Latest / The Preferred List: A Wedding Vendor Podcast / Episode 49 From $700 Weddings To 300 Days Behind The Camera: Lindsey Maree Photography

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Episode 49 From $700 Weddings To 300 Days Behind The Camera: Lindsey Maree Photography · The Preferred List: A Wedding Vendor Podcast

• 0:00
  SPEAKER_02: Welcome to The Preferred List, a podcast about the people behind the best wedding days.
• 0:05
  SPEAKER_02: I'm James, a wedding filmmaker.
• 0:07
  SPEAKER_02: I've spent years in the industry working alongside incredible vendors, and this show is all about the real conversations with the ones who make it happen.
• 0:15
  SPEAKER_02: Whether you're a vendor or a couple, you'll get honest insight, good stories, and maybe a little inspiration along the way.
• 0:22
  SPEAKER_02: Let's meet today's wedding vendor.
• 0:23
  SPEAKER_02: Hey Lindsay, how's it going?
• 0:24
  SPEAKER_01: Hi James, doing good.
• 0:26
  SPEAKER_01: How are you?
• 0:26
  SPEAKER_02: Good.
• 0:26
  SPEAKER_02: I'm so glad to have you on.
• 0:28
  SPEAKER_02: This podcast has been so fun, and I'm just glad that you're a part of it today.
• 0:32
  SPEAKER_02: We're gonna jump into all things photo, and we were just talking a minute ago before we hit record.
• 0:37
  SPEAKER_02: You've done like 300 weddings, all of them with your husband.
• 0:41
  SPEAKER_02: You're like traveling all over.
• 0:43
  SPEAKER_02: I'm just like so excited to get get get into all of that.
• 0:46
  SPEAKER_02: But before we do, we are still here at Birchwood Venue.
• 0:50
  SPEAKER_02: Birchwood venue is where rustic charm meets modern convenience to create the perfect wedding weekend.
• 0:57
  SPEAKER_02: That's not the weekend.
• 0:58
  SPEAKER_02: Full thing.
• 0:59
  SPEAKER_02: Nestled into Milton, Pennsylvania.
• 1:01
  SPEAKER_02: Uh Birchwood gives couples three full days to decorate, celebrate, and soak in every moment without feeling rushed.
• 1:08
  SPEAKER_02: From the Hydrangeo Line ceremony space to the beautifully restored barn, Birchwood is designed to make your day as stress-free and memorable as possible.
• 1:17
  SPEAKER_02: And if you haven't met Holly, Holly here is so great and just uh an amazing space to have a wedding day.
• 1:25
  SPEAKER_02: Um we had a wedding here last year, and it's so excited to be back filming the podcast here.
• 1:31
  SPEAKER_02: But Lindsay, Lindsay of Lindsay Marie Photography, welcome on to the podcast.
• 1:35
  SPEAKER_01: Hey, oh, and can I just say this venue is stunning?
• 1:38
  SPEAKER_01: The black barn at the backdrop of like all the fall foliage, just incredible.
• 1:43
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, I couldn't agree more.
• 1:46
  SPEAKER_02: And when it gets more fall, it just like gets crazier and crazier.
• 1:50
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 1:51
  SPEAKER_02: All the trees are turning like orange, and the sunset here is just so nice.
• 1:55
  SPEAKER_02: Um welcome on.
• 1:57
  SPEAKER_01: Hey.
• 1:59
  SPEAKER_02: Like, we're still here, we're still at the podcast.
• 2:02
  SPEAKER_02: Um, you told me right before we started that you've shot like over 300 weddings and you've done all of them pretty much with your husband by your side, husband and wife team.
• 2:12
  SPEAKER_02: Um talk to me about how how you got into photography, how you got into the wedding industry, and like where all of this started for you.
• 2:20
  SPEAKER_01: Oh boy, good question.
• 2:22
  SPEAKER_01: Um, so I always loved photography.
• 2:27
  SPEAKER_01: Um, but I never really thought it was like a viable career option for myself.
• 2:31
  SPEAKER_01: It was one of those things where like I wanted to do it, but my parents were like, okay, that's great.
• 2:36
  SPEAKER_01: But like, let's you should go be a doctor or a lawyer or something like that.
• 2:40
  SPEAKER_00: Have a real job.
• 2:41
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, exactly.
• 2:42
  SPEAKER_01: Um, so then I started down the path, actually went to Messiah College.
• 2:46
  SPEAKER_01: Um, I went for sociology and anthropology because I really love the TV show Bones.
• 2:53
  SPEAKER_01: So I wanted to be, kind of wanted to be a forensic anthropologist.
• 2:57
  SPEAKER_01: Um so that was gonna be like not photography.
• 3:00
  SPEAKER_02: Not photography.
• 3:01
  SPEAKER_01: That was gonna be like my real job, but I also like won competitions for photography in high school.
• 3:07
  SPEAKER_01: Um, and then I was like spent all of my graduation money on a camera.
• 3:12
  SPEAKER_01: So, like, okay, Lindsay, like, you know, uh, there's a certain pattern.
• 3:18
  SPEAKER_02: And you're like, nah bones.
• 3:19
  SPEAKER_02: Oh, let's not do it.
• 3:20
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, bones.
• 3:21
  SPEAKER_01: Um, exactly.
• 3:22
  SPEAKER_01: And um, yeah, and then you know, I met my husband and he was so encouraging of the career.
• 3:29
  SPEAKER_01: And he's like, hey, you know, um, I started out in life insurance actually, once I graduated, but he was like, Hey, you know, this is what you love to do.
• 3:38
  SPEAKER_01: Like, I can work and support us, and you just do your thing and like let's give this an honest college try.
• 3:45
  SPEAKER_01: So um, yeah, so that's what we did.
• 3:48
  SPEAKER_01: And he supported us, and I did 25 weddings at$700 a piece that first year.
• 3:55
  SPEAKER_01: So not a lot of money, but a lot of uh a lot of wedding.
• 3:59
  SPEAKER_02: A lot of experience, a lot of exposure, like a ton of experience, yeah.
• 4:02
  SPEAKER_01: Um, and then yeah, it's been that was 2017, my first year full time.
• 4:07
  SPEAKER_02: And uh so funny how many wedding vendors I've talked to that started like 2017, 2018, 20, like right in that like pocket of time.
• 4:16
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 4:16
  SPEAKER_02: It's so funny.
• 4:17
  SPEAKER_02: So you jumped in and did 25 right off the bat.
• 4:20
  SPEAKER_01: I did.
• 4:21
  SPEAKER_02: Like, tell me more about that first year.
• 4:24
  SPEAKER_01: Um, okay.
• 4:24
  SPEAKER_01: So actually before I went full time, I did a couple part-time.
• 4:29
  SPEAKER_01: Um, and my first couple weddings were just like I didn't have hourly packages.
• 4:33
  SPEAKER_01: Um, I just uh it was, you know, we were driving out to Pittsburgh, we were driving out to these different cities, and we were doing like 13, 14 hour days and charging a couple hundred bucks and great exposure, amazing couples.
• 4:49
  SPEAKER_01: Um, but yeah, and then like the first year, I was so I honestly had a mental breakdown the first year about September because I just didn't, I was so not used to the stress of it.
• 4:59
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 4:59
  SPEAKER_01: Um, but yeah, it's way more stressful than people talk about.
• 5:03
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 5:03
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 5:03
  SPEAKER_02: Oh, that's accurate.
