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Wedding Computer Help

Getting started as a wedding photographer

As a photographer, your day starts before anyone else and your deliverable arrives weeks after the wedding ends. Wedding Computer tracks the full arc — from first enquiry through gallery delivery — and puts your call times and location details into the shared timeline where every other vendor can see them.

Step 1 — Complete your profile

Section titled “Step 1 — Complete your profile”

Go to Settings → Profile and fill in:

  • Business name — your photography business name
  • Category — select Photographer
  • Location — your base city or region
  • Bio, website, Instagram — your portfolio and contact links appear on your directory listing

Why: When a planner or venue adds you to a wedding workspace, other vendors see your profile. A link to your Instagram portfolio is often the fastest way for vendors to understand your style before they’ve seen your work in person.

Step 2 — Build your photography enquiry form

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Go to Settings → Enquiry form and customise the questions couples answer. For photographers, the most useful questions are:

  • Wedding date
  • Ceremony location (venue name and suburb)
  • Getting-ready location — is it at the venue, or a separate hotel/home?
  • Reception location (if different from ceremony)
  • Estimated guest count
  • Approximate number of hours of coverage requested
  • Package interest (if you offer defined packages)
  • Are they looking for a second shooter?
  • Any specific moments or locations they want prioritised
  • How they heard about you

Why: Photography logistics depend heavily on location. A ceremony at a venue 90 minutes outside the city is a different day to a ceremony in the CBD. Knowing locations from the start means you can plan your day, quote accurately for travel, and identify any golden hour constraints before the first call.

Step 3 — Set up package-based invoicing

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Go to Settings → Invoices and create invoice templates for your packages. A typical photographer invoice structure:

  • Package total — the agreed package price
  • Deposit (typically 25–33%) — due at booking to secure the date
  • Balance — due 2–4 weeks before the wedding, or on the wedding day

If you shoot elopements or portrait sessions separately, create templates for those too.

Attach your terms and conditions document to the deposit invoice using the Contracts feature under Settings → Contracts. Couples sign when they pay — you don’t have to chase a separate signature.

Why: A deposit invoice with an attached contract is the complete booking confirmation. Send it, they pay and sign, your date is secured. No chasing bank transfers or waiting for a signed PDF to come back separately.

Step 4 — Connect your calendar for automatic wedding day alerts

Section titled “Step 4 — Connect your calendar for automatic wedding day alerts”

Go to Settings → Calendar and copy your iCal feed URL. Subscribe to it in your phone’s calendar app:

  • iPhone / Apple Calendar: tap the link on your phone, or go to Calendar → Add Account → Other → Add Subscribed Calendar
  • Google Calendar: Other calendars → From URL
  • Outlook: Add calendar → Subscribe from web

Each upcoming wedding appears as a calendar event with the couple’s names, the venue address, and the ceremony time — the information you’d otherwise be searching for on the morning of the wedding.

For two-way sync (Pro), set up CalDAV under Settings → Device sync. This is recommended if you use Apple Calendar as your primary calendar and want changes to appear immediately without waiting for a feed refresh.

Why: Your wedding calendar isn’t just a list of dates. Each event includes the venue address, which means your phone’s maps app can navigate you directly from the calendar event. Getting-ready locations, ceremony venues, and reception locations appear in the timeline, all in one place.

Step 5 — Add your timeline items to each wedding workspace

Section titled “Step 5 — Add your timeline items to each wedding workspace”

When you join a wedding workspace, go to Timeline and add your schedule items. For a typical photography day:

  • Getting-ready coverage start (time and location)
  • First look (if planned)
  • Ceremony start (you’ll see this already if the celebrant or planner has added it)
  • Post-ceremony bridal party portraits
  • Family formal portraits
  • Couple portraits / golden hour session
  • Reception coverage start
  • Key reception moments: first dance, cake cut, speeches, bouquet toss
  • End of coverage

Set these to vendors visibility so the planner, celebrant, videographer, and florist can all see your schedule. Set any notes about your specific timing needs (portrait time needs minimum 45 minutes before sunset) as private or as a checklist item.

Why: Your timeline items solve the most common wedding day coordination problem: the planner texts you mid-day asking “how long do you need for portraits?” — and you have to find your phone, check your notes, and respond. With your items in the shared timeline, everyone already knows your windows. Fewer texts, more shooting.

Step 6 — Set your availability

Section titled “Step 6 — Set your availability”

Go to Settings → Availability and:

  • Block all confirmed wedding dates
  • Set which days you shoot weddings (typically weekends and some Fridays)
  • Set availability sharing to Public

If you do multiple weddings per weekend (Friday + Saturday + Sunday), each needs to be blocked as they’re booked to avoid double-booking.

Why: An accurate public availability calendar means enquiries come in only for open dates. Couples check your calendar before they fill in your enquiry form.

Step 7 — Track gallery delivery milestones

Section titled “Step 7 — Track gallery delivery milestones”

After the wedding, you can add milestones to the wedding workspace — or use the contact’s notes — to track:

  • Culling complete
  • Editing complete
  • Gallery delivered to couple
  • Final files backed up

Some photographers add “gallery delivered” as a checklist item in the wedding workspace so the couple can see progress. This is optional, but it can reduce the “just following up on our gallery” emails by setting a clear delivery window expectation that both parties can see.

Why: Couples who can see a delivery status in their workspace are less likely to send “where are our photos?” emails. Set expectations once; visible progress handles the follow-up.

You’re ready when:

Section titled “You’re ready when:”
  • Your profile is complete (category as Photographer, location, portfolio links)
  • Your enquiry form asks location and coverage questions
  • You have invoice templates for your packages with contract attached
  • Stripe is connected with your deposit/balance structure
  • Your availability is accurate and set to Public
  • Your iCal feed is subscribed in your phone calendar

What to do right now

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Subscribe to your iCal feed — it takes two minutes and immediately starts showing your weddings in your phone calendar. Then open your next booked wedding and add your photography timeline items so the planner and couple can see your schedule for the day.

Go deeper

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