So you're thinking about getting started as a photographer in the wedding industry? That's so exciting and I'd love to share my own personal story with you on how I got started ten years ago.

To start from the very beginning, photographs are something that have always captured my interest. My fondest memories growing up are of sitting down with my paternal grandmother and looking at numerous boxes and albums full of old family photos. Having her there to tell me a story about each photo was definitely a perk, but the times I looked at them by myself, I would often try to imagine what has happening at that very moment. I would wonder who those people were, what type of personalities they had, what they were doing, the relationship between them and so much more. My imagination would run wild! I loved how some of the photos were able to tell me a story and I would spend hours learning the details of those people stories from my grandma.

The first time I took an actual photography class was in 7th grade. We learned to turn a shoebox into a pinhole camera and how exciting it was to develop a simple black and white film for the very first time! That was my first experience with a darkroom. And even though I've been working with digital photography for the past 15 years or longer, I still know how to develop actual black and while and color film in a darkroom! But I digress...

So photography was always something I was very interested in and I did it for myself as a hobby. Until... my sister in law got engaged and asked me to photograph her wedding.

I didn't want to say yes, I had no idea how to photograph a wedding. I knew nothing about posing, timelines, lighting (cause lighting at weddings at a whole different beast peeps!). But, she had faith in me and I agreed to it. Looking back, holy cow! My work back then definitely lacked some serious skills, but one thing I was always good at was capturing organic moments and people's emotions.

She loved the photos and I was intrigued with that experience. I had never thought about being a wedding photographer. You hear so much about horror stories of working with bridezillas and all... But that was a time in my life when I was very unhappy with my job and I was looking for something meaningful to do where I could utilize a natural talent.

So I started researching and learning everything I could about the wedding photography industry, as well as learning my camera inside and out. Taking the initiative to reach out to local wedding photographers, go to networking events, taking online courses and attending workshops, I created my own opportunities and the rest is history.

Ten years later, that one decision to jump into a new adventure and follow my heart was one of the best decisions I've made! Being my own boss, running a busy business and meeting so many amazing people along the way are just priceless. Not to mention the amazing feeling of creating beautiful memories for every single one of my clients... Memories that will not only exist long after me and my clients are gone, but that will also be passed down to generations to come.

So here we are and I'm so very excited to share all my knowledge with new emerging photographers! When I was first starting out, it was a slow process of gathering information from different sources and learning based on trial and error. There was no one place to go where I could have gotten some step by step directions on how to start and get going.

And that's what I decided to do here: Share all the best practices of starting and successfully grow a wedding photography business. There are so many tutorials out there on how to use your camera and learn lighting, posing, editing, etc, that although I will cover some of that, I'd like to focus heavily on the heart of the beast: How to actually run your business. Practices that helped me grow and stand out from the crowd.

Between free content on my social media and in depth courses and PDFs for you to download, I'd like to take you step by step on how to get started and grow your own business. My goal is to make it as simple and possible, because when there's too much information all at once, I personally feel overwhelmed and discouraged and I'd like to make learning exciting for you. So buckle up your seatbelt and let's get started!

Now I would like to hear from you: What made you decide to get into the wedding photography business? And do you want to make this your full time job?