Brides & Weddings Magazine
By Amy Falkofske
Sponsored by Wedding Stories by Tania
The spark that started Tania Hossain’s wedding photography business happened in 2011 when she took photos of the preparations for a friend’s Ethiopian wedding. She also took photos of the ceremony at her friend’s request although she wasn’t the official photographer. Her friend ended up liking her photos better, which got her referrals in the Ethiopian, Sudanese and Somalian communities in Northern Virginia.
Tania launched her business officially in 2013, specializing in wedding photography. In 2017, she started building a team that now includes five photographers and videographers. She incorporated video into their services in 2019.
The Story Behind the Name
Tania loves wedding stories and is especially enamored with the “Wedding Storyteller” series by Roberto Valenzuela, which she refers to as her wedding bible. Valenzuela says that, “as the photographer, you are both the director and the documentarian of that story,” and that is the approach that Tania takes with her wedding photos.
“I’m a storyteller by heart,” said Tania.
Wedding Stories By Tania came into being last year when Tania moved her wedding portfolio out from under her original photography business, Tania Hossain Photography, to make it easier for couples to find images and information pertaining to wedding planning.
“I moved our wedding branding to Wedding Stories By Tania last year because I did not want couples to spend time having to sort through babies and corporate headshots and other images not related to wedding stories. I want them to be able to go straight to the stuff that they need because I know how busy couples can get, especially during wedding planning,” she said.
The Team
Tania’s team at Wedding Stories By Tania consists of herself as the owner and photographer, Lisa Foster is their lead photographer who also does video, Reagan Veasley is their second photographer, Ryan Wilson is lead cameraman, and Cindy Bradley as assistant photographer.
Tania said that having this team gives her clients more options from booking small weddings to multiple day wedding events.
“We can accommodate multiple day weddings as well as very small, intimate weddings because of our team based collective expertise and flexibility of our team structure,” she said.
In 2020, Wedding Stories By Tania did 65 weddings, and they are looking forward to hitting the “100 wedding mark” this year.
Winner of the Weddy Award
Wedding Stories By Tania won the 2020 Weddy Award from Brides & Weddings magazine for best photographer/videographer, an honor which Tania and her team are very proud of.
“I am so ecstatic. It’s just mind blowing because there are other industry awards that everybody gets and given out countrywide. So it’s the same award being given in California, as in Virginia, and everywhere, but to have a local validation of a prestigious wedding magazine, it just means we have a great local impact and that means the world to me. I value it a lot and strive to grow with it. My team is super excited about it,” she said.
COVID Wedding Packages
In time when there are very real health concerns about large gatherings, Wedding Stories By Tania offers their COVID wedding package that allows flexibility for couples and their families to have the wedding ceremony now and the celebration later.
One key element of this wedding package is streaming for friends and family that can’t physically be at the wedding due to travel restrictions.
Another major factor, according to Tania, is timing. “We’re not spending as much time as we would do at a full wedding, so that breaks down into cost savings for couples,” she said.
Tania also said that about 60% of her couples asked for their wedding videos in 2020, so video is offered in the COVID wedding packages as well. Keepsake items such as wedding albums are available as additional items.
Full Packages
Wedding Stories By Tania is also booking full wedding packages. In fact, they are already booking weddings for 2022. Their package includes a professionally edited digital gallery for complimentary download, a luxury wedding album, a full wedding video as well as highlights.
Their full wedding packages also includes a complimentary engagement session, which Tania said is a great way to start working with couples before their wedding day. Couples will often use their engagement photo for guest book signing, or something to hang on their walls that’s different from their wedding photos.
Another benefit of getting the full wedding package is a luxury 10 x 10 photo album with 20 pages that can be expanded in size and number of pages. “I really want to put this tangible piece into the hands of our couples because I want them to have something meaningful to look through over the years,” Tania said of the album.
Wedding Stories By Tania is offering Brides & Weddings readers a 21% discount on the full wedding package for 2021 and 2022 bookings.
If you’re interested in something other than wedding photography, Tania just opened a new appointment-only studio in North Arlington for Tania Hossain Photography.
To talk to Tania about her wedding packages, visit their website at Wedding Stories By Tania.
