stephanie + phil – the wedding day & thank you note

today i was reminded that the impact that we have on our clients’ wedding day goes far beyond taking pictures. all too often we hear tales of photographers that were snippy or impatient or just a general drag on the day. brides and grooms rarely realize that they are going to spend more time that day with their photographer than with each other and that their choice of photographer has a huge impact on how they experience their wedding day. we wedding photographers are invited into an intimate inner circle and such close contact often makes us de facto coaches, counsels, and confidantes. and this relationship extends far beyond the wedding day as we’re the only professionals they hire that they continue to have a relationship with when the wedding is over!

Anyway, on to this weekend’s wedding.

Rather than give you my interpretation of Stephanie and Phil’s wedding day, I thought I’d share with you the note that Stephanie took the time to email us the day after her wedding. It was written to Celeste, my wife, and producer of our Still Live show, who also serves as an impromptu wedding coordinator in the earlier part of the day. In the past, C has served as florist, seamstress (sitting on the floor trimming off the bottom of an incorrectly finished Reem Acra dress), dress steamer, a one-person dry cleaner, a shoulder to cry on, and more.

Stephanie wrote us the following letter:

Celeste,

Let me start with telling you how much I love you, Brian and Matt. I love you more than all the wedding photos you have taken, more than all the voices and characters Matt uses in an attempt to elicit smiles from shy brides, more than all the tears of happiness and joy shed at our wedding. Let me also tell you how upset I was I didn’t get to hug you goodbye and thank you for the magical effect you had on the most wonderful day of my life! I was heart broken I didn’t get to say good night to you guys. We would really love to take you all out for a drink or coffee sometime- if that is allowed!

I plan on writing you a formal thank you when we return from the honeymoon- and of course I will recommend you to everyone I meet on every street corner whether they are getting married or not. I wanted to shoot you a quick e-mail today to tell you what a profound effect you had on me. Perhaps I am just a bride flying high on love and emotions but I was so moved and touched by the masterful talent your entire team exudes! I couldn’t wait to tell you how happy I am. I saw the live show for a few brief moments last night and what I saw was ethereal. I don’t know who those people were but they were Gorgeous!

Thank you so much for being so patient, kind, understanding and creative. Thank you for capturing the essence of our day. Thank you for capturing the intimate moments and keeping them between us. Thank you for capturing happiness and joyous exhaultations… I wish I could hire you to follow us around everyday and then see it on the live show. No, really- you were amazing.

… I could not wait to write you a thank you note and mail it after our honeymoon… I had to write you today, right now and let you know how thankful I am to have met you and worked with you. Yesterday was the most perfect day of my life and I have you to thank for capturing it.

I know it was work for you and I appreciate all the time energy and skill you shared with us. Thank you again so much for your amazing impact on our day. I can’t wait to see our pictures and work with you again. It’s better than Christmas!! We will be in touch when we get back. Don’t forget to mark “Man Day” on your calendar- March 14th. You can celebrate it anyway you want ( I bought Phil a putter). Have a great week and tell Matt that Steph said, “MMMMMMMMMMMMM….”

Much Love,

Steph

PS> Please share this email with Brian and Matt

Now if THAT doesn’t make you feel like you’ve had a huge positive impact on someone’s wedding day, I don’t know what would. How many people get letters like that? I love my job.