We recently connected with Moriah McIlhany and have shared our conversation below.

Moriah, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. We’d love to start by getting your thoughts on what you are seeing as some the biggest trends emerging in your industry.

The biggest trend I see in the industry right now that I love is the focus for wedding vendors focusing on the experience they are giving their clients. The experience is to expand beyond the work provided on the wedding day and give them information, gifts, meetings, and more after the book their wedding day. I see it as an opportunity for vendors and clients to really connect and go beyond the manual labor and praise through a tip and actually providing services that set apart planning a wedding to then experiencing the wedding day with the quality of work. This has really pushed me to put. myself in my clients shoes, for example a wedding day I had last year, my bride ended up not feeling well and her wedding day pretty much was canceled. Instead of leaving early, my second shooter and I stayed and found ways for her to be able to experience traditions she looked forward to, without making her feel physically worse. So we set up a room after half of her guests had left and found the songs she was supposed to dance with her husband and dad, then played the chorus on our phones on full blast. We all cried over how beautiful it was because we didn’t let the situation control the memories she and her family had looked forward to, and to this day, they are some of my favorite photographs.

Moriah, 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?

I’m Moriah McIlhany, a wife and mom to a baby girl in southern Colorado. My husband and I met through college; our first official date was a trip to the Colorado mountains to test out my first personal DSLR camera; now, 6 years later, he is my second shooter for all wedding days and someone who I love to work with on wedding day. I have always been a dreamer that’ll take any opportunity to do it myself, so taking a chance on a business has always been on my list of dreams. After taking photos for friends for their Christmas cards and how they gushed feeling comfortable behind my camera, I honestly was hooked. I have been using a DSLR since I was a little girl, setting up my Barbie dolls in little “scenes” and taking photos. Once I grew up, my high school and college sorority friends would have fun together through our photoshoots. After starting my business on January 1st, 2022, I hit the ground running, setting up styled shoots and giving out discounts to get clients. I knew I wanted to do something different than what I experienced with my wedding photographer; I wanted to give each person through communication, get them in on planning out their session so they feel like an artist too, and finally give them a fun way to see their wedding photos for the first time. Many of my clients come hoping to feel good behind the camera and to have someone in their corner helping them plan their wedding. By giving them planning guides and multiple calls, they head into their wedding day assured I know their most important day is cherished. After the wedding day, it feels like a disservice to just email a link to a wedding gallery, they have seen the work of all their wedding vendors on the wedding day, but the photographs is what they wait for, and for spending so much money on them I want to give my clients a well-rounded experience. I set up an in-person experience with little details to show off their photographs and relive moments together. I am beyond proud of the deep relationships I have built with my clients, to feel like I can give them quality photographs and a vendor relationship full of chats and knowledge shared, it’s what I hope other people can seek in their wedding vendors. To have a full calendar of excited clients and new friends, i truly love my business.

Any thoughts, advice, or strategies you can share for fostering brand loyalty?

I have a timeline set up in my CRM to reach out in various ways throughout wedding planning as well as meetings in-person and virtually so they feel connected to me, and I can really get to know them. I love hearing from past clients how comfortable they felt with me, and I still do that. We send each other happy birthday and Christmas cards!

Are there any books, videos or other content that you feel have meaningfully impacted your thinking?

Ben Hartley podcast and business course really showed me how to manage client relations in CRMs and how to balance the different areas of business that I do myself from financing to social media management. He does such a great job of showing how you can scale your business and grow without losing touch with the core values of your company. I also love the book Everybody, Always by Bob Goff. Everyone deserves to be shown love and attention like the Lord and Bob gives just practical ways of going deep with people that. will expand every area of your life and show what truly matters.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.moriahlynnphoto.com
• Instagram: @moriah.lynnphoto