Last year, we set a very serious goal for Runaway Vows…

In 2025, every wedding we booked would be a minimum a $15k booking.

And since we have closed our bookings for this year,

We can proudly say that we did it 🙏🏼

The point of this email is not to brag, that’s something we will never do.

But we wanted to shed some light on what some of our best strategies have been in order to reach this point.

1. Be Where The Leads Are

Ever wonder why we’re so bullish on workshops and networking events?

Because they work.

Two weeks ago, we attended a networking event called Kinetic in Santa Barbara, CA.

On the drive there, Jake and I made a pact:

“If a planner asks us what we charge—and we’re not together—let’s agree to respond with zero hesitation: ‘We start at $15K, which includes a welcome dinner and a 10-hour wedding day.’”

On day two, during lunch, Jake was walking past a table when a planner—someone we’d only said a casual hello to—grabbed his arm.

She was mid-call but lowered her phone and said:

“Quick—what do you charge for a wedding?”

A little caught off guard, Jake delivered the line we had rehearsed.

“$15K. That gets you 10 hours of coverage and the welcome dinner.”

She nodded, went back to her call, relayed the rate to her client, then hung up and said:

“I was just on the phone with a couple. You’ll be hearing from them soon.”

Just like that—we got a $15K inquiry from someone we barely knew.

She hadn’t seen a single frame of our work. All she knew was that we were at this event and had been hired to capture content.

To her, if we were good enough to be in the room, we were good enough for her clients.

That’s the power of proximity.

You can fish for brides on social media, but unless you’re one of the Jay and Mack’s of the world, booking dream clients online is rare and random.

But planners? They’re like free marketing agents—fielding hundreds, even thousands of leads a year.

Don’t make the mistake of thinking you need to be best friends with every single one of them.

You just need 5-7.

2. Offer Tons Of Value For Free

“If I can make it work, I will.”

This line from Kirk Weisler has been ringing in my head ever since we interviewed him on The Rundown.

Too often, when opportunity shows up, the first thing we ask is:

“What’s the budget?”

And sure—there’s nothing wrong with protecting your time or making sure the bills get paid.

But if you nickel-and-dime clients for every little thing, don’t expect them to stick around.

If you can make it work—just do it.

Let’s say a client pays you $2,000 and you’re hoping to land them on a retainer.

Which of these two strategies is more likely to lock them in?

A) You deliver exactly what was scoped.

B) You deliver the full scope plus a folder of 50 evergreen social clips they didn’t ask for.

It’s obviously B.

Because people love to feel like they’re being treated like royalty.

Overdelivering costs you very little but skyrockets your perceived value.

We’ve spent thousands of dollars attending workshops, traveling to events, and delivering content for free—just to strengthen relationships with high-value clients and vendors.

And we’d do it again in a heartbeat

3. The Humble Name Drop

I almost didn’t include this one—but it’s real, and it works.

There’s a difference between bragging and name-dropping.

Bragging gets you blacklisted.

Name-dropping can open doors.

And honestly, I’m tired of people recycling the same advice for “breaking into luxury.” No one talks about this—yet everyone does it.

We’ve been lucky to work with some big names lately—Emma K, Le Reve, Caleb Jordan Lee.

These were all associate/second-shooting gigs, but they were still opportunities to learn, grow, and expand into new circles.

We started noticing that at events, people didn’t introduce us as Jake and Nate anymore.

Instead, it was:

“These guys work a lot with Le Reve.”

Or “They filmed with Emma K and Jose Villa in Mexico last week.”

So now we lean into that.

If we’re chatting with a planner about a specific venue, we might casually mention,

“We just shot for Le Reve there last month.”

A few rules though:

1. Don’t lie. That will hurt you more than anything.

2. Don’t use/view people just as a stepping stone for your business. Be genuine.

3. Don’t force it. If it feels like you’re trying too hard to impress, it’ll backfire.

Let it come up naturally in conversation, and you’ll be surprised how much weight it carries.

Because as much as we don’t like to admit it—we’re not in the wedding business.

We’re in the status business.

If a planner hears that you’re working with Le Reve, Caleb Lee Jordan, Emma K, or even a top-tier local filmmaker, they’ll assume you’re good enough to handle their clients too.

A humble name-drop is just another form of showing your work.

4. Don’t Ask For Anything In Return

We’ve been to a lot of events.

And we’ve seen the new guy walk in—branded polo, fistful of business cards—making the rounds like it’s speed dating.

Look, there’s nothing wrong with a business card.

But they’re not a substitute for real connection.

If your whole strategy is handing out cards or sending cold DMs begging to get added to a planner’s referral list… you’re gonna be disappointed.

Go back to Point #1: people can smell your intentions.

If your energy is “gimme, gimme, gimme,” there’s no reason for someone to give you anything.

People don’t hire the most talented person in the room.

They hire their friends.

There are planners out there who repeatedly hire average vendors charging premium rates—because they’ve built years of trust.

So how can you expect to break into that circle with a business card and a cold DM?

Lead with value. Expect nothing.

Offer to shoot BTS. Cover your own travel. Ask how you can help—not how they can help you.

If you can make it work, make it work.

What’s The Takeaway?

This industry evolves fast.

Ten years ago, getting booked was all about how active you were on social media.

Now? It’s about who you know and what value you bring.

In ten more years, the strategy might shift again—but one thing won’t change:

Relationships will always matter.

Talk soon Runaways,

Nate

P.S. We are launching a coaching program this summer. If you want to be one of the first to know about it before it goes live, simply reply to this email with your favorite movie of all time 🍿

Want Even More?

Check Out Our Online Course. In Beginner’s Guide to Wedding Videography we cover everything that you need to know as a beginner/intermediate wedding videographer to take your bookings to the next level. Whether you’re just starting out or looking to improve your craft, this course will guide you through the entire process—from shooting to editing. Right now, it’s available for Runaway Club members for 60% off using this link

Free Signature Font. Within the first 5 seconds of any wedding video, we can tell how good it is going to be simply based on the font choice used to introduce the couple or location. That is why we designed our Runaway Vows Signature Font to give you an elegant and timeless font that you can use to elevate your films.

Follow Us On Social Media. Follow us on YouTube, Instagram (education and business), and Tik Tok for constant inspiration in the creative business world.

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