Collaboration Over Competition: Building Strong Vendor Relationships with Dimitris Pavlidis

Discover the captivating world of wedding cinematography with Dimitris Tavlidis, a celebrated filmmaker from Greece with a portfolio boasting over 400 destination weddings. Dimitris shares his incredible journey from filming a bride's preparation to becoming a sought-after expert in the wedding industry. Learn the art of creating seamless, memorable events by building strong relationships with fellow vendors and professionals. Dimitris sheds light on essential strategies for effective communication, flexibility, and mutual respect, and reveals how these elements contribute to an unforgettable experience for couples and foster lasting collaborations.

Explore the pivotal collaboration between cinematographers, photographers, and planners, as Dimitris offers invaluable insights into discreet documentation and creating optimal conditions for capturing a couple's special day. Discover the power of teamwork and social media in enhancing visibility and success for all involved. Whether you're a seasoned pro or new to the wedding scene, Dimitris's advice on patience, persistence, and mastering your craft will prove indispensable in navigating this competitive market. Don’t miss his stories of capturing love against Greece's stunning backdrops and find links to his work in the show notes.

Connect with Dimitri:
Website | www.dimitrispavlidisfilms.com
Instagram | @‌dimitris.pavlidis.filmmaker
Facebook | facebook.com/dimitris.pavlidis.visionfilms

Chapters

• 0:00 Vendor Relationships in Wedding Industry
• 10:24 Building Successful Vendor Relationships
• 22:15 Destination Wedding Videographer Interview

Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:28

Welcome back to Wedding Empire, season 3. Today I have a very special guest. His name is Dimitris Tavlidis and he is an acclaimed wedding cinematographer based in Greece with over a decade of experience and a portfolio spanning more than 400 destination events. He's known for his authentic approach to storytelling, and Dimetrius masterfully blends simplicity with elegance to create timeless wedding films that resonate really deeply with his clients. Beyond his craft, demetrius has built a reputation for fostering meaningful collaborations with other wedding professionals, elevating the industry through his dedication and artistry. In this episode, we're going to dive into the importance of vendor relationships, exploring how working more cohesively with others can lead to greater success for everyone involved. So welcome to Wedding Empires, dimitris.

Speaker 2: 1:26

Thank you for having me. I think I'm really happy today that I'm on this show. I was also checking the other episodes you had and all the work and I think it's great for community and everything I have seen from your show. It's at value and I will add it to my Apple CarPlay and listening to other shows or new guests when traveling, stuff like that. I think this is really nice and thank you for having the opportunity to be here.

Speaker 1: 1:56

How are you? Thank you, my day was busy, busy, busy. I'm preparing to be in the Wedding Business CEO Summit at the moment, which is happening in a few weeks a lovely big free event so I've just been preparing all my speaker notes and everything for that and we were just discussing offline.

Speaker 2: 2:16

It's it's the beginning of your day in Greece yeah, yeah, actually yeah, and you know starting slow with some emails and and some editing and, but other than that, we are just on the chilling zone now because we don't have a lot of traveling now.

Speaker 1: 2:33

Yeah.

Speaker 2: 2:34

We usually start in May and events and weddings go, the busy season goes until I don't know October, and then we gather our strengths and relax a little bit.

Speaker 1: 2:50

I like that, the chilling zone.

Speaker 2: 2:53

I like that, the chilling zone.

Speaker 1: 2:54

I like that. That's usually what happens at my house about four o'clock each day.

Speaker 2: 2:58

It's great.

Speaker 1: 3:00

So why don't we go back? I want to hear about how you ended up in the wedding business to begin with. What's the story?

Speaker 2: 3:08

Yeah, I got asked about that a lot and I think it was quite simple. I got involved. A friend was a cinematographer was a wedding cinematographer and one day he just invited me to join him for a bride preparation, just to help him, and on that day I really loved the fact that it's a happy event and you get to know more people and everybody is cheerful. And after that he proposed to me just to take a camera and join him. Other days and on a repetitive I went from event to event to event and I think that practice most of the times is the key element to be better and to be involved in this industry. But I think it's also really important that I was always like a tech geek. How can I say it?

