ( more on choosing a photography style for your floristry business here. Take the quiz!), they take all the photos you want to get back, and/or they are showing growth potential, learn as much about them as you can and move on to Step 2.

If not, pursuing “professional” photos from this wedding may not be worth your efforts.

Save your precious time and let it go. Consider taking your own photos of your work to post.

Only show the work you want to do more of. Perception is reality. If you only post on brand, ideal work, that is what you will start getting inquires for. It’s like magic!

If the photographer is not on brand or the arrangement is not “your look,” don’t waste your time and don’t post those photos—even if the photographer delivers them right to your inbox without asking.

Step 2: Engage on Social

Once you have identified the photographer as on brand and worth the effort, you will start to build a relationship.

You really want these photos to grow your business and get where you want to go. So, if you want the photos, you must take these steps.

• Like their page

• Comment on some photos making sure to be genuinely complimentary (“How DO you do it?!”)

• Continue to engage regularly

• Two weeks before the wedding, reach out in a direct message on Instagram or email (if you have their email address) to send them the template email below. Type it out one time, making it personal and in your voice. Save it in the notes on your phone and/or documents folder on your computer to make this step quick and easy (to make sure you do it!).

Step 3: Two-Week Prior Email Template

Here is the email template you can use for your direct messages!

Hi {Photographer’s Name},

I just found out you’re the photographer for {Bride’s Name & Groom’s Name} next weekend. I cannot wait to work with you. I’ve been hoping to have you photograph my work ever since I found your page.

I love how you {add something personal to show you actually follow along—something about his/her family is best}.

I wanted to check in on what time you will be starting the detail photos for this wedding day? You always do such a nice job of those photos, and I want to make sure to get some clippings and greens for you to use. I know sometimes those start really early in the day, and it can be tough for me to get there as early as you need them to ensure the rest of the florals stay fresh for the rest of the day (I’m unable to deliver them more than 3 hours before the ceremony). So, let’s work together on that part!

One last thing, and I hope you don’t mind me asking: Do you share your images with vendors afterward? I was so hoping to have some of your beautiful photos to choose from to use on my media platforms. Of course, I will not forget to tag you. I know how important that is for all of us wedding vendors.

Even after all these years, you would not believe how many of my brides ask me who the photographer was and end up booking with them after seeing their work in my Look Book. Plus, I would love to add you to my preferred vendor list after we get the chance to work together and I see your work on my screen. 

Anyway, have a great week, and I’ll see you on {wedding date}. {Maybe insert something personal in closing}. Thanks so much!

{Your first name, Your business name}

Step 4: Engage on Social (Continued)

Then, make certain to follow through with the promise! I know it sometimes means going out of your way to get the detail flowers to the photographer.

Try not to think of this as an expense but as an investment in your business marketing. Doing so does two things for you:

1. Having well-done detail photos in your brand style will add a sophisticated touch to your website.

2. This investment of your time and resources also increases the chances of receiving the entire gallery from the photographer exponentially.

When florists go out of their way for me, I appreciate it—and I’ll go out of my way for them. In fact, I feel obligated to send the photos in these situations and will go out of my way for them, including DMing the best photos of their flowers directly as I edit them.

It’s human nature to want to return a favor. Use that to your advantage and go out of your way to do the photographer a favor in any way you are able. Extend that olive branch!

Step 5: Foster the Relationship and Teach on the Wedding Day

• Say hi! Seeing you in person makes the email/DM and every “like” real. It’s what fosters the back-and-forth commenting on your page and creates a true connection between you and the photographer. So, if there is a moment that you are in the vicinity of the photographer, go out of your way to say hello! We will be thrilled to meet you and just as nervous about meeting in “real life.”

• Show the Bride (or Maid of Honor if she’s busy) and the photographer how to hold the bouquet, so it is “proper” in the photos. If you bring it up and point it out, there’s a better chance the photographer will notice, and it will be correct in the photos in the heat of the moment throughout the wedding day.

• Leave towels for the girls to dab the wet flower stems, so they don’t drip down the dresses (that is a pain to edit, and photographers appreciate this). I can’t tell you how many times I tell the girls to grab towels to dab off the stems, and there are no more towels in the bathroom—not kidding.

