How to start your Wedding Photography Business

Hi, I am Miranda Suess, a wedding photographer and educator in New Jersey, and I want to help guide you on how to start your wedding photography business in 2023 and the years to come! Photography is 30% of what I do, and 70% is spent at the desk, managing and running an organized and professional business independently. I believe you can too!

 

 

My (long) backstory

When my journey began, I had a real full-time career as a marketing and office manager for an event production company in Los Angeles. Photography was always a hobby of mine – but in the summer of 2017, my photography hobby became a business.

The first wedding

It’s summertime in West Los Angeles; I photographed my first small wedding for my boyfriend’s cousin. The wedding was so intimate that the couple didn’t hire any vendors. After the wedding photoshoot services, I went into editing mode and became obsessed. My boyfriend noticed how dedicated I was on the post-production side and delivering beautiful pictures. I got a lot of great feedback and heard many times from different sources like my boyfriend, friends, and parents to start charging for photography services. So I listened.

I started to charge for my hobby

First, I made an Instagram account and a free Wix website to share my portfolio work, including portraits of friends and the first wedding I shot. Then I told friends I would photograph them for $75, and people BOOKED on Instagram! At the event production company, I was working for, I offered to pick up side gigs and photograph their events, and they approved. I was getting paid $50-$100 per 2-hour event. My first couples shoot was free for my cousins, and I used their photos to build my engagement photography portfolio.

I was getting paid and so happy to do what I love and get paid for it. It felt like I cracked the code on how to feel successful in life!

A wedding-styled shoot prepared me for a real one

Later in 2017, I collaborated with a wedding photographer, florist, dress shop, venue, cake baker, and hair and makeup artist to produce a free styled shoot to help me build my wedding portfolio and share the photos with the vendors who also collaborated on the project. This helped make connections in the industry and referrals to their clients too. Without this real-looking wedding-styled shoot, I don’t think the couples who booked my services would ever give me a chance!

I relocated to NYC

Less than a year into starting my business in California, in January 2018, my boyfriend and I moved to Brooklyn, New York City. I had to START ALL OVER. I still used the photos I took in California, regardless of relocating. Although my photography business was going well, I felt uncomfortable diving into it full-time in a new state where I didn’t know anyone but my boyfriend. So I decided while building Suess Moments wedding photography from scratch again I would apply for jobs with health benefits to help fund my hobby into a business.

Once I got the 9-5 job as an office manager in NYC, I picked up photography gigs: like events, weddings, elopements, engagements, and portraits. Some were free, low budget, and even some would pay me my price! I must thank local Facebook groups, Gigmasters (now The Bash) and Instagram for the leads.

While times were slow at the office job, I spent that time updating my website, posting and engaging on social media, and communicating over emails.

My first booked Brooklyn, NYC wedding

My first elopement/wedding was booked for four hours on February 1, 2018, for $800. I booked this couple via Gigmasters. Before they sent me a penny, I met them in Brooklyn over drinks and built a relationship over a trust that I could photograph their wedding day. When I got the confirmation that they wanted me to photograph their wedding day, I sent them a Shootproof contract for e-signature and had them pay a retainer to secure the photo services. Their elopement/wedding photos in Dumbo, Brooklyn, NYC, were some of my favorite ones I have ever shot. You can see their Brooklyn elopement wedding photos right now.

On April 26, 2018, I photographed my first larger-scale wedding in Dumbo, Brooklyn. My wedding photography services were contracted for five hours for $700. I ended up hiring a second photographer and assistant. After paying the second photographer and my assistant, you can imagine I walked away with little funds but a big smile that I got my first REAL wedding in NYC! I learned a lot from working on my own as a business owner. I even stayed an hour or two for the couple to ensure I could capture all the photos they wanted at their wedding. Every business owner should value this customer service mantra – it’s underpromising and overdeliver.

Over time I started applying for second shooter jobs with other wedding photographers in my area; that way, I could assist them, build relationships, and learn how a wedding day works. The wedding photography business basics I learned were that every wedding day needs a timeline, a shot list, and someone to manage it smoothly. I also learned that couples and their requests are different, so having them complete a deep dive questionnaire is vital in ensuring they feel unique and valued.

