When should you book a session?
I feel like it’s pretty obvious what I am going to say.
You need to book your session RIGHT NOW!
And I’ll tell you why.
The first, and most obvious reason to book right away is that I stay booked out for months.
I currently have 1 session available in March, 2 in April & May and zero for June & July. Within the next few weeks, there won’t be anything open until August.
Let’s say your husband’s birthday is coming up in October. You might be thinking,
“I have time to book. She’d probably think I’m crazy for trying to start the process so early.”
No tf I won’t.
In fact, I think people who wait until a month or a week before they need their products back are the crazy people.
Products take longer to get back than you think.
It takes around 2 months to get an album or folio box back in the studio. I order all of them handmade from Canada. I inspect and hand wrap every collection when it comes in. And you still have to come pick it up in the studio, or wait for your things to be shipped to you.
Editing and retouching take time.
It takes up to 4 weeks to complete.
Because there is so much more exposed skin and we are uber critical of our bodies, boudoir is an entirely different beast from weddings, families, seniors etc.
I can edit and retouch a family session in 20 minutes. The main retouching involved with a family shoot are the faces. Usually there a couple of pimples to remove, a set of teeth or two to whiten and maybe mom would like some lines smoothed out. No. Big. Deal. (I don’t shoot families anymore, don’t even ask.)
With boudoir, we are going over your body with a fine tooth comb. We are removing every scratch, bruise, pimple & dry spot… from your WHOLE BODY. Depending on the level of retouching you ask for, we may be removing cellulite & stretch marks as well. And that is on top of whitening teeth & smoothing wrinkles. How many faces could you fit on your breasts, stomach, butt, thighs and back? A crap load.
Pre-Payment Plans
Last week, I wrote a blog on pre-payment plans. If you’d like to know more about how they work you can see it here.
In a nutshell, a pre-payment plan allows you to afford top of the line products without dropping a large amount of money all at once. They are very flexible and can be set up to suit your needs.
So, let’s say that your husband’s birthday is in October. You know you want to gift him a boudoir album and you know you can’t wait too long because I am busy, retouching is time consuming and it takes a while to get products in. So, you plan to begin the process in June, 5 months early.
WRONG!!!
Unless you like paying more money every month, or have the cash to pay on the spot or you enjoy putting large sums on credit cards, it is in your best interest to start the process right away.
You could start payments in January and pay all the way to October, breaking up your balance over 10 months instead of 5 or all at once. This means it could be even more easy to afford a session or you can upgrade to a better collection because you have more time to pay.
In Conclusion
Procrastination is never your friend, but it is definitely your enemy when it comes to boudoir. So, go ahead and book that birthday shoot right away!