• 5:05
  SPEAKER_02: Uh those that first year of 25.
• 5:10
  SPEAKER_02: Uh I mean, that's a lot of weddings.
• 5:13
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 5:13
  SPEAKER_02: Even for now, like if someone has 25 or 30 weddings, like that's maybe 20 to 30, we would consider kind of like a full year.
• 5:23
  SPEAKER_02: Um, where did you find all of those couples that first year?
• 5:26
  SPEAKER_01: So I started on the knot, and that was that was a really big thing for me.
• 5:31
  SPEAKER_01: And then just kind of the snowball effect of Facebook and marketing that way, um, and word of mouth.
• 5:37
  SPEAKER_01: And when you're so cheap, um, you know, it's not hard to get people to hire you.
• 5:44
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, yeah.
• 5:44
  SPEAKER_02: No, that's so true.
• 5:46
  SPEAKER_02: But did you find yourself kind of like curating some certain looks or like a style in that time?
• 5:55
  SPEAKER_01: So in the beginning, I was very like natural, true to color.
• 6:00
  SPEAKER_01: Um, and then it's evolved over time.
• 6:03
  SPEAKER_01: For a while, it was more light and airy.
• 6:05
  SPEAKER_01: For a while it was more punchy, and now we've kind of like toned back that punchy just a little bit to kind of fit more into like what people are looking for now.
• 6:14
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 6:15
  SPEAKER_02: And I have to imagine, like, you kind of jumped off the diving board into the deep end.
• 6:21
  SPEAKER_01: Oh, yeah.
• 6:22
  SPEAKER_02: I what are some of those things that you remember learning at those first couple weddings where you're like, oh, I did not realize that this was a part of wedding photography or like this was a part of wedding photography?
• 6:34
  SPEAKER_01: Um, I would say really, like the management of people is so much more a part of it than you realize.
• 6:41
  SPEAKER_01: And like managing a timeline, managing because like we're not wedding planners, but as far as like keeping the timeline on track, you do kind of have to function as one if there's not a wedding planner there.
• 6:52
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 6:53
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 6:53
  SPEAKER_02: For sure.
• 6:54
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, it's on you most of the time to keep things running.
• 6:58
  SPEAKER_02: Um, what's some of the bigger things that have changed for you from that first year of 25 weddings at 700 bucks each to what you guys are doing now or even like last year and like what's coming up?
• 7:12
  SPEAKER_01: I would say we're able to be a lot more intentional now.
• 7:14
  SPEAKER_01: Um, we kind of have, you know, the workflow is streamlined, um, which is awesome.
• 7:20
  SPEAKER_01: So we're not fumbling around with that.
• 7:22
  SPEAKER_01: Um, and now like just figuring out how to genuinely have connections with our couples and like eat treat each one uniquely and individually.
• 7:32
  SPEAKER_01: Um, and then yeah, just our work has gotten also a lot more, I'm gonna say documentary style because I think that's a term that people are kind of understanding now, um, versus like so stiff and posed, which is a lot more of what we were doing in the beginning.
• 7:47
  SPEAKER_02: Oh, okay.
• 7:47
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 7:48
  SPEAKER_02: Could you explain to those listening or watching that like don't know what documentary means?
• 7:53
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 7:53
  SPEAKER_02: Because even honestly, I feel like sometimes people say documentary and they mean one thing, and then someone else could say it and they mean like a completely different thing.
• 8:02
  SPEAKER_01: Right.
• 8:02
  SPEAKER_01: So for us, it's like a very mixed uh bag of you know, the can actual candid shots, um, but also kind of like a posed candid, but basically like we're out to create memories within your pictures.
• 8:17
  SPEAKER_01: Like we don't just want to have you like stand and smile at the camera, sort of thing.
• 8:22
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, yeah.
• 8:22
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 8:22
  SPEAKER_02: So you're you're not like not posing people, correct.
• 8:27
  SPEAKER_02: But you are sort of like in that document style, capturing those memories.
• 8:32
  SPEAKER_01: It's a mixed bag, yeah.
• 8:34
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, for sure.
• 8:35
  SPEAKER_02: Do you find that um couples that you guys are often working with are like super comfortable in front of the camera?
• 8:42
  SPEAKER_02: Are they kind of like, uh, I don't know about this whole thing?
• 8:45
  SPEAKER_01: Well, they say that they're not comfortable in front of the camera, but then when we get working with them, I'm like, okay.
• 8:51
  SPEAKER_01: I don't like you guys are so cute in front of the camera, and it just they're everyone's a natural in front of the camera.
• 8:58
  SPEAKER_01: At least, you know, the couples that we work with, and they feel like they're not, but then like just be yourself and it's fine.
• 9:04
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, no, I love that.
• 9:06
  SPEAKER_02: Um, when you got started, you you've used all your graduation money to buy a camera.
• 9:11
  SPEAKER_02: Um, but your husband was like the one that was like, no, you like go out and do this, give it your best shot.
• 9:19
  SPEAKER_02: When you were like going out and doing it, giving your best shot.
• 9:23
  SPEAKER_02: What was your mindset there?
• 9:24
  SPEAKER_02: Like, what were you trying to do?
• 9:26
  SPEAKER_02: Were you trying to just see if something would stick, or like, did you have like a good like business plan to get started?
• 9:32
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, I mean, uh business plan, no.
• 9:35
  SPEAKER_01: Um, it it was just like one of those things that it was like, you know, I'm well, we got married when I was 20.
• 9:43
  SPEAKER_01: So then this is me being 21 years old, quitting my job, losing my health insurance, and doing it full time.
• 9:50
  SPEAKER_01: So yeah, so we were like, okay, like we're gonna make it work, like whatever it takes.
• 9:55
  SPEAKER_01: Um, like this is kind of my one shot to make my dream happen, and let's do it.
• 10:01
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 10:01
  SPEAKER_01: So um, yeah, and then and then Jason was with me for every single wedding, and he's been with me for, yeah, all 300.
• 10:10
  SPEAKER_01: And I never, I mean, I guess that just kind of happened organically too.
• 10:16
  SPEAKER_01: We never really had a conversation about it.
• 10:18
  SPEAKER_01: It was just kind of he started out like the first one with me, and then we started booking weddings, and I was like, well, I need a second shooter, and we want to spend time together.
• 10:29
  SPEAKER_01: And yeah, and he's gotten so much better over the years.
• 10:31
  SPEAKER_01: I'm not saying he was bad when it started, but Jason, you might have been a little rough at the start.
• 10:36
  SPEAKER_01: Well, I was a little rough at the start too.
• 10:38
  SPEAKER_02: No, that's so fun.
• 10:39
  SPEAKER_02: I I do feel like a lot of couples enjoy the like husband-wife team element.
• 10:45
  SPEAKER_02: Do you find that a lot of couples are like, oh, you shoot with your husband, that's so cool.
• 10:48
  SPEAKER_02: We like that.
• 10:49
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 10:49
  SPEAKER_01: Well, what's great is like he can go with the guys for getting ready photos while I go with the ladies, and then we can kind of divide and conquer, but like during, you know, bridesmaids, groomsman photos as well.
• 10:59
  SPEAKER_01: So it's a lot of like being able to divide and conquer on the day.
• 11:02
  SPEAKER_02: Do you always shoot with two photographers?
• 11:05
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 11:05
  SPEAKER_01: Unless a couple specifically requests that there's only one.
• 11:09
  SPEAKER_01: Like um, a couple weeks ago, they wanted a custom collection, flew in from New Mexico to a Lope in Middleburg, Pennsylvania.
