A lot of studios I speak with offer an engagement shoot as part of their wedding packages.   I think this is a great idea as it gives you a chance to see how the couple interact in front of the camera before their big day and its an another opportunity to make a sale.  I think,  more importantly, it’s an opportunity to advertise your business. How can an engagement shoot advertise your business I hear you ask?  Easily!  Encourage your couple to purchase a Guest Book for their wedding day.

On the wedding day your Guest Book will be passed around for all their guests to sign. That’s 50, 100, or even more people flicking through the album and seeing your images. Even better when they love what they see they will ask the bride and groom what you were like and how much you cost. Therefore, if and when, they do come to you they are already qualified. There is nothing better for business than personal referrals!  Make sure when you design your Guest Book that you add your studio name and web address on the last page of the album so guests can easily grab your details!

“But it’s too hard to make a Guest Book for every bride and groom!” I hear you say – hogswash! You can keep your Guest Books really simple so you only have to drop an image on one side of the double page spread and leave the other side blank for signing.  Even just adding 2 or 3 photos per spread is really easy when you use album design programs like Smart Albums or Fundy.  Personally I like it when photographers go that little bit extra and have personalised quotes included in the album like in our sample albums shown. This too is easy to do! Email your bride and groom 3 questions each and ask them to reply. They could be questions such as “What’s the favourite thing about your partner”, “What did you first notice about your partner”, “What does your partner do to make you laugh” etc. You can then add this to the album to make it unique to your client.

Years ago signed frames at receptions were all the rage but Guest Books have become popular again and it’s easy to see why. Your bride and groom will love having their beautiful engagement portraits on show for everyone and more importantly they will have an heirloom full of well wishes and memories from their wedding guests to keep forever.

Are you offering Guest Books? Feel free to share your ideas about Guest Books or upload photos of your books on our Facebook or Instagram page to share with others!

SPECIAL OFFER – Seldex Guest Books cost as little as $170 (inc gst) for a 10×10” Guest Book with 6 double page spreads, printed, bound, assembled and boxed.  Guest Books are printed on Seldex Signature Fine Art Matte paper so it is easy for the guests to write on. Guest Book sample albums are normally discounted by 15%. Order a sample before the 31^st August and get a 30% discount when you use the discount coupon code “guestbook30”. Limited to one sample only.

Check out our Guest Books today!