Show notes
What does it actually mean to care about your couples? Not in a vague, wholesome sense - but practically, between the booking email and the wedding day? This week the four of us are back together after a busy stretch of weddings (and one very long drive to Skye), and this question pops up in most of what we're talking about today.
Liam kicks things off with tales from the road - a 22-hour round trip to the Isle of Skye for a four-hour elopement, accommodation that shared a building with a funeral director, and a mid-ceremony nature emergency that he handled with more resourcefulness than dignity. There's also the heartwarming news that Bee's daughter Betty shot her very first wedding and, by all accounts, absolutely smashed it.
Pete and Laura relive their Paris trip - a 1920s indoor fairground, a ringmaster officiant, Britney-soundtracked backup dancers, and the "Inception bridge" - before the whole group spirals into debating whether they should all move to Scotland (Pete: no; midges: also no).
From there, things get deep: a recent opinion arguing that photographers and videographers should position themselves as "creative leads" on wedding days. The group picks that apart honestly - where the idea has merit, why it mostly doesn't work (for us), and what actually happens when the makeup artist is still doing BTS portraits while you're trying to shoot.
Pete raises something that's been coming up in consults lately: couples are booking "editorial" photographers thinking the word signals a natural, unposed approach - because "documentary" now sounds old-fashioned to them - when editorial often means the opposite. The terminology has become almost meaningless. It's the same problem that existed when everyone called themselves documentary photographers but still whisked couples away for two hours of portraits.
And then: a TikTok from a wedding-industry bride saying no vendor made her feel cared about. Do we? Should we be doing more between booking and the big day - automated check-ins, WhatsApp groups, gifts? Or does showing up fully and delivering exceptional work speak louder than any amount of pre-wedding communication?
Honest, warm, and occasionally extremely disgusting - this is a good one.
Timestamps
00:00 Intro & welcome back Liam 03:45 How long can you leave an inquiry unanswered?
04:10 Isle of Skye elopement - the drive, the cost, the hostel
07:00 The wilderness incident (you'll know when you get there)
09:25 Betty's first wedding shoot
12:30 Paris Musee des Arts Forains wedding - fairground, ringmaster, Britney
17:50 Filming vs. photography - why variety makes both better
18:35 Should we all move to Scotland?
20:00 Stefan sells up and goes full Viking
21:30 Should photographers be "creative leads" on wedding days?
27:00 The rise of content creators at weddings & its knock-on effects
30:00 Editorial vs. documentary - the language is broken
33:30 The wonky camera trend & the Adlington Flip
37:00 Do our couples feel cared for?
38:50 Automated check-ins, WhatsApp groups
42:00 The photographer who delivers nothing for months
44:00 Highs & lows of the past few weeks
46:30 A funeral & finding joy in hard days
48:00 What's coming up - Devon, Scotland, and Liam's eight-day gauntlet
Say hi on Instagram @ourcreativecommune
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The British Wedding Film Festival
https://www.britishweddingfilmfestival.com/
Lawson Film School: https://www.lawsonfilms.co.uk/lawson-film-school
liamandbee.com
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lawsonphotography.co.uk
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