Wendi Riggens Photography Blog – Burlington Iowa

I know I have a ton of other weddings to blog about, but wanted to get this one up! I thought I would take a moment to give you all an idea of how I work. 🙂

When someone calls me to talk about booking, I provide package information and set a time to meet in person so that they can see several complete weddings. When choosing a wedding photographer, it is important to see more than just a few shots from one or two weddings. Seeing how a photographer covers an entire day, and many different situations, is an important factor in the quality they produce.

Once a wedding is booked with me, we schedule an engagement session, which is a great way for me to get to know my clients, and for them to get comfortable with my shooting style. I don’t like to ask my clients to post perfectly and stand up straight and smile, and by seeing Amy & Josh’s engagement session in St. Louis a few posts back, you can see this. I love shooting destination engagement sessions and traveling to where my clients live. I’ve shot several of these now, and love getting out of Burlington once in a while!

Throughout the months leading up to the wedding, I keep in touch with my clients, providing recommendations and answering questions. A month or two before the wedding, we get together again to talk about a timeline for the day, shooting ideas, and locations. This goes a long way in making the day of the wedding run smoothly, and to make the most of the photography experience!

The day of the wedding, I don’t just photograph the wedding. I have helped brides into dresses, bustled trains, cut cakes, and given the bride a ride when she forgot to arrange transportation to see her groom for the first time (on more than one occassion). I’ve pinned flowers on groomsmen, fixed bouquets for bridesmaids, fixed viels, and assured the bride that it doesn’t matter which leg the garter goes on. I know which goes on first, the engagement ring or wedding band, show people how to cut a cake (you would be surprised how often couples ask me this!), and help figure out how to transport a 12 person wedding party when the limo doesn’t show. I fluff the train before Dad walks his daughter down the aisle, and get the guests ready to blow bubbles or throw petals before the new couple makes their exit. I’ve paddled around a pond in a paddle boat (pictures to come), climbed trees, laid on the hot pavement in full sun, and braved traffic to get “the shot”. I love what I do, and do whatever I can to make the day as carefree and fun for my couples, because when it all comes down to it, they are what it is all about.

After the wedding, I take a day or two to clear my head and bask in the post-wedding love that always pours out of my clients and their family and friends. I am always so happy after weddings! Once I come down out of the clouds, I download my cards and those of my second shooter and start sorting and culling. I look at every single image I shoot and process them all myself. While I tell my clients 3 to 4 weeks, I usually have them up in just a couple. The last three weddings I photographed, I had posted in their online gallery in just about a week from the wedding, just in time to surprise the newlyweds as they return from their honeymoon.

Over the weeks following the wedding, my graphic designer posts the album pre-design, and we meet again to create a custom album that is perfect for each couple. I can go into my client’s homes and assist them in creating a beautiful portrait wall with images from their day, and once in a while we’ll do a trash the dress session or bridal session.

Once everything is all said and done, my clients often keep in touch as their lives progress, and I find myself shooting their pets, their first born, their families. It is always so amazing seeing these young couples in love grow and start families, and I love that I become a part of their new life together!

I truly love what I do, and love creating images for my couples that they will have for the rest of their lives. Here are a few from Amy & Josh’s wedding, and I hope that 20 years from now, they will see these and remember their love for each other and how it felt to be newlyweds all over again!

.