Since I'm just starting out, most of my client-base is coming from referals from a DJ aquantence of mine. He was the DJ for my wedding, and wanted to help get my business off the ground by refering people interested in videography to me.

About a month ago, he called me up saying he had a bride that was interested in hiring me. He told me he quoted the bride double my price(i'm charging $200 for a two camera, one manned camera package) he told me he felt my services were worth more then what I was charging. I think said something about a booking fee, but my phone was breaking up, so we arranged to meet up about 30 minutes before meeting the bride so we can get everything straight.

A week later he and I met up with the client. Unfortunately he was late, 45 minutes late to be exact, so we didn't get a chance to sort out the details. He gave her his contract for his services, and I gave her my contract for my services. I told her she can either pay me by cash or check, or if she wanted to, pay the DJ the whole thing, and he will give me the money. After the bride leaves, we chat a bit, pretty much talking about how I can't make any money by charging so low. NEVER did they mention charging me for referring clients, so I figured I must have heard wrong.

He calls me a few days later, telling me about a client in South florida thats interested in a video package, and asked about my willingness to travel. I tell him I'll go 70 miles in either direction without charging, but any farther then that, I will have to charge a fair mileage price to help offset travel expenses.

Here's where it gets intersting, On wed, I talk to the bride (the one we both talked to) saying she paid the DJ the deposit. I call the DJ, and he says to call back tomorrow and talk to his wife, since she handles all the paperwork. I call a few times on Thursday and leave a voicemail. I check my buisness email, and I see an email from them. They're basically pissed because I gave the client my own contract and told them to pay me. Well, why wouldn't they pay me, I'm a seprate company from them. If they're gonna offer MY video services as part of THEIR package, they most certainly need to iron out the details with ME before talking to the client. Now they bring up the booking fee, how they feel I'm being dishonest and sleazy. I don't mind paying them $100, but I have a feelling they want more then I'm willing to give right right now. They're also mad because I gave them my own contract. Most of my contract is information about the ceremony, date/location/duration/ect. The rest is a liability clause and payment clause stating payment must be made two weeks prior to the ceremony. As far as I know, their contract does not state anywhere about video services. That leaves them and me wide open for a pissed off bride to sue.

If they want to book the client, and offer an all inclusive DJ/Videography package, fine with me. Just let me know about it first of all, secondly make sure me and you aren't liable.

I replied to his email, I stated I have no intentions of what they think I'm trying to do. I even told them I was planning on giving them $50 for finding me the client, but would give more money if they wanted, they just had to mark my price up to include the booking fee. I told them I still need equipment, and in the future I would be willing to give them more after I have all the equipment I need.

I call on Friday, no answer, no return calls, no email reply. Because of this, I haven't scheduled a followup meeting with the bride as I don't know whats going on with my money.

Basically, if things end up working out with this DJ, which I think they will. I'm deffinately making them sign a contract if they're offering my video package as part of their services. But I don't know what a fair booking fee for them would be? What do you guys think? It looks like they're telling their clients they'll give them a discount on the DJ, if they get a video package. But in the end, they really aren't loosing money, it looks they make the money they loose on "discounting" I'm paying in a booking fee.

Ken, After reading your post, I think you should run (not walk) away from any business relationship with this DJ. If you have a bad feeling on your first business dealing with them, it will NEVER get any better. Call the bride directly and indicate she pays you directly or you don't work. Then you get to control what you think is an appropriate 'finders fee', not have gouged out of your already too small payment.

Ken, After reading your post, I think you should run (not walk) away from any business relationship with this DJ. If you have a bad feeling on your first business dealing with them, it will NEVER get any better. Call the bride directly and indicate she pays you directly or you don't work. Then you get to control what you think is an appropriate 'finders fee', not have gouged out of your already too small payment.

Right now, I think/hope there has been a break down in communication between him and me. I talked to him, and the email was from his wife. He's refered one other client to me, and that went smoothly. I've been dealing with him for about 6 months now, and I have call them atleast once a month just to BS. They've always seemed more then happy for helping me out, and overall very friendly, so I'm hoping its just a big misunderstandment right now.

