The Gretchen Wittry Photography Client Experience
Working with me should feel like you’re working with an old friend
Here’s what you can expect from me from day 1:
Care
I care, a lot. I care about you and your loved ones, and I haven’t even met you yet. If you’re reading this sentence right now, I care about you because I know that something resonated with you enough to make it to this corner of the internet and my website. And if you’ve made it here, I’m going to assume, hopefully without making an ass out of you and me, that you want a photographer you connect with on a personal level and who you trust on a professional level to provide you with creativity through cherished memories you’ll look back on for a lifetime.
Approachable professionalism
I spent five years in a project management capacity in corporate client service, helping multiple Fortune 100 companies answer multi-million dollar research questions, so I understand the importance of timely responses, organization and detailed, clear communication.
Past photo clients have shared they appreciated how laid-back I am. This experience should be fun, enjoyable, memorable. You’re marrying the love of your life and planning what may be the biggest party you’ve ever thrown. It requires a tight ship, but it should also be a fun ship. There’s no reason the two shouldn’t coexist at the same time.
Authenticity
Going back to care, my number one goal is to provide you with final images that feel like you. I don’t want you to look back on your photos and remember feeling like things felt forced, unnatural or inauthentic on your wedding day. To achieve that, I get to know you and use all the cues I perceive to provide a documentary experience where I’m 95% a fly on the wall and 5% gently though firmly leaning in for guidance during the moments that call for it. Additionally, my editing style falls under “enhanced reality,” meaning, I also don’t want you to look back at your wedding photos and see a different color scheme than the one you so carefully picked out. I focus on true to life editing with an extra pop.
What to Expect
01. Inquiry
You’ve gotten to know (the website version of) me, so now it’s time for me to learn a little bit about you and connect IRL. Submit an inquiry via my contact page. The more detail the better! I want to get to know you and your vision for your wedding day, so that I can best understand what you’re looking for in a wedding photographer and the final deliverables.
02. Discovery & meeting irl
Within two business days of your inquiry, I’ll reach out via email and prompt you to schedule a discovery call using my live online scheduler for a time that works for you. I love being able to meet both of you during this time, so if you’re able to find a time that works for all three of us, that is the best!
After the call, I will share a private link to customized collections that includes personalization tailored to the information you’ve shared with me. Your collection page will include pricing, what’s included in each collection, optional add-ons, FAQ, links to previous recent full wedding galleries and a little bit more about me.
03. Sealing the deal
After reviewing the collection options, when you’re ready to move forward with booking, I will prepare a contract and invoice for you, which you’ll receive electronically via email.
To officially book your wedding with me, a signed contract and 30% deposit are required to lock in your date and remove it from my availability. Payment is accepted in several forms, including ACH bank transfer, credit/debit card payment, Venmo, and mailed check.
From there, we’re official!
04. Engagement session
For couples who do book an engagement session with me as well, upon booking, I’ll give you access to my official Engagement Session Planning Guide. This includes alllll sorts of helpful tips and recommendations for choosing a location or two, an outfit, a time of year and time of day for your session, inclusion of props & pets and much more. I will also send a questionnaire prior to your session to get a bit more detail about the two of you and your preferences; I like to tailor my engagement sessions in a way that best suits each couple as opposed to a one-sized fits all strategy.
Next stop, we get to meet really IRL for your engagement session!
I deliver all engagement session galleries within three weeks of the session; I often am able to deliver the galleries sooner depending on the time of year and my schedule. Just let me know if you’re crunched for time in sending out your save the dates and I can see what I can do with prioritizing the editing of your gallery!
05. Prepping for the big day
I have a thorough questionnaire I share with all my couples 3-4 months prior to the wedding to ask all the nitty gritty logistic questions to understand what the timeline is, lists of all your big group photos and those potentially not obvious must-have photos. We’ll have a final walkthrough call where we’ll go over the timeline and align on everything. I don’t want to bug you with questions the week of your wedding, so I always try to do this at least two weeks beforehand.
06. The big day & beyond
You get married!!! The day is finally here. Up to this point, it’s my #1 goal to make sure that I have every last detail I could possibly need either from your wedding planner or the two of you to ensure that the second I walk in the door to start photographing, you can feel like you’re able to be and are present throughout every moment of your wedding day.
I always like to give my couples some sneak peek photos, via social media at a minimum, within a week after the wedding. Your final gallery will be delivered within two months of your wedding date.
From there, I’ll keep tabs on your thriving new life together on social media and smash the like button every time I see your wedding photos pop up on my feed. And you’ll know where to find me for any and all of your future photo needs :)
Above all, i’m the friend who takes photos.
The photographer-client relationship can be a long one; let’s enjoy ourselves.
Whether I’m a friendly, familiar face for 6-18 months while you’re planning your wedding, or a true friendship is born (how lucky would I be!), my goal is to provide each and every client an experience that I would provide my own lifelong friends.
I got my start in photography in high school as “the friend who takes photos,” and I intend to see that through until the very last photo I take.
Ready to inquire?
Submit an inquiry via my contact form linked below with allll the good details about your wedding or session, and I’ll be in touch within two business days.