Grab a cup of tea and join Pete, Laura, Liam, and Bee for another catch-up inside the Creative Commune. This week, we're diving deep into the frustrating reality of the modern wedding industry. Ever had a consultation where you absolutely nailed it, gave the couple amazing advice, shared a few laughs, and then... absolute silence?

We’re breaking down the psychology of "ghosting," debating whether giving too much free advice on a Zoom call is actually hurting your booking rate, and discussing the exact timeline of when you should be sending your follow-up emails.

We also take a hard, uncomfortable look at inflation. If you haven't significantly raised your prices in the last five years, you might actually be taking a massive pay cut without realizing it. We crunch the numbers on what a £2,000 wedding from 2010 should cost today.

Plus, we talk about the pains of getting shooed away by wardens while shooting in London, why Pete absolutely refuses to set up those cliché "groom by the window" prep photos, and Bee shares the surprising results of letting ChatGPT dictate our Instagram strategy for a month. Finally, we share our weekly highs and lows—including the tragic loss of a local village legend and the anxiety of developing a six-year-old roll of film.

00:00 - Intro, morning coffee, and Pete’s table tennis heartbreak

01:17 - The secret joy of cancelled Reformer Pilates classes

05:40 - Upcoming destination weddings: Scotland, Spain, Italy, and Vietnam

09:33 - Getting kicked off private land in London and National Trust rules

13:30 - We let ChatGPT run our Instagram (and it's actually working)

17:33 - Marketing vs. Art: Should you post what works or what excites you?

18:50 - The ghosting epidemic: Why do couples vanish after a great Zoom call?

22:50 - Zoom strategies: Pitching and advising vs. just chilling out

26:15 - How and when should you send the follow-up email?

32:00 - The inflation calculator: Are you secretly taking a pay cut every year?

36:40 - How the photography industry hustle has changed over the last decade

38:50 - Highs & Lows: Developing 6-year-old film and the horror of wet leggings

41:29 - RIP Hilda: Mourning our 94-year-old village window-waving legend

43:40 - Liam’s Isle of Skye elopement excitement

46:27 - Pete's return to blogging and the debate over staging groom prep photos

Say hi on Instagram @ourcreativecommune

Get a free 14 day trial of Musicbed: https://www.musicbed.com/invite/935Cy

The British Wedding Film Festival

https://www.britishweddingfilmfestival.com/

Lawson Film School: https://www.lawsonfilms.co.uk/lawson-film-school

liamandbee.com

lawsonfilms.co.uk

lawsonphotography.co.uk

#weddingphotography #weddingvideography #filmphotography #creativepodcast #weddingindustry #ourcreativecommune

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Spring has finally sprung, and the wedding season is officially waking up! In this week's episode, we’re back on the sofa to tackle some of the biggest shifting trends in the wedding photography and videography industry.

Liam kicks things off by sharing his experience working alongside a dedicated content creator at a recent London wedding. Have content creators just become a normal part of the day, or is the hype starting to fade? We also dive deep into the latest Bridebook survey to find out what couples are actually looking for right now. Spoiler alert: they don't care about your social media following, and the "editorial" trend might not be as dominant as Instagram makes it seem.

We also tackle the frustrating reality of getting "ghosted" by couples after seemingly perfect Zoom meetings. Are we making it too hard for clients to book us? We discuss the power of WhatsApp, ditching 20-page PDF brochures, and streamlining your workflow to capture leads while they're hot.

Plus, Bee shares the wild ChatGPT strategy she’s using to completely retrain their confused Instagram algorithm, Pete questions if it's finally time to stop hoarding terabytes of old raw footage due to skyrocketing hard drive prices, and we wrap up with our weekly Highs and Lows—featuring magazine awards, film festival backlash, Reformer Pilates, and Pete's quest for table tennis glory.

Grab a coffee and join the commune!

