Is the 2021 Wedding Season Stressing You Out?

Feeling Overwhelmed as a Wedding Photographer //

Friends, let’s just say it – as much as we love wedding photography, it is not a walk in the park. Although we might get the occassional comment from a guest that we should feel so lucky that all we have to do for work is just show up with a camera at a wedding. Well, at least we know that that is far from the truth!


Especially if you are located in North America or Europe, August is a month in the season where we are rolling deep in weddings. Since weeks, we have been covering weddings pretty much every weekend with our incredible couples at lovely venues, but we have also been spending most of our time during the week in front of the screen editing, replying to emails, sending bills, keeping up with our social media presence etc.

And for many of us, this year comes with even more challenges because of the all the rescheduling that happened due to the pandemic. If we are not careful, the contiunous stress can have some dire consequences to our health, mental wellbeing and ultimately our business. Who here has seen the meme going around on Instagram of a woman looking absolutely distraught after the wedding season is over? I certainly don’t want that for us!

Hi, I am Aida, host of  My Wedding Season -The Podcast!
If you prefer listening, this blog post is also available in audio format on my podcast: Episode 13.

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I honestly don’t have all the answers, but I do really want to help. Here are some suggestions of what you can do to help reduce the sense of overwhelm during the wedding season:

1. SELF-CARE

Do not ignore your needs! Yes, you need to serve your clients to the best of your ability, but you cannot do that if you are falling apart mentally, emotionally and physically. Set aside time during the week to relax, hang out with friends and family, take in the summer heat, enjoy the outdoors and exercise. And think about how your morning-routine can help you start the day off well.

Also, very important is that you eat healthy, and regularly. In the midst of working so much, we do have the tendancy to either skip meals or grab a quick bite. Take the time to nourish your body appropriately for your overall wellbeing. I do know that meal-planning is the key! Still haven’t nailed down the best system for me, but once I do, I am happy to share it with you!

2. STREAMLINE YOUR PROCESS

Take the time to analyse points in your workflow that can be done more efficiently. Are there templates you can prepare or purchase? Is there a way to batchwork some tasks? Write all the things that you do to complete a job from A-Z and find ways to streamline them. Yes, it is time-consuming at first, but the pay-off is huge!

Also when it comes to continually marketing your business during the busy season, there are things you can do to make your life easier. For example, plan out your Instagram posts ahead of time for a couple of weeks in one go. Having pictures and captions thought-out and ready to go really helps reduce the daily stress of needing to think about what to post.

Also, are there tasks that you can outsource? Like editing? Enlist help when necessary. You do not need to do EVERYTHING in your business.

I can highly recommend Pepper, a creative marketing agency that helps photographers in all things content creation and marketing strategy. I am so honored to be a Brand Ambassador for Pepper because I truly believe in the team and the work that they do. They offer a number of services and products in their shop! Having trouble blogging regularly, lagging behind on posting on your different social media channels, in over your head with SEO – Pepper has got you! You can use the code Aida10 to get 10% off your purchase! Just go to www.meetpepper.ca to check them out!

Disclaimer: I am a Brand Ambassador and a part of a referral program for Pepper. I am sharing my honest opinion about their products and services with you! Read more about my Referral Program / Affiliate Disclosure here!

3. PLAN OUT YOUR SCHEDULE

Take a holistic look at your upcoming weddings and plan out which days of the week you will block out to edit the images. Set deadlines for when you will deliver the galleries to your clients. What helps me the most is that I save and cull the images within 24 hours after the wedding. That way, the day I feel relaxed knowing that all the data is backed-up and selecting the images to edit goes faster, because the day is still fresh in my mind. The less I procrastinate, the less I feel like a dark cloud hovering over my head.

In my opinion, the more you feel like that you are falling behind and more weddings keep on piling up, the more overwhelmed you will start feeling.

Don’t get me wrong, I am not on top of my game. I try to implement the points listed above, but do not always manage e.g. eating healthy all the time. But I am trying my best and it is getting better…

BONUS TIP

Plan in breaks for the upcoming wedding season

When you are booking weddings for the next season, plan in about 10 days off every 2-3 months (e.g. the Monday after a wedding until the Wednesday a week later). You can take a mini-trip during this time to relax and rejuvinate.

Ever since my husband, Tim, and I started doing this, we feel way more relaxed and inspired during the wedding season. Not only is it an amazing way to also enjoy the summer for us, but we can serve our clients better, because we are not feeling over-worked and are freshly recharged.

I truly hope that these tips can help you reduce the sense of overwhelm and stress during the wedding season.

Cheering you on,
Aida

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MY WEDDING SEASON PLANNER 2022 // DIGITAL PLANNER

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My Wedding Season Planner is custom-designed to help overwhelmed wedding photographers who are feeling stressed out because they are struggling to stay organised, keep track of their client work and reach their goals.

This 2022 version of the planner is going to be made available to you for FREE as a pdf download!
For more details about the planner: www.wedding-photography-podcast.com/planner

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AIDA GLOWIK

PHOTOGRAPHER & PODCASTER

I specialise in European intimate weddings & elopements.
I provide overwhelmed wedding photographers with the inspiration, tools and resources needed to build a thriving brand and business.

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