It’s Monday and well…it’s going to be a crazy week. I leave the country in T minus 5 days which is both exciting and gives me anxiety. Exciting because the Mediterranean is calling my name. Anxiety giving because I have SO much to do before I leave. Not only that, but currently it is 24 degrees and the ground is covered with snow and ice. Oh Dallas, don’t you know your winters are supposed to be mild!?!?! Oh well. It’s true this week is going to be pretty crazy and my stress level may be a bit higher than usual. However, there are some exciting things on the horizon that have made the stress a little less over-powering. A few weeks ago I blogged about goal setting and business planning for 2014. While that process is somewhat ongoing, I did set a major goal of completing a project that I’ve been wanting to cross off the list for a while now. A Bridal Guide. Now for some of you this may be totally irrelevant and for that I apologize but bear with me as I explain how great this is. When I first started in wedding photography, I was fairly clueless on the ‘experience.’ By this I mean going beyond the pictures you receive from your wedding. It involves delving in to the overall experience you have with your photographer and how they run the day. If you are married, you probably know what I am talking about. You see, your photographer is often times with you more than anyone else on your wedding day and in the most personal moments. They help structure the day, they can often times set the pace and they can definitely add or take away from the stress. The longer I have been photographing weddings, the more I have become convinced that the experience is important.
I also learned that the experience can be greatly influenced by one word. Education.The reality is that most of us don’t work in weddings and therefore don’t know what we are doing when we are planning one! As I got further and further in to my business, I realized that if I was going to help my clients have the best wedding experience, photography and beyond, then the best thing I could do was educate them. After all, in this area, I am often times more of an expert than they are. That is not an opportunity for superiority but instead a chance to bless them with my expertise! So, I began to give some insight in to how they planned their day early on in the process and saw the benefits of a well-educated bride/groom. It was amazing how their experience and mine improved drastically. That is why, I decided it was time for a Mary Fields Photography Bridal Guide. A mini magazine for my clients that lays out some Tips and Tricks to make their wedding experience that much more enjoyable. It’s a work in progress but I’m excited to say that it is nearing production!
In the midst of a crazy week, this gives me excitement as I look to the days ahead. Setting goals, accomplishing them and in turn seeing the result is a wonderful thing in life and in business. I encourage all of you to join me in setting goals, working hard toward them and then celebrating as they come to fruition.
Happy Monday!
(Here is a little sneak peek of a spread I’ve been working on! More to come soon!)
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