Hi, my name is Sarah and I am the new intern at Bluefly Lens. Nina & Alicia attended the Vintage Wedding Week in the White Room at Crompton Collective last Sunday. I unfortunately wasn’t able to go, so I wanted to interview them and hear all about it!

Q: How did it feel to have your own booth at The Crompton Collective - Vintage Wedding Week?

A: We had a great experience there! There were probably 200-300 people who came through, and we had great, quality conversations with people.

N: It was also invitation only, which made it that more exciting and an honor to be apart of. The space is very industrial looking, with white brick walls, and loft-like ceilings. The people who know and love Crompton, have a similar style and have an eye for a particular type of beauty. It was fun to try out a wedding show for the first time as wedding photographers. Recently, we’ve been tuning our ears to other small businesses in the city, so it felt very natural, comfortable and the right place for us to be right now. It was a great fit for us, and we love to shopWOO and support as many other local businesses as we can!

Q: What is one thing that makes Bluefly Lens’ services stand out from other photography businesses in the Worcester area?

A: From speaking with brides, they want someone that is positive, friendly and easy to work with: a service that makes their day go smoothly. Also, more specifically is a photographer that is good with capturing large families. Many people don’t want “cheesy” pictures and would rather have more documentative, candid photographs that captures the day rather than having things staged and getting in their way. They liked the tangible products that we offer such as our albums and frames. Our albums are unlike any I have seen before, leather bound in white or black, and on very nice paper. I liked to point out, that we are not shoot and burn photographers, which can be described as just shooting someone’s wedding and giving them a thousand digitals and sending them on their way. At Bluefly Lens we are a full-service boutique photography business. We handle everything every step of the way, and you end up with beautiful artwork to fill your homes with.

N: We take pictures of real people that is what our photos show, real brides. Someone came up to our booth and said that other photographers showcase their supermodel, “perfect brides” or whatever, and that is just not real life.

I don’t so much like to think of us versus other people, but more of what our strong suits are. I also think that one thing we have going for us, which is more difficult to find in a photography business, is that we always shoot together and it is not a changing scenario, so we shoot together on many occasions. We know what each other’s strengths and weaknesses are, who is good at what, and just have this overall unspoken language ability that other photographers might not be able to offer. I’d say that we flow together a lot easier, because it is always the two of us shooting together.

Q: What is something that stood out to you during the fair?

A: It was the right amount of vendors there. It wasn’t too crowded or overwhelming. Another thing that brides kept on saying to me is that this wedding process is so overwhelming for them, so I think it was smart to keep the vendors limited to 20 or so rather than go somewhere that offers 100’s where that they would be way overwhelmed and it would probably add on more stress.

N: I hate the idea of going somewhere where you can’t look at everybody’s booth because a lot of people experience the fear of missing out on something. I was looking to have conversations with everybody. Everyone there was fairly a laid back person. The vendors were not as corporate and uptight and took the more independent route.

Many of the brides there like antiques, or DIY, or that shabby chic look. We spoke with brides who also love the city of Worcester, and their wedding venues are going to be at unique locations. That is kind of what Crompton has going for them in a lot of ways. Amy [the owner of Crompton Collective] is really good at singing that song, so I know a lot of people connect with her on that. They like shopping small and shopping local.

Q: Would you do it again?

A & N: We would do it again next year! For sure!

Five highlights from the fair:

Makes it easy for the brides to shop and around and get a taste of what she likes - without being overwhelmed by too many vendors!
Very laid back environment, not too up-tight and “corporate-like”
Vendors were more hands on, and many offered something fun such as champagne, chocolate covered strawberries, cupcakes, lattes, etc!
Small, intimate setting
Good variety of vendors that you need for your wedding, not too heavy on one thing or another