• Be the florist to teach the second photographer to pin boutonnieres on the guys. Those second photographers will become lead photographers, who will do really well and have their own preferred vendor lists with your names on them and glowing words to say for their future clients. We don’t forget those who helped when we were starting out.

Step 6: Contact After the Wedding Day

Send a message after event day, but not to ask for the photos.

Don’t ask for the photos the day after the wedding. I may be diligent about getting the photos out, but some photographers want to go to church on a Sunday morning or spend a few quality family hours before locking themselves in their office to get to work on the images.

Instead, contact asking how the day went. We would love to tell you just how the rest of the day was on DM or text message (not email at this moment, please, because we are not checking email on this day). It shows us you actually care and reminds us that you want to have the photos.

• This should seal the deal to get those photos locked in as soon as they are ready.

• You should now be friend status, and we will think to shoot that gallery over to you even if no one else, other than the clients, will ever see it.

• It’s time to celebrate again! Pop the champagne. You just got a full gallery of images from a high-end photographer that is on brand for you and your business. Now, that’s something to celebrate. Other florists pay for a styled shoots to get the same thing. You should be very proud of yourself and your dedication to moving your business forward.

Lastly, don’t forget to use those photos. Download them to your computer immediately and put them right up on your website or in one folder on your computer where you know where to find them at the end of the season.

Also, while saving, save the name of the file or folder as the photographer’s name, so you don’t have to remember down the road for tagging purposes.

Step 7: What If I STILL Don’t Get the Photos?

Have compassion.

Close your eyes. Imagine your busiest day ever. You have a full-service wedding and a few drop-offs, plus it’s Mother’s Day in October. Yeah. Photographers get like that sometimes too, and sometimes they just… can’t. Not everyone is as organized or has as much support as you might have, and sometimes they are just doing the best they can with what they have that day.

• Cut them a break.

• Try not to judge

• Ask one more time on a Thursday. This is typically the day photographers are the freest.

Emailing on a Monday is the worst day to ask. On a Monday, photographers are usually killing themselves trying to get sneak peeks and blogs out before the couple starts posting cell phone pictures.

If you still don’t get a response after all of that: Let this photographer go.

Some people bite off more than they can chew or have been led to believe something about ownership of their photos that is deeply seated and they will never reconsider. It happens.

It doesn’t make them a bad person or out to get you personally. They just don’t “get it” the way we do.

• The next time you ask your couple who their photographer is in Step One and they say it is this photographer, don’t waste your time. Take your own photos of your beautiful work.

• Yes. You heard me right. Take your own photos of your work. You can take your own photos of your work. My favorite saying is: “Actually, YOU CAN.”

Believe it or not, it’s pretty simple to take a professional-level photo of your work if you know the simple steps how. You don’t really need the photographer. Yes, I said it. You don’t need the photographer. I am a photographer saying it, and I’ll say it again: You don’t need the photographer to get photos of your work.

Learn how to photograph flowers beautifully and professionally (even with your smartphone!) in this online class.

Just keep in mind, photographers are your friends, not your enemies! They want you to have their photos because your devotion to your job shines through theirs (plus, as long as you hold true to your promise to tag them and give them credit, you’re marketing for them, too). Be friendly and remember, we’re all in this together.

PHOTOGRAPHY REQUEST FORM

WEDDING COUPLE_________+_________ DATE________

VENUE_____________________

PHOTOGRAPHER___________________________

ON IG @_____________________________________

PHOTOGRAPHY STYLE ON BRAND: YES NO

STARTING PRICE RANGE: $_________________

ARE THEIR PHOTOS UP TO QUALITY?: YES NO

EMAIL_______________________________________

EMAIL/MESSAGE DATE_______________ [ ] SENT

PERSONAL NOTES ON PHOTOGRAPHER: ___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

DAY AFTER FOLLOW-UP MESSAGE: [ ] SENT

LAST FOLLOW-UP EMAIL DATE_________________________

RECEIVED PHOTOS: YES NO