• 11:17
  SPEAKER_01: And um, yeah.
• 11:18
  SPEAKER_01: They were just like, Yeah, we would need one photographer for two hours.
• 11:22
  SPEAKER_01: And I was like, okay.
• 11:23
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, I'm like, I can do that.
• 11:25
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 11:25
  SPEAKER_02: Um, I'm just curious if you could like kind of lay out the case for couples that are listening of like, why have two photographers?
• 11:34
  SPEAKER_02: Like, what's the what's the benefit?
• 11:36
  SPEAKER_02: I know we we could split up a little bit, but is there more than just like divide and conquer?
• 11:40
  SPEAKER_01: More photos.
• 11:41
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, just like that's gonna increase your photo count, multiple angles on, you know, basically everything.
• 11:47
  SPEAKER_01: Um, yeah, and then just kind of having like you know, a second person that is able like it everything moves faster when there's two people.
• 11:57
  SPEAKER_01: Um, so you're just able to transition a lot faster from one part of the day to the next.
• 12:02
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, yeah.
• 12:03
  SPEAKER_02: And the backup element of it, yeah.
• 12:06
  SPEAKER_02: For for me, I love knowing there's another person with another camera totally separate from mine, capturing the same thing.
• 12:13
  SPEAKER_02: If something weird happens, the redundancy is just God forbid something happens, but if it does, like there is another person there capturing the same thing.
• 12:21
  SPEAKER_01: Absolutely.
• 12:22
  SPEAKER_02: Um so when you're uh in the the midst of like the wedding day, is there was there ever a part of it at the early stages you're like you know, this is this is what I'm supposed to be doing?
• 12:36
  SPEAKER_02: Like, you know, continuing on because in the early stages, I'm sure for most business owners that are starting out, it's like is this even a viable option for me?
• 12:46
  SPEAKER_02: Like, is it gonna work out?
• 12:47
  SPEAKER_02: Was there a moment that you're like, no, this is the thing that I'm supposed to be doing?
• 12:51
  SPEAKER_01: So that whole first year was hard.
• 12:55
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, it was good, but it was hard.
• 12:57
  SPEAKER_01: I would say honestly, for us, the moment that really clicked was 2018.
• 13:03
  SPEAKER_01: We shot our first elopement, and that was in the Pennsylvania Grand Canyon.
• 13:07
  SPEAKER_01: And I was like standing there and I was basically in tears, and I was like, yes, this is it.
• 13:12
  SPEAKER_01: Like, this is the thing, you know, that that mixture of like the outdoors, which I love, and working with couples, and it's just like the perfect storm of all the things, you know, the thing that I'm good at, the thing that I love, and you know, how I'm able to kind of like serve people in the world in that way.
• 13:31
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, yeah.
• 13:32
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, I have to imagine.
• 13:33
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, that sounds epic.
• 13:35
  SPEAKER_02: Uh, we don't do really any elopements.
• 13:38
  SPEAKER_02: Um, it's not that I don't want to, but we just, you know, you kind of market yourself in a certain way.
• 13:43
  SPEAKER_02: It sounds like you guys do quite a few elopements.
• 13:46
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 13:47
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 13:47
  SPEAKER_01: Um, we've done elotements in Washington State, Idaho, um Glacier National Park, Shenandoah National Park, Acadia National Park.
• 13:59
  SPEAKER_01: Um so yeah, we've been a lot of people.
• 14:02
  SPEAKER_02: What is it for couples that are like considering elopement, doing an elopement?
• 14:08
  SPEAKER_02: What is it about an elopement that like seems like couples like, hey, this would be a good fit for you if you are this type of person or that type of person or looking for this type of experience?
• 14:20
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 14:21
  SPEAKER_01: Um, I would say if your love for the outdoors is greater than your oh, this is this is gonna be a controversial take.
• 14:32
  SPEAKER_01: Uh-huh.
• 14:32
  SPEAKER_01: Um, if your love for the outdoors is greater than your love of trying to impress your neighbors and your parents, friends, um, you should elope.
• 14:44
  SPEAKER_01: And you can elope with like 40 people.
• 14:46
  SPEAKER_02: Like it doesn't have to be you know you're not saying like no party, you're just saying a very specific group of people.
• 14:52
  SPEAKER_02: Small people.
• 14:53
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, small, small group of people.
• 14:55
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, small group, yeah.
• 14:56
  SPEAKER_02: We know what you meant.
• 14:57
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, yeah.
• 14:59
  SPEAKER_02: So uh it it does feel like a lot of elopements are are very heavy on the nature side of it.
• 15:05
  SPEAKER_02: Is there a part of elopements that's like not necessarily like super nature heavy, but still like super intentional?
• 15:12
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 15:12
  SPEAKER_01: So like you can elope in, you can do like a courthouse elopement.
• 15:16
  SPEAKER_01: Um, I mean, we're we're talking to a couple right now who they're doing like a backyard Airbnb elopement in Conestoga, Pennsylvania.
• 15:25
  SPEAKER_01: Um, so then and they're also gonna do some sort of a hike on the wedding day.
• 15:29
  SPEAKER_01: Um, but like, yeah, you can just get together in a backyard and Airbnb with like 20 people and it's a lot slower, more intentional, and you just don't have to worry about like, I don't know, making sure 150 people are happy with whatever the DJ's playing, you know?
• 15:44
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, for sure.
• 15:45
  SPEAKER_02: No, I think it's so fun.
• 15:46
  SPEAKER_02: Uh does I I would imagine the the sorts of images that you're getting from an elopement are maybe different in some way than a traditional wedding day.
• 15:56
  SPEAKER_02: Can you kind of lay out like like what how are they different?
• 16:00
  SPEAKER_01: Obviously, they're a lot more nature focused, right?
• 16:03
  SPEAKER_01: Um like a lot of the times on an elopement day, you're not gonna have a bridal party.
• 16:09
  SPEAKER_01: So you're not gonna get those types of photos.
• 16:12
  SPEAKER_01: Um, yeah, it's a lot more of the two of you.
• 16:15
  SPEAKER_01: You're not getting a ton of dancing photos typically.
• 16:18
  SPEAKER_01: You're not getting like a lot of traditional reception photos, except sometimes you are.
• 16:23
  SPEAKER_01: Um, but yeah, it's just a lot more of I would say the the two of you and uh your experience on the wedding day together.
• 16:30
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 16:31
  SPEAKER_02: How has your like sort of style approach changed over the years?
• 16:37
  SPEAKER_02: I mean, you can kind of reference a little bit of the elopement stuff, but just like more in general, like your photography style, like from those first.
• 16:43
  SPEAKER_02: I know you kind of mentioned a little bit of like the editing style, but even just like approach, has it sort of stayed the same, or has it kind of gone through like a lot of different like kind of uh eras, basically?
• 16:55
  SPEAKER_01: It has.
• 16:55
  SPEAKER_01: Um, I would say I feel like a lot of photographers try to squeeze their couple into their posing style.
• 17:06
  SPEAKER_01: I feel like the way we approach posing is very much indicative of like who our couples are as people.
• 17:15
  SPEAKER_01: And that's why we offer like a free engagement session with every wedding because we want to get to know you.
• 17:19
  SPEAKER_01: Like, if you are quote unquote a little more awkward in front of the camera, I'm not gonna be posing you like you're in vogue.
• 17:26
  SPEAKER_01: You know what I mean?