The pandemic

Fast forward to the summer of 2020, I lost my full-time job due to the coronavirus pandemic. That day felt like I had done a trust fall, not knowing who would catch me. Money anxiety was taking over me, especially constantly worried about the wedding industry crumbling from a pandemic and how I would ever get to do what I love safely again.

How to run a successful wedding photography business

Losing my office manager job in 2020 was a blessing in disguise because I made six figures in revenue in 2021, 2022, and 2023, with profits to comfortably save and spend with. To run a successful wedding photography business, I track my income and split a percentage into savings (taxes, equipment, workshop education) and checking accounts (operating expenses and marketing). Each week I pay myself a check into a separate personal checking account. I track all of this with a template I created for small business owners so they can stay debt free, make a budget, and track bills, spending, income, and savings.

Today I am still running Suess Moments wedding photography but operating in New Jersey. I also educate photographers on Youtube and have a second photography business, The Jersey City Photographer, specializing in headshots, corporate events, and real estate photography.

So that’s part of my long story – how I started my wedding photography business.

The Checklist

So here it is, what you came here for – a simple breakdown checklist of how to start a wedding photography business.

Download the free list as a PDF document here.

Starting a Wedding Photography Business Checklist

• Register your wedding photography business name
  • check with your local state county clerk online to see if it’s available. Here’s the link to registering your business name in New Jersey
• Create an Instagram & Pinterest account using your business name
• Buy a Google Domain using your new business name. The alternative is ending it with “photographer,” or “photography,” or “photos.”
• Register for Gsuite and upgrade to your business name domain as your email.
  • Link up your calendar to Gmail to stay organized. 
  • Google Drive will keep all your files organized in an online cloud. Create spreadsheets, templates, and documents
• Build your website. Squarespace is the easiest website builder for wedding photographers; however, if you like website design and want complete creative control with beautiful templates, check out Showit. My website is built with Showit and WordPress. 
  • I purchased templates and then created designs based on the premade elements. You must have a homepage featuring top 1-5 photos 
    • who you are 
      • Clear headshot, front of your face
      • Your name
    • what you do
    • where you serve
    • how you will make their life better. 
    • A contact page should include your name and email. You can also embed a contact form.
    • pricing page should include full price list, the average spend or starting price. Do not leave it blank.
    • FAQs page lists frequently asked questions from your customers. 
    • Portfolio page to share your best photography work. Try to post photos that are from different photo sessions. 
    • Test your website for mobile and desktop
  • Ask a friend to review it
    • check broken links
    • Is it easy to navigate?
• CRM. You can’t run a professional wedding photography business and be taken seriously without contracts, branded emails, staying organized, etc. Honeybook is the best CRM for wedding photographers.Try Honeybook risk free and learn how to use it by following along tutorials now.
• Branding. Choose 2-3 branding colors. If you don’t know where to start, pick 1-2 neutral tones, and one color you see a lot in your editing style, but as you grow your business, you will learn more about colors and which ones you identify with most and are drawn too. You can eventually hire a branding specialist to help you with this.
  • logo design
    • Png file (transparent) in black and in white
• Branding Fonts. Choose a set of complimentary fonts and stick with it on ALL content creation and your website.
  • Pick a san serif or serif font, then choose a second one that is compatible with it. I google searched and hired a graphic design/branding specialist to help me with this part. 
• Graphic Design: Picmonkey  and Canva are graphic design programs for dummies. It already has premade graphics in different styles you can customize the colors of, shutterstock-free photos to use, and templates for print, social media, and event business cards! Creating content is endless for your wedding photography business will be endless!
  • Design your logo
  • Create mood boards for photo shoots
• Photo delivery. One of the most important programs you need to register for your wedding photography business is a photo delivery service like Shootproof. I use it to deliver photos to my clients, email them when galleries are ready, automate emails when the gallery expires, set up free downloads, restrict downloads, sell print products, and make a profit. Try Shootproof now
• COI. In other words, a Certificate of Insurance is a common requirement from venues before a wedding photographer can photograph on their property. This protects the venue and your business in case of injury caused by photography gear. Do not skimp on this. It’s a must-have investment for your wedding photography business. I use HISCOX as my liability insurance company.