As it stands, the bride paid him $250, and I have yet to get any of the money. The wedding is July 2nd, which is two weeks away and I need to purchase a camera light beforehand. It's to the point where I need to order it now so i can have it ontime for the wedding. If he's unwilling to budge, then I know hes trying to screw me over.

As it stands, the bride paid him $250, and I have yet to get any of the money. The wedding is July 2nd, which is two weeks away and I need to purchase a camera light beforehand. It's to the point where I need to order it now so i can have it ontime for the wedding. If he's unwilling to budge, then I know hes trying to screw me over.[/QUOTE]

My opinion. Either you get paid before the event or you don't show up. Let the
DJ know that in a quiet, very firm way.
Friends are friends and business is business. Friends in business together who don't or won't recognize the difference won't stay friends very long.

My opinion. Either you get paid before the event or you don't show up. Let the
DJ know that in a quiet, very firm way.

Yeah, but that could really turn around to hurt Ken / videographer. I'd say the best thing to do is try to work it out with the DJ, but even if it doesn't, do the gig anyway. If this is something you want to make a fairly permanent thing out of, having the haunt of not showing up to a wedding where a B&G paid for a videographer (to someone - even if not you directly) really will hurt you in ways you can't predict.

Then, never work the DJ again. The guy/girl clearly is a non-professional, a leech, definitely a poor business associate. Find something/someone else. Hook up with a respected photographer and offer to do a freebie - and then do an outstanding job. That photographer will turn things on for you. There are always oppurtunities to be had - esp with legitimate vendors.

$.02

Oh! And definitely schedule a followup with the bride if she's under the impression that she has paid for some sort of video service. Meet with her and find out if she has a wedding planner; if so, get in touch with them! Wedding planners are AWESOME for being pain in the butts with problem vendors and tracking down the finances of their clients (B&G).

OK, I finally talked to the DJ and got everything straightened out. It appears to have been a miscommunication between the DJ and his wife. He doesn't want any kind of booking fee, but he wants to have one contract with the bride, then he will sign a contract with me for each booking.

I'm still going to take on clients with him for now, since I'm in no position to turn them down, but once I have more experience and a bigger client base, I don't see me sticking with him much longer. He wants to offer cheap video services, and after I get all my equipment, I can't support myself by selling myself 'cheap'. Especially since my goals are doing this on a full-time basis.

Ken,

I can't help but follow the sentement of those that have already replied to your posting.. While I can appreciate feeling "trapped" by the DJ and his wife, I am finding it difficult to believe that he's the only DJ that does weddings in the Tampa/St. Petes area..

My advice would be to start looking for different partnerships with other DJ's or start pitching your services to a wedding planner..

The most important thing you need to be careful of when dealing with such a close relationship with another business is that anything *they* do -- is also a reflection of YOU and YOUR company.. Even if it's a matter of poor communication - it's bad business..

Best of luck to you and hang in there,
-Michael

Ken,

I can't help but follow the sentement of those that have already replied to your posting.. While I can appreciate feeling "trapped" by the DJ and his wife, I am finding it difficult to believe that he's the only DJ that does weddings in the Tampa/St. Petes area..

My advice would be to start looking for different partnerships with other DJ's or start pitching your services to a wedding planner..

The most important thing you need to be careful of when dealing with such a close relationship with another business is that anything *they* do -- is also a reflection of YOU and YOUR company.. Even if it's a matter of poor communication - it's bad business..

Best of luck to you and hang in there,
-Michael


That's deffinately what I'm persuing. I'm gonna ride this guys coat-tails until I can get my name out to more photographers/wedding planners/other venders. The only reason I'm gonna ride this guy out for a bit is because of the huge client base he has. He does 50-60 events a month and he's brought me two clients who have already booked me, and I'm working on a possible third client. I don't think that's too bad for only being in business for 4 months.

But like I said, as soon as I get a steady source of clients that are not related to this guy, I'm gonna part ways with this DJ.

