Wedding photographer reveals how the industry can be saved during the pandemic

Francis Witsenhuysen – Noosa Online News

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HAVING to put dream nuptials on hiatus is something brides and grooms have been forced to do around the country and it’s hitting the wedding industry hard.

The owner of Sydney-Based Wedding photography company ImageHaus, Henryk Lobaczewski, says with current travel restrictions and the ever-shifting caps on state wedding numbers, couples need to start rethinking weddings in 2020.

The award winning photographer said as restrictions ease on Australian weddings, brides and grooms are still holding out hope they’ll have the big day they planned.

“The whole industry has taken a hit,” he said.

“Before the pandemic, we were doing about 100 weddings per year nationally and internationally.

Image courtesy ImageHaus

“We have moved 30 to 40 wedding dates this year – some couples are moving two or three times – it’s a lot of logistical work for our team.

“It’s been really tough but we’ve had no cancellations yet, thankfully.”

Even after losing many months of income, Henryk and the team have kept their head above water and are continuing to offer support to couples during the pandemic.

“I really feel for the brides and really feel for the whole industry,” he said.

“We’ have been offering brides the support they need and have been moving dates for free to help clients.

“If everything goes to plan from September on, we are jam packed with bookings but for the last four, five months there hasn’t been a single wedding.”

No stranger to large weddings, Henryk said he and the ImageHaus team specialise in ethnic weddings.

“Think big Greek weddings, Italian, Lebanese, Serbian, Croatian, Macedonian – they are our main clients” he said.

“They like it big and they really care about quality, detailed photography… they love weddings.”

Image courtesy ImageHaus

He said with minimal Government support, the company, Wedded Wonderland had started a regulatory role to make sure businesses in the industry have a voice.

“The government is telling us we can have a wedding with one person per 4 square metres, and we can’t dance – with the weddings we shoot – 100 people are mostly family to a lot of these people,” he said.

“You basically need a massive space now to have big wedding numbers – there are still people who are just not okay with the limit.”

He said people needed to be okay with having a wedding with just the people who they really need there.

“Think destination Australia and think outside the box… maybe an Ayers Rock wedding, a Deux Belettes wedding in Byron Bay or a Milton Park in Bowral, that kind of vibe. While overseas weddings are out at the moment, there are a lot of beautiful wedding venues in Australia.

Image courtesy ImageHaus

“Weddings are all about sharing the love of a couple – with those who matter and being able to share in that genuine true love and work in that space is why I relish being a wedding photographer.”

Coming from a fashion background, Henryk has brought that fashion element into shooting weddings, with an editorial aesthetic.

“We have a unique style and a lot of people can spot our work from a distance,” he said.

“We are so excited to shoot our first Australian wedding since the pandemic hit, in a few weeks.”

Henryk said he’s kept busy creating a new range for photographers images, which can be organised through the ImageHaus Weddings Instagram page at https://www.instagram.com/imagehausweddings/.

To check out ImageHaus head to: https://imagehausweddings.com.au.