• Online cloud. I still get clients from years later asking if I still have their photos and to send them. It doesn’t happen often, but I like to keep a backlog of high-resolution edits, raw files, and social media and website edits for potential blog posts. I have accounts with Dropbox primarily for one-time file-sharing situations with my 2nd shooters/ associate shooters & Smugmug for storing high-resolution jpg files.
• Sign up for business banking and consider it is not the same bank as your personal. I use Capital One for business checking with 4 accounts. Two are savings (taxes & equipment/education). Two are checking (operating expenses & marketing). Every week, I pay an ACH transfer to my Bank of America personal checking account. I also have several personal savings accounts with CITBank. 
  • Savings account: Taxes
  • Checking account: Operated Expenses
  • Checking account: Ads/Marketing
  • Savings account: Equipment/Workshops
  • Personal bank account
• Track, Budget expenses/income MONTHLY. I created a template for google sheets users and small business owners to track their budget, spending, income and how to save each month. Learn more about using the Google sheet accounting template for small business owners on Youtube before purchasing it on Etsy today
• Photo Editing: As a wedding photographer, you must have photo editing programs and skills to learn how to use them. I recommend the famous editing software by Adobe – the two apps are Lightroom & Photoshop. Lots of resources online on how to edit wedding photos. I learned on Youtube.
• Educate. No matter how experienced I am, I continue to educate and learn from others. I signed up for workshops, watched youtube influencers in the photography world to get inspired, hired mentors, attended photo walks & classes, assisted luxury wedding photographers in my area, 3rd shoot for luxury weddings, and created collaboration opportunities with local wedding vendors on styled shoots.
  • Plan a small styled shoot for your portfolio/brand
  • Watch a youtube education video 
  • Apply for an assistant/2nd shooter jobs with local wedding photographers
• Office Equipment. It’s necessary as a wedding photographer to have a computer system with a large screen for photo editing, a processing system made to handle large files, and editing apps like Adobe Lightroom & photoshop, along with a monitor calibrated for the most accurate color for editing photos that end up getting printed and posted on the web. I trust and use BenQ monitors. 
  • Is your monitor calibrated for accurate color photo editing
• Fast wifi/internet connection. Pay for the highest quality and fastest internet speeds, and you won’t regret it when uploading and downloading content for your business in an efficient time.
• Contracts and collecting retainers. You must be taken seriously as a professional photographer, even with friends. Answer FAQs in your contracts/proposals/invoicing so there’s no confusion between you and the client. Retainers are to save you from cancellations and refunds. You block your calendar for clients, so there’s no way they can reschedule or cancel and ask for refunds when this is in the contract. However, do be flexible when it comes to weather/national/local shutdowns.
  • What if the client cancels?
  • What if you cancel?
  • When can a client get a refund?
  • What is the finished product?
  • Do you deliver raw images?
  • What is the payment plan?
  • What is not refundable?
• Under promise & Over deliver. This is a customer service basic. If you think it takes 24 hours to respond to a client, tell them 72 hours and share office hours. This way, if you have a bad day off or are out of the office, you can keep your promise. But if you can respond sooner, great! It’s exceeding expectations. This is always what customers prefer too! Surprise and delight! The same goes for sending your wedding photo edits. If you think it’ll take you no more than two weeks, tell them four-six weeks, just in case! This also is a pleasant surprise to them when you can deliver it within two weeks. Trust me; this is one way to avoid burnout as a wedding photographer. It’s too stressful trying to meet deadlines during hard days in life. You have to be prepared and set those expectations with your clients. Remember, you are human too!
• Price your packages for profit when you send an invoice, and break down all the costs so they understand what they are paying. This is also great for tax purposes.
  • Cost of renting gear for a wedding day 
  • 2nd photographer pay + your editing/day of wedding management time
  • Travel (time in car, mileage, fuel, tolls, parking round trip)
  • Certificate of insurance fee
  • Time working on wedding day
    • Photo assistant + managing them on wedding day + tip
    • Your per diem meals (water, snacks) on the day of the wedding 
    • Your time for editing

Conclusion

I want EVERYONE to experience what they love to do in life and get paid for it. Despite your fears about running a wedding photography business, you will see how amazing you are at overcoming challenges and making clients trust and love your work! I encourage you never to stop educating yourself on how to be a better business owner and photographer daily!

Contact for More Photography Business Advice

Okay, so I gave you almost everything to learn how to start a wedding photography business. Want more photography business advice? I share it on Youtube! Or you can leave me an email to ask for more tips. I am happy to share anything you want or need to know so you can be a successful photography business owner too 🙂