Heirloom Wedding Albums by Irwin, PA Wedding Photographer

Heirloom Wedding Albums.

Once upon a time, I was found by an extremely talented and very pushy sales rep. I won’t mention who she worked for, but it was a worldwide company that sold high quality products. I was contacted & asked if I would be interested in being a “vender” at their local chapter’s spring event. They explained that I would be able to set up a table, put business cards in each attendee’s hands, and give my 30-second elevator pitch to a group of about 100 ladies. All they asked was that I snap a few photos of the event in return (“and just think of all the free publicity you’ll get!”).

My business was very young, and seeing this as a lovely opportunity, I said yes!

I didn’t have any sort of inventory to fill a “table”, so I spent a lot of money ordering canvases & large prints to show off my work. I even had my sister (who is literally the most incredible artist I have ever met) paint me a large canvas with my logo on it. I was so excited.

I went to the event, took a ton of photos, gave my little spiel, and even talked to a few ladies about setting up sessions. I felt so professional! A few days later, the rep who was hosting the event called me & asked to meet for coffee to “chat” about how I felt the event went. She explained that she thought I had a great “mind for business” and she wanted to get my honest take on how they could improve!

My ego was stroked & of course I said yes!

Little did I know, she truly did not want to talk about the event at all, but wanted to loop me in & bring me onto her team. She saw my go-getter spirit, knew from how I presented myself that I was a hustler, and she “had to have me”.

I’ll be honest: I was completely taken aback. I wasn’t prepared for that at all. Her pitch was perfect, she sold her company & the process with skill and ease. Even though I was blindsided, I wanted to be polite, so I listened to it all. And I’ll be honest, I actually considered what she was selling.

There was only one problem that she did not count on: I am not the type of person to dive into anything on a whim. I love to come home & think about big things – to consider and pray about them & to talk to Derrick about them. She wasn’t prepared for that. When she came to the end of her spiel & I told her I was intrigued but wanted to think about it before I jumped head-first into anything, I was shocked at how quickly the conversation turned. It went from light & fun & airy, to dark & moody & a little angry. Oh my. It was obvious that she was used to getting her way & not many people told her that they’d “think about it”.

When I built my photography business, I purposefully fashioned it around what I would want & carefully made sure that I would never be putting my KAP Couples into a similar situation with me.

I hate salesy-things. I hate pushy car salesmen, sticky telemarketers, and shifty door-to-door dealers. Anything that looks or smells like a “pyramid scheme” makes me nervous and most multi-level marketing business models scare me.

The last thing ever I want to do, is make any of my KAP Couples uncomfortable. I just knew that if I was uncomfortable with something like setting people down after I’d taken their photos & forcing them to make snap-buy-decisions, then that would in turn make my clients uncomfortable.

In the same way – I knew I could never become a sales rep for this large company because I honestly didn’t believe in their products. If I did, I might have jumped on the opportunity and who knows where I would be today (very likely not sitting in my own office while my baby naps, writing out this post). And when I built certain structures into my business – I did so intentionally. I determined that I would never “sell” anything that I didn’t 100% believe in and want for myself!

That brings me around to my point: I only “sell” one physical product. All of my photography sessions come with the digital files & a print release. I give my KAP Couples instructions on where I personally recommend they get their images printed, but to me, giving them the freedom to have their images printed whenever, wherever, and however they’d like is most important.

But there is one item that you absolutely cannot get anywhere. And that is the one item that I sell. You can get professional print made as a “non-professional” person, but you cannot have a professional album made. You can have “albums” made, but nothing rivals the quality that I can provide as a professional.

And that’s the reason I offer wedding albums. An album is included in my top wedding package, and I always give each and every one of my KAP Couples the opportunity to add an album on, even if they book a lower package.

I believe in these books. I believe in the love that is found within it’s pages. I believe in the power of the printed photos. I believe in the stories that they tell. I believe in the legacy that they hold. I believe in them standing the test of time. I believe in children & grandchildren looking thru these albums.
I believe in these books.

So, when I show these albums to future KAP Couples, you can be sure that I am only doing so because I 110% believe in them. You cannot get a quality album printed like this anywhere but through a professional, and that’s why they are the only physical product I offer.

I wish you could smell the leather! I wish you could feel how soft the pages are! I wish you could see how thick the pages are! I wish you could hold this book in your hands & feel how heavy it is! But, since you can’t do that (unless you really want to! I’d love to show you some of my sample albums!), so how about some photos? I recently updated my sample albums & I’m obsessed with how they turned out!! I mean, for once I feel like photos truly don’t do these albums justice because they are absolutely gorgeous, but I’ll try!

These are images of a 10×10 leather album – this is the album that comes in my highest wedding package. It’s amazing.

Heirloom Wedding Albums by Irwin, PA Wedding Photographer