We have recently been receiving an unprecedented number of enquiries for 2010 wedding dates. This should be a good thing right? Well actually it not been too great. We met many disappointed couples at the recent Liberty Stadium wedding Show, and are now speaking to many disappointed brides on the phone. The main reason for this is that there seems to be a growing trend in the UK for couples to book their wedding photographer with less than 12 months to go before their big day. As a result Nic has been booked for almost 60% of our recent enquiries!
This may be because of inaccurate advice in wedding magazines and on wedding forums. Please don’t believe all the ‘doom and gloom’ that the media is trying to convince us is true. Yes there are less weddings across the UK at the moment because people are concerned about the economy etc, but people are still getting married. As a business heavily involved with the wedding industry in Wales, we seem to have fared reasonably well as we have managed to maintain the strict number of weddings that Nic photographs each year (a maximum of just 35), throughout the last 24 months of uncertain economic conditions. This could be because many of the couples we have worked with in this period have booked Nic two years in advance of their day.
If the photography part of your day is not important to you (and it is to most of the couples who choose Nic as their photographer,) you may easily be able to find a photographer who may be free six-twelve months before your date, BUT if the photography IS important to you, and if you want your FIRST choice of photographer to capture your once-in-a-lifetime, never-to-be-repeated special day, please please please book that photographer as soon as you have confirmed your date and venue booking, (even if it’s not Nic!)
Now many couples may well be thinking that this advice is simply designed to encourage them to book their photographer earlier than they need to. Our own statistics show us that over 80% of our couples book Nic as their first choice photographer in the 24 to 18 months period before their big day.
In much the same way as the ‘nicer’ wedding venues across Wales are fully booked 2-3 years in advance for the most popular summer and winter dates, the first choice photographers are often booked early as well. As we only photograph one wedding per day, once we are booked, that date is no-longer available, so please please please don’t leave it too late. Disappointment definitely should not be part of your wedding planning process, and saying to a couple on the phone that… “we are already booked” is one of the parts of our job that we like the least.
If you’d like to check Nic’s availability for your date, please click here. Our booking fee is a minimum of £300 to secure your date. Once this has been received, your date is reserved and your selected package price is fixed. This means that you are protected from future (inevitable) price increases, no matter how far in advance you book your date with us. Our current price list contains our 2008 prices, (as we didn’t increase them in January 2009,) so if you book your 2010/11/12 wedding before the end of 2009, you will receive our 2008 price for your 2010/11/12 wedding photography package!
Good luck to those early-birds amongst you!
Diana