Speaker 1: 4:14

A geek yeah like me.

Speaker 2: 4:15

Yeah, I always liked cameras. I had a camera with me to go into parties and film stuff with mini-DVs.

Speaker 1: 4:25

Yeah.

Speaker 2: 4:26

And then make it to DVDs and stuff like that and I was always fascinated to see little segments or family or friends and have that all saved and being able to watch that after some time with friends and family. And that evolved and that's how I got started in the wedding industry. I mean it was really simple, it was really simple.

Speaker 1: 4:53

Now. What you're here to talk about today is really about perfecting those vendor relationships. Can you talk to me about why you think that's so important?

Speaker 2: 5:05

Yeah Well, I think it's one of the most important elements to have a good relationship with vendors. I think when you attend a wedding and you have a smooth collaboration, it's truly the golden key that opens doors to incredible opportunities, happy clients, reviews and, at the end of the day, future referrals to other clients.

Speaker 2: 5:31

And when you have a team of vendors who are on time and they are supportive, and everybody follows the timeline and the flowers on the table are ready before the guests arrive and the planner ensures everything runs smoothly, I think it's a perfect time also for the couple, because they also have a great experience Overall. It's not only elevating the wedding day. I mean the day goes beyond the wedding day, where a wedding can be then featured in publication and the couple is happy. We are all happy as a team, like photographers, planners and everyone involved, and I think it's really super, super important.

Speaker 1: 6:16

So have you got any tips around, I guess, how people can take steps to build trust and rapport with other wedding professionals so say that they've worked together for the first time what are the steps that you would take differently to really sort of build those relationships as well?

Speaker 2: 6:35

Well, I think it takes time, but I think it's nice to Me. Personally, I always reach out. If I work with a new vendor, I reach out to him. If it's busy season, I can reach out to him again because in the wedding season everybody's traveling or they are super busy and stuff like that. Respectfully, when other vendors have time, we see the timeline when we talk about all the details of the day. I think also it's important on the wedding day just to be respectful for all vendors involved, even the I don't know everybody's important. Everybody's there to do their job.

Speaker 1: 7:21

Yeah.

Speaker 2: 7:24

I think being flexible and respectful and showing that you are supportive are really key elements just to be part of the team and be appreciated on the day. And at the end of the day, people notice that you are supportive and they want to hang out with you if you are easygoing and being a little bit mindful and a little bit flexible, because you know better than me that wedding days are a little bit sometimes how can I say it Are really packed with lots of details on the timeline and everybody wants to do their best job. So having one vendor who is supportive and flexible and mindful, I think it's one of the important things that you can do on the wedding day.

Speaker 1: 8:12

Definitely. And how do you go about reaching out to these vendors so say you've been booked for a job and at some point the person has said these are the other vendors that you'll be working with. Do you email them, call them? How do you actually approach them?

Speaker 2: 8:28

Well, on social media. It's now on our lives for sure and I definitely will reach out to them via DM on socials, on Instagram or Facebook, or, if they don't reply, even on a shared email, and then, yeah, I think it's quite simple. But most of the times when we work with a planner, the wedding planner introduces all vendors with emails and links and stuff like that and we use that to introduce ourselves. But I think it's always nice to reach out to someone even before they reach to you because, as I said, think it's always nice to reach out to someone even before they reach to you Because, as I said, there are some really busy days with weddings and traveling, especially in the summer.

Speaker 1: 9:19

I've got a question around specifically. I guess, being a cinematographer, how do you balance your creative ideas and input with the overall vision of the wedding planner or the couple?

