Do your weddings tend to feel chaotic and unorganized at times? Do you fall behind your timeline or lose track of keeping up with everything your couple holds special during their big day? In episode 128 of the Bokeh Podcast, photographers Andrew Mishler and Melanie Soliel explain how to use a pre-wedding consult to set the tone and organization for your client’s wedding day. Listen in as they share important tips that will help you master your pre-wedding consults. The Bokeh Podcast is brought to you by Photographer’s Edit: Custom Editing for the Wedding and Portrait Photographer. You can also subscribe to the Bokeh podcast on the Apple podcast app, follow on Spotify, add to your playlist on Stitcher, or listen on Overcast. Andrew & Melanie’s Lesson Learned: After the tragic loss of a wedding couple shortly after the wedding, their focus of creating beautiful images that would make a great blog post or help them get published shifted to to creating very deep and meaningful images for their couples. Brand Position: Quality over quantity and family over everything. They’re not working just for the client, they’re working for their kids and their kids’ kids and beyond. The Gear Bag: Canon 5D Mark III & IV, 85mm 1.2, 135mm The Pre-Wedding Consultation: This is the secret to a successful wedding day. It allows you to set up expectations, decrease stress, Three Purposes of the Pre-Wedding Consultation: 1. Setting up the foundation for a successful wedding day timeline by going over the wedding details and getting connected with the coordinator. 2. Determining the appropriate amount of coverage to ensure you’re getting paid for your time. 3. Creating legacy images for the couple based on their individual desires and situations. 4 Tips to Improve Pre-Wedding Consultation: 1. Setting the expectation from the very first conversation that the consultation with happen 3-4 weeks before the wedding. 2. Get to know your couple on a personal level through their family dynamics, a family tree, and a history of each family member. 3. Don’t give away time. If you realize during the consultation that there may not be enough time in the day, suggest adding more. 4. Don’t assume your client is going to give you everything you need to know about the wedding day; you have to ask the questions. Links: Website: AndrewandMelanie.com Facebook: Andrew & Melanie Instagram: @Andrew_mishler @Melaniesoliel Jeff & Jen - Tonic Site Shop How to Create a Website that is Uniquely You - Jeff Shipley and Jen Olmstead Building a Storybrand - Donald Miller Honeybook