Oh man! You did it! You just booked a wedding, and the couple is so excited to work with you. Instantly, you take a couple of seconds to have a mini dance party, and then you think to yourself, “Man, how am I going to thank them for choosing me?” The answer is: Send them a wedding welcome box that not only thanks them for booking you but also helps them in the next steps of the planning process. They will be so surprised and thankful that you thought about them! But then the question comes: What do you put in the welcome box?
Insert my list of “5 Things for Your Wedding Welcome Box.”
These are the exact items I fill my welcome boxes with, and I have received so much love from my couples from doing this. They can’t thank me enough for helping them to navigate through this unknown but very exciting time in their lives. You can easily get carried away with what to put in it, so my top tip is to set a budget for the boxes up front so that you know what price you can pay with for each item. The options on how to fill it are endless so make sure you are always thinking if it is speaking your brand and what your ideal client would love to see. So, let’s dive on in to the five things and the reasoning behind each one!
1. Customized Box
First things first, the box itself. I have created a custom box that not only has my brand color but also has my logo on the cover. I created this box through Packlane and would highly recommend them to anyone. It was very easy to customize, and you can reorder in one simple click. Not only does it allow your box to stand out as soon as your couple receives it, but you can also mark it down for marketing purposes for your taxes because it has your logo on it.
Anything to get tax reimbursement is a win for me!
Plus, you can use the same layout on all different box sizes, so you can use them for anything else you may send out in your business. Creating a unified brand for your company! I then fill the box with crinkle paper to add padding around the items and tie the items all together with ribbon. Super cute and easy way to say thank you to your couples!
2. Notebook and Colorful Pens
I always make sure to add a notebook and pens to each of my welcome boxes. Typically, I grab the notepads off of Etsy in a pack of 10 or 25. It is a nice place for your couples to jot down notes that may come up during the planning. I am a huge notetaker, and most of my couples have a Type-A personality, so this is right up their alley. The pens are a fun extra touch, so they can color coordinate notes or just have a little fun as they take notes on all of the different parts of the day.
3. Personalized Card
This is a very important item for your welcome box. You should always have a personal touch in your box to let your couple know that you took time and were thinking specifically about them as you put this together. Sometimes, people will buy their couples’ favorite candy or give them a gift card to a favorite shop or restaurant of theirs, but this was how I wanted to personalize my boxes. I love receiving cards, so I wanted to write a personalized card for each of my couples. In it, I thank them for choosing me as their wedding photographer and write a personal note about something they mentioned to me during our initial call. Just to let them know I was listening and excited for what was to come for them! It doesn’t need to be anything crazy…just a paragraph to make them feel like they are your only couple.
4. Engagement Session Style Guide
Have you ever received the email from a couple saying they have NO CLUE what to wear for their engagement session? In the first year of my business, I remember answering this question all of the time! It started to become way too frequent that I needed to do something about it.
Or, have you had couples show up in matching white shirts and jeans. Instantly, you know you don’t want to use those photos for marketing because you don’t want to encourage other couples to wear that, too. You have to figure out a way to guide them to wear what you want your brand to resemble. That is when I added this engagement session style guide to my welcome boxes. It’s a guide that outlines all types of tips and ideas for what is best to wear during an engagement session.
It answers their questions before they can ask them.
Since adding that, my couples almost always show up in beautiful flowing dresses with soft colors and simple patterns. Exactly how I want my brand to be portrayed! Plus, the emails, in regards to what to wear, have almost completely died down. They know exactly what will look best for them and can see endless examples. It has been a huge bonus to my welcome boxes.
5. 12-Month Wedding Planning Workbook
This is the pride and joy of my wedding welcome boxes. When I was engaged and planning my wedding, I had a really hard time finding a comprehensive planner that broke down all that I needed to do and when, leading up to the wedding day. I was so nervous I was going to miss something. So, I created one for myself. It was all handwritten in a notebook, but it was exactly what I needed to keep myself organized for the entire planning process.
As my wedding photography business took off, I often heard from my couples that there was so much that went into planning a wedding. They were often nervous that they weren’t thinking of everything that was important for the day.
So, it finally clicked.
I wanted to help my couples have a stress-free planning process, so I took my notebook of jotted down points and turned it into a 12-Month Wedding Planning Workbook. It was instantly a hit. Each couple felt much more confident that they weren’t missing any important steps, plus they knew exactly when to do everything, so they never got behind in the process. It was a win-win; they were able to enjoy the wedding planning, and I was able to show them that I will be there to help them in any way that I can.
If you’re interested in learning more about my 12-Month Wedding Planning Workbook and potentially adding it to your welcome box, click this link!
I have a template available of this exact Wedding Workbook! Check it out here – your time is valuable, so I did all of the heavy lifting. All you have to do is upload your photos and personalize the copy/brand colors! You can grab it in either Canva or InDesign format!
Thank you guys for reading! I’d love to see what you do for your wedding photography welcome boxes or if this post inspired you to start sending out gifts to your clients! Shoot me a DM on Instagram and ask me questions or just share your ideas!
XOXO ~ Heather Marie
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