We were lucky to catch up with Kamelia DeSoucey & Allyson McGovern recently and have shared our conversation below.
Kamelia DeSoucey, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today One of the things we most admire about small businesses is their ability to diverge from the corporate/industry standard. Is there something that you or your brand do that differs from the industry standard? We’d love to hear about it as well as any stories you might have that illustrate how or why this difference matters.
Our business model is very much based around individualizing our photography to each couple we serve. We feel that is important to be selective about the couples we choose to work with, so we make sure we “vibe” well with them and have a common goal of them enjoying their wedding day as much as possible. We don’t want wedding photos to be a chore you have to get through in order to be allowed to enjoy your wedding day. We want the photography to be something that adds to the fun of the day, without taking away focus from what’s truly important, the celebration of their love story.
Many photography companies take on as many clients as possible and hire freelancers to shoot for them. So there is no real connection with their clients. We very much believe in creating genuine friendships with our couples, so when we get to their wedding day, they feel like they are having fun with friends and not just some strangers. It builds trust and a comfortable atmosphere which is key to capturing the best photos. We are so grateful to get to be a part of our couples’ most special day and beyond their wedding as well.
Kamelia DeSoucey, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?
Kamelia: When I was in my early 20’s, I felt kind of lost and in need of a creative outlet. So I picked up a camera and started taking street portraits as a hobby. I found that I loved connecting with people and how I was able to capture true emotions and people’s personalities with a simple portrait. This fueled my passion for photography and eventually I started working for a wedding photographer as studio manager and shooting full time.
Allyson: I have been surrounded by art supplies for as long as I can remember and have loved every second of it. My first camera fell into my hands in high school when I would photograph local bands which grew into a passion for documenting life’s moments. It amazed me how pressing a button can stop time, and why shooting candids is my jam! I have worked with many photographers around Chicago and NYC for almost a decade after high school and decided to take a break, furthering my career in graphic design.
We decided to start Wild Hearts because felt there was a better way to shoot weddings and connect with clients. If you think about it, couple spend the most time with their photographer on their wedding day – even more time than they spend with their new spouse. We are there from the morning while prep is happening and don’t leave until the end of the night. Your photographer is supposed to witness and capture your most important, intimate, special moments. Wouldn’t it make sense for photographer and client to have a well established relationship and rapport before this incredibly important occasion?
We are most proud of the relationships and trust that we build with our couples. We get to know them, their love story, and how they interact with each other and their loved ones, all throughout the wedding planning process. The goal is that when we show up to shoot a wedding, we are showing up as not just professional photographers, but also friends of the couple. We have found that this level of trust allows us to capture the real emotions of the day, and lets our couples relax and truly enjoy themselves, knowing they are in good hands with us. We strongly – and we can’t stress this enough – believe that wedding photos should be part of the fun and joy of the day, not a dreaded chore to get through before you’re allowed to go to your party. The biggest compliment we get from our couples and their bridal parties is that they had so much fun with us they didn’t even feel like we were taking photos at all!
For us, shooting the ideal wedding includes an equal mix of posed photos, as well as being able to blend in to the background to capture those authentic candid moments. We love structure as much as we love going with the flow, and we find that clients need the best of both worlds to capture every moment perfectly.
Can you tell us the story behind how you met your business partner?
Kamelia: Allyson and I met in 2015 at a sketchy warehouse motorcycle show and swap meet. Our boyfriends were friends from high school and they both ride vintage Harley’s and took us to this show. Within five minutes of meeting Allyson and chatting, I stopped her mid-sentence and said “You’re an Aquarius, aren’t you?” Turns out her birthday is four days after mine. I could recognize a lot of myself in her and we became fast friends.
We’d love to hear about how you keep in touch with clients.
Throughout the wedding planning process, we like to check in on our clients and make sure we are accessible to them whenever they need. Wedding photographers really create the timeline of the whole day so the other wedding vendors our couple has to deal with rely on information and guidance from us in a lot of ways. We are reachable by phone, text or email and are full of useful information, connections, and tips to help with the whole planning process. We like to go out to dinner or for drinks with our couples for their scheduling session (the session we have 2 weeks before their wedding to go over last minute details.)
Once their wedding is over, we follow up with a thank you gift and also keep in touch. We keep in touch via social media as well. We love being a part of our clients’ lives well beyond their wedding day!
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.wildheartsnj.com
- Instagram: @wildheartsnj
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/WildHeartsNJ/
- Linkedin: Kamelia DeSoucey