Hellobee Boards

My wedding photog shot weddings alnost all the way to the end. It was pretty cool seeing her too

Do you have a back up photographer that you could turn clients over to?

I wouldn't worry so much about working up until your due date, thats not impossible but working those 6 weeks after you deliver would be tough (no sleep, recovering body, leaving baby, etc).

I think if you gave brides a 6-7 month heads up that you will have to turn them over to a professional stand in or offer their deposit back it should be enough.

I'm a wedding photographer ... I shot a wedding at 30 weeks, and felt totally fine. I knew it would be our last one, and I'm really glad it was. I still felt great, and I was able to edit & get the photos to them within 2 weeks. Felt nice to have it off my plate. I really don't think I would have shot any weddings after 30 weeks. We also had a 3rd shooter on standby just in case. I was prepared to refund any deposits if needed during the pregnancy (because of morning sickness, or anything else), but didn't have to. I just kept the clients $$ in my business bank account until their wedding passed, then paid myself after.

As far as TTC, we started turning down weddings once we were TTC ... At least, weddings that would have taken place after 30ish weeks (or that weren't our ideal kind of clients). It ended up taking us 6 months to get pregnant, which stung a bit (considering we had turned away business), but in the end, our schedule worked out. It sucks to have to plan your TTC & baby around the calendar, but we really felt like it needed to happen.

I also run a design/branding studio, which I've found more challenging. It's the bulk of my business/income, so planning my leave around that has been tricky. I'm wrapping my 2013 projects now (with a January 7th due date), and really crossing my fingers I get everything done.

As far as maternity leave, I'm planning on taking 10 weeks off, and we just started saving money when we found out I was pregnant.

Best of luck! I know it's tricky to navigate these waters ... It already says a lot that you're planning ahead! I'd say: focus on really saving, keep more $$ in your business savings account, and try to reduce your business around the time you think baby would be due.

@LittleLashesToes: i had a FT day job that i kept going into my pregnancy/maternity leave, so i paid into state care, but i'm going to find a plan like aflac for next time we're TTC as i'm now a FT photographer.

i gave birth in early january 2013. my first shoot was early march (maternity), so two months off completely. i second shot a wedding the following week and then shot portraits about once a week until june, when i had 6 weddings between assisting and my own. i would have been happy to be up and running fully 2.5-3 months out if i were FT (I went back to my day job for 2 months just to see if i could do it all, but my year was booked, so i peaced out!)

a lot of info, but basically i told my wedding clients with engagement sessions that i wouldn't be booking sessions until 3 months after my due date (but i started contacting them to book sooner than that!) that way, it gave me the space to see how i felt and they were all totally fine with it!

i wish i had 21 booked for 2014! that's awesome! and i fully believe that no matter when you get pregnant, you'll be able to find work to replace any that you missed. just don't turn anything down until you're pregnant! even then, once you have a due date, you can hustle and try to get some more things booked before you go on leave!