Oh my gosh – I’m having a hard time believing this year is already coming to an end!! I remember when I could hardly wrap my head about the boys being born in the year 2016 (that seemed so far off when I was pregnant!) and now here we are already on our way into 2018?! What the heck!!
I’m just going to be honest and say – we had an odd year work-wise around here! We shot 22 couple’s weddings this year – which was the quietest year we’ve had since 2011 when we first took our business full-time! Normally we shoot around 28-30 weddings a year with about 5 of those being smaller/intimate weddings or elopements. We even did so the year following the boys’ birth (which in retrospect was a little crazy with newborn twins – but hey – we managed)… whereas this year we did only big weddings and not a single elopement!! Also, I heard from so many colleagues in the wedding industry that 2017 was a slower year all around for a lot of businesses. A lot of people blamed it on the uncertain political climate during an election year – but who knows. The way our year ended up playing out was that we had an incredibly quiet May & June (no May weddings and only one June!) and then from August through November we were NON-STOP. Literally one or two weddings every weekend for 12 weeks straight and whoa I’m not going to lie – I would prefer things were more spread out in the future! haha! By the time Thanksgiving hit James and I were ready to hibernate for a while after how crazy busy it was in the fall season! Thankfully 2018 looks to be a much more balanced and busy year across the board – so we are happy to go back to a more spread out season like we are used to!
Given how quiet the start of our season was this year – that not only gave us more time with our boys during a year in which they ended up being supremely BUSY and ACTIVE (oh my gosh!) – it also gave us the opportunity to focus more on other sides of our business – like family, newborn, and mini sessions!! Usually we shoot around 35 of those a year on top of our ~30 weddings & 30+ engagement shoots… but this year we shot 70 family/anytime/mini/newborn sessions!! I have to say – it was fun to switch things up a bit and also really calming to know that in years we have quieter wedding seasons or a couple slower months we are still able to put food on our table in other ways by making it work and hustling!! 🙂
Anyway – all this is all to say – we are SO HAPPY and SO GRATEFUL that we are still able to continue doing what we love year after year, even in somewhat uncertain times like 2017 was for many people… and we have you all to thank for that!! Because YOU believe in us – we are able to chase our dreams and run our little family business with our boys by our side day in and day out – and for that we are truly forever grateful!! We have to especially give a shout out to the 22 beautiful couples that trusted us with documenting their gorgeous and heartfelt wedding days this year and for bringing us into their tight knit circle of friends and family!! We truly adore each of you and were inspired and moved to tears by hearing your love stories, seeing your family’s traditions, and standing alongside you on one of the most important days in your lives!!
THANK YOU – THANK YOU – THANK YOU – from the bottom of our hearts!!
Stay tuned for our final wedding of the year coming to the blog soon – along with all our year-end posts… our best of weddings / engagements / families, and my personal year-end summary with thoughts on the year in the coming weeks!
In the meantime… Happy New Year to all!! May 2018 find you happy, healthy and grateful! XOXO
