Want to hear something rather exciting, and HUGE for potential BraskaJennea Brides? Keep reading! 😉
A business is a fluid creature. It must change with the tides as not just people ebb and flow, but as We, it’s creators, also ebb and flow. This is the story about how the tides are about to change for BraskaJennea Weddings!
Before I get to the big news though let me back up to explain how I got here.
Something pretty monumental happened at a Wedding I was capturing recently, and God used it to wake me up by realizing some pretty inconvenient truths.
As I was stepping into shoes I wasn’t initially hired to step into so my precious Bride could have the day she dreamed of, to carry the bouquet she’d dreamt of, I realized I was chosen not just for my artistic photographic style and skills, but because of my personality and myriad of other Wedding Planning and Floral Design skills that can make dreams into reality.
I was chosen because they trusted that not only could I capture their wedding, but should anything happen, as it usually always does, I’d be there to handle it as that’s just what God gifted the skills and talent to do.
I literally helped a Bride have the day of her dreams. Not just capture it, and I wondered how many other Brides I’d left behind…
You see in the process of “attracting the ideal client” I’d bought into the lie that “ALL Budget Brides are always the most needy and demanding Brides. Why is it they all seem to turn into the craziest Bridezillas when they paid the least for our services?”.
True Story: In this industry we see all too often that the smaller budget clients, for some inexplicable reason, seem to be, the majority of the time, the most royal of pains who abuse, mistreat, and are just otherwise overly demanding. If someone can explain it to me I’d be appreciative, but I was reminded talking with a friend recently that not ALL small wedding Brides are demons.
The wheels went into over-drive…
I had not only raised my pricing to accommodate for my skill set and talent, but I also raised it to completely rise above “Budget Brides” entirely.
Don’t get me wrong, I know I preach “KNOW YOUR WORTH, AND CHARGE ACCORDINGLY!” like it’s a sub-mantra, and it’s all to true that you MUST do this, but in the process I forgot that I built a business as a Wedding Planner and Floral Designer a decade and a half ago solely on those “Low Budget Brides”.
Helping Brides have the day of their dreams by focusing on the items that mattered (photography), and where to cut/save (crazy favors, elaborate programs, even flowers or alcohol), so they could have the day of their dreams was my business. And I was gooood at it!
I realized I’d bought into the hype that’s being sold and eaten up by so many of my favorite Professional Photography Peers that “pricing accordingly” also meant pricing to completely avoid the inquiries from those demanding Budget Brides.
The very group who’d taught me so much was the group I had left behind. Suddenly I wasn’t OK with that.
I’d bought into the delusion that all Brides who claimed they “couldn’t afford” Professional Photography were in fact the very Brides who just laid down a ransom on something that wouldn’t matter at all, and were looking to “save” by lying on the very piece that’ll be all they have left to remember where exactly all that money went in 5, 10, 50 years.
That simply isn’t the truth though. Not all tight budget Brides are scam artists, many are and the proof is there to back it up industry wide, but as much as we’d like to believe “If they really value my art then they’ll sacrifice to make it happen” for many the hefty $3,500 average for all day Wedding Coverage just isn’t attainable…not matter how hard they save.
I’d forgotten those were the very Brides who’d helped me get where I am.
They, through trusting me with their Weddings, allowed me to gain the knowledge and mastery of the insane vast array of skills I now possess outside of JUST capturing a wedding, and now I was overshooting them on purpose.
Skills that I wouldn’t have had in order to “save the day” not just at this recent wedding, but during the many others over the last 7 years as “just the Photographer”, where I’ve stepped up to the plate to do something outside the normal realm of a Wedding Photographer, wouldn’t be here without Wedding budgets of all sizes.
It’s well and good I believe to continue to educate Brides on making sure that one of their top, if not THE top, budget busting item is Professional Documentation of their Wedding, and I’ll continue to preach that as long as I live.
Honestly as long as Brides think it’s somehow “smart” or in some whacked out way “ok” to blow on average $3,000 to $7,000 (even more in non-rural Southern areas) on JUST the venue, but then want to negotiate or bargain down their photography to less than $2,000, I know I still have a job to do.
However, it’s not fair to lump ALL Brides on a smaller budget into the “insanely needy and demanding” category. Nor is it fair to alienate them from the images of their dreams simply because they may have to choose silk flowers over real, may opt for the dimly lit, orange wood and/or awful colored carpet indoor Church Ceremony, or forgo a full meal, even just horsd’oeuvres, at all to just serve “cake and nuts with punch”.
My job is to be able to see beauty in everything, and capture it…no matter the budget! Too many of my peers in the industry have gotten hung up on booking only “Elite” clients that fit inside a very small box…a box that makes every image in their portfolio basically look identical. From color schemes, venues, dresses, even down to body shapes and sizes their “Brand” is “grand”, and I’m no longer at peace with that mentality. Honestly I’m actually disappointed in myself for buying into in the first place considering from whence BraskaJennea Weddings was born.
EVERY Bride (who’s not a Bridezilla…because I refuse to deal with BZ’s, and BZ’s, honestly, don’t need to be getting married as they lost sight of the real end goal and prize a long time ago!) deserves to have their day documented as professionally as they can afford no matter if they can swing real, luxe invites, a swanky venue, open bar, or stunning uplighting.
I lost sight of the fact that it’s not our job to capture perfect weddings, but instead to capture the wedding in such a way that is worthy of the sacrifices made to hold the wedding in the first place. Sacrifices made to hire a professional to document the details of the start to their happily ever after.
So, that revelation revealed here’s the big news…. It’s a new day dawning!
NEW AND IMPROVED, lower cost, BraskaJennea Basic Wedding Collections are here! I’ve taken out a lot of the extra luxuries from most Collections, and will now offer Full Wedding Day Collections, captured by me, for $1,500 to $3,500 less than before! Yes, you’re reading that correctly!
You’ll still get the Signature BraskaJennea Wedding Day Timeline, Rehearsal Assistance/Coverage, an Engagement Session complete with Wardrobe Consult, and High Resolution Digital Files with Print Release in a Personal Online Gallery just at a more budget friendly price tag with the options to add back on the extra luxuries that are BJP Wedding Collections!
Of course I’ll still be screening out the Bridezillas, and those who want to try to negotiate after they drop too much on other less important aspects of the day… because they will always make my soul weep and blood boil ;p
I pray though that this shift will open the doors to even more amazing, laid back, Brides and their Grooms who are legit the cream of the crop, and allow me to continue the mission I started a decade and a half ago…to help more precious couples say “I Do” with memories and images to pass on as their legacy!
So, if you know a Bride to Be planning her wedding, or are planning the day of your dreams this is for you! Contact me today to get this party started right! Whether it’s just Photography, or Floral Design and Planning too I’d love to help you have the Wedding of your dreams as you take those first steps toward our Happily Ever After with the man God created just for you! Just don’t be a BZ 😉
xoxo, B
BraskaJennea Photography | Destination Wedding & Curvy Boudoir Photographer 