• 17:27
  SPEAKER_01: We're gonna be doing a lot more simple posing, we're gonna be doing a lot more like natural, um, natural feeling posing and just bringing a lot more joy to the posing than just, you know, if if you're a little more comfortable in front of the camera, we can do a little bit some different stuff.
• 17:44
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, yeah.
• 17:45
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, no, that makes sense.
• 17:46
  SPEAKER_02: I I just feel like there's there's like a creative journey that we're on as like creatives in the wedding vendor space.
• 17:55
  SPEAKER_02: Like there's a part of it where it's like my wedding films from 2018 probably look and feel nothing like the ones that I'm making now.
• 18:03
  SPEAKER_02: Um, and it's just so funny to see like what has impacted that kind of creative journey, but then we're also on like a business journey too, like over the course of time.
• 18:13
  SPEAKER_02: Like business has up and downs, it it goes this way, it goes that way, you have new experiences, and um you know, it's just fun to see like that kind of journey that we've been on.
• 18:25
  SPEAKER_01: Like, I would say my business is totally different, like pre-2020 and post-2020.
• 18:31
  SPEAKER_01: Like that was kind of the the distinguishing year, um, like the refining fire for a lot of wedding vendors, right?
• 18:39
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, it it just was.
• 18:41
  SPEAKER_01: Um, but I think it's just a numbers game too, in that like, you know, the more weddings you shoot and have done, the more you know to look for little moments.
• 18:49
  SPEAKER_01: Because um, you know, when you're in the beginning, you don't know how wedding days are running, you don't know how to anticipate different moments.
• 18:56
  SPEAKER_01: And so, like, candids are a numbers game almost.
• 19:00
  SPEAKER_02: I mean, it sounds like what you're saying is like you're being intentional with the way that you're working with the people that are in front of you.
• 19:04
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 19:05
  SPEAKER_02: And to me, that sounds like it kind of stands out from like you said, photographers that are like, hey, do this pose that I do with everyone.
• 19:14
  SPEAKER_02: Right.
• 19:14
  SPEAKER_02: Or do this thing that I do with everyone.
• 19:16
  SPEAKER_02: Is there any other part of your approach or your your service that feel like you feel like differentiates you from other photographers in the area?
• 19:25
  SPEAKER_02: Because there's a lot of photographers.
• 19:26
  SPEAKER_02: I know.
• 19:26
  SPEAKER_02: No offense to all you, but there's a lot of you guys out there.
• 19:29
  SPEAKER_02: Um, is there anything else that you feel like kind of sets you apart?
• 19:34
  SPEAKER_01: I also feel like we're very personable.
• 19:36
  SPEAKER_01: Um, not like other photographers aren't, but we actually do look to like get to know our couples and like create like some of my best friends are past wedding couples.
• 19:45
  SPEAKER_01: So like we do actually look to keep a like a maintain a relationship there with people um over time.
• 19:51
  SPEAKER_01: And we actually do care about like your marriage and investing in that.
• 19:54
  SPEAKER_01: So whatever that looks like, like in the long haul, yeah.
• 19:58
  SPEAKER_01: And then we do care about physical product too.
• 20:01
  SPEAKER_01: So we do have a lot of packages that offer physical product on the back end of things.
• 20:05
  SPEAKER_01: So prints, albums, all that good stuff.
• 20:08
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 20:08
  SPEAKER_02: So what's the what's the benefit for a couple?
• 20:11
  SPEAKER_02: I mean, you can kind of like give me like the little elevator pitch for like why why print the photos?
• 20:19
  SPEAKER_01: Um, you know, the thing about a USB drive is they corrupt.
• 20:25
  SPEAKER_01: Um, you know, your photos aren't gonna be online forever.
• 20:30
  SPEAKER_01: Like your grandkids don't want to pull out your crusty old USB drive and like click through your photos.
• 20:37
  SPEAKER_01: Um, they want to look at like a physical, I don't know, something.
• 20:41
  SPEAKER_01: Um yeah, yeah.
• 20:44
  SPEAKER_01: And then you can just you can like you're gonna look at I think a physical album a lot more than you're gonna look at, you know, your USB drive.
• 20:51
  SPEAKER_01: That's just me.
• 20:52
  SPEAKER_01: I don't know.
• 20:52
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 20:53
  SPEAKER_02: Well, I think there's there's something different about having it physically like in your hands.
• 20:57
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 20:58
  SPEAKER_02: That's the one thing I wish like video, the video side had more of like a like physical in your hands kind of feeling.
• 21:06
  SPEAKER_02: Right.
• 21:06
  SPEAKER_02: Um, that you guys get to like have these prints made.
• 21:10
  SPEAKER_02: Um, and having that kind of like sitting out at the coffee table, or even just like the ability to, like you said, pass it down, having like a chance to let other, whether it's family or friends, like experience uh those memories in a different way.
• 21:27
  SPEAKER_02: So super fun.
• 21:28
  SPEAKER_02: Um is is there advice that you have for couples when they're in that like planning process or trying to find like the right photographer?
• 21:37
  SPEAKER_02: Like what do you wish that they knew before trying to hire someone like you or even things that they should look out for, like red flags?
• 21:46
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, that's a great question.
• 21:48
  SPEAKER_01: Um I I would say be wary of looking for too many uh trending things.
• 21:57
  SPEAKER_01: Um I have no issue with the trend.
• 22:00
  SPEAKER_01: But at the same time, like how's that trend gonna age?
• 22:05
  SPEAKER_01: Also be thinking of how your photos are gonna age.
• 22:08
  SPEAKER_01: Like, if you, you know, I don't know if you remember, but like the Matt style of 2015, like Matt photos, they were all the rage.
• 22:15
  SPEAKER_01: And um, that was very trendy.
• 22:17
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, I know.
• 22:19
  SPEAKER_01: And um, so just kind of looking at an editing style that you think is gonna be timeless.
• 22:23
  SPEAKER_01: Um, and then it's also finding people that you feel super comfortable with because your photographer is with you basically the whole day.
• 22:29
  SPEAKER_01: Um, so yeah, yeah.
• 22:33
  SPEAKER_02: They are there all day.
• 22:35
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, and like if there's someone you don't jive with or you feel really weird around, like you don't want that person, you know.
• 22:41
  SPEAKER_01: I don't know.
• 22:41
  SPEAKER_01: You want you're not gonna be wanting wanting to walk around with that person and spend time with your significant other with that person, kind of third wheeling, you know?
• 22:49
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, yeah, for sure.
• 22:51
  SPEAKER_02: And there's also other vendors you end up working with, like throughout the day, videographers, um, probably more closely than maybe others, but like they have coordinators, DJs.
• 23:01
  SPEAKER_02: Sometimes we have to kind of be, you know, working alongside.
• 23:05
  SPEAKER_02: So you you end up working alongside tons of different vendors throughout the day.
• 23:09
  SPEAKER_02: And often, like, I when I walk in to whatever the getting ready space, the photographers already there, or they come later, I'm like, hey, how's it going?
• 23:18
  SPEAKER_02: Nice to meet you.
• 23:19
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 23:19
  SPEAKER_02: And then we spend the whole day working alongside each other.
• 23:22
  SPEAKER_02: I'm just curious, like, what's how does that go well?
• 23:26
  SPEAKER_02: What can we do as vendors, or or you know, on our side of it or on your side of it?
• 23:32
  SPEAKER_02: Like, how does that work well?
• 23:34
  SPEAKER_02: Because we we have to make it work.
