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Brittney Sue Photography

Pregnancy and Wedding Photography | Four Things I Learned

August 24, 2016

Pregnancy and wedding photography.  Its something you don’t hear many photographers openly discuss on their blogs and it has been weighing heavily on me lately.  I feel like as industry  professionals as we experience certain events that so closely effect our family and business we must talk about them.  Through our experiences and finding out what worked and didn’t we can help those who are going to be experiencing the same things at some point. So lets get started!

I have been a wedding photographer for a couple years now.  Our family recently relocated to Maryland from South Carolina in the summer of 2015 due to my husband’s military career and I decided to refocus my business primarily to weddings and couples.  We had two beautiful boys and I thought we were done expanding our little family.  So as you can imagine, it was a complete shock when we found out I was pregnant again this January!

I was booked to be a vendor at my first bridal expo here in Maryland and suddenly had to come to the realization that because my due date fell at the beginning of September, one of the busiest months for a wedding photographer, I was going to have to turn brides away from he start.  I knew, from my past pregnancy and delivery experiences, that I would need to give myself a few weeks before my due date to begin my maternity leave and that I would need to factor in about 6 weeks after before I started shooting weddings again.  I did just that and have had to turn away 6 weddings in total because not only would it not be fair to myself or my family, but I knew I also couldn’t give those brides the dedication and attention that they deserved.  When we moved to Maryland I originally had a goal to book 6 weddings of my own this year, on top of second shooting for other photographers here and there.  Once I found out I was pregnant I changed my goal to 4.  This may not seem like many but since we just moved to the state I knew it was going to take a while for my name to get out there and for brides to start finding me to begin with but then with the added pregnancy I knew I was going to be turning away brides during a month when I could have been booked solid.

To my surprise, I have booked 7 of my own wedding this year, with having my maternity leave be from August 7-October 14!

Here are 3 things I learned throughout this experience that I think any wedding photographer should know when it comes to pregnancy and wedding photography:

  1. Reassess your goals and expectations early in the pregnancy: Most wedding photographers give themselves a goal number of weddings per year.  Depending on your due date, you may need to adjust that number to accommodate maternity leave.  Write down the dates of your planned maternity leave and stick to it.  I knew I tend to get very large and uncomfortable toward the end of my pregnancies but that I typically bounce back quickly so I factored in 4 weeks before my due date and 6.5 weeks after.
  2. Be open and honest with inquiring brides:  I’m not saying that your need to give all inquiring brides intricate details of your personal life but for the brides whose weddings were close to either end of my maternity leave I was sure to let them know about the pregnancy.  My goal was to manage expectations on the front end (I may not be climbing trees or fences, lol)  All of my brides have been super wonderful throughout the whole pregnancy!
  3. Hire amazing second shooters/ assistants:  I can’t stress this one enough.  I typically hire one photographer to second shoot for me if she doesn’t have a wedding of her own, she is also who I second shoot for.  Her and I work VERY well together.  We are able to anticipate each others needs and can take over for the other in any situation necessary without worry of the ball being dropped.  This was key for me! At the last wedding I shot before going onto maternity leave I also hired an assistant to simply carry my gear and anything else I needed help with.  This proved to be invaluable to me as I was extremely uncomfortable at that last wedding.
  4. Stay hydrated and keep snacks on hand:  This one is key in regards to your own well being.  Being hydrated and having high protein snacks on hand during any pregnancy is important but when you are on your feet working, sometimes in the hot sun, it is imperative that you stay hydrated! A combination of water and sports-type drinks are key to keeping your fluids up and replacing any electrolytes you are losing while sweating on a wedding day.  I usually kept snacks like granola bars, almonds and trail mix in my camera bag and would snack throughout the day as well.

Overall I have had a really positive experience blending pregnancy and wedding photography but I did have to make adjustments to my own expectations. I hope I have been able to shed some light on my experience and what helped me, so that maybe I can help you too!
pregnancy and wedding photography | Brittney Livingston Photography (2)

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  1. Lovely picture Women are stronger I love it!

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