Wedding: Working with Rachel
Booking Your Wedding Date
If you are interested in working with Rachel Olsen Photography on your wedding day, contact me as soon as possible. I take a limited number of weddings each season in order to provide the best customer service possible to each and every client.
Wedding dates are reserved on a first come, first served basis.
In order to reserve your wedding date, the studio must receive a signed contract and $1500 retainer fee.
Once the signed contract and retainer fee are received, then the date will be booked with Rachel Olsen Photography and will no longer be available to other potential clients.
Please contact me to inquire if your desired date is available.
Leading up to the Wedding Day
Engagement sessions are included with many wedding collections. Additional products (e.g. prints, albums, canvases) are purchased a la carte.
If you have selected a wedding collection that includes an engagement session, we will schedule a date, time and location that works for everyone.
The engagement session
I shoot exclusively on location. A session typically lasts 1 to 2 hours. I will come to the location of your choice; perhaps a place that has special meaning to you and your fiancé or simply somewhere beautiful. My goal is to make the session as relaxed and natural as possible- think of it as a date with your fiancé and you just happen to have a photographer friend tagging along! We will do a mixture of posed and candid photographs. Mostly, I let you interact, be yourselves and let great moments unfold.
Images from your engagement session are available for proofing roughly two weeks after the session. Many couples choose to use their images in a guest book album, in canvases wrapped prints or many other custom products.
One month prior to your wedding date
I will schedule a consultation in person or via phone to review the following:
-Your wedding day questionnaire (if it has not already been provided to the studio)
-A detailed schedule of events for pre-ceremony, ceremony, and reception
-Tear sheets of images you’ve found throughout the planning of your wedding. This is not required but is a suggested practice. It will give me a better idea of what you’re personally drawn to.
-Details of the wedding that you’ve spent time planning (cake, special moments, décor, etc.) that you would like me to pay special attention to.
-Final Payment is due 30 days prior to your wedding date.
The Wedding Day
On the wedding day my photographic style is photo-journalistic in nature. I am a witness to your day and capture images as they unfold with an artistic eye and creative perspective. I take in everything from the smallest detail to the grandest emotion, and strive to capture the beauty of you, naturally.
My intention is to create images that are real and true. I try to keep direction to a minimum so that moments unfold naturally throughout the day. During the formal portraits, however, I will seek out the best light and scenery and direct groups into place. I also ask for at least 20-30 minutes with the two of you alone so that we have time to create some beautiful portraits of you on your amazing day.
It is helpful to have a detailed timeline of events, so that I can photograph your beautiful day as you desire.
I consider it a great honor to be with you on your wedding day and can’t wait to create images that celebrate you and your love for one another.
After the Wedding
Digital Darkroom
Once the wedding day has ended, the creative process continues as I take all of your images into my digital darkroom.
From the thousands of images captured, I select six to eight hundred images that tell the story of your wedding day. Every photograph is color corrected. Any image that is selected for a premium heirloom product, included in an album or ordered as an 8×10 or larger will receive extra editing.
After I select the six to eight hundred images, I will continue the edit and select between 100-200 images to create your wedding slideshow. These, in my view, best tell the story of your wedding day. The images will be set to music and will be presented to you online. (Many brides and grooms find the slideshow to be the perfect place from which to start designing their wedding album.)
Ordering
Within eight weeks after your wedding, I will send you a link to an online gallery of all of your color corrected images for you to view and order prints. I will also send you a link to your online slideshow of your wedding highlights set to music. You are welcome to share both links with all of your family and friends to enjoy.
Print orders are placed directly through the online gallery and are processed by my professional lab.
Your online gallery will automatically expire in nine months. All orders must be placed before expiration.
Heirloom Products
Rachel Olsen Photography offers many heirloom products such as gorgeous premium prints, museum quality canvas prints and custom framed prints; all are ordered through the online gallery.
Premium Heirloom albums are the best way to preserve your wedding day images for generations to come. I offer gorgeous albums bound in leather or silk. Each album is individually designed and ordered directly through Rachel Olsen Photography. Please check out the Albums section for more information about the Heirloom Wedding Albums.
From Beginning to End
From planning your photography timeline to ordering your premium wedding album, I am here for you every step of the way. I am happy to make timing suggestions, help with print selections, create custom pieces of art or answer any questions that you may have!