• 23:36
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 23:37
  SPEAKER_01: Um, I think just being honest about your goals with each other and um yeah, just making it about the couple as much as possible.
• 23:45
  SPEAKER_01: Um, because like, you know, every video team, every photo team has the goals of things that they're trying to capture.
• 23:52
  SPEAKER_01: Um, and just like being honest with each other and taking a step back from your ego, I want to say, and being like, nope, this is about this is all about them.
• 24:01
  SPEAKER_01: So no matter what, if you even if you had butt heads or whatever, um, yeah.
• 24:07
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, I mean, hopefully the vendors are there for the right reason.
• 24:11
  SPEAKER_02: Sometimes they're not.
• 24:13
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 24:13
  SPEAKER_02: Um, and I mean, honestly, it feels like sometimes we we don't really know until we're there, or couples might not know until like the day of.
• 24:21
  SPEAKER_02: But do you feel like there's any red flags that you've noticed for vendor, like couples would be like, hey, if if a vendor is doing or saying this, like run the other way as fast as you can.
• 24:33
  SPEAKER_01: Oh man, not all big companies are problematic, but a lot of the issues that I have seen have been with big companies, like people who you are not communicating with the actual person that's gonna be there on the day.
• 24:51
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 24:51
  SPEAKER_01: That's where I've seen the most issues personally.
• 24:56
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 24:56
  SPEAKER_02: I mean, it's interesting to me because in in our category of vendor, it's so hands-on with the couple day of, even some hands-on before the day of.
• 25:09
  SPEAKER_02: You don't know who that person's gonna be.
• 25:10
  SPEAKER_02: Like they could make or break the vibe of the morning, of the couple session, of whatever other moment throughout the day.
• 25:18
  SPEAKER_00: Right.
• 25:18
  SPEAKER_02: Um are there other things that's like, hey, couples, it's like you just gotta be watching out for these types of responses.
• 25:28
  SPEAKER_02: It's gonna kind of throw that red flag for you.
• 25:30
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, like uh lack of response is a little crazy, which and like I also think grace needs to be given in the hot wedding months, right?
• 25:39
  SPEAKER_01: Like September and October.
• 25:40
  SPEAKER_01: Like, if a vendor doesn't respond in like three days or over a weekend, give a little bit of grace with that.
• 25:45
  SPEAKER_01: But if it's like two, three weeks, I don't know, maybe move on to the next person.
• 25:48
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 25:49
  SPEAKER_01: Um, just lack of responsiveness, I would say.
• 25:52
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, if you're not hearing back, I mean, it's probably not gonna get any better.
• 25:56
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, right.
• 25:57
  SPEAKER_02: I can't imagine it's gonna get any better.
• 25:59
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 25:59
  SPEAKER_02: There's bound to be conflict or things that pop up throughout the day.
• 26:04
  SPEAKER_02: Um, I'm just curious, like, how are you handling kind of those last-minute change-ups or things that like kind of go awry throughout the wedding day?
• 26:12
  SPEAKER_01: Oh, I mean, that's for us, I would say we're very flexible.
• 26:16
  SPEAKER_01: That's really no issue.
• 26:17
  SPEAKER_01: Um, yeah, you just kind of have to go with the flow and things go crazy.
• 26:25
  SPEAKER_01: You know, schedules get switched up.
• 26:28
  SPEAKER_01: And um, you know, one of the things is if a couple wants to say like golden hour photos and golden hours earlier than we thought it was going to be, you know, we kind of work with the DJ and say, like, hey, this is you know what we're gonna, how about we like switch up the schedule a little bit?
• 26:43
  SPEAKER_01: And most of the time they're pretty accommodating to that.
• 26:46
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 26:46
  SPEAKER_01: If they're not, then you know, that's gonna be a different issue.
• 26:50
  SPEAKER_01: But most of the time they're relaxed and um willing to work with each other.
• 26:54
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, I mean, we just I don't know when this is gonna be out, but we had a wedding a couple weeks ago.
• 26:59
  SPEAKER_02: It was it the the exact thing happened where we pulled a couple early because the sunset was like kind of it was like kind of cloudy, but there was a little bit of sun left.
• 27:10
  SPEAKER_02: It's like, hey, if we gotta go now or we're not gonna have it.
• 27:13
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 27:14
  SPEAKER_02: Um and like you said, we just had that conversation.
• 27:17
  SPEAKER_02: The dude was super chill.
• 27:18
  SPEAKER_02: He's like, Yeah, go ahead.
• 27:19
  SPEAKER_02: We'll just keep some music playing and we'll open the dance floor when you guys get back.
• 27:22
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 27:22
  SPEAKER_02: But I do feel like if you just have the conversation, ask the question, generally, you know, you can figure out, like, hey, if it's not now, when's gonna work for you?
• 27:31
  SPEAKER_02: Right.
• 27:32
  SPEAKER_01: And you gotta approach it in the right way too.
• 27:34
  SPEAKER_01: Like, I mean, I think wedding vendors as a whole, I think it's a good idea for us to just exhibit humility with each other.
• 27:42
  SPEAKER_01: Um and just acknowledge that, like, you know, yeah, I'm the wedding photographer and you're a wedding videographer.
• 27:49
  SPEAKER_01: We do think that we have the most tend to think we have the most important job.
• 27:52
  SPEAKER_01: But um, you know, it's a matter of uh, you know, working with the DJ, who also, you know, his job is to keep the party going and working with the caterer and just having that humility to be like, everyone here is getting paid, and we all have a job to do and just working with each other.
• 28:08
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, for sure.
• 28:09
  SPEAKER_02: And it and it feels like if if we're all focused on the couple, then there's gonna be times where we can give and take and make sure that the day runs smoothly or that the couple isn't noticing any sort of like hiccups if there are any.
• 28:23
  SPEAKER_02: Um, I love it.
• 28:24
  SPEAKER_02: It's like I didn't even know that that was 30 minutes behind and now we're we're good on the timeline or something like that.
• 28:30
  SPEAKER_02: There's bound to be people listening, uh, couples or vendors, maybe vendors that are just starting out that are like, how do I package my services?
• 28:41
  SPEAKER_02: Like, what do I do?
• 28:42
  SPEAKER_02: What do I put them with?
• 28:44
  SPEAKER_02: I'm curious if you could like just run us through like what were they maybe when you first started versus like what they are now, what you'd look out for, what you'd recommend.
• 28:53
  SPEAKER_01: Right.
• 28:53
  SPEAKER_01: So when we first started, uh we had no hours on our packages, and we did that for about two, three, four years.
• 29:00
  SPEAKER_01: Like we did that for now, that's a lie.
• 29:03
  SPEAKER_01: Probably about two years, maybe three years with no hours on the packages.
• 29:07
  SPEAKER_01: And then that just kind of started to look like I'm not gonna say abuse because it wasn't abuse, but like we were doing like 18-hour days with travel.
• 29:19
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 29:19
  SPEAKER_01: Um, and then we were kind of like, okay, we're gonna, we're gonna add hours to the packages.
• 29:25
  SPEAKER_01: So that's essential, I would say.
• 29:27
  SPEAKER_01: Um and then so now like our base package, everyone includes an engagement session because we we just love working with a couple ahead of time and like getting to know, like I kind of said, like their posing style.
• 29:39
  SPEAKER_01: Um, so the everyone includes an engagement session, but our packages are now um seven hours, and that's online gallery uh engagement session.
