A PARTY FOR HOW MANY...!?

CLIENTS: SHELLIE & FELICIA SAMPSON
TYPE OF SHOOT: BRIDAL PARTY
GEAR: CANON 6D II, 24-70MM 2.8
TIME OF DAY: 2PM

THE FUTURE MR. & MRS. SHELLY SAMPSON

“you have how many people…!?”

I received an inquiry through my website asking me about a quote for bridal party photos. Now when I read this message I interpreted for some reason that this client only needed photos of their bridal party taken on the day of their wedding, maybe it was the only thing they could afford, honestly I do not know how that got into my head.
Anyways I spoke with Shelly & Felicia on the phone and they were able to inform me that it was separate from their wedding and they wanted to do something special.

As you can see from these photos these outfits were intentional, curated, and put together by the future bride and groom themselves. I was so impressed with this concept and immediately fell in love with the challenge. However that wasn’t going to be the only challenge I was going to face that day.
When they told me that they had 24 people in their Bridal Party I must’ve not said anything on the call for about 5 seconds.
Honestly I questioned myself if I could even do it, but I knew this was a big opportunity, a place I needed to grow, and killing this project could lead to more work.
I knew I needed backup.

Many of the people who have been following my journey for the past 2 years know I have a brother who is one of my favorites to collaborate and network with.
I knew JT (@lordevisuals) was the perfect person to help me with this huge project. He is so great with figuring out fashion aesthetics, matching colors and figuring out compositions. He helped me immensely by bouncing off ideas of how to direct each person as well as a familiar face to keep me sane during the day.

I look back on this day and remember the things I was so worried about, the excitement of each photograph and idea executed, the laughs, dancing, the atmosphere, it always goes by so fast.
I had such joy working with Shelly & Felicia and their entire bridal party.
Flash forward 2 months after the photoshoot and everyone seeing the images, Shelly & Felicia wanted to have another face time call and they wanted to book me for their wedding later in the fall.

Do not back away or say no to projects that scare the heck out of you.
Know your value and that you are very talented.
Invite friends into the project that you know with encourage and challenge you to go through with it.
Ask questions and share all ideas with your client so that you can both be on the same page before and during the process.