We all have a flow, system, and plan for how we like to handle wedding days and sessions, but sometimes there are others who are also hired to work with us, and it can cause a little bit of a hiccup to our plans. I know I’m a little biased about working with videographers, because  I’m lucky enough to work with my husband as my videographer most often! But as we have worked together and with other videographers or photographers we have learned a few tips to working best with each other to get what we were hired for. Let’s preface this by saying, your bride hired both of you! She wants beautiful pictures and video to be able to look back on her big day! One of you is not necessarily more important than the other. Your bride thinks you are both amazing at what you do and has entrusted the two of you to capture everything perfectly. Here are 5 tips to make it go smoothly.

1. Speak Kindly- Cliche’ and obvious as it may seem, this is the number one thing. If you want to create a vendor relationship and make working with them easier, be kind! Ask them how their day is going and get to know more about them. We’ve all heard, “Treat others how you want to be treated.” And that still applies for us in our industry. These times of working with others in our industry are amazing opportunities to connect with others and form vendor relations. The best part about vendor relationships is the chance it gives you to refer each other and ask for help if needed. If the videographer or photographer liked working with you and felt that a positive friendship was there, they are going to refer brides to you! But if it was a really negative experience with you, it will do the opposite! This idea of speaking kindly also ties into number 3.

2. Give them time- I know that personally when I’m in a zone, I am a go-go-go-go type personality. It’s not that I move my couples that quickly, but that’s how I’m moving to get different angles and shots. And when I’m ready to move onto the next pose, I don’t always think to let them move around the couple to get those shots they want. Logan gave me a little talking to about this and since then, I have taken time to ask him if there is anything he needs before we move on. Typically he gets what he wants while I’m shooting, but sometimes I will step out and he has something with that particular pose to get. Don’t forget to let them shoot too! We all need time to let our creativity flow.

3. Share ideas- This one might feel a little awkward for you, but sometimes in a certain location or with the particular weather conditions, maybe you could see a shot in your head that might be really awesome! If you have a positive relationship, you could share your idea with them and it could totally work or be a total bust. Either way, it is another way to build a friendship and vendor relationship with them. Again, Logan and I have a different relationship with this, but it has been so awesome for both of us to bounce ideas off of each other during shoots. Maybe this is something you could do after working with the same videographer/photographer multiple times.

4. Carry gear- Personally, I used to be TERRIBLE at this, and I’m still not great at it. Logan used to take care of our bags and I didn’t have to worry about it. But now, Logan has a lot of gear that has to be moved every time we move to a new spot. Because of that, I can easily carry the Glidecam or a monopod without it hindering my ability to carry my bag and talk with clients. Look for opportunities to serve!! Again, that vendor relationship is crucial!

5. Know beforehand- Earlier this year, we shot a wedding before we launched into the videography, where the bride’s uncle was going to shoot some video at the wedding. We had already communicated with the bride and asked about video, so we knew that he was going to be there with us. That helped us be prepared to know that we needed to know his name, be familiar with him, and it helped us be ready to give him time to shoot too! We don’t always like to be caught off guard, because of that, communicate with the bride beforehand and ask if there will be a videographer for their wedding day. If there will be a videographer/photographer, get in contact with them! Reach out to them and let them know who you are and see if there is anything you can do on the wedding day that will help them out. We recently shot a wedding that we only booked for video; their photographer reached out to us and we were able to be on the same page before the wedding day way even here! It created a really good working experience for us!