1. You are way too cheap. WAY too cheap. Even a crappy shoot & burn wedding video should go for $500.
2. You are not building a client base or referral base or getting your name out if all contracts are through DJ. You are doing freelance work, and do not even have the right to use the material in your demos.
3. Rework you relationship with him to give him 20% of your booking fee (whatever it is) but write ALL future contracts direct with b&g. Insist on this. By paying him percentage, he will help you raise your rates.
4. In absence of a well-written contract with DJ, you are both on very flakey legal ground. Almost to the point of stupidity. This will blow up in your face at some point.

1. You are way too cheap. WAY too cheap. Even a crappy shoot & burn wedding video should go for $500.
2. You are not building a client base or referral base or getting your name out if all contracts are through DJ. You are doing freelance work, and do not even have the right to use the material in your demos.
3. Rework you relationship with him to give him 20% of your booking fee (whatever it is) but write ALL future contracts direct with b&g. Insist on this. By paying him percentage, he will help you raise your rates.
4. In absence of a well-written contract with DJ, you are both on very flakey legal ground. Almost to the point of stupidity. This will blow up in your face at some point.

I have to second this. I know you think your getting a good deal here, but if you want to have a long term business, you will need a client base of your own. You need to charge more. Have confidence in yourself.

Glad to hear it's all going to work out! Best of luck!

1. You are way too cheap. WAY too cheap. Even a crappy shoot & burn wedding video should go for $500.
2. You are not building a client base or referral base or getting your name out if all contracts are through DJ. You are doing freelance work, and do not even have the right to use the material in your demos.
3. Rework you relationship with him to give him 20% of your booking fee (whatever it is) but write ALL future contracts direct with b&g. Insist on this. By paying him percentage, he will help you raise your rates.
4. In absence of a well-written contract with DJ, you are both on very flakey legal ground. Almost to the point of stupidity. This will blow up in your face at some point.


The more I think about it, the more I dislike the arrangement he is proposing. His ultimate goal is to offer everying, photo/video/dj under his company. My ultimate goal is to have 3 or 4 videographers working for me doing mainly weddings and other live events.

BTW For the wedding in question, he got the bride to pay $450, and from now on, I'm charging atleast $400 until I have all my equipment.

After this wedding, I'm going to go through the yellow book and call every wedding planner thats listed.

Dont settle on $400 too soon, as that is still too cheap. He picked $450 because he could make $250 for doing almost nothing. If you did it for $100, he would charge $400. If you charge him $400, he will charge $600 or more. Try to do a percentage fee with him (along with a minimum price), and he will help you find the market price. It will vary, depending on bride, location, etc. I often thought that wedding vids should charge based on size of wedding.

Your time alone is worth more than $400. It sounds like your a bit inexperienced, but in that case, you do a couple weddings for friends or family for "free" while you get your stuff together. Do a knockout job, then start charging properly for your work.

Are you editing this piece, or pulling it out of the camera and handing it to the bride?

Your time alone is worth more than $400. It sounds like your a bit inexperienced, but in that case, you do a couple weddings for friends or family for "free" while you get your stuff together. Do a knockout job, then start charging properly for your work. I agree with this completely and is how I am currently getting started. It is slow but I feel it is a sure way to do things. I just finished my last of the free weddings I am willing to do and I am offering a start up price for future weddings of 750 dollars only for this first year though (any bookings in 05) and only to get my name out there. If your editing these also, you are spending a work week (or more) on the project so there is your time that you want to get paid for and then you want to cover your expenses (Gas, tape stock, camera, editing programs for the computer, DVD's or VHS tapes, etc,etc) and get some money also for your expertise (Uncle john can't give them the same video you will be able to) and your price increases as you can see. So $400 seems very low to me also unless you don't edit at all.

Your time alone is worth more than $400. It sounds like your a bit inexperienced, but in that case, you do a couple weddings for friends or family for "free" while you get your stuff together. Do a knockout job, then start charging properly for your work.

Are you editing this piece, or pulling it out of the camera and handing it to the bride?

Well, inexperienced in doing weddings on my own. I'v ran/directed camera, soundboard and lights for my church services, concerts, weddings anything else for about 8 years so I know what I'm doing fairly well. I just decided I wanted to turn that hobby into a career.

