Dear Jasmine,
How do you respond to a client who thinks you missed a big moment. Had a client recently who added her grandmother's locket to her bouquet just for the ceremony (wasn't on the bouquet during photos) and did not inform me about getting photos of it. How do you handle missing something gracefully?
Sincerely,
Big Moment Misser
Dear Big,
If you've followed my blog for a while, you'll know I'm a huge proponent of setting-and managing-expectations in advance. I email my brides in a few weeks before the wedding (as denoted in my email templates HERE) requesting all photo requests. This is related to family photos, detail photos, and reception photos. Basically, I make sure she tells me what she wants photographed so I know for what I'm responsible.
If you did the same, you can easily cite to the email correspondence as a reference for what was, specifically, requested.
If you didn't request a list, then I'd probably send an email like the following…
Dear Bride,
Your wedding was truly beautiful and I was lucky to document so many special moments. Thank you for the honor of being your photographer.
Amongst the hundreds of photos from your wedding, there are quite a few of the bouquet and the bridesmaids bouquet. These beautiful floral details are important for me to capture, but when I did, I wasn't notified that your grandmother's locket was to be added at a later point in time. I wish I had known it was going to be attached before the ceremony, but-unfortunately-I wasn't. As a result, I don't have a photo of the locket and the bouquet.
Please let me know if there's anything I can do to rectify the situation as I'm more than happy to ensure your memories are preserved.
Warmly,
Photographer
The best you can do is ensure you're on the same page before the wedding day, but if things go awry, do everything you can to respond with kindness and grace.
Prepare in Advance,
j*