Wedding photography workflow — inquiry to delivered gallery.

Stage 1 — The inquiry

A wedding inquiry lands one of three ways: through a booking form on your site, through Instagram or email, or through a referral. The first job at this stage is to log it somewhere consistent — not a spreadsheet, not your inbox, not a Notes draft.

Capture the basics: name, partner name, date, venue (or region), budget range, where they heard about you. The budget range matters because it tells you whether to send a quote or politely decline. "Where they heard about you" matters because in twelve months you'll want to know which channels are paying for themselves.

• Reply within 24 hours — the data is consistent across every photographer survey
• Acknowledge the date specifically: "We're available for 14 October" reads differently to "Thanks for the inquiry"
• Don't send a full quote on first contact — get on a call first if the wedding is big
• Track every inquiry, including the ones that don't book — they're your conversion rate data

Stage 2 — The quote

Quotes are where you make or lose 30% of your bookings. Send a quote within 48 hours of the call, in a format the couple can act on without printing anything. PDF attachments to email are 2008 technology — couples sign on phones now.

Include optional add-ons the couple can tick themselves: extra hour, second shooter, raw files, album upgrade. This does two things — gives the couple a sense of control, and lets them upgrade themselves without negotiation.

Stage 3 — The contract and deposit

When the couple accepts, the contract should fire immediately — not after a follow-up email three days later. Couples lose enthusiasm fast. Get the contract in front of them while they're still in "yes" mode.

Same for the deposit invoice. Bundle them — accepted quote, signed contract, paid deposit, all in one weekend if you can. The longer this stretches out, the more it can stall.

• Use a template — never write a contract from scratch
• Get a lawyer to review your template once, then reuse forever
• Ask for the deposit as bank transfer or Wise — no payment processor cut
• Counter-sign the contract on your end. It's not legally binding until both sides have signed.

Stage 4 — The eight months in between

Most photographers go silent between the deposit and the wedding morning. That's a mistake — it leaves the couple unsure whether you remember them, and it leaves you unprepared on the day.

Send a questionnaire 4–6 months out, asking everything you'll need to know: timeline, family dynamics, the song they're walking down the aisle to, dietary requirements for the dinner if you eat with the band. Their answers should pre-fill your timeline.

Touch base at 2 months out and 1 week out. Each touchpoint should be a real check-in ("how are things?") not a sales-y reminder.

Stage 5 — The wedding day itself

The wedding morning is the part of the workflow most CRMs ignore. You need three things on your phone at the venue, viewable even when signal drops: the timeline, the shot list, and the vendor cheat sheet (parking, getting-ready rooms, who the planner is).

Stone chapels eat signal — your tools need to load before you arrive. Tick shots as you take them — you'll forget by reception. Use a group-photo planner that adds up time per set — fifteen seconds per family member adds up, and you'll blow past sunset if you don't track it.

Stage 6 — The week after

Most photographers upload to Pixieset or Pic-Time and email the link. The link gets lost. Six months later the couple emails you asking where their gallery is.

A better pattern: drop the gallery URL into the job and it lives in the couple's portal alongside their contract, invoices, and timeline. They always know where to find everything you've ever sent them. You stop being the help desk.

Stage 7 — The wrap

Final invoice goes out automatically when the gallery is delivered. Pay your second shooter (your year-end summary should make this trivial). Archive the job — don't delete it. Search it any time.

Six months later, ask for the review. Send a thank-you with a personal note. Ninety percent of your future bookings come from past couples and their friends.