I'll be shooting and editing everything. The only reason I'm not charging more is because I don't have all the equipment I need yet, and don't feel right charging like I do.

Well, inexperienced in doing weddings on my own. I'v ran/directed camera, soundboard and lights for my church services, concerts, weddings anything else for about 8 years so I know what I'm doing fairly well. I just decided I wanted to turn that hobby into a career.

I'll be shooting and editing everything. The only reason I'm not charging more is because I don't have all the equipment I need yet, and don't feel right charging like I do.

I don't understand your statement that you're not charging more because you don't yet own all your equipment. Whether you own it, lease it, or generate cash flow to buy it in the future you still have to pay for it somehow. It's a cost of doing business and the cost of acquiring it has to be figured into your rate structure. Even if you owned it already, your fees would need to include an allowance for maintainance and eventual replacement.

If you don't own the gear you need you don't just make do with what you have and charge a discounted rate because you're not up to par with the "real pros" who own all their gear outright - you go rent whatever you need to do the job right and build the cost of the rental into your fee structure. The pros don't charge what they do because they own all their gear (although they might) - they charge what they do because they can deliver a professional grade product consistently.

I don't understand your statement that you're not charging more because you don't yet own all your equipment. Whether you own it, lease it, or generate cash flow to buy it in the future you still have to pay for it somehow. It's a cost of doing business and the cost of acquiring it has to be figured into your rate structure. Even if you owned it already, your fees would need to include an allowance for maintainance and eventual replacement.

If you don't own the gear you need you don't just make do with what you have and charge a discounted rate because you're not up to par with the "real pros" who own all their gear outright - you go rent whatever you need to do the job right and build the cost of the rental into your fee structure. The pros don't charge what they do because they own all their gear (although they might) - they charge what they do because they can deliver a professional grade product consistently.

I feel like an idiot, I've never thought about renting it before. Doh!

Renting is a tough economic choice. I am curious what equipment you don't have yet that affects your rate decision.

Renting is a tough economic choice. I am curious what equipment you don't have yet that affects your rate decision.

Well, I only have one *good* camera, my GL2. My second cam is a 1 chip canon ultura, which is OK, but I can tell a big difference between the two. I also, need a better audio setup. Right now, I have an AT Pro88, which seems to be pretty flaky, sometimes it works great, and othertimes I get interference. My other mic is an iRiver. I want to atleast another GL2 before I start charging more.

Spend some time in learning how to use your NLE to better match footage from the two cams. Maybe you just need to white balance them better?Between the iRIver and Pro-88 you get decent enough (maybe not excellent) sound, right? Your equipment is not the issue. If your abilities are there, you can easily raise rates. A Senn G2 kit costs $600. If you were charging $1000, the 50% deposit on the next job would almost cover buying that. Now if you need more experience or a demo reel or need to learn how to sell, that is another story. But keeping rates too low is a self-defeating cycle, and you will end up selling the GL2 you have instead of buying a second one.

Most wedding people do 1 or 2 free to get some demo material and practice, next 1 or 2 at $500, and then they are up to $1000 or more. If anything, your rate should be $1000, with a "special demo discount" for any weddings in July or August to get you more demo material quick. By August you should have a good demo reel in place. And by Jan next year, it should be in $1200 to $1500 range (in most cases).

HTH. Good Luck.

Spend some time in learning how to use your NLE to better match footage from the two cams. Maybe you just need to white balance them better?Between the iRIver and Pro-88 you get decent enough (maybe not excellent) sound, right? Your equipment is not the issue. If your abilities are there, you can easily raise rates. A Senn G2 kit costs $600. If you were charging $1000, the 50% deposit on the next job would almost cover buying that. Now if you need more experience or a demo reel or need to learn how to sell, that is another story. But keeping rates too low is a self-defeating cycle, and you will end up selling the GL2 you have instead of buying a second one.

Most wedding people do 1 or 2 free to get some demo material and practice, next 1 or 2 at $500, and then they are up to $1000 or more. If anything, your rate should be $1000, with a "special demo discount" for any weddings in July or August to get you more demo material quick. By August you should have a good demo reel in place. And by Jan next year, it should be in $1200 to $1500 range (in most cases).

