Originally Published on February 4 2022
Hello everyone,
I was planning on writing a book on the topic of wedding planning from a photographer’s perspective; something that is often completely overlooked by professional event planners, who don’t even consider the many important aspects of wedding photography, and the logistical planning of those things. That was until I learned how much it would cost to actually publish a book, and the number of books I needed to sell before I made a single dollar in profit, paying to have it proof-read, publishing costs, marketing costs, etc.. I just gave up and figured that although blogging doesn’t reach a vast audience, it can at least help those who are planning a wedding, or those of us who are vendors looking for help.
Since 1994, I’ve shot over 700 weddings between San Francisco to Italy, from trailer parks to castles, every ethnic group, many different cultures from poor to privileged, working as a lone subcontracting wedding photographer, a lead photographer, or a 2nd shooter through an outside wedding agency/studio, a partner for a destination wedding company, as well as a wedding photographer’s assistant to some of the most amazing commercial photographers in the business, where I got my training/education in photography from. A lot of those things I’ve seen are on a weekly basis, where I get to continuously educate myself in my line of work. It may sound funny, but I firmly believe that I keep what I have by freely giving away the “tribal knowledge” to others so that their lives can be enriched. I feel that I am not doing my job unless I make an effort to help in some way. I’m not one to sit back and say: “Ok… well…. if that is what you want to do, I’m ok with it”.. when I know better!
I have seen a lot of things over the years that have taught me many lessons, some that have shaped my style of photography and others that have kept myself, my couples, and other vendors safe from potential hazards. After working for some studios as a freelancer, and only being handed a contact sheet with the very basic information about the wedding day, I’ve learned to spend some of my time with my couples going over the plans for the day, since I’m going to be with them for several hours on their Big Day, that can’t be repeated, so that when their day comes, I can walk in with confidence, knowing that we have a solid plan, that fills in the many blanks not provided by the studio’s assignment desk. Some are still like that today.
Unlike most couples, I get to witness and experience many weddings in a year…typically 30 or so, in which I bring those experiences to my couples to help them have a less stressful day from a number of things that can get in the way of making their Big Day an amazing day. Nobody in the right mind plans a wedding, only to get it over & done with, so they can get that out of the way and move on to starting a family. Nobody should be facing that sort of dilemma. It shouldn’t be like that. You should be looking forward to having an amazing day with manageable stress, which is unavoidable with all the things coming together at once. You should expect the best performance from your service professionals, and with good planning, that shouldn’t be a problem. I’ve seen a LOT of things over the years that have frustrated me to the point where I just want to tell others, so that I can help educate others from the many things I’ve learned, and avoid negative things that take away from what should be one of the most amazing days in their lives.
Cheers!
Photographer, John-Paul Greco