Happy New Year, friends! Whenever what I do for work comes up in conversation, the response is the same. The person I am chatting with would respond “We’ve been meaning to do a family session done for years! I’ll call you when things slow down!” Spoiler alert: I rarely hear from them. Literally years will go by, and then we have the same conversation again. Don’t be a statistic – book your family session now!
It’s almost 2024 now, friend – let’s DO IT! You’ve been saying for years you wanted to get family portraits done. Now is the time to get the ball rolling with your family session. But Sharon, it’s February – I’m not a planner like you! Haha, I get it. But trust me, there are a few reasons why now is actually the best time to book your family session:
First Dibs
First, by booking your CT family session now, you can have first dibs on my most popular months. September, October and November are usually sold out by July every year. Literally, all you have to do is pay your retainer and you will be GUARANTEED a weekend spot in those prime months. I had to turn away 11 families this fall and it kills me every time.
Check It Off Your List
Next, when you choose your family session month ahead of time, you release the responsibility of remembering to do this. The ball will now be in my court. I will reach out to you to organize details with plenty of time to choose dates and make wardrobe selections. This makes it one less thing you have to remember you wanted to do at 2am!
Accountability
Third, if every year you say you are going to do family pictures, you will now have an accountability partner – me! We will work together to make sure this is the year your family portraits happen when you want them to. You’ll even have time to spare (no December 23rd outdoor photo sessions for you!).
Save Money
Next, if you know me in real life, you know that budgeting is literally a passion of mine. By booking your family session in January, you will save money in a few ways. The first is that you can pay your $50 retainer and know that the remainder is due in the month of your choosing. That gives you time to plan ahead and decide where that money is coming from (my husband and I budget family portraits every year as part of our annual goal-setting process). Secondly, you are locking in my current rates and packages which could change slightly mid-year. Finally, you have more time to coordinate your family’s wardrobe. Going to a wedding this summer? Perfect! Plan to use some of the staple pieces from the wedding guest attire at your photo shoot. Win, win!
Time to Book Services
In addition, if you know in January that you are doing family portraits in May, you will have time to plan. You can make sure that everyone has haircuts booked in advance and you can jump on the calendar of a local make-up artist if you want to do a little extra. I have a list of great local beauticians who I love to work with, let me know if you need a recommendation.
Space to Think
Finally, I don’t know about you, but in our household, January and February are quiet months compared to the hustle and bustle of August and September. Shoot me a message, get on my calendar and then you can spend some of the quieter months poking around Amazon for the perfect beach maxi dress while you have the bandwidth to do it. Most importantly, you can also be more strategic when thinking about gifting pictures. Is your mom’s birthday in August? Maybe family pictures in June will make perfect gifts!
You can book your family session in the month you want for 2024 with just a $100 non-refundable retainer. Not sure which season is best? Check out my blog post that goes through the pros and cons of each season.
By going to my website, you can fill out a contact form with your desired month. I will shoot you an invoice for the $100 retainer.
I will reach out three months ahead of time to nail down final details with you, but you can rest easy knowing that you have your family portraits on the books.