HTH. Good Luck.


Thanks for the advice. I think I'm going to re-evaluate my rates. I've already done one freebie, well two if you count my own wedding :o, my friend/partner shot itm and I did all the editing. My initial rates were based on a few websites I found for wedding videography in my area. I think I may have priced myself way too low.

I used one "pro" camera for years, with a sony 1-chip camera for wideshots and cut-aways, and got totally got away with it. Like was previously stated, a little color correction, and it flies perfectly. Now I have 3 cameras, but that fact is never discussed with clients. Its none of their business, as they dont know the difference anyway. They hire me to tape their wedding and deliver a professional product, which I do. What equipment I have or where I get it is of no use to the client. Sometimes, some will ask "Do you use 3-chip cameras", which I do, but they dont ask that because they know what they are talking about, they do because they read it in some wedding magazine, and it tells them to ask that question.

Well, I'm deffinately not doing any more business with this guy. I met with the bride today, and apparently she isn't happy with him either. He hasnt returned any of her calls. When I talked with him today, he accused me of discrediting him to Roxanna (the bride) because she hasn't returned his calls. He also told her that he already paid me the deposit, and apparently she paid him the deposit on June 8th, and as of today I still haven't been paid yet which is unacceptable.

And now he all of the sudden wants a referral fee from the other wedding he helped book over 2 months ago.

When I told the bride today that I haven't gotten my money yet from him, she offered to do a charge back on her CC and pay directly which I might end up doing if he doesn't get me the money today. He was supposed to meet me wed, yesterday and today to pay me.

He also doesn't want me to film any more weddings for him. He wants to have his other friend video weddings, and me edit them for him.

The saga continues...

Sorry to hear that.

Alas,

It's a positive, Ken.. Trust all of us..

The fact that this guy was trying to orchestrate some incredibly deceitful manipulation behind the scenes only exploits the quality of the way he runs his business.. It's not for you..

The fact that he has a "friend" that is willing to do the video portion speaks volumes of his ability to leech the offers that come his way.. He's merely trying to such a dime from a penny.. Don't be troubled by this -- keep focusing on the other avenues of your marketing capability and bolster your demo reel..

You'll fare well..
Take care,
-Michael

Alas,

It's a positive, Ken.. Trust all of us..

The fact that this guy was trying to orchestrate some incredibly deceitful manipulation behind the scenes only exploits the quality of the way he runs his business.. It's not for you..

The fact that he has a "friend" that is willing to do the video portion speaks volumes of his ability to leech the offers that come his way.. He's merely trying to such a dime from a penny.. Don't be troubled by this -- keep focusing on the other avenues of your marketing capability and bolster your demo reel..

You'll fare well..
Take care,
-Michael


I don't think its a bad thing. If anything, it's the swift kick in the butt I needed to start marketing more proactively.

When we were talking yesterday, he was saying that he wants his "videographer" to be shooting the wedding and reception, then hand the B&G an unedited DVD at the end of the night. I mean, thats great, but I fear the kind of video work he's going to be offering is going to be sub par. What respectfing videographer is going to work for $2-300, while the DJ takes 2-300 off the top, and that's what he wants to do, and what he tried to do with me. $200 for doing nothing but finding the client is a bit rediculous if you ask me. So far, I've met with this bride twice so far to go over the all the details. And I'll be meeting up with her one last time for the rehersal. All the DJ does is show up and play music and go home. My job doesn't end at the end of the night. I have to go home and edit everything together.

I think the B&G are gonna be expecting this great video and gonna get a single shot of the wedding. Not saying that a one camera shoot is always going to be terrible, if your talented enough, you can make a decent video with only a single cam.

The end result is he's going to be handing out crappy wedding videos to his clients, and if I'm associating with him, the word will get out that I do crappy videos to.

This keeps getting better and better. Now according to the DJ, the bride wants to cancel and she wants to hire the DJ's "friend". Time to call the bride see whats going on. When I talked with her on Friday, she was more then excited with me. I think the DJ's trying to shaft me to get his friend to do the wedding. OR she cancelled with the DJ and he just wants his money back from us.

