Your 2025 Wedding Business Glow-Up Starts Now

We’ve officially made it to the end of another year (congratulations on surviving another season!), and now’s the perfect time to give your wedding business the fresh start it deserves in 2025. Whether you’re juggling wedding clients, family sessions, or balancing it all with a chronic illness, the secret to less stress and more success is simple: better workflows.

Let’s dive into how you can audit, simplify, and glow-up your wedding business backend—without losing it in the process.

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Keep scrolling for show notes, and a full transcript!

Reflect on 2024 (Yes, Even the Messy Parts)

Before we get carried away planning for next year, let’s take a hot second to think about this year. What went well in your wedding business? What didn’t? And be honest – did you hit that point where deadlines started slipping and emails piled up faster than holiday chocolates in December?

Reflection isn’t just about dragging yourself for what went wrong (I’m not here for that kind of vibe). It’s about figuring out what you can tweak, automate, or scratch entirely so you’re not stuck in the same cycle next year.

Set Your Goals and Make Them Exciting

Sure, we all want to make more money next year. But what about personal goals? Like actually taking a day off or cutting down those 2 a.m. editing marathons? And don’t forget client experience goals, because let’s face it – when your clients are happy, they’re way more likely to refer you to everyone they know (hello, dream bookings!).

For 2025, think about goals that hit three areas:

1. Financial: More profit, less stress.
2. Personal: More time for you.
3. Client Experience: Smoother, faster, and downright impressive.

Let’s Talk Communication (Spoiler Alert: It’s Probably Too Complicated)

Raise your hand if you’ve rewritten the same email 18 times this year because people kept asking the same questions over and over? Yeah, I’ve been there too.

The fix? Templates, my friend. Create email responses for your wedding business for all those questions you keep getting asked: “How long until I get my photos?” or “Can I see your pricing guide?” Then, use a CRM like HoneyBook to automate those emails. It’ll make your life 10x easier and your clients will love how “on it” you are.

Automate the Boring Stuff

Look, no one starts a wedding business because they love sending payment reminders, follow-ups, and endless hours at their computer. So why are you still doing it manually?

With a CRM like HoneyBook, you can automate all those repetitive tasks that make you want to scream into your camera bag. Payment reminders? Done. Contracts? Sent. Follow-up emails? Automated.

You’re already running a full-time business. Don’t make it harder than it needs to be!

Build in Some Flexibility (Because Life Happens)

Life is unpredictable. Maybe you’ve got a chronic illness like me, or maybe it’s just one of those weeks where the universe decides to test the very limits of your patience. Either way, giving yourself some buffer time is a game-changer.

Here’s the trick: promise longer turnaround times in your wedding business than you actually need. Say six to eight weeks for photo delivery instead of four to six. If you’re feeling great and deliver early, you look like a star. If life throws you a curveball, you’ve got some wiggle room—and no angry emails asking where the gallery is.

Keep It Simple

When you’re building out workflows, focus on efficiency. Ask yourself: does this step actually need to be here? If the answer’s “meh,” it’s probably safe to cut.

For example, I used to have “upload photos” as a step in my workflow. But let’s be real – I’m a photographer. Uploading photos is like breathing. It’s gonna happen whether or not I check a box for it. Cutting unnecessary steps like that saves time and keeps your workflow clean and easy to follow.

The Secret Sauce: Systems That Work

Every super-successful wedding business owner you admire has one thing in common: they’ve built systems that work for them. Those systems don’t just save time; they create a consistent client experience that keeps people raving about their services.

If you’re not sure where to start, my Done-for-You HoneyBook Workflow Service is here to help. I’ll create custom workflows tailored to your business so you can stop drowning in admin work and focus on what you do best—capturing beautiful moments.

Time to Glow Up Your Wedding Business

So here’s the plan:

1. Reflect on what worked and what didn’t in 2024.
2. Set some spicy goals for 2025 (think profit, personal time, and client experience).
3. Simplify your communication, automate the boring stuff, and give yourself some flexibility.
4. Celebrate those wins—big or small—because you deserve it.

And if you need a little help along the way, check out my template shop or head over to SimplySandraYvonne.ca to book a workflow session.

Here’s to making 2025 your most stress-free, successful year yet!

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Show Notes

Mentioned on today’s episode of Keeping It Candid:

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TRANSCRIPT

Episode 064

[00:00:00] Sandra: All of my chronic illness, friends listening, know this all too well, but unfortunately there is no one that is exempt from life’s unexpected surprises every now and then. I wish that we could figure out a way, but it’s just a part of living, right. And so one example of a way that you can make your business more flexible is to guarantee longer turnaround times than you actually need for things like responding to emails and delivering your photos. If you don’t need that extra time amazing. You’ve just under promise and over deliver to your clients and you’ve left them feeling great about the experience, giving them a little bit of a wow along the way.

