Having met so many photographers, planners and florists who are in the stage of hiring a wedding copywriter for their website, I’ve seen exactly what leads to success, and what leads projects astray. I’ve taken good notes, and am sharing them with you!

Photographers spend an incredible amount of time refining their signature style, from how they pose (or don’t) to how they communicate with clients and of course, how they edit the final photos. Most photographers end up with a signature look and experience. Planners and florists, too, invest a similar amount of time in their crafts as they build a high-end portfolio.

Yet when it comes time to hire a wedding copywriter, there are so many questions about how to really pair their signature style and experience with words. My hope is to answer those questions for you.

How do you use copy to draw in big budget clients? And what if you prefer a more laid back bride in a middle tier price-point? Your copywriter can help with this, if you find someone who matches the below criteria!

What to look for in a wedding copywriter

1. Experience in the wedding industry

It’s usually not ideal if your copywriter has never worked in the wedding industry. Otherwise, all they have to lean on is their own wedding, and perhaps a couple of weddings they attended for family and friends. Yes, research makes up for this in some ways, and I’m a firm believer in listening to your gut if you think you found the right writer, but usually, experience is key.

Ask for samples just to be sure! (And usually you don’t have to ask. They should be loud and clear in their portfolio.)

2. SEO copywriting, as in, their words will be more likely to rank on Google

It might be surprising, but not all copywriters actually specialize in SEO too. This means that you might get the Shakespeare equivalent of your brand messaging, but you won’t get any organic leads from it.

If you don’t know a thing about SEO, ask your copywriter what kind of SEO research they do and how they implement it. If your candidate answers with phrases like on-page content, page titles, meta descriptions and a unique phrase for every page, they’re probably on the right track.

It’s like getting a planner who is a stylist too (which most of us realize we want!).

3. The ability to write unique wedding content, every time

Sure, all wedding photographers take wedding photos and all wedding planners plan weddings, but each individual has a unique background, audience, niche, location and so much more. If you read through samples from your potential wedding copywriter and see the same thing, just repurposed, look somewhere else.

Ideally (and I mean, if you’re going to pay someone at all), your wedding copywriter should intertwine all of the above in converting copy (who you are, who you’re talking to and what makes you stand out). As a wedding copywriter myself, I always tell my clients that my goal is three-fold — to sound like them, resonate with their ideal client and increase search engine rankings.

4. An understanding of what you do, and asking specific questions

This goes along with wedding copy experience, but it needs its own section and I’ll explain why. If your writer doesn’t know the industry, they won’t know what kind of questions to ask. Things like, do you work with film? Or, do you offer a photography timeline? It goes into so much more depth than that, but this high-level understanding, and therefore the ability to ask specific questions about how you operate, will 110% contribute to how unique and effective your copy is. Unless you know to tell your copywriter this in-depth aspects of how your business functions, it’ll be overlooked on your website, and your audience won’t be aware either.

I’ll leave it at that for now. I know you’ve got photos to cull, or perhaps flowers to trim, but I wish you nothing but smooth-sailing as you get started with a copywriter of your own.

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