Lipstick & Libations: An Ingenious Way To Attract New Clients in the Wedding Off Season

November 21, 2016

By Laura Brauer

Not engaged or walking down the aisle, no kids with whom to freeze time, and all set on the buttoned-up- looking headshot? Tim and Laura Sullivan have found a portrait niche, with clients who want to let loose for a shoot without an excuse. All photos © Sullivan & Sullivan

Winter is a slower time for wedding photographers, and we get nervous if our fingers aren’t hitting the shutter button often enough. The truth is, everyone wants a good portrait. People around us and on social media kept talking about wanting to be in front of our cameras but not pulling the trigger for a shoot since they really had no reason to. You hire a photographer for your engagement or your wedding, but a “just because“ shoot is harder for folks to justify.

We found that we needed a way to convert potential clients—and create the images we wanted to create. We noticed that guys were getting a few drinks before their shoot as a way to chill out and the girls were going to great lengths to get their makeup done before their shoots. So, last winter, we started a new series called Lipstick and Libations: great makeup, a stiff drink, and then a relaxed and artistic shoot to create some stellar images.

We rented a studio in the historic part of Seattle, hired a makeup artist, stocked the bar and charged our camera batteries. Giving people an excuse to have their photo taken, not to mention in a relaxed environment where they don’t feel shy about refilling their Champagne glass, was something that didn’t take a lot of convincing.

While we got quite a few couples signing up for sessions, we didn’t want to alienate the singles of the world, and wanted to give them an impetus to sign up. We also kept getting messages from people that went something like, “I need new photos—not for LinkedIn but, you know, just because…“ and we were like, “We know this is for your Tinder profile, don’t even worry about it!“ The key to creating long-lasting clients and making them happy is listening to what they’re really asking for and catering your offerings around the things they’re telling you, no matter how subtle those messages may be. “No Shame in Your Tinder Game“ is the name we came up with for these sessions, aimed at anyone on a dating site who wants a good-looking portrait.

We meet so many new people and have so much fun with Lipstick and Libations, and always want to be tweaking our offering so our clients feel totally heard and served. Our goal is to create long-term clients who believe in the value of photography, know us as individuals, will recommend us to friends, and have good experiences in front of the camera, because so many people are scared of it! That first round of portraits—just a fun little experiment—ended up booking us two weddings this summer. One of our clients told us, “We only know one thing for sure about our wedding and it’s that we have to have you guys there!“ What a compliment to give after only one hour of working with someone.

Tim and Laura Sullivan (Sullivan & Sullivan) are a husband-and-wife wedding and portrait photography team based in Seattle, Chicago and New York.