• 29:49
  SPEAKER_01: Nine hours that includes prints, and then 11 hours, and then that's prints, album, and then a really large print.
• 29:57
  SPEAKER_01: So yeah.
• 29:59
  SPEAKER_02: And it's are they all seven hours?
• 30:00
  SPEAKER_01: Is this seven, nine, eleven?
• 30:02
  SPEAKER_01: Gotcha.
• 30:03
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 30:03
  SPEAKER_02: Okay.
• 30:03
  SPEAKER_01: And I mean, really, you don't need more than 11 hours typically, but if you have like you're getting ready at one place, you have a church wedding somewhere else, and then you know, if you guys are raging until midnight, yeah, you can add additional hours on if you really want that.
• 30:17
  SPEAKER_01: But you also need to think like, do you want to be photographed at midnight on your wedding day?
• 30:23
  SPEAKER_02: Maybe.
• 30:24
  SPEAKER_02: Maybe maybe if you're out there and you want it, yeah.
• 30:26
  SPEAKER_01: Wild, yeah.
• 30:27
  SPEAKER_02: Um, it is it is interesting though, because I do feel like there's couples that are like, ah, but I want the getting ready, but I also have an exit at 10.
• 30:35
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 30:35
  SPEAKER_02: And it's like, man, how do you like what's your advice for like what chunk of time or how do they pick like between seven, nine, and eleven?
• 30:45
  SPEAKER_02: I know there's other stuff that's in there too, but like that seems like the biggest differentiating factors, like the time day of.
• 30:51
  SPEAKER_01: So our most popular collect collection is um our Sycamore collection.
• 30:56
  SPEAKER_01: It's nine hours.
• 30:57
  SPEAKER_01: Um thanks.
• 30:58
  SPEAKER_01: Uh so yeah, so um my husband, uh, we had been talking about it earlier, but he's an arborist.
• 31:04
  SPEAKER_01: So in his nine to five, um, he runs his own business, Arborassassin.
• 31:09
  SPEAKER_01: Um, shout out Jason, shout out Arbor Assassin.
• 31:12
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, we'll link that down below.
• 31:15
  SPEAKER_01: Um, but yeah, so then he is an arborist.
• 31:18
  SPEAKER_01: So then our our collections are the pine collection, the sycamore, and the great oak.
• 31:22
  SPEAKER_01: Um, as those trees actually are they get bigger and wider as they yeah.
• 31:27
  SPEAKER_02: So that's our I was gonna say, is he like loving the oak trees more than the other trees?
• 31:31
  SPEAKER_02: But no, just the size.
• 31:34
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, yeah, that's that's literally what it is.
• 31:36
  SPEAKER_01: Like he gets he gets paid for the tree no matter what.
• 31:39
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 31:41
  SPEAKER_02: It doesn't matter.
• 31:42
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 31:42
  SPEAKER_02: Um, no, that's so fun.
• 31:44
  SPEAKER_02: So you didn't have any hours, now you've kind of like crafted.
• 31:49
  SPEAKER_02: Um, has it taken some time to kind of get that situated and figure out what works?
• 31:55
  SPEAKER_01: It definitely has.
• 31:56
  SPEAKER_01: Um, and yeah, like our sycamore or the nine hours is our most popular collection.
• 32:02
  SPEAKER_01: Um and still, even with that, you do kind of have to decide like for yourself, are the hair and makeup pictures or the, you know, the end of the evening, which is more important for you?
• 32:14
  SPEAKER_01: Um and sometimes couples are like, hey, I don't need a ton of hair and makeup pictures.
• 32:19
  SPEAKER_01: Honestly, valid, but you know, it's good to have a couple.
• 32:23
  SPEAKER_01: Um, and some people are like, hey, I probably don't need three hours of dancing photos, which again, very valid.
• 32:30
  SPEAKER_01: You might not need that.
• 32:31
  SPEAKER_02: You just need to decide how important that exit if you have an exit.
• 32:36
  SPEAKER_02: Oh, yeah.
• 32:36
  SPEAKER_02: Like if that is important, then yeah, we need to be there for that three hours of fun dancing, even if you don't want necessarily to have the three hours of fun dancing.
• 32:44
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 32:45
  SPEAKER_02: Because that end if that is the moment that you need to have, just have that conversation and and let us know.
• 32:52
  SPEAKER_02: And we can like you can figure that out.
• 32:55
  SPEAKER_01: It sounds like but it's also like how much how worth it is it to give up other elements of the day for that extra dancing time.
• 33:06
  SPEAKER_01: You know, like we've had couples who did the private last dance and they had like a friend video it.
• 33:12
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 33:13
  SPEAKER_01: And that's I mean, it's a private last dance, so that checks out.
• 33:17
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, I and I'm not against the private last dance, I really love it.
• 33:21
  SPEAKER_01: Um, but you just kind of have to decide for yourself how you want to allot your time on your wedding day.
• 33:25
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, no, it makes sense.
• 33:26
  SPEAKER_02: It I think it's a hard decision to make.
• 33:28
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 33:29
  SPEAKER_02: Um do you have advice for couples because they they have to make it before maybe they know all of the pieces.
• 33:36
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 33:36
  SPEAKER_02: A lot of times.
• 33:38
  SPEAKER_02: Do you have advice for kind of like, are there kind of camps of of like, hey, if you're this type of couple that like six or seven hours is really gonna just like fit the bill.
• 33:47
  SPEAKER_02: If you're this type of couple that like nine or ten hours is like you need to kind of bump up to more time.
• 33:53
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, definitely if there's travel on the wedding day, I think you need more time.
• 33:56
  SPEAKER_01: Um, if everything's all in one spot, you can go either way, like seven, eight, nine hours, that's fine.
• 34:02
  SPEAKER_01: Um, travel's a big deal.
• 34:04
  SPEAKER_01: And then just kind of like, you know, if you feel like you want time on your wedding day where you're not conscious of a camera around you, like you kind of want more.
• 34:16
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, a little bit of space.
• 34:17
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, like know that ahead of time, and we can do less.
• 34:21
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 34:21
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 34:21
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 34:22
  SPEAKER_02: We've had a couple before, not many, but um, so we do a lot of all day coverage now.
• 34:27
  SPEAKER_02: It's kind of the opposite of what you did.
• 34:29
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 34:30
  SPEAKER_02: Where we don't have time on it.
• 34:31
  SPEAKER_02: Uh, but we do have couples that are like, hey, actually, don't want any of the getting ready capture, just come.
• 34:38
  SPEAKER_02: We'll I'll jump in my dress and he'll get ready and then like boom, we'll just have it, be done, good to go.
• 34:44
  SPEAKER_02: Um, but sounds like what you're saying is like have that conversation with your significant other, figure out what each of you, if you have a preference, yeah.
• 34:53
  SPEAKER_02: And then you can kind of figure out like, okay, if there's travel, maybe we need a little bit more time.
• 34:57
  SPEAKER_02: If it's all in one spot, maybe we can get away with a little less.
• 34:59
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 35:00
  SPEAKER_02: Or is there gonna be a piece early or late that you want one or both of?
• 35:05
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, and it's always funny.
• 35:06
  SPEAKER_01: So, like um, when Jason does getting ready photos of the guys, the girls need a lot more getting ready photos than the guys do.
• 35:13
  SPEAKER_01: And it'll be like Jason will be hanging out with the guys for, you know, sometimes two, three hours ahead of time, and you get the pictures you need, but like you're just you're hanging out sometimes watching football, and I get so jealous, I'm like, I don't understand what you guys are doing.