Timestamps:

00:00 - Intro, spring vibes, and Laura’s high-maintenance gardening

03:34 - Liam’s first London wedding back and working with a content creator

09:08 - Bee’s darkroom update & Pete/Laura’s Spice Kitchen commercial shoot

13:30 - Pete’s table tennis championship (Rocky montage pending)

15:25 - Bridebook 2024 Survey: What styles and traits do couples actually care about?

22:00 - The ghosting epidemic: Why are couples disappearing after great Zoom meetings?

28:00 - Streamlining your booking process and the power of WhatsApp

34:30 - How to retrain a broken Instagram algorithm (and Liam's weird "zooming" theory)

42:00 - Skyrocketing hard drive costs: Is it time to delete a decade of raw files?

47:20 - Highs & Lows: Professional Photo Magazine's Top 50 list & Reformer Pilates!

53:30 - Handling complaints and backlash from the wedding film festival

01:01:48 - Liam’s shiny new mountain bike and driving instructor woes

Say hi on Instagram @ourcreativecommune

Get a free 14 day trial of Musicbed: https://www.musicbed.com/invite/935Cy

The British Wedding Film Festival

https://www.britishweddingfilmfestival.com/

Lawson Film School: https://www.lawsonfilms.co.uk/lawson-film-school

liamandbee.com

lawsonfilms.co.uk

lawsonphotography.co.uk

#weddingphotography #weddingvideography #filmphotography #creativepodcast #weddingindustry #ourcreativecommune

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Grab a coffee and join us at the holiday cottage! We're recording straight from our annual Shropshire retreat to catch up on everything happening in our creative lives right now. With the cost of living crisis changing how couples plan their big days, we dive deep into the rising trend of reduced-coverage weddings.

Are these shorter, "smash and grab" days a refreshing change of pace, or do they rob us of the chance to truly connect with our couples? We also debate the modern relevance of bridal prep and detail shots - do brides really want a photo of their shoes on a tree, or are we just shooting out of fear of missing something?

We’re also pulling back the curtain on the very first British Wedding Film Festival! We debrief on the incredible highs of the glamorous night at the Manchester Art Gallery, the financial realities of hosting a major industry event from scratch, and the controversy of international filmmakers dominating the final shortlists. Plus, we talk through our plans and category changes for next year.

Finally, we share our weekly highs and lows, featuring the magic of Victorian tintype photography, the sheer terror of M6 traffic, the sting of buying four new car tires, and a painfully relatable vent about couples treating our Zoom consultations like interviews only to ghost us afterward.

00:00 - Morning Coffee & Shropshire Holiday Vibes

02:40 - Are Reduced Coverage Weddings the New Normal?

07:30 - The "Smash and Grab" Reality of Short Weddings

08:30 - Do Couples Actually Want Detail Shots Anymore?

14:50 - The Danger of Missing Crucial Props (The Pen Story)

16:35 - Shooting a Bar Mitzvah & Traffic Nightmares

20:10 - Our Worst "Late to a Wedding" Stories & Box Breathing

23:25 - Identity Crisis: Are We Still Calling Ourselves Photographers?

25:55 - The British Wedding Film Festival Debrief

33:00 - The Financial Reality of Hosting an Industry Event

35:00 - The Controversy of International & Destination Winners

42:20 - Highs & Lows: Victorian Tintype Photography in Shrewsbury

48:30 - Highs & Lows: £650 Tyres & Toddler Colds

50:10 - Why Are Couples Ghosting After Great Zoom Consultations?

52:45 - Dinner Debates & Wrapping Up

Say hi on Instagram @ourcreativecommune

Get a free 14 day trial of Musicbed: https://www.musicbed.com/invite/935Cy

The British Wedding Film Festival

https://www.britishweddingfilmfestival.com/

Lawson Film School: https://www.lawsonfilms.co.uk/lawson-film-school

liamandbee.com

lawsonfilms.co.uk

lawsonphotography.co.uk

#weddingphotography #weddingvideography #filmphotography #creativepodcast #weddingindustry #ourcreativecommune

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.