[00:00:38] But if you do need that extra time, you don’t have to worry about disappointing your clients or missing deadlines.

[00:00:45] Sandra: Welcome to Keeping It Candid. I’m Sandra Henderson, photographer, system strategist, and here to help you level up your photography business with real strategies that work. If you’re tired of beginner advice and quick fixes that don’t actually solve anything, this is the podcast for you. Each week, we dive into simple, sustainable systems for client workflows, automation, and communication strategies that are designed to keep your business thriving without the burnout.

[00:01:15] Because your business should support you and not the other way around. Whether you’re balancing a chronic illness or just done with the endless hustle, Keeping it Candid is here to help you reclaim your time, work smarter, and focus on what truly matters.

[00:01:31] Sandra: It’s Wednesday, which means we are back for another episode of keeping it candid. I hope you guys are all having a great week.

[00:01:38] And wherever you are located, I hope that it is a little bit warmer and less snowy. Then it has been around here. I really shouldn’t be complaining because over the last couple of days it has warmed up and all the snow has melted. But there’s more on its way. And if there’s one thing about me, it’s that I am always going to complain about winter because I hate the cold. I swear.

[00:02:02] I was meant to be in a tropical climate and I don’t know how I ended up here in Canada.

[00:02:07] But it is one of my life goals to finally get somewhere that’s more south of where I don’t have to deal with all of this bullshit for months and months out of the year.

[00:02:17] But aside from all the misery that I think winter is, I do have one thing to celebrate and that’s that I had my very last session of 2024 last night. And it could not have ended my year better.

[00:02:31] One of my assistants, Emily, she has been doing weddings with me since 2017. It was her best friend’s birthday and it was a surprise. So I was there to take photos and it was a craft night with all of their friends that also included a drag show. It was too much fun.

[00:02:50] And I genuinely think that every single photographer needs to end their season with a drag show because it was just such a fun, carefree way to end a really awesome year behind the camera.

[00:03:03] And since I was so excited last week’s episode about Southern charm coming back, I feel like I do have to address. That I watched it and it was everything I wanted it to be. If you also watch Southern charm, I need you to pop over into my DMS. So that we can talk about the fact that there are some men out there who will just do literally anything other than go to therapy.

[00:03:25] And I burst out laughing, listening to Shep, talk about his Iowasca retreat, no shame or judgment to anyone who has done Iowasca. I have heard that it’s an absolutely incredible experience, but there are some people who still need therapy and Shep is totally one of those people. So if you know what. The hell I’m talking about, please come over to my DMS is so we can talk and laugh about this. And I also want to hear what your thoughts are on some of the new cast members.

[00:03:57] But enough about that.

[00:03:58] Let’s get to this. Week’s all the rage segment before we get into all the goodness that is your 2025 wedding business glow up.

[00:04:08] For this week’s all the rage. I want to talk about something that I haven’t necessarily been hearing a lot of photographers complaining about or raving about, but it’s something that I see a lot of photographers doing this time of year. And that is announcing that pricing is going to be changing in the new year and urging people to book.

[00:04:29] Personally, I think that this is not something that you should be doing.

[00:04:34] And there are a couple of reasons why I feel this way. First, I want you to think about big name, coffee shops. For those of us that are in Canada, Tim Horton’s of course is the first one that always comes to mind for all of my us listeners. We could be talking about Starbucks, which we also have here, but also Duncan. Any time any of these companies raise their prices, even if it’s only by about 10 cents, it is a ripple effect of negativity and people get so mad about it.

[00:05:08] Even earlier this year, Starbucks announced that they were changing their point structure and people were furious.

[00:05:15] No, I’m not saying that you shouldn’t change your prices because it absolutely has to happen as you grow and as your business needs change. And as the economy changes. But making that announcement just sends this like blanket F negativity around. And even if that’s not what our intentions are, it just has that effect.

[00:05:37] And then the second reason why I don’t think that you shouldn’t announce your pricing changes is because that sense of urgency is actually attracting people who are going to be booking with you for your price first. And things like the quality of work and the relationship that you’re going to build with them and the client experience that they’re going to receive. All of that comes afterwards. And personally, I have had the best experiences with my clients when those priorities have been in reverse. Where there really excited to work with me? They love my work.

[00:06:10] They know that they’re going to get a great client experience from our time together. And it’s just an extra bonus. If they happen to get a little bit of a discount.