Sorry man, I don't play like that, she signed a contract with ME, NOT the DJ for videography services, in which my contract clearly states the deposit is non-refundable. This is exactly why I want to have a seperate contracts. That is already gone back into equipment purchases.


Edit: I talked with the bride, and what I suspected is true. She said she is very unhappy with the lack of communication between her and the DJ and us and the DJ. She said she never told the DJ specificly that she didn't want us to film her wedding, that he offered to have someone else do shoot and edit her wedding (most likely to get the $200 that he wanted to jack from me).

We told her, that she won't be getting her deposit back if we don't film her wedding, as its written in the contract. She said she doesn't care who does it, as long as its good. We also told her that the DJ may still have his videographer 'friend' show up anyways, and she said she'd kick him out if he did LMAO.

Here's the funny part. When the DJ and I talked yesterday his 'friend' didn't have the ability to edit, and that he just going to be handing the B&G raw unedited footage of the night. And if they want it edited, he needs me to do it for him.

Whoa man!

This is tragically funny stuff. Keep the saga coming, Ken. Who needs reality TV?

Hand the bride an unedited version at the end of the night? What's she supposed to watch her (probably unlabelled) mini DV/D8/crappy Hi-8 tapes with?

Can't wait for the next chapter!

Whoa man!

This is tragically funny stuff. Keep the saga coming, Ken. Who needs reality TV?

Hand the bride an unedited version at the end of the night? What's she supposed to watch her (probably unlabelled) mini DV/D8/crappy Hi-8 tapes with?

Can't wait for the next chapter!

Well, he wants to hand her a DVD, but my question is, how is he gonna get the ceremony and whole reception dumped to disc before the bride leaves, since it needs to be done in real-time? I can see just the ceremony, but not both.

I called him back and told him I talked to the bride, and there was a 10 second oh shit pause, like he didn't think I would call her to see what was going on. Then he tried to blame the drama on me. Come on man, if you talked to me before quoting her a price other then what I was advertising and not talking to me about it for one, then write me a nasty email because I didn't know what was going on, and finally if you didn't wait 2 weeks after she paid you to pay me, there wouldn't have been any problems.

The pros don't charge what they do because they own all their gear (although they might) - they charge what they do because they can deliver a professional grade product consistently.

Exactly. That sums it up nicely. If you can deliver high production value, it doesn't matter (within limits) what equipment you use to create that product. Also, it hurts the rest of the profession when someone 'gives it away' for cheap. Please keep in mind how much work goes into producing one quality, finished wedding video and price it accordingly.


-gb-

I did the wedding on sat, and it went surprisingly well for my first wedding. A few minor problems, the bride wouldn't let me in to film the prep until about 10 minutes till the wedding, so I only have about two or three minutes to work with of her actually getting ready. Then I went down to setup for the ceremony, and they were 45 minutes late starting. The good news was the outside ceremony got moved inside due to a chance of rain, which was a relief to me because it was about 98* outside. The bad part about this, was the person that was singing, was standing behind the bridal party, so I had to act fast and run up and stand behind the groomsmen to even get a shot of her.

The only major problem was I hooked my Iriver into the DJs sound board for the introductions, and I did a sound check, and specificly checked to make sure the mic was in the mix. I was going over the Iriver files looking for the intros and the bastard took muted the feed he was sending to my Iriver for the intros as there is about 5 minutes of complete silence, the music bed he had for the intros wasn't even there, so I'm pretty sure he did it on purpose.

I'm gonna have to use the sound from my camera for the intros, which isn't bad, but I wanted clean audio.

But overall, I think everything went surprisingly well.

Oh yea, I'm deffinately getting a monopod for the roving shots during the reception.

I did the wedding on sat, and it went surprisingly well for my first wedding. A few minor problems, the bride wouldn't let me in to film the prep until about 10 minutes till the wedding, so I only have about two or three minutes to work with of her actually getting ready.

This is normal. If you hire a second cam person, a female can get into teh bridal prep WAY sooner than they will let you in.

