As the morning dew begins to evaporate, the sun rays crest over the mountains and we sip on our steaming hot drinks, tea (for me) coffee (for Brandon), we marvel at the beauty of it all. Each day brings the opportunity and challange to meet + work with new inspiring people.

During the fall, winter and spring we shoot a variety of weddings, some take place at museums, others in radiant fields of flowers and a multitude of them transpire at amazingly breathtaking churches. Each church has a wedding coordinator who is there to help organize the day but to also uphold the honor, respect and reverence required at each church. I personal choose to view each person I work with as an asset to the day rather then a hindrance. And I get it, some wedding coordinators have strict policies saying where you can shoot, how many shots you can take and if you can use flash or not. Trust me I have seen and experienced it all. So how do we create a beautiful relationship with the church coordinator that will benefit them, our couple and our business on the wedding day.

We prepare in advance. Here are my 4 tips for creating that beautiful relationship in advance with the wedding coordinator.
1.) I call the church about a month in advance, request to come into view the church and speak with the church coordinator about the upcoming wedding.
2.) I am always on time. I also like to bring in a little chocolate or sweet little gift for the coordinator. This lets them know I come in peace with the hope of creating a beautiful working relationship.
3.) I then ask them to walk me threw the church, reviewing with me the locations where I can shoot and any restriction there might be. And here is the deal (yes its a bit hard to hear), but it’s a church, we as photographers need to humble ourselves and respect that. We need to respect their request especially if we want to create a beautiful working relationship with them.
4.) Now that I know any restrictions or perimeters that may exist I can plan + setup for success. I can look at the church layout and statergicly place myself in different locations, that I’m permitted to shoot in, for each segment of the wedding ceremony. I also plan out in advance what lenses I will need to capture the best shots from those locations.

With a little time investment, respect, relationship building and planning you can create a beautiful working relationship that will benefit them, your clients and your business. In the end creating relationships is what will drive your business forward.