A one stop wedding entertainment/photographer/ video solution?

Splinters

Hi folks, hope this is ok to post here, if not then mods by all means move to the correct place.

Im just wondering would any of you who are currently involved in the process of organising everything for a wedding see any potential in a company who could provide everything from the elegant design of your invitations to the photographers (and videographers) to the band and DJ for the night. Ok so its not quite a one stop solution as Im aware theres a lot more that needs to be organised. However these do tend to come up time and time again with posts on here, not to mention family/friends looking for recommendations for any (or all) of these services.

Of course all jobs would be done to the highest standard you'd expect from hiring anybody individually so the quality really isnt a concern. Of course the obvious advantages being with one company looking after all, it would be a massive reduction in hassle and time to get it organised, and naturally a massive reduction in cost having one company look after it all.

I dont want this mistaken for fishing for business as this is simply an idea Im toying with currently and would love to hear some of the potential pitfalls or issues to be aware of before pursuing this further.

Do you know of any similar business operating in Ireland currently? Would you use such a service?

Any feedback, suggestions, constructive criticism etc is welcome.

smelltheglove

From the supplier side of it, if a thought is useful to you, it wouldnt necessarily be my cup of tea. If I was hired to do a job as part of a team, under an umbrealla company, and one of the other suppliers made a you know what of something that could in turn damage the reputation I have worked hard at building for myself. I was previously approached by other suppliers asking for a combined package of my services and theirs. I am happy to recommend suppliers I enjoy working with but it is the couples decision if they go with those suppliers and would have no impact on my reputation whatsoever!

Toto Wolfcastle

I wouldn't use such a service. Finding suppliers hasn't exactly been stressful. There's so much information out there about suppliers and I wouldn't trust an umbrella company any more than I would trust an individual supplier. I'd go by reviews and by experiencing the supplier for myself. Anyway, in my experience of umbrella companies, they're more expensive than just booking the suppliers individually. One company wanted much more for a string quartet than any other quote we got.

We knew nothing about weddings before we got engaged and with very little work we have some great suppliers booked.

Splinters

Thats a good point alright however it shouldnt be too much of a concern in this instance as Id be practically involved at every single level. Ive 20 years experience playing and recording music and a bit over 5 years doing a range of freelance design, photographic and video work. Ive already invested considerable amounts of money into purchasing high quality equipment and more importantly learning how to use it well. Ive done all manner of work but for some reason I havent ventured into weddings so far. Id be working alongside my girlfriend who has much the same experience and interest in it as myself so it has the potential to work out very nicely.

The only real need to bring in external people would be for the wedding band. Ive a pretty extensive network of very capable and experienced musician friends so Im not really too concerned there as I have absolute faith in their ability plus Id be playing in the band myself too.

Obviously Im looking at taking on a lot of work, but I do think its all very much feasable. I also think being able to offer so much under a single company could mean as an example...a couple that may have budgeted for a great photographer and band but at the sacrifice of not getting a video done could get it all for little extra cost. Thats just an example but Im hoping there is potential there to provide a very convenient and yet still very high standard service.

By the way Smelltheglove, I had a look at your site just there. Its very impressive, really great work in there.

Splinters

Just to confirm, in now way would this be an umbrella group. I have quite an extensive amount of experience in a wide range of photography, digital image processing, video editing and playing a wide range of music so it would be a hands on approach at every single level.

If I was just going to subcontract it all out I wouldnt be able to offer at the prices Im hoping to, and as already mentioned Id be relinquishing a lot of control over the quality of the end product. That absolutely will not be the case.

smelltheglove

Splinters wrote: »

By the way Smelltheglove, I had a look at your site just there. Its very impressive, really great work in there.

Thanks so much, lovely of you to say.

On what you have said there, I know you realise it would be a lot of work but seriously, covering a wedding photographically is very draining. I had 2 big ones this week and still today I am utterly exhausted. My own husband is a singer and I know how hard it is to perform also for a crowd and I just cant imagine how anyone could do what I do during the day and then go on to what he does in the evening. If you were required to sing at all in the band it would be even harder as often, after a day of talking non stop, directing people and trying to organise a crowd for a group shot you may find your voice to be completely shot.

When it comes to recommending friends its all well and good but do you really want to get that involved with friends etc, people close to you having such a high impact on your reputation, again I know how bandmates rely on each other so much and it is nice to do that with friends but if you are knackered after photographing / videoing the day how will they react?

A wedding is a once in a lifetime thing, a one time only job for me or you, this is the only chance you have to make an impression and have those people recomend you so you continue to work so you need to be 100% sure you can rely on the people around you. I have people I recommend, I have bands I recommend, believe it or not, as much as I love my hubbies band they are not on my links page, I would like him to do weddings but his is not a wedding band and if any clients ever asked me about getting his band I would tell them his is not the band for them!

Splinters

Again Id agree with everything you said there. Although I do sing Id only be playing guitar for the wedding band. As you said thats quite an exhausting job, where as guitar really doesnt take as much out of you, even for a 2 or 3 hour set.

As for the band being suitable, it certainly wont be throwing a bunch of mates together who dabble in a sing song every now and then. Most of the musicians I have in mind have either played in either signed professional bands, professional session work or already played in wedding bands. It'll be a purpose built band so Im pretty confident I can assemble something ver professional. And likewise with the photo and video side of things Ive had a considerable amount of time to build up some pretty high end equipment and learnt over the years how to get the best out of it too.

As you so rightly said it is a once in a lifetime opportunity for all involved and something I have no intention of approaching lightly.

smelltheglove

Splinters wrote: »

As you so rightly said it is a once in a lifetime opportunity for all involved and something I have no intention of approaching lightly.

As long as you know what you are letting yourself in for;)

And hey, dont be robbing any of hubbies band members now eh:p Best of luck with it if you go ahead and if you want to ask any questions you know where I am!

watna

Like Janeybabe said, I don't think I'd use one. Finding suppliers has been easy enough and most couples are trying to keep the costs down as well. You would have to price it very competitively for it to be worth it to couples.

ike

I've toyed with this idea, a friend who I work with in another venture has his own wedding band and I know a DJ really well. So either of us could offer 3 services in one go. I mentioned this to couples at initial meetings and even handed out the other's business cards 99% of the time it they will go off and do their own thing even at the mention of discounts for group bookings etc. In theory it should be a great idea but the little experience I have of it dosen't seem to work (thats not to say it wouldn't)

As a previous poster mentioned it not actually that hard to source information about individual suppliers.

Lets say they go to a company who offers a more than one service it might be a case they love the videographer work, hate the photographer, and want a band with a different sound.

As a photographer I'm not sure I'd like to be booked under an unbrella company either, lots of wedding suppliers want to build (and protect) their own brand and work towards that. The only time I've ever worked under someone else for wedding photographer is when I've been asked to be a second shooter for the day and that was fine because I was hired by the photographer not the couple.