Speaker 2: 9:34

Yeah, sure. So when I am introduced or I work with a specific couple or wedding planner, I always am an active listener. I always listen to the couple. What they want, what they create, the vision, it is how the day unfolds. It's also important that I explain to them afterwards that we are documentary filmmakers, so our style is not too much posing, we just let the day unfold as it is and from that point on we just explain to them that we are like guests with cameras. We don't interfere too much and we listen to them because they have maybe a vision or stuff like that. But for sure it's important to have a discussion with a couple where they have seen our style. They understand how we see things, but at the end of the day it's how the day unfolds. So we always tell them just to relax, enjoy the day, and we'll be there really discreet because we don't want to interfere a lot.

Speaker 2: 10:49

It's their day and I think this is also one of the points that couple truly appreciates and they value that. So we do a nice conversation with them and with the wedding planner. Of course, wedding planners they have a lot of details on the wedding day. Planner. Of course, wedding planners they have a lot of details on the wedding day. So we have a discussion with them on a different day about all the details where our second shooters will be or our third second shooters, just to capture all details of the day on time, because sometimes we have small time slots to capture decor or stuff like that. And communication, I think, is the key. And just being an active listener of the day, because it's not your day, it's their day. Of course, if you have suggestions for them as a professional, you can. They are also Modern couples now. They are also listeners and they trust especially professional wedding vendors. And, yeah, we try to be a guest with camera discreet on the wedding day.

Speaker 1: 11:53

So Kerry is on the live chat at the moment watching us live, and she's got a question coming from a wedding planner and she's saying is there anything that wedding planners could do better? When you work with a planner, Is there anything that you've seen planners do time and time again that just doesn't work from a cinematographer perspective.

Speaker 2: 12:15

I think something that we have encountered a few times, even on the previous summer season, was just having everything the decor, or one element that I can recall now the decor. When it's especially when it's a bigger event, they have everything set up. It's important to have everything set up on time, because sometimes we have 5-10 minutes before the guests come in and they can also have a different area for the for the guest to have their cocktail and a different area for the main event. Where is the extravagant, you know the fancy stuff?

Speaker 2: 13:00

yes the photographer and the videographers can have like 5-10 minutes unentrapped on the area just to have those amazing shots that everything is wow and stuff like that, without guests inside, because we're trying to mix our creative eye but also we're placing down some guests that are interfering, you know, in the venue, that take selfies or stuff like that.

Speaker 2: 13:26

People are people at the end of the day yeah and other idea that it was really nice and the couples enjoyed that. We sometimes suggested that we can have the couple inside the venue before the guests, just enjoying the money that they have paid for this extravaganza setup, so having just a few shots of them inside. There we always see their happy faces and really seeing the decor as it is, not when it's already night and everything. Every guest is on that and we have seen the couples being really super happy when they are before the guest inside the venue and enjoying that by themselves.

Speaker 1: 14:17

Okay, wonderful. Now what about after the event? I know something that I used to do was go through and leave a Google review for each of the vendors that I worked with. I thought that was a nice gesture. Do you have any other tips around sort of continuing that relationship off the back of the event?

Speaker 2: 14:36

Yeah. So I think the wedding day actually doesn't end for us wedding professionals at the end of the day. We have done the editing and there is also lots of elements that we can benefit from after the wedding day, for example, the publications. So when we are collaborating with amazing professionals, we have seen when we are collaborating with amazing professionals, we have seen publications from wedding planners who have sent the wedding to a great publication and everybody benefited from that. We have seen photographers do that, or blogs and active cinematographers.

Speaker 2: 15:17

Like myself, I don't expect from the photographer or the wedding planner to send a publication somewhere. We are also really active on that side and we know that when everybody is trying their best, only good things can happen. And besides a publication, I think social media is also great. I mean collaborating on posts or reporting stuff, especially when you had a great wedding and everything ran smoothly. I think those two are really, really important just to keep on with the wedding.

Speaker 2: 15:54

And I think, when a professional, I think we are all away from success, we are one wedding away.

