“So what do you do the rest of the week?”
This is a question I have been asked many times over the years, usually on a Saturday afternoon, mid drinks reception, by a wedding guest.
As in, ‘what do I do with all that time off I have Mon-Friday because of course I have a ton of time to kick up my heels and just chill out between weddings’. NOT!!
My season starts typically around mid April, really gets going in early May and then pushes on until usually somewhere around mid October.
During that period, I do not have a wedding every Saturday, but typically, 20 weddings regardless of day of the week, within a 24 week window AKA, The Wedding Season in France.
It is extremely rare for me to do ‘just photo’ or ‘just video’ coverage other than maybe 1/20 weddings, so ALL my weddings are BOTH and as a result, I bring back to the office, twice as much raw material to then work on as your typical wedding photographer or videographer might.
On top of that, my average attendance is 2.5 days per wedding as in most book 3 days, a few only have 2 days coverage and single day is extremely rare.
Of course, that typical day prior and day post coverage does not provide as much material as a full wedding day, but effectively, it does double my workload again. That is photo + video = double the workload of a typical photographer/videographer and with an average equivalent of 2 full days attended, QUADRUPLES my workload.
So 20 weddings attended per annum for your typical photographer or videographer = 20 weddings worth of material to edit and produce, but I come back with the equivalent of 80 days attended that requires editing and producing. And as any wedding photographer or videographer would tell you, shooting, editing and producing the equivalent of 80 weddings per annum is monumental for one person.
And it doesn’t stop there… My average travel distance and time per wedding as a destination wedding photographer = approx 700km each way (so1400km or 900+ miles) and 2 days travel commitment average per job, ie, typical 2-3 days coverage + 2 days travel = 4-5 days away out on the road, 20 times out of 24 weeks meaning in season, I am not home on average 90 out of 180 days.
So what do I do the rest of the week?
Typical 6.30am in the office and often do not finish up until around 10pm so other than eating (often at my work station), sleeping or exercising, 7 days a week, all season long with an average 80 hours commitment per week for that duration.
Such is this wedding photographer’s life May-Oct!
How is it possible (as a one man band) and how do I prevent burn out?
Well after the Covid years of 2020 and 2021 when I attended just 6 out of what should have been 55-60 weddings), I attended 33 weddings in 2022. And that almost broke me.
I would not have chosen to attend so many, but it was a consequence of the fallout from those Covid years and the sheer number of postponed jobs that that had to fit in along with the regular bookings.
As a result, I capped my workload at 20 weddings per annum and even that is a little high at the equivalent of 80 weddings per annum attended to then edit and produce so going forward (2025 season), that is now a hard cap of 15. Because the workload equivalent of 60 weddings attended per annum is quite sufficient thank you!
4 spaces remaining for 2025 and then that is it, diary WILL be closed!