Author Archives: 365 days of marriage

Unknown's avatar

About 365 days of marriage

I started this blog in April of 2011. At the time, Bret and I were wedding photographers and it was a way to share how marriage is more about the day to day and so much more than the wedding day itself. For about 5 years, I blogged about the joys and sorrows of the Christian walk, marriage, work, family and friends. I’ve blogged every day since a few weeks after I started. In May of 2015, we photographed our last wedding. Now, I have become passionate about simplicity, particularly in marriage, Christianity, business, travel and life. For a number of reasons, we have become minimalists. I’ve found that having simplicity makes life so much deeper, refreshing and joyful. I hope that this blog will help others see the benefits of living simply.

Day 1773 – Getting Organized – or – Small Business Owner Tips

Posted on by
2

About a week ago, I was talking to my dear friend and my wedding photographer, Shawna Sherrell of Shawna Sherrell Photography about some photography gear. We both watched an online photography class and she was asking about a particular product. I KNEW I had written down the name in my notes. I KNEW I had recently taken these notes. But I couldn’t find them anywhere! Unfortunately for Shawna, I couldn’t find the info, but fortunately for me, it inspired me to organize my notes.

As you know, I read ALL the time these days and I take notes as I read. I also take notes when I watch videos online and if I read a particularly good article.

I also finally nailed down my social media schedule. I reorganized my to-do list so that I would be more apt to follow this schedule! I did have to make the font size 8 though! Eeek!

day_01773a

I went through all of my notes and figured different categories. I think this breaks down nicely:
Binder 1 – To Dos, Reminders/Encouragement, SOPS (Standard Operating Procedures), and Stats to track
Binder 2 – Notes to Review – Marketing, Photography
Binder 3 – Notes to Review – Business, Blogs, Personal, Completed

day_01773b

One of the things that’s been on my to-do list for quite some time is creating a bridal emergency kit for weddings. One day! 🙂

day_01773c

These are my rough SOPs. Basically, notes on how I do different tasks so I don’t waste time doing them again.

day_01773d

I’m feeling SO organized now! I can read a book, make my notes and file it under the category. My plan is to go through periodically and do the things that I’ve made notes about and then cross it out as I go. As for the social media, I’m on schedule so far today! I missed a few posts yesterday, but that’s all good!

What about you? What have you done recently to get organized?

Day 1772 – Mountain Branch Golf Club Wedding In Joppa, Maryland – Baltimore Maryland Wedding Photographer

Posted on by
2

The day was crystal clear at Mountain Branch Golf Club in Joppa Maryland for Eric and Lauren’s wedding. I can’t remember the sky being that blue for a wedding!

This was my first ceremony at Mountain Branch and I had NO idea what a beautiful view you had at the ceremony site! The rolling hills of Harford County behind the bride and groom made you feel like you were in the mountains! What a hidden gem for a beautiful wedding!

day_01773a

day_01773b

day_01773c

The Mountain Branch coordinator gave the bride a sneak peek of the reception set up. Oh boy did she like it!

day_01773d

I love this shot with the bride and her bridesmaids in their purple robes! So fun!

day_01773e

What a happy groom!

day_01773f

A really neat thing about this couple is that they met through running! The run marathons and ultra marathons! The groom proposed at the end of a race! So this sign was special to their relationship!

day_01773g

Ah, I LOVE the first time the groom sees the bride! There were definitely tears was definitely something in his eye. 😉

day_01773h

I also love the first time the bride sees the groom!

day_01773i

The flowers were done by Blush Floral Design Studio. Since I know NOTHING about flowers besides what’s a rose or a lily…or a daisy…lol, yea, that’s about it!….I asked Stacy, one of the owners, to describe them! “The main flowers were dendrobium orchids! They were the vibrant turquoise and purple! We also used white ones as well as hydrangeas and roses.” I loved how extravagant they were! I mean, look at these bridesmaid’s flowers! And didn’t everyone look smashing in their dresses and tuxes? Everything came from K&B Bridals!

day_01773j

I loved the elegance of the baby’s breath (ok, hey, I know a few types of flowers!) with a touch of purple and turquoise ribbon.