[00:06:18] It really can change the entire foundation of the relationship that you’re building with people when it becomes about price.

[00:06:27] So, should you be raising your prices? Absolutely. If that’s what suits your business needs then yes, I absolutely encourage it, but you don’t have to actually announce it. You can just raise your prices without any sort of explanation needed.

[00:06:42] Chances are most people are, aren’t going to notice. And if someone inquired previously, it’s up to you. If you want to honor the pricing that they were originally sent, or if you want to tell them that your pricing has changed.

[00:06:55] But ultimately as the owner of your photography business, you have the ability and the permission to do what you want. When you want, as it suits your business needs, there’s no rule that says you can only up your prices at the beginning of the year. There’s no rule that says you can only up your prices once a year. There are so many different ways that you can approach pricing so that it suits you, your business needs your financial goals. And the financial demographic of the people that you’re trying to reach.

[00:07:25] I’m interrupting this episode to talk about workflows, but just kind of funny because there is a high likelihood that this episode is also in fact about workflows. But I digress. We’re close are supposed to make your life easier. And yet, somehow they always feel like too much work to figure out.

[00:07:44] And that’s where I come in. I offer a done for you. HoneyBook workflow service, where I build custom workflows tailored specifically to your photography business. Whether you’re juggling wedding clients, family sessions, or both. I create workflows that actually work for you. If you need email templates, questionnaires, or a booking process that feels seamless. I have got you covered. The best part is that you don’t have to lift a finger. I handle the setup, create all the templates you need and make sure that your workflow is designed to save you time and reduce stress so you can focus on what you love most creating magic behind your camera. If you’re ready to streamline your client experience and take the guesswork out of your workflow. Had to simply Sandra yvonne.ca forward slash services for more information and let’s get your business running smoother than ever.

[00:08:41] Sandra: Okay. With all that raging out of the way, I always get a resounding groan when I say these next words, but I want to know how is everybody feeling about 20, 25. I know you are probably thinking. Bitch. I have barely oppressed then on my last gallery, which is totally fair. And I’m not saying that you need to start getting to work on it next year, right away. But at the very least you do need to mentally start preparing for 2025 because now is not the time to ease up. Engagement season is here and there are literally thousands of people that are about to get sparkly rings on their fingers over the next couple months.

[00:09:21] You need to be prepared for when those people start landing in your inbox. So let’s start thinking about that fresh start that is coming your way on January 1st, and how maximizing your workflows is going to set the tone for an easier and more successful year ahead.

[00:09:37] No before we get too far ahead of ourselves. The first thing that is so important to do is to take some time to reflect on the last year. Think about things that worked really well and things that didn’t work. Think about whether or not there were any bottlenecks that caused problems for you and your clients or your clients.

[00:09:58] Was there a specific point in the year where you started struggling to keep up with your workload and started missing deadlines?

[00:10:05] What points of the experience did your clients have questions or get confused by the process? Were there any potholes that you experienced in your current workflows where things just weren’t working as smoothly as you needed them to.

[00:10:18] And think if there are any tasks that can be eliminated or completely delegated for next year.

[00:10:25] With all of that in mind, think about what an ideal workflow is going to look like for you in 2025, that is going to help you sustain the good and fix all of the bad that you encountered this year.

[00:10:38] What types of goals do you want to achieve? Think about sales goals and financial goals, but don’t forget to set some personal goals for yourself too, because there is a whole life for you to live outside of this amazing career that you’re building yourself. No matter how much you love it. And then I also want you to think about some goals that you want to achieve in terms of your client experience. This can be things like a faster response times, exceeding deadlines and even better client communication.

[00:11:08] Then I want you to think about what your business is going to look like once you hit those goals. How are you going to celebrate?

[00:11:15] Because celebrating your wins bigger, small is so important to making all of that hard work feel worth it.

[00:11:22] And then of course, you want to think about what you actually need to do to achieve those goals. I think about something that’s called your zone of genius. Your zone of genius is a thing that you are really good at that will help you push the needle forward and grow in your business. So, of course we’re all photographers here being behind our camera is an area that is our zone of genius. That is something that only we can do to the ability that we want it done and that our clients are expecting it to be done, but there are countless other things in our business. *Ahem*, bookkeeping I’m looking at you! That doesn’t necessarily have to be done by us. Areas that are not your zone of genius can become time sucks.

[00:12:08] They take too long, they take too much energy. You constantly put them off because you don’t want to do them. And you’re not great at them. And it’s just not worth the stress of trying to figure it out. So those are the types of things that we want to eliminate or delegate because they have to get done, but they don’t necessarily need to be done by us.

