Thuy Nguyen
I booked my first wedding off Craigslist for $400 and now I turn couples away
$42/hour , set by Thuy Nguyen.
In 2013 I was doing payroll at a dental office in Garden Grove and shooting my cousin's quinceañera for free. A coworker paid me $400 to shoot her courthouse wedding with a rented Canon 6D. My first full year in business I made $3,100 and cried while doing my taxes.
The low point was 2015, when I double-booked two Saturdays in October and had to call a bride six weeks out and tell her. She screamed at me and she was right to. I built my entire booking system after that phone call, and I hand it to every photographer I coach.
We do ninety minutes on Zoom. Bring your prices, your last ten inquiries, and your real numbers, not the ones you tell your friends. We find where couples drop off and fix that first. Homework every time, and I follow up, because I already know you won't.
More background
Cold: pricing and packages for years zero through five, inquiry-to-booking funnels, contracts (I share my templates), wedding-day timelines so you never miss the first kiss, second-shooter etiquette, receptions in terrible DJ lighting, and getting your first ten paid bookings with almost no portfolio. I built to six figures by year four with no photography degree and a Vietnamese mom who thought I was ruining my life, so I also understand the family-pressure part. Good fit: new and newish wedding or event photographers who want bookings, not likes. Not a fit: fine-art photographers who hate talking about money, or anyone who bruises easily when I'm direct about their pricing page. Boundaries: I review 20 images max, not your whole catalog, and I won't sit and trash your competitors with you. Availability: Mondays and Tuesdays only, because Friday through Sunday I'm shooting, especially May through October. Between sessions I answer messages in one batch on Monday morning. Send homework by Sunday night or we spend your paid time on excuses.