day_01773k

day_01773l

The sand ceremony was perfect with turquoise and purple sand! The inscription was “Marriage, two hearts joined forever in love. So they are no longer two, but one flesh. Therefore what God has joined together, let no one separate. Matthew 19:6”

day_01773m

day_01773n

Immediately after the ceremony the bride and groom are whisked away in a golf cart. This is my FAVORITE moment at a wedding. When the bride and groom get to the end of the aisle, before anyone has walked down the aisle or can say congrats, and it’s just the two of them. There is this wonderful, emotional moment when they realize “We’re married!” and it’s a reuniting since they’ve been apart all day! Ahhh, love it. 🙂 Also, check out the back of the bride’s custom made necklace by Faye Daniel Designs! I’ve never seen anything like that before!

day_01773o

And this right here may be the best shot so far we’ve gotten with the bride and groom!

day_01773p

The four ring shot isn’t too bad either!

day_01773q

This venue is wonderful for so many reasons, this right here is my favorite! Bret and I were tossed in golf carts along with the bride and groom and taken to a hidden spot to take pictures! I’m telling you, this is a photographer’s dream!

day_01773r

day_01773s

Their beautiful cake was done by Yia Yia’s bakery. When we met with the bride and groom to review their pictures they said that the flowers on the cake were edible! I had NO idea they were fake flowers!

day_01773t

Aren’t their wine glass favors great?

day_01773u

day_01773v

day_01773w

They even had a signature drink! “Something Blue” which is one part lemonade, one part blue curacao and one part blue berry vodka. It sounds delicious! I’m going to try it soon!!

day_01773x

day_01773y

Their photobooth was Wilmington Photobooth. Bret gave the bride some advice on when to photo bomb the guests!

day_01773z

Jenny Z Mobile DJ kept the party rockin’ until the very end of the night! I don’t think there was a point where the dance floor was empty all night! I think this shot shows how much fun everyone was having, especially the groom!

day_01773zz

Check out the rest of the wedding!

Full list of vendors:
Photography – Unveiled Faces by Jennilyn.
Venue – Mountain Branch Golf Club in Joppa Maryland.
Attire – K&B Bridals.
Florist – Blush Floral Design Studio.
Custom Jewelry – Faye Daniel Designs.
Cake – Yia Yia’s bakery.
DJ – Jenny Z Mobile DJ.
Photobooth – Wilmington Photobooth.

Day 1771 – I’m Never Throwing A Surprise Party For Bret Again

Posted on by
Reply

About a week and a half ago, I had an idea, throw a surprise party for Bret since he turned 30 a week ago. We had plans the night of his birthday and while we did celebrate with my family by going out to dinner, I wanted to bless him with something just for him. I started plotting with my friend Tammie.

I told Bret that Tammie was having a bonfire at her house on Friday. She has parties like this regularly, so it was a great cover.

I was freaking out and worrying all day about all of the plans and everyone getting there around the same time. I called my brother like 5 times (I never call him). I emailed Tammie all day (but that’s normal).

When we were getting ready to leave…

Bret “Ehhh, I dunno if I want to go.”
Jen (Internal OH NO!) “Oh, well, um, Anthony will be there, we haven’t seen him in forever!”
Bret “Yea, good point.”
Jen (Internal, whew!)

My siblings were invited too, but they don’t normally go to my friend’s parties, so I told them to sneak out and park on the road down the street from my friend’s house. I figured that would blow the cover.

We finally drive over and I swear it’s SO obvious that I’m hiding something. I was shaking and nervous (I made him drive too!) and texting on my phone.

We park in the driveway and EVERYONE is on the porch, including my siblings! I’m like, CRAP! He’s going to know, he’s going to know!

We walk up and everyone yells surprise. Bret kind of laughs, says his hellos.

Tammie looks at me “I don’t think he gets it!”
Jen “Babe, this is for you!”
Bret “Wait, what? My birthday was last week!”

Then we chowed down on BBQ and had some beers. We sat outside around a bonfire. I even brought over hotdogs and marshmallows to throw him off! It was such a chill night and just plain perfect. I’m so glad I could surprise him and that he had a great time.

So why am I never throwing him another surprise party? Well, cus I can’t keep secrets that long from him! I’m terrible with gifts too…lol, I get too excited!