[00:12:28] So think about what kinds of things like that can happen to help you achieve these goals that you’re setting for yourself.

[00:12:35] For the things that are outside of your zone of genius, that maybe you can’t necessarily delegate, whether it be for financial reasons or because it’s just not something that can really be outsourced. You want to find ways to get those things done more efficiently. So they are at least taking less time away from those zone of genius tasks. Things like creating email templates, that’ll answer commonly asked questions as a way to do just that. So think about what are some questions that you are getting asked by clients or leads all the time? Is there a way that you can deliver the answers to those questions before they’re even asked. I have an FAQ section inside my pricing guide as well as sections on my website.

[00:13:22] So people hopefully can find the information that they’re looking for without actually having to email me for it. But if they do have to email me whether the information isn’t there or they just didn’t take the time to look for it. I have email templates set up so that I can easily just send those answers with just a few clicks instead of having to write all of that information out every single time.

[00:13:44] And don’t forget to also create templates that are going to help enforce your boundaries around things like office hours and turnaround times for when photos are going to be delivered. If you get on board with a CRM system, like HoneyBook, it is going to help you get all of this automated. So you are taking even more work off your plate.

[00:14:02] You

[00:14:03] Sandra: know that feeling when you’re overwhelmed with emails, contracts, payments, and client inquiries, wondering how you’re going to keep it all together? Girl -same. I mean, at least until I started using HoneyBook. HoneyBook is an all-in-one client management system that helps you stay organized and make your work flow feel manageable even on days when your energy is low. As a photographer balancing chronic illness, it has been an absolute game changer for me. Over the last six years, I’ve leaned on HoneyBook to grow my business without burning myself out in the process. From automating inquiries to sending contracts and tracking payments.

[00:14:41] HoneyBook makes it easy to deliver a polished professional experience without the chaos. Whether you’re balancing health challenges, or just need more time to focus on the parts of your business that you love, HoneyBook helps simplify your day to day so that you can feel like you’re actually able to get ahead.

[00:14:58] If you’ve been looking for a way to get your business more organized and less overwhelming head to share.honeybook.com/sandra to get 30% off your first year. It’s one of the best investments I’ve ever made for my business. And I know that it can help you too. A special, thank you to HoneyBook for being a sponsor of this episode. And now let’s get back to it.

[00:15:25] If there’s one thing that every single big name, super successful photographer has in common. It’s that before they were able to build up their teams and start delegating all the things that needed to be done, they had systems in place. So they were able to deliver a consistent client experience every single time. The teams came in when those systems started working so well that they were no longer able to maintain them because they were booking so many clients.

[00:15:55] You want to build your team because your business is outgrowing what one person is capable of? Not because it’s falling apart with you trying to wear all the hats and do all the things manually.

[00:16:07] So, if you were hating the side of business where you have to send follow-ups and invoices. Contracts reminders, questionnaires, and all the things hiring a virtual assistant isn’t necessarily going to help you. If you don’t have the systems in place to support them in that role. You’re going to save yourself a ton of time and money.

[00:16:27] Getting your automations set up during off season. So you can figure out if outsourcing and delegating is even something that you need right now.

[00:16:36] So think about what are some areas of your business that you could automate in 2025? Start small and make sure that you have time to actually familiar yourself with it all from both sides, yours and the client side, because it is so important to always know what your clients are experiencing,

[00:16:55] you want to know how the pricing guide you’re sending looks from there and, and how your CRM performs from their end.

[00:17:02] Because that way, you’re always going to have answers to their questions. If they run into any hurdles along the way.

[00:17:07] And even better is you’re going to be able to see where some of those hurdles might be. Before your clients have a chance to experience them themselves.

[00:17:15] And then once you have all of those roadblocks fixed and you found it ways that you can automate and streamline your processes, we’re going to take it one step further and think about some ways that you can now simplify this workflow.

[00:17:28] I want you to break things down into manageable steps and remove things that don’t really need to be there. For example, when I built out my first CRM workflows, one thing that I had in there was upload photos that I had as a step after every session.

[00:17:44] And after every wedding. And let’s be real. There is not a single photographer out there. Or maybe I shouldn’t say there’s not because let’s be real. Things happen, but for the most part coming home and uploading our photos is a habit it’s like breathing. We want to make sure that we’re getting those photos backed up so that we don’t have any sort of issues with things getting lost.

[00:18:06] A lot of times, we’re super excited to look at those wow photos that we took and get some sneak peaks edited.

[00:18:12] So realistically having upload your photos in a CRM workflow really doesn’t need to be there.

