01/01/2024
Pictured: me in a rental car, in the parking lot of a country club, after shooting my last wedding…ever.
It’s really weird to hit “publish” on a post that you’ve been mentally writing for a year. At the end of 2022, I made the bittersweet decision to make 2023 my last year in business. There wasn’t one thing that led to my decision, but a combination of desires that I had for my future.
Since 2012, I have dedicated every waking hour to my photography business, and at the end of 2022, everything in my body told me to stop. The wedding industry has changed a lot since 2012 — for better and for worse — and I found myself unable and unwilling to change myself in ways that were “necessary” in order to see my business grow to the level I desired. I’m confident in the person I am, but unfortunately that personality held me back from getting into the inner circles of the wedding elite. And rather than change myself, which I tried to do and (thankfully) failed, I decided that the wedding industry was no longer a place for me.
I have had the incredible pleasure of documenting 400+ love stories over the course of my career. I am proud of the advocacy work I have done to increase representation for LGBTQ+ love stories, especially in two conservative states like SC and TX. I am so thankful for the people I’ve met and the places I’ve been hired to travel to for weddings.
Going into 2024, I am looking forward to the luxuries that come with a non-self-employed life that doesn’t revolve around weddings. Weekends off. Health insurance. 401k. Vacation. Steady income. Time with my husband. Time with my dogs. Time with family and friends. While I have immensely cherished the people whose lives I have documented in the past 11 years, I have shied away from documenting my own life because it always felt like work. So here’s to documenting life’s fleeting moments in 2024 and being present enough to enjoy them 🥂
If you’d like to keep in touch, follow my imperfect non-curated personal page 👉🏻