So my first and only surprise party was a success! 🙂

(Note: this was from my brother’s birthday party the week before!)

day_01764g

Day 1769 – Throw Back Thursday – To The Day I Started This Blog

Posted on by
Reply

It has been 1,125 days since I wrote my first post on this blog. In honor of that, I wanted to re-share my very first post and day. Check it out below!

Dated: 4/16/2011 (holy crap, can you believe I’ve been blogging every day for the past 3 years? Well, a FEW back blogging days….and a few missed days near the beginning).

Today I had the idea to create this blog. Here is my goal:

I am a wedding photographer. I love it. Dearly. But I believe that the real journey begins after the wedding is over. I want to continue sharing the joys and sorrows of marriage with my clients, friends and family. To that end, I am going to take a photo of my weddings rings every day. A photo that captures what that day has meant to my marriage. What I learned, etc. My hope is that first, I will actually take one every day! Second, that my journey through marriage will give you joy. That you’ll have a few laughs. Maybe a few tears. And ultimately, see how much I love my husband. So, come take a journey with me!

You will notice there are days posted before today. I realized that my “day 1” was the day I married my best friend…so, it would be “wrong” to start on a random day. I did a little back blogging. I realized while looking for pictures that even though taking pictures is my job…I take very few pictures of us! Hopefully, this project will help me take a lot more!

I took this picture with my iPod Touch. Using the Instagram App. I decided to keep it this direction, because I think it shares the silliness of me. I took this picture right after I had told Bret about my idea to create this group and then I had the idea of taking a picture with every couple of all four of our hands (i.e. the ring shot, but times two!) at the wedding. It made me start to cry because that truly captures what I strive to do with every couple…be a part of their marriage. So then I tried to rush and get the picture of me crying! Alas, it didn’t work, but I think it was still a fun picture.

I took this right before we watched Date Night. We’ve had these chairs for a while now and just realized there was a pocket. Perfect for a Guinness, which we are both big fans of! Great night with my husband!

Also, here is a fun story that also happened this today!

A few weeks ago, a friend posted a recipe for Banana Pancakes. It looked pretty good, so I printed it out. It’s been sitting on the counter…tucked away with the cookbooks…out on the counter…tucked away…and finally, underneath two very ripe bananas.

I kept meaning to make these pancakes, as the bananas got riper and riper, I wanted them more and more.

Last night we attended a Bull and Oyster Roast Fundraiser for Team In Training. It was a wonderful event by a really wonderful group of people. The food was simply amazing! Well, it was a late night, since the roast didn’t start until 8 and it was about 30 minutes from home. I had also decided last night that I was going to make the pancakes Saturday morning! We were planning on traveling to Jersey to visit some friends in New Jersey on Saturday and meet with the soon to be Mr. & Mrs. Curran (in one week!!) on Sunday. I slept just a little longer than I mean to and in my rush to pack, print directions, etc, I just ran out of time. I didn’t decide that I ran out of time until I had mixed the flour mixture and cracked the egg. I had even asked Bret if bananas could make you sick if they were too ripe….ok, I’m not going to lie, they were pretty much black. Anyways, so, I put the egg in the fridge, covered the flour mixture and asked Bret to put the bananas away. I even put the milk (which we only had enough for the pancakes!) in a coffee mug. We rush out the door and Bret grabs a bag of compost that had been sitting on the floor. Since we were going to be away for most of the weekend, we didn’t want it to stink up the place.

Bret was going to do some training with our friend and former groom at Top Flight MMA Academy. [note: there is sound when you open this page] I figured I would go to Panera Bread while he was training…I’m seriously considering buying stock in Panera with how often I go! While there, I got a call that our plans weren’t going to work out with our friends. I was very sad that we wouldn’t be able to see them, as they are very dear friends. But, I had a wonderful morning reading great books and writing out some ideas. I created a list of things I wanted to get done with the time I now had. The list included things like finalizing my new postcards and emails. Watching Date Night with my husband and making those banana pancakes.

Bret had trained pretty hard and was pretty much starving. So, I thought, AH! I can make the pancakes now! I took the egg and flour out of the fridge….grabbed the mug of milk….and the bana…hmmm, not in the fridge….not in the freezer….not on the counter….Bret? Where are the bananas? (this is where I started to laugh)…to which he replied…uh…I think I threw them out. By this point, I think I was on the floor laughing (literally).

I guess I can cross banana pancakes off my list…