The other day we were contacted by a potential bride and groom concerning their wedding photography. I replied to them with our wedding packages and additional options. They soon replied with a question that has puzzled me for several days. Their question... "You have so many wonderful options, have you ever thought about offering everything Ala Carte? If so would the prices change?"
The truth is I have thought about offering everything Ala Carte. By offering everything Ala Carte our couples would have the ability to pick which options work best with their budget, needs, and wedding day vision. I know there are a lot of couples who really enjoy "packages" because the decision making has been done. Then I wonder, are they really happy with their package? Are they getting something in that package they don't like or want? Would they rather have something else in the package?
We tweak our wedding prices and options annually (and it should have been done by now for 2012, I'm slacking). Styles and trends change every year, as well as the economy. We want to offer what's new, popular, or highly sought after. When we tweak our options and prices we try to view everything through the eyes of our couple's. What would we like to see if we were in their shoes? What would we want if we were in their shoes? There is no point in offering something nobody will want. I thought I solved this tiny problem by allowing our couples the option to add different options onto their package, the funny thing is most couple's didn't do that. Most purchased the bigger packages even though the package contained options they didn't want just because it contained the one option they did want. That seems like a huge waste of time and money. Yes I said waste of money... I may make a living from photography but I'm not out to rip people off.
So the question remains... have we thought about offering all of our wedding options Ala Carte. The answer is yes we have. We've tossed the idea around quite a bit. We made baby steps towards the Ala Carte concept by offering a variety of options which could be added onto any package if they weren't already included. I guess I'm afraid to offer everything Ala Carte because it's normally not done that way. Would a couple get confused if they contacted ten photographers, nine of them offered packages, and I offer Ala Carte? Would they see creating their dream package and doing the math too time consuming?
If anyone has any opinion on this matter please feel free to comment. I know what my gut is telling me but I'm the photographer not the bride and groom. To all our mothers, brides, future brides, those reading this for fun... please help!
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