• 35:27
  SPEAKER_02: They have the hard job for sure.
• 35:29
  SPEAKER_02: Um, so do you have uh advice for vendors that are kind of just starting out trying to figure out like how do I package my services?
• 35:39
  SPEAKER_02: How do I maybe differentiate myself a little bit?
• 35:41
  SPEAKER_02: Um, do you have advice for them in that kind of like collection side of things?
• 35:46
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 35:47
  SPEAKER_01: Um the advice I got when we first started, um, were you a part of Rising Tide Society when you I heard about it, but I I was never in it.
• 35:56
  SPEAKER_01: So that was like a big thing back in that like 2017, 2018 era.
• 36:01
  SPEAKER_01: Um, and the best advice I got was narrow your packages down to three packages.
• 36:06
  SPEAKER_01: And then from there, you can do a la carte stuff, but just kind of give people like a visual piece, like um, you know, visually three is the best thing to offer.
• 36:18
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 36:18
  SPEAKER_02: In a sales and marketing kind of idea, yeah.
• 36:22
  SPEAKER_02: It gives people options.
• 36:24
  SPEAKER_02: You can kind of craft it in a way that you know the middle.
• 36:28
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, send people to the middle one.
• 36:29
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, exactly.
• 36:30
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, for sure.
• 36:31
  SPEAKER_02: So um it is set up that way.
• 36:33
  SPEAKER_02: If you're a couple listening to this, it's set up that way.
• 36:35
  SPEAKER_02: Um, because we want generally uh vendors have that middle being the best of both worlds in terms of investment, but also what you're getting.
• 36:44
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, and then if you want to do more and you wanna, you know, have everything, like you you have that option too, or if you want to have a little less, spend a little less, like that's you know, also an option as well.
• 36:55
  SPEAKER_02: For sure.
• 36:56
  SPEAKER_02: So your branding, talk talk me through like how that has kind of like shifted from the beginning.
• 37:04
  SPEAKER_02: Uh, because brand is like it's a huge thing.
• 37:07
  SPEAKER_02: It's like what everyone is seeing, it's what everyone's like kind of interacting with.
• 37:11
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 37:11
  SPEAKER_01: So um, my first iteration of my logo, um, well, naming wise, okay.
• 37:19
  SPEAKER_01: So Lindsay Murray photography, right?
• 37:20
  SPEAKER_01: It's a little namey, not care or a little rhymey.
• 37:24
  SPEAKER_01: Um, and I can even acknowledge like it's it's a little rhymey.
• 37:28
  SPEAKER_01: Um, but actually in college, um, it was like this ongoing joke about my my middle name being I have two E's.
• 37:36
  SPEAKER_01: It's Lindsay Marie with two E's.
• 37:38
  SPEAKER_01: So like everyone has the name, middle name Marie.
• 37:41
  SPEAKER_01: Um, but mine specifically has the two E's, and not a lot of people have the two E's.
• 37:47
  SPEAKER_01: So the ongoing joke was like, Oh, you're Lindsay Marie, and they would like carry it out.
• 37:51
  SPEAKER_01: So I was like, you know, that is a neat, unique thing about me.
• 37:54
  SPEAKER_01: So I've always just kept that personal brand.
• 37:56
  SPEAKER_01: Um, logo-wise, when I first started, I was going with like the pastel pinks and just uh something that wasn't us.
• 38:05
  SPEAKER_02: And then we kind of went into the iteration of like trying to I'm like, I'm hold on, I'm just like picturing pastel pinks with all of the nature stuff.
• 38:13
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, no, even like I was like, that's different.
• 38:16
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, no.
• 38:17
  SPEAKER_01: Um, definitely.
• 38:18
  SPEAKER_01: And then we did like um a mountain and trees type of thing, but the font's a little too bold right now.
• 38:25
  SPEAKER_01: Uh, it's a little more masculine than I would want the brand as a whole.
• 38:28
  SPEAKER_01: Um, and we're actually going through a rebranding process at the moment.
• 38:31
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 38:31
  SPEAKER_01: Um, so we're going through a rebranding process.
• 38:34
  SPEAKER_01: I'm super excited about all of our new logos.
• 38:36
  SPEAKER_01: I have like six to choose from.
• 38:38
  SPEAKER_01: Um, shout out Karima Creative, who is she's in North Carolina.
• 38:42
  SPEAKER_01: She's doing my rebrand.
• 38:43
  SPEAKER_00: Very cool.
• 38:44
  SPEAKER_01: Um, but yeah, so I have my branding colors, I have a new logo we're working on, new website.
• 38:50
  SPEAKER_01: Um, that's gonna be a little sleeker, a little more fluid for couples, and just kind of elevate the brand as a whole.
• 38:58
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, uh I'm just this so fun.
• 39:00
  SPEAKER_02: Branding stuff is like, I mean, it's it's very intimidating, don't get me wrong, but it's so fun to kind of like see why and how and where.
• 39:08
  SPEAKER_02: Uh I'm just curious, like you've had the business going, maybe it's running smoothly, but then you're like, hey, I'm seeing where our brand is maybe not measuring up or doing what we want it to do or being what we want it to be.
• 39:23
  SPEAKER_02: How did you get to the point where you're like, let's change it all and do something different?
• 39:29
  SPEAKER_01: Um, so our last iteration of our pricing was honestly in a weird pricing hole where we kind of weren't, I don't know.
• 39:41
  SPEAKER_02: There's a weird gap.
• 39:42
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 39:43
  SPEAKER_02: Where there might be like a budget, there might be like a mid-tier.
• 39:47
  SPEAKER_02: There in between all of these tiers, there's this like weird gap where it's like, are you budget or are you mid-tier?
• 39:52
  SPEAKER_02: Are you mid-tier or are you kind of like closer to high end?
• 39:55
  SPEAKER_01: Right.
• 39:56
  SPEAKER_01: So we were in that weird um like budget hole type of thing.
• 40:01
  SPEAKER_01: Um and yeah, so we're just like decided to go through a rebrand.
• 40:05
  SPEAKER_01: And so basically now we're targeting um small elotements, adventurous couples, but also we're going the other way as well and doing also more elevated high-end weddings as well.
• 40:16
  SPEAKER_01: So it's like kind of both ends of the spectrum, and that's what we're aiming towards because we do a lot of weddings in um, we're all over central Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, but then we're also in New Jersey.
• 40:27
  SPEAKER_01: And um, I don't know.
• 40:28
  SPEAKER_01: Have you talked to a lot of New Jersey vendors?
• 40:31
  SPEAKER_02: Not yet.
• 40:32
  SPEAKER_02: So we've done a couple in New Jersey.
• 40:34
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 40:34
  SPEAKER_02: Um, and so I'm I I do definitely want I don't know when this is going out, but I do definitely want to try to like branch out.
• 40:40
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 40:40
  SPEAKER_02: But there's a different wedding scene.
• 40:42
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 40:42
  SPEAKER_01: For sure.
• 40:43
  SPEAKER_01: Um, I love the New Jersey market.
• 40:45
  SPEAKER_01: I love the Pennsylvania market too, but like the New Jersey market is very elevated.
• 40:50
  SPEAKER_01: Um, a lot of ballrooms.
• 40:52
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 40:53
  SPEAKER_01: Um, and so just kind of like marketing to like the New Jersey side of things as well.
