If you follow my Instagram, you were able to count down my top 31 favorite moments of 2016. Some had to do with my business, some had to do with my personal life - almost all of them had to do with connection.
Connection is so much. In life. And in business. I'm a firm believer that genuine connection with others should be a priority in business. 2016 has taught me this well...
Chelsea and Ernie are an important part of my little tribe. Their relationship has been one of my favorites to come alongside. Chelsea is the soft to Ernie's loud, the sweetness to his boisterousness. They are genuine through and through, and are some of the most kind-hearted people I have ever met...
My mom died before I was even engaged, which was truly heartbreaking to me. Her biggest dream was to see her daughters get married. Growing up, we talked a lot about weddings. We talked about gowns and rings and how she prayed for us to marry the perfect person.
We talked. I miss that.
The anniversary of Mum's death is July 16. 5 years. So, sometimes, July sucks. But this year, July is going to be awesome. Why?
Because I'm giving away a wedding.
Yes. For real. This is not a joke.
I'm giving away a wedding package for the upcoming 2017 season.
I love weddings.
Maybe that's cliche for a wedding photographer to say, but it's the honest-to-goodness truth. I honestly, really, truly do.
When I tell people I photograph weddings, they usually say, "Oh, but that's so stressful!" Maybe it is. But I never see it that way. I see the little things. The small details. The love. The laughter. The tears. The excitement. The "oh my goodness, I love my gown moments." The "oh my goodness, I love this woman" moments. The "I can't hold back these tears" moments. The "we finally made it" moments.
Okay. Now that you've been all up in my brain with my scaredy-cat feelings and my type-A planning tendencies, I'm sure you'd love to know the ups and downs of working on my recent styled shoot. Below are things that went REALLY WELL, as well as things that I could have done better. As Ben Sassosays, As you improve, we all improve. Community over competition, friends. :)
I wrote styled shoot across the top of the page, and made categories within the list that I knew I could populate - hair, makeup, cake, invitation design, accessories. Within this list, I also had a few categories that I knew I needed to find - venue (v important), gowns, florals. My heart literally started beating hard and fast when I finished my list, I was that excited. But I was also nervous - what if I got my people on board, and couldn't pull together the rest?
