A couple months ago, my Polar FT7 heart rate monitor battery died and I decided to buy an Apple Watch to test out for a couple of weeks to see if I really liked it or not. Totally normal rationale, right? Battery dies…buy an Apple Watch…instead of a $3 battery. In my defense, I’ve been interested in an Apple Watch for a while, especially after hearing other industry friends rave about theirs. Though at first I primarily wanted to use it as a fitness watch, I also rationalized the purchase to myself by saying “I can definitely use it for my business too!”. Am I the only one that does this sometimes??

After using the watches (John got one too!) for a few months and half of our 2016 season, I have to say that we love them! I think the Apple Watch has many beneficial uses for the average person who’s not a wedding photographer, but it’s REALLY helpful for photographers and event professionals! Here are some ways wedding and event pros can utilize the Apple Watch for business:

Replace your paper timeline with your Apple Watch
For every wedding, I create a paper timeline, however now that I’ve got my Apple Watch I enter each one on my Internet calendar as well. On a wedding day I change the watch face (yes, you can change the faces…it’s super cool! And the rose gold watch I have has rose gold colored numbers to match! Small details like this are what I love about Apple!) to modular. I can see the time, outside temperature, and what’s next on my calendar really quickly. On a wedding day this is great because I don’t have to pull my backup paper timeline out of my bag…I just look down at my watch and see what time it is and what’s happening next!! I also set mine to alert me with a tap about 10 minutes before the next thing on the timeline starts. So when I’m shooting bridal party portraits and it’s almost time to start family formals, I’ll feel it on my wrist and know it’s time to start wrapping things up.

Communicate more easily with assistants and second shooters
John has an Apple Watch too (it was actually my anniversary gift to him!) which we have found to be really helpful since in the past I’d maybe text him while he was with the guys while they got ready to see if they were almost done (or whatever else) and he wouldn’t see it for a while since his phone was on vibrate in his camera bag. Now when I text him (or vice versa), his watch will vibrate and he sees the message almost instantly!

While it obviously maximizes how useful it is for communication when you AND your assistant have Apple Watches, it can still be really helpful for communicating even if you’re the only one wearing one…if you get a call or a text from the planner or your assistant for example, you’re way more likely to notice it than if you have your phone nearby.

Another cool feature it has is the ability to “tap” someone who is nearby. When John and I are both wearing our watches, we can tap one another, which is essentially sending a little vibration to the other person’s watch. It’s great for getting someone’s attention! For example, if I need to catch John’s attention so he can move out of a wider shot I’m taking of the ceremony or first dance, I can “tap” him rather than waving my arms wildly or blinking extra hard hoping he will notice I’m looking. (Neither of the latter actually work when you really want someone’s attention by the way…HA!!!)

Integrate your phone apps into “Glances”
Apple Watch has this feature called “glances” which is kind of just a bunch of shortcuts to items you look at or use frequently. The best wedding day use of this feature for me personally has been adding one of my favorite wedding apps, Dark Sky onto mine. If it’s a rainy wedding day, you’ll find that this is an invaluable tool as it reads the radars and tells you when it’s going to start raining and when it’s going to stop! Perfect for finding time to duck outside for those outdoor portraits! Lots of iPhone apps have an Apple Watch app now, so pairing them with the watch is a great way to utilize it!

All of these things might seem like very small improvements in how we manage the logistics on a wedding day, but they actually do make a really big difference in helping us stay organized and on top of the day! I highly recommend the Apple Watch to all of my Apple loving photog and event pro friends! I think they be a huge asset to wedding planners and coordinators for the same reasons listed above!