DArnTech / Bookings / for wedding photographers
Booking + deposit + delivery for the indie photographer who's outgrowing HoneyBook.
HoneyBook is $45–95/month and most photographers use ~40% of its surface. DArnTech Bookings replaces the engagement-session deposit + wedding-retainer + gallery-delivery slice you actually use, at $49/month, on your subdomain. Keep email templates and contracts wherever you want.
Who this is for
- Solo wedding photographers shooting 10–30 weddings/year, currently on HoneyBook / Tave / 17hats
- Photographer + 2nd shooter small studios, currently on Iris Works or Sprout Studio ($35-89/mo)
- Indy elopement specialists doing smaller events with tighter operations
Honest friction we won't dodge: HoneyBook switching cost is real. Your email templates, your contract library, your CRM history accumulates there. We can help with template export/import, but it's not a 5-minute switch. The customers who switch usually do it because the HoneyBook bill stopped feeling worth what they get from it.
Features built for the wedding-photographer shape
Multi-event-per-booking
Engagement session + wedding under one client record. Linked phases, deposits per phase, single client view. Half-day, full-day, weekend-multi-event all natural fits.
Tier menus (Engagement / Elopement / Half-day / Full-day)
$400 engagement, $1500 elopement, $2400 half-day, $4500 full-day — your structure, your prices. Tier picklist at inquiry, deposit captured at retainer signing.
Gallery delivery link
After the wedding, paste the gallery URL (Pixieset, Pic-Time, ShootProof, whatever you use). Customer-accessible delivery from their dashboard. Same primitive as cleaner before/after photos and detailer photo handoff.
Anniversary-reminder automation
1 year after wedding, auto-email the couple for anniversary-portrait upsell. The kind of follow-through that quietly grows the business but you'll never remember to do manually.
Vendor-collaboration intake
Planner, venue, florist, DJ contact info captured at booking. Saved for day-of coordination. Helps with the "who's the planner again" moment 2 days before the wedding.
Travel-radius cap (engagement-shoot focus)
Engagement shoots within X miles of Indy. Wedding bookings handled separately (you travel where the venue is). Two different radius logics, one configuration.
Honest comparison
| Tool | Monthly | Honest take |
|---|---|---|
| DArnTech Bookings | $49–79 | Booking + deposit + gallery delivery. Focused. |
| HoneyBook | $45–95 | Dominant indie-creative tool. Full CRM + invoicing + workflows. Sticky once you've built templates there. |
| Tave | $25–35 | Closer to booking + contract slice. Photographer-specific. |
| 17hats | $20–50 | Similar shape to HoneyBook, less polished. |
| Iris Works | $35–69 | Photographer-CRM with shoot-day workflow. |
| Sprout Studio | $39–89 | Full photographer suite. Feature-rich. |
This vertical is queued
DArnTech Bookings is in Phase 1 with mobile detailers. Wedding photographers are Vertical 6 — sequenced after Vert 1 customer #1 lands. Estimated launch ~4-6 months out. Reach out if interested — early conversations shape pricing and feature priorities. Email d.arney@darrenarney.com.