Getting on a wedding vendors list or preferred vendor list can turn out to be incredibly beneficial for your wedding photography business. It is essentially the holy grail of client inquiries for wedding professionals. A wedding day today is like a production that includes numerous people who work tirelessly behind the scenes to successfully pull off a couple’s big day. And as a wedding photographer, you’re one of them! This list of wedding vendors is created by a wedding venue or wedding planner, or any other wedding vendor and includes all their favorite wedding services providers. This wedding vendor directory is handed to potential clients during meetings and is an effective way to raise awareness about your brand and book more clients! In this blog, we share tips on how you could get on these lists and why you should consider doing it in the first place.
Tips For Getting On The Wedding Vendors List
1. Schedule A Meeting
If you’re aiming to get on a venue’s preferred wedding vendors list, one of the easiest ways to do that is by scheduling a site tour at the wedding venue. During this tour, you can meet with the manager and events team and ask them questions about their wedding vendors checklist and how they decide who makes it onto the list. This way, you can strategize how to get on their wedding vendor listings and also offer professional advice to your clients about whether the venue is the ideal wedding location for their wedding photos. Whether it’s a venue or a planner, or a wedding decorator, one of the best ways to learn how to get in their “good books” is to directly reach out to them and ask them about it.
2. Make Genuine Connections
It’s important to make connections with other wedding professionals in the industry, as you never know where that next referral might come from. And the key to benefitting from these connections is to make sure they are organic and genuine. When you attend events or workshops, there are high chances of running into other wedding vendors, such as wedding planners, wedding cake designers, florists, etc. As the first step to establishing an authentic relationship with them, you could start with introducing yourself. Instead of just talking business, we’d recommend that you focus on having a real conversation that helps you get to know them better.
Read More: Why Networking With Wedding Vendors Is Important For Business
3. Advertise On Wedding Vendor Websites
Another great way to get your name out there is by joining wedding vendor websites like The Knot or Brides. These wedding vendor websites have free wedding vendor listings where they publish blog posts about all things weddings, including wedding photography, wedding venues, and planners. This allows wedding professionals to market their business directly to potential clients. Plus, these websites have different wedding vendor categories where they shine the spotlight on some of their favorite vendors as well.
4. Distribute Business Cards/Brochures
At the risk of sounding like a broken record, we can’t emphasize enough the importance of carrying your business card or brochure to any professional event or workshop. You never know when you might strike a connection (or even make a deal!). So, the next time you plan to head out to an event, remember to carry your business card or brochure with all your contact information, making it easy for interested folks to add you to their wedding vendors list.
Suggested Read: A Roadmap To Market Your Wedding Photography Business
5. Give Shout-Outs
When you post wedding photos on your blog or social media pages, you could consider tagging the other vendors who worked alongside you in the making of the ultimate wedding day! This can help them gain exposure, which they might just appreciate you for by returning the favor. By simply showing your gratitude, these wedding vendors will be more likely to recommend your services to their clients and add you to their free wedding vendor listing when the time comes.
Benefits Of Being On A Wedding Vendor Contact List
1. Create Brand Awareness
Being on a wedding vendors list is a great way to raise awareness about your wedding photography brand. For example, if you shoot destination weddings, potential clients who are looking for destination wedding photographers could find you easily through the information shared in a wedding vendor list. This makes it easier for them to contact you and learn more about your business.
Read More: Being Unique As A Wedding Photographer: 5 Ways To Stand Out
2. Get More Referrals
One of the greatest perks of being on a wedding vendors list is the increased referrals. Plus, when a couple’s trusted wedding vendor recommends your wedding photography business to them, they are more likely to trust and hire you. So not only does being on preferred vendors lists help you make more friends in the industry, but it could also be a potential way to get a more continuous flow of leads.
3. Gain Credibility
Another benefit of being on vendor lists is that it establishes your credibility, as it shows that other professionals are recommending you and vouching for the quality of your work. This creates trust in potential customers who are in the wedding planning process of looking for experienced photographers to capture their special day.
Related Read: How To Build Trust With Wedding Vendors
4. Increased Income
Having your name on the wedding vendors list means more bookings and, ultimately, an increase in cash flow. Being seen as the preferred wedding photographer by other vendors can also lead to higher quality customers and bigger wedding budgets from clients who are looking for professional photographers.
5. Working With Ideal Clients
Not all couples getting married are going to be your ideal customers. You might be someone who exclusively documents luxury weddings, or you might only want to photograph elopements, making your client base very specific. However, if you’re part of a luxury wedding venue’s preferred vendors list or feature on a list of a boutique that only works with elopement brides, you automatically have a higher chance of being recommended to your ideal client.
Further Read: How To Prepare For Your First Year Of Wedding Photography
Whether you’re new in the industry or a seasoned pro, booking new clients is always a high priority on the TDL. While marketing strategies could help with that, having your name on wedding vendors lists could play a significant part in skyrocketing those wedding bookings. From networking with vendors you love to showing appreciation for your vendor partners through social media – you can do multiple things to make a real connection, get on those preferred vendor lists, and establish a mutually beneficial partnership with wedding vendors.
At ShootDotEdit, we are passionate about helping you grow your wedding photography business. A part of how we do that is by lessening your post-production workload with our professional photo editing services. To learn more about how we can help your wedding photography business, check out our pricing plans.
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