In mid-June, my husband and I renewed our wedding vows. We’ve been married for 11 years and our first wedding was at a justice of the peace in front of a judge, the reception was held at my friend’s house and the wedding photographer was my sister. We had a cake. It wasn’t big enough to feed all of our guests but this was a job that was left to someone else who was gracious enough to help me with last minutes planning since I told her 2 days beforehand that I still hadn’t had a cake.
We decided that this time we’d get married in a Catholic Church in an intimate affair with JUST our children and the necessary witnesses. We also agreed to invest in a few of the basics. I put a call out to some of the small business owners in my network and in the typical superwoman fashion they never let me down. Up first was Ruth Scott The Cupcake Queen. I called Ruth and shared my vision and in true Cupcake Queen fashion she took the reigns and did what she did and my cupcakes were fabulous. I just need to find the photo! When the kids and I showed up at her cake studio we were immediately overcome with smells of sugar, butter and all of the goodness of bake from scratch cakes. There was buttercream up to your elbows. She even took time to show Maddie how to properly ice a cupcake and we were lucky enough to leave with samples of CHOCOLATE CHIP CUPCAKE TOO. (YUM!)
Then I called my neighbor who specialized in silk flowers and I sent her some photos she came through bringing my vision to life. I wore an off the rack dree from Dressbarn that was on sale and the flowers were a great compliment.
Now for the flower in the cap! Photos. Our first wedding was captured by my sister who is also a good photographer in her own right. But I wanted someone who does this as a profession. Someone who from the first email to delivery has a workflow and understood client experience. And while I love my sister photography is a HOBBY for her it’s not a business. There were only 2 people on my list that I knew I would ask to cover this day one was a man and the other was a woman. I wanted a woman for this for so many reasons not that my male counterpart would not have given me what I wanted he’s AMAZINGLY AWESOME he does my headshots and so much other work for me but I WANTED Lucy. I’ve been in love with her work for years and felt that she would be good with my daughter too. And she did not disappoint! Lucy is the cats meow when it comes to family photography and I have been saving up to pay for her services.
I contacted her and explained the details when she said she was available I did a happy dance for days!
She did our family portraits prior to the ceremony and I will be honest in the beginning it was hard to bet out of my head. As a photographer my self I was questioning EVERYTHING SHE DID! From her lens selection to her posing and the way she spoke to my family. I quickly had to shut down the voices in my head and remember that this WAS in the facT a very special day and the attention was not to be on her but me! SO I exhaled and remembered that I hired her because she is IN FACT A FANTASTIC PROFESSIONAL PHOTOGRAPHER. She is skilled in her craft and I have admired her work for years. As a mom, I was not used to having someone focus ON me. I was used to doing all of the work and telling other moms how to pose and what to do. Being on the other side of the camera was a lot harder than I thought. I get it now.
So back to my point. We renewed our vows on a Friday I had all of my images by MONDAY afternoon. Now here’s the thing. Lucy apologized that it took THAT LONG for her to return my images! Say what now. She said that she was booked all weekend and that it had taken her a bit longer to finish the editing and return them to me. Now here’s the thing. When I started this business I was always told ‘tell your clients 2 weeks is your return time’ and aim for at least a week. I have lived by that! No one questioned me, no one ever rushed me. I was good at keeping to this timeline too. Weddings were very different though since I needed to wait for Brides, but otherwise family portraits and everything else, 1 week 2 weeks tops. Now here comes this woman who returns MY photos in under 3 days!
Game changed!!!
Now there were a lot of other things that Lucy did that, as a business owner I appreciated and will implement. Out of respect for her, I will not share those. Trade secrets you know. But she is amazing.
My hair stylist was Raina in Bala Cynwyd, I’ve just started using her salon but we are happy with her, I can go in and see her Head stylist Amanda and share with her my hair goals and Amanda goes to work, she offers feedback and advice not only on style and cut but what would work with my face and age. Although I often forget I’m not 25 anymore, 44 is not kind to my hair follicles and the stylist at Chez Raina understands this fact.
SouthernCross kitchen In Conshy. I made the reservation on Open Table, the Owner Kim is a sister BizzyMama so I was able to reach out and give her a heads up, The staff was wonderful and attentive. They never missed a beat that day. The portions were HUGE even for lunch. They had food even my kids were open too which is rare when we go to a regular restaurant vs a diner.
So here art the links, where I can fit them in please use them businesses they are good service providers.
- cake
- Formal attire
- Hair
- a new set of wedding band
- Lunch for the wedding party
- flowers
- Professional photography