Oh yea, I'm deffinately getting a monopod for the roving shots during the reception.

Check into the bogen monopod with the retractable legs.

This is normal. If you hire a second cam person, a female can get into teh bridal prep WAY sooner than they will let you in.


I have a female partner for when I have a two person shoot, but looks like I'm gonna have to teach my wife how to use a camera for when she's not with me. She's a pretty good photographer, so it shouldn't be too difficult to teach her.

Well, I'm deffinately not doing any more business with this guy. I met with the bride today, and apparently she isn't happy with him either. He hasnt returned any of her calls. When I talked with him today, he accused me of discrediting him to Roxanna (the bride) because she hasn't returned his calls. He also told her that he already paid me the deposit, and apparently she paid him the deposit on June 8th, and as of today I still haven't been paid yet which is unacceptable.

And now he all of the sudden wants a referral fee from the other wedding he helped book over 2 months ago.

When I told the bride today that I haven't gotten my money yet from him, she offered to do a charge back on her CC and pay directly which I might end up doing if he doesn't get me the money today. He was supposed to meet me wed, yesterday and today to pay me.

He also doesn't want me to film any more weddings for him. He wants to have his other friend video weddings, and me edit them for him.

The saga continues...

This is just my own opinion.. Do her wedding for free.. Here's why.. She already hates the DJ and your association with him is not good for you.. Tell her she can do a charge back if she wants, but let her know because of the trouble she is getting with the DJ that no bride needs that type of pressure and problems before her big day. (Good for you, she knows you care about her and her day means something to you as well)

So you basically write this one off as free and she is probably going to be more than thrilled.. If she says she doesn't feel right about not paying you just tell her referrals are more than enough in this case and it's the least you could do for her, for allowing her time to meet with you and discuss the situation at hand.

I find all my business comes from referrals. I say write it off as free for the bride to show your good intentions and well if you are only charging $250 bucks than your not losing out on a normally charged $1500 package.. You'll find in business regardless of the nature you will have to take risks and sometimes they can pay off in more ways the one.



Now a lesson. After this one.. Raise your prices dude.. $250 is way to cheap as everyone has pretty much got across to you. If I were a bride I would be concerned why it's so cheap.

Cut your ties with this DJ and never mention or recommend him again. Friends and family can be great referral/leads for your business as well.. Fire up a website it's usually a good starting point.. but most of all cut your dealings with this DJ. Don't bad mouth him to anyone, don't tear his service down and don't share your troubles with him to others. Just take the high road and be the professional.

In this business professional doesn't mean you use DSR-250 cameras, High Def cameras, $34,000 in audio equipment. Professional means you are open and honest to the B&G about your services and you treat them and their families with the upmost respect and you do the very best you can do.

So go out and sell youself, sell your customer service, sell you and what you can do for them. If you do take this professional approach it's at least worth $500 to you. Be confindent in your shooting techniques and finished products and stand behind them. You will find any successful business regardless of products or services can measure their success from how they interact with their clients and how they generally treat people overall.

This is just my opinion based on my life experiences. Just something to keep in mind.

Oh yea, I'm deffinately getting a monopod for the roving shots during the reception.

I recommend a glidecam over a monopod, but that's my personal preference..

I recommend a glidecam over a monopod, but that's my personal preference..
I actually have a glidecam, but after I bought it, I decided I wanted to work on getting smooth shots without a stablizer before I start using one. Not to mention carrying a glidcam around the reception for 4 hours would take quite a bit of arm strength.

The wedding I did last weekend, I used my monopod as a quasi glidecam, and the shots came out pretty smooth.

So you basically write this one off as free and she is probably going to be more than thrilled.. If she says she doesn't feel right about not paying you just tell her referrals are more than enough in this case and it's the least you could do for her, for allowing her time to meet with you and discuss the situation at hand.

I find all my business comes from referrals. I say write it off as free for the bride to show your good intentions and well if you are only charging $250 bucks than your not losing out on a normally charged $1500 package.. You'll find in business regardless of the nature you will have to take risks and sometimes they can pay off in more ways the one.


I couldn't agree more!!!!