• 40:58
  SPEAKER_02: Um what would you say someone's listening, uh a vendor, maybe they're just getting started, maybe they've had their business for 10 years, and they're looking at their branding and they're going, like, is this right?
• 41:12
  SPEAKER_02: Is this fitting the bill?
• 41:13
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 41:14
  SPEAKER_02: Do you have like, I mean, you're in it now.
• 41:16
  SPEAKER_02: You've you've decided to spend the money.
• 41:18
  SPEAKER_02: It's probably a lot to get all that planning stuff done.
• 41:21
  SPEAKER_02: Um is there a moment where you're like, hey, ex-vendor, like you should do a rebrand?
• 41:31
  SPEAKER_02: Like, what what should they be looking for?
• 41:32
  SPEAKER_02: Or maybe what should like what should their mindset be?
• 41:35
  SPEAKER_01: Well, first of all, don't do it in your busiest season.
• 41:38
  SPEAKER_01: I can tell you that.
• 41:39
  SPEAKER_02: Not a good time.
• 41:40
  SPEAKER_01: I have uh seven weddings this month, and I was like, you know what?
• 41:43
  SPEAKER_01: This would be a great month to start this.
• 41:45
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, let's start the rebranding process.
• 41:47
  SPEAKER_02: Um luckily you have someone doing it for you.
• 41:49
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 41:49
  SPEAKER_02: I mean, you have to make a lot of decisions, but still.
• 41:52
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, just like if your brand isn't feeling like you anymore, um that sounds really cliche.
• 41:57
  SPEAKER_02: But yeah.
• 41:58
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, if it's not feeling like give give them a visual of like, do I need to do a rebrand or are we good?
• 42:06
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 42:06
  SPEAKER_02: And that's kind of where I'm like, like, how do you know when it's the right time?
• 42:10
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 42:10
  SPEAKER_01: Um, like, are you booking the couples you want?
• 42:13
  SPEAKER_01: Are you booking the amount of couples you want that fit your vision, that fit the bill for you?
• 42:19
  SPEAKER_01: And if you do a rebrand, that's not saying that you don't absolutely love your couples, but maybe it's a quantity thing.
• 42:25
  SPEAKER_01: And maybe you're just not reaching the amount of people that you want to reach.
• 42:28
  SPEAKER_01: Also, SEO is huge, right?
• 42:30
  SPEAKER_01: So, like if your website isn't reaching the people that you want it to reach, a rebrand is great.
• 42:36
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, what's SEO for people that like don't know?
• 42:38
  SPEAKER_01: Search engine optimization.
• 42:40
  SPEAKER_01: You almost you almost got me there.
• 42:41
  SPEAKER_01: I was like, oh dang.
• 42:43
  SPEAKER_01: What is that thing again?
• 42:44
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 42:45
  SPEAKER_02: Sundays, I don't know.
• 42:47
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, yeah.
• 42:48
  SPEAKER_02: So SEO is generally how people find you on the internet.
• 42:53
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 42:53
  SPEAKER_02: You have you have things that are working in the back end of your website that help people find you.
• 42:58
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 42:59
  SPEAKER_02: If you're not doing that well, you're not gonna be found.
• 43:02
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, exactly.
• 43:03
  SPEAKER_01: And like, because you know, like Instagram and the knot and Facebook, they're all great, but at the end of the day, like people are landing on your website, yeah, you know, and your website really needs to speak to who you are.
• 43:16
  SPEAKER_01: And if it's, you know, and a lot of people like that our website was basic.
• 43:19
  SPEAKER_01: It's it's pretty, a pretty basic website, and that's great.
• 43:22
  SPEAKER_01: But like if there's people that want to learn more about us, just kind of taking that extra step, honestly.
• 43:28
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, it and it could be really helpful to even get another set of eyes on all that stuff to be like, hey, I'm not sure if I want to or need to change anything.
• 43:37
  SPEAKER_02: What do you think?
• 43:39
  SPEAKER_02: Because there's bound to be, if you don't have a vendor friend, um, there's bound to be people that I'm sure would be like, hey, I'll take a look at it and just give you honest feedback.
• 43:49
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 43:50
  SPEAKER_01: Cause I mean, we've had our website for this is our ninth year in business.
• 43:54
  SPEAKER_01: We've had our website for 10 years.
• 43:56
  SPEAKER_01: So it's been the same thing for 10 now, different pictures and
• 44:00
  SPEAKER_02: know the yeah it's updated but um it's been the same thing for 10 years and I'm just like let's let's move into uh we're gonna move into a new phase yeah and even if you are thinking like oh is it right to uh like up our prices or or try to hit a different market or even like uh you know having a client avatar like a a specific buyer in mind like you gotta have all that stuff situated before you start putting words on your website or designing in a way because all that stuff that's going out like that's gonna be the stuff that clients see and if it's not the right fit you're gonna be like missing people left and right just based off of like not having the right stuff out there trying to reach the right type of client.
• 44:44
  SPEAKER_01: You only have a couple seconds to hook somebody and like our attention spans are not great.
• 44:49
  SPEAKER_01: And if you don't hook someone um then they're just gonna see your stuff and scrolling by.
• 44:54
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 44:54
  SPEAKER_02: Um well Lindsay this has been so great I appreciate you being on absolutely the podcast um it's so fun to hear the journey like I keep saying this but the journey is just so fun uh to hear and kind of like just dig into all the things I'm excited for your rebrand too that sounds like it's gonna be so fun.
• 45:12
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah it's gonna be really good.
• 45:13
  SPEAKER_02: I think we're gonna be trying to target a lot more I don't know elopements East Coast elopements west coast elopements um yeah yeah if you're a nature lover and adventurous couple it sounds like that's right up your alley um that's so funny um where can people find and and follow along with the things that you guys are doing yeah everything is at Lindsay Marie photography so uh Instagram Facebook uh her website which is gonna stay the same uh and Marie is two ease not I e there's another Lindsay Marie who is I E.
• 45:45
  SPEAKER_01: She's in like North Carolina so not you not me uh Lindsay E with knee and then Marie two E's.
• 45:52
  SPEAKER_02: I love that all that will be linked down the description so they can just go click the links and and reach out.
• 45:58
  SPEAKER_02: Um so I'm assuming the answer to this question would be the rebrand but is there anything else that you guys are working on that you're excited about that's coming up well actually we're gonna be in uh in Montana next week so that's gonna be really fun uh really cool Montana elopement that's the end of September early October yeah sorry sorry listening yeah um that's so fun yeah so that's gonna be a good time um and yeah I don't know I have ACL surgery coming up so that's gonna be super fun.
• 46:29
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah tons of fun yeah I tore my ACL in April so um yeah skiing we're big skiers so sweet yeah so that was uh ACL surgery coming up and um yeah Jason's healing up his finger he ran a chainsaw into it a couple weeks ago so you guys are like falling apart yeah I'm so excited for 2026 it's gonna be a better year I did someone who said that to me they were like 2025 could just like go.
• 46:52
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah it's like I mean yeah I feel the same way if I find that person I'll let them know that you feel the same way.
• 47:00
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah we'll we'll talk yeah for sure um well thank you again for being on I hope everyone listening you guys enjoyed the episode it was so fun for me to have a conversation with you and if you guys are liking the show please make sure you're sharing it with all of your friends um if you're watching on YouTube make sure you guys subscribe and like the episode and then if you guys are listening I would love if you just leave me a review let us know how you're liking the show um but that is all for this episode we'll catch you guys for the next episode of the preferred list thank you