You’ve started out your wedding planning budget and are already getting overwhelmed by the numbers.  How much does wedding photography cost? Why is everything thousands of dollars? How am I supposed to know how much to spend?

Ah yes, winter :)  A wondrous time filled with peppermint hot chocolate, Hallmark Christmas movies, and yes, WEDDING PROPOSALS AND ENGAGEMENTS!!!  As a wedding photographer, nothing gets me more excited than getting to hear alllll about the proposal ideas that people have come up with to surprise and ask their loved one to marry them :) 

Wow wow wow! Am I so excited to share this beautiful fall wedding with you all!!! First of all, if you are ever wondering what the PEAK of fall foliage in Illinois is, then pick your wedding day at the end of October and you won’t regret it. Sarah and Graham’s Wedding was the epitome of a fall, forest wonderland, and I had a blast getting to capture their day.

Probably one of the MOST asked questions I get as a photographer is “how do I use my DSLR camera???”

Whether you are shooting photography professionally or just want to learn how to use your camera better, this post is for you!  I have had this typed out on a note in my iPhone for YEARS and just send it to people when they ask (which happens often!), so I thought it would be much more useful to share with you all on a blog post :)

How in the world am I supposed to balance my full-time job with my side hustle??? Everyone makes it look so easy.

If you are feeling this way at all, there is hope!  As some of you may know, this photography business is actually my SIDE HUSTLE.  I work full time as a technical lead (web developer) for a non-profit company. Because of this, I have dealt with the CRAZINESS of a completely full schedule and learned (very slowly) how to make the most of my time, for my work, business, and time to relax/refresh. 

So you are looking through different wedding photographers’ packages that you’ve contacted recently, and you are starting to notice a pattern… they all offer engagement sessions with their wedding packages.

Now, hear me out.  Even if you don’t really “need” engagement photos, or you’ve already done a session with another photographer or friend, you should DEFINITELY do a session with your wedding photographer.