Speaker 2: 16:04

So when you have a great wedding one and you can use that for your portfolio and stuff like that, you really don't have to do like 100 weddings to have just a little bit success, either as a photographer or a wedding planner. A wedding planner this is how I see it, because for us we have seen when we had like one great wedding on on the wedding season, we use that wedding to have it on our website, on our landing page, and we use that and many, many couples reach out to us and say, hey, we saw, because we get feedback from the couples and we ask them how did you find us? And stuff like that, and they say, oh yeah, we saw this amazing wedding there on only couples that also value having a great vendor team on the wedding day, because there are many times when they want to book the whole team, when they see a great wedding and they see a specific wedding planner and a specific cinematographer, photographer and florist, they want the whole thing.

Speaker 1: 17:23

Yeah, okay. My last question for you is what advice would you give to new vendors who are trying to establish themselves in a competitive market?

Speaker 2: 17:35

Yeah, nice. Well, we all started from zero. So, based on my experience, I think you have to be patient and persistent. Just to do things, just master your craft. Business takes time and effort. Sometimes we get discouraged by slow starts or some setbacks. Even now, we get a lot of leads and lots of capital reach out to us. There are some days where we feel that we are not good enough or nothing goes right or stuff like that. But I think when you just continue and you learn and you adapt, you are building more experience and this is a long journey. I mean you have to enjoy the journey, first foremost. Other advice, I will say the network and collaborate, as we have spoke. I mean this is key being flexible, being kind, being supportive. Don't be weird on the wedding day.

Speaker 1: 18:44

Just smile a little bit more I go not being weird, yeah, something, something that I mentioned in courses at the wedding academy is, if there are people that you want to work with, reach out to them and offer to promote them to your clients. You know, offer to help them. Don't go to them and want something, but go to them and say you know, I love your floral, your ceiling installations, they're amazing. Do you mind if I grab some of your flyers and give them to my clients or refer you to my client? But that's a nice way't it? It's a generous and nice, authentic way. Um, I also think going in person is is a game changer as well. Those places that have a shop front or a venue, going and introducing yourself in person is so much more effective, I think, than emailing the bulk email to everybody. Huh.

Speaker 2: 19:42

Yeah, especially these days where everything is social media and you don't get to see much people besides the actual event.

Speaker 1: 19:52

Yeah.

Speaker 2: 19:52

You have to hang out with other vendors. And the tip that you mentioned previous I am lucky enough that I have seen this kind of stuff. When we talk with a client, we always ask respectfully can you tell us, how did you find us? Have you found us from Google, social media, or a friend or someone suggested and often we are suggested by other professionals where we have never worked together. So other professionals have just noticed our work and they, when a couple ask, hey, you want a Vendor Geographic, yeah, just ask Dimitris and his studio. And that's really like amazing for us, mind-blowing when someone suggested that we have not worked together.

Speaker 2: 20:42

But we also do that if I love a work from a specific photographer or a wedding planner, even if I have not worked with them, uh, and especially if the couple's vision or style you know some, some uh couples want more bright or more fine art stuff or what whatsoever. And if I know someone that is on that style, I just refer to them because, at the end of the day, I think, uh, it's all about network and being real and authentic. And one more tip I would have on this journey of being a professional I would say that you have to be aware of your financial health. I mean, you have to know your numbers because sometimes you can say, yeah, I'm super busy and yeah, I'm so full booked and stuff like that, but you have not seen your expenses. How many hours have you worked?

Speaker 1: 21:53

Yeah, that's a whole other episode.

Speaker 2: 21:56

Yeah, but I just wanted to mention that you have to be financially cautious about your numbers. Yeah, so these three, yeah, I agree. Check out your, your, your balances, be patient and just be authentic and real with other ventures and support.

Speaker 1: 22:14

I love it. Thank you so much, dimitris. It has been a pleasure getting to know you and, uh, I'm sure for anybody listening who is thinking about or got clients interested in destination weddings in greece, you were the person they're gonna call to do the video, so I I am gonna put all the links to your website, instagram and facebook inside the show notes, so have a look there. But yeah, it's been an absolute pleasure. We'll get you back another time and we'll talk some more.

Speaker 2: 22:45

Thank you. Thank you for this lovely podcast. Thank you very much. Thank you, lovely to meet you, likewise, okay.