[00:18:20] It only takes a split second to check that off as done, but those split seconds add up when you have so many weddings and sessions throughout a year.

[00:18:28] If you’re building out an SOP, which is standard operating procedures, something that anybody could refer to at any point to step into your shoes to do some of these tasks, you absolutely want to have upload your photos written in there, but in your client facing workflows inside a CRM, it’s really redundant.

[00:18:48] And just taking up time.

[00:18:49] So removing things like that is a simple way to make things more simple.

[00:18:54] The main focus of your workflows should always be efficiency, getting things done in just a few clicks rather than a few minutes to do that, you want to make sure that your files are easy to find in places like your CRM system. And you also want to keep things organized. One way that I’d like to do that is to actually combine HoneyBook with Asana, which is the project management system that I use. I keep all of my non-client workflows for projects and marketing and social media over in a sauna and have task lists and automated reminders and things like that over there.

[00:19:31] And then for all of my client workflows, with things like invoices and payment reminders and support emails and things like that, all of that lives inside HoneyBook. And so I’m able to keep them all organized for their different purposes.

[00:19:45] The most important thing to remember as you’re thinking about 20, 25 and your processes and workflows that are going to support you through it is to leave room for the unexpected.

[00:19:55] All of my chronic illness, friends listening, know this all too well, but unfortunately there is no one that is exempt from life’s unexpected surprises every now and then. I wish that we could figure out a way, but it’s just a part of living, right. And so one example of a way that you can make your business more flexible is to guarantee longer turnaround times than you actually need for things like responding to emails and delivering your photos. If you don’t need that extra time amazing. You’ve just under promise and over deliver to your clients and you’ve left them feeling great about the experience, giving them a little bit of a wow along the way.

[00:20:34] But if you do need that extra time, you don’t have to worry about disappointing your clients or missing deadlines.

[00:20:41] For years in my wedding business, I had promised my wedding photos to be delivered within four to six weeks. And around that six week mark people would really be hounding me asking me when they could expect their photos. And it just added more stress to my plate in the process. So eventually I decided to switch that deadline to six to eight weeks.

[00:21:01] That way I had that little bit of wiggle room and I actually very rarely took that full eight weeks to deliver those photos.

[00:21:09] But it gave me just that little bit of breathing room that I needed so that I didn’t have to worry if my health decided to unexpectedly forced me to take a couple of days off or anything like that. And I didn’t have to worry about those constant emails of people checking in on where their photos were.

[00:21:24] Doing things like this helps you still deliver that consistent, amazing experience without all of that stress of maintaining it all. When you have more important things on your plate.

[00:21:34] That is why I always encourage photographers to do the same with their turnaround times. Even if it’s something as simple as how long it’s going to take you to reply to an email.

[00:21:44] Because that extra buffer time is what’s going to help you still deliver that consistent, amazing experience, taking some of the stress out of it. When you have more important things on your plate.

[00:21:54] Okay. I know this has been a lot, so let’s quickly recap how you are going to get a fresh start in the backend of your business for 2025.

[00:22:02] First you are going to audit your current workflow and think back on 2024, to see what worked and what didn’t work in your business. You’re going to set clear goals for improvement, streamline your communication and automate those repetitive tasks and keep things simple and build in flexibility so that no matter what life has in store for you, you can always stay on top of things.

[00:22:25] Taking time to do this now, or at least in the very near future is going to help you reduce your stress levels all year long next year, and create a stronger foundation for your business.

[00:22:37] As always, if you need support to get you started, you can head over to my shop, at simplysandrayvonne.ca/shop to get templates and workflows and all the things that are going to help you get everything up and running.

[00:22:51] And don’t forget that even a small changes can have a huge impact on how you approach your business in the future. So take some time this off season to make that happen.

[00:23:01] All right friends. Normally I record these episodes during the day, but the sun is completely down and I can hear the strain in my voice. We’re getting a little raspy around here. So I am going to wrap up this episode at thank you so much for being here as always. We’ve got one more before the holiday is coming up at next Wednesday.

[00:23:23] So I will see you then.

[00:23:25] Sandra: You’ve been listening to Keeping It Candid, and I cannot tell you how thankful I am that you’re here. Running a photography business doesn’t have to mean endless hustle and burnout, and I hope today’s episode brought you one step closer to that work life balance that you deserve. If you enjoyed this episode, make sure to subscribe and leave a review.

[00:23:44] It helps other photographers like you find the show and keeps me inspired to keep bringing you more tips every single week. If you’re looking for tools, resources, or ways to work together, head to SimplySandraYvonne. ca to get started. Until next time, keep it simple and don’t forget to take care of you along the way..

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