Author Archives: 365 days of marriage

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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 1357 – The Greatest Wedding Ever or A Wedding Photographer’s Advice On Weddings

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I’ve shot 43 weddings, attended a few and participated in 3. In that time, I’ve picked up a few things that I think make for a GREAT wedding!

Have your rehearsal dinner at Pappas Seafood Co.

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Make sure you take breaks.

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If you can have draping, do it. Add some twinkle lights and woo! Beautiful!

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Or better yet, get married on a beach. Always choose the beach if you can.

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Be unique. If you don’t want to wear a white dress…wear a red one…or a pink one with polka dots.

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Use details that reflect who you are.

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Get a custom wedding dress from K&B Bridals. Look how happy the bride is in her dress!!!

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Get Fine Florals by Linda to do your flowers. STUNNING!

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Exit to a sea of bubbles!

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Break tradition and do a first look. For reals. This is especially helpful and awesome if you want to spend as much time as you can with your guests.

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Make sure you’re comfortable with your photographer so you can relax in front of the camera.

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Have fun with your wedding party.

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Enjoy the dancing with your guests.

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Always opt to get a photo booth!

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Get a sweetheart table. It means you can have some alone time with your new groom and your wedding party can sit with their significant others.

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It’s also good for naps.

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Day 1356 – Even When I’m Angry, There Is Something To Learn

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For the last few weeks, I’ve had an issue with my outgoing email via Outlook. I’ve been emailing my provider when I can, but since I’ve been so busy, it’s something that had to wait. I was, however, getting more and more angry as time went on. I felt like my provider wasn’t really listening to what was wrong and not treating me like I should be treated. I have to say, when you work for yourself and strive to have awesome customer service, you notice when you DON’T get that level of service….and when you DO! I even considered switching providers.

I finally got an email that basically said, um, yea, maybe you should call us about this. I will say the woman I spoke with was AWESOME! Definitely made me feel better about things. Figured out the email problem pretty much right away. But there was a little catch…see, one thing the company suggested was upgrading to this other email thing….only cost about $20….when we realized I shouldn’t have done that, she tried to get me a refund. Unfortunately, she didn’t have the authority to do that…but she made a big discovery…..I’ve been overpaying, more than double, for my service with them!! I was so thankful that she caught that and helped me change my account. I asked if I could get a refund for overpaying. She basically said that since it’s online, I should have known…..at first I got upset about that. Namely, because I had to pay for a full year of my service up front.

But then, after I got off the phone and cooled down a bit, I realized something….

If I hadn’t had an issue with my email, I wouldn’t have gone through the weeks of contacting customer service…
I wouldn’t have upgraded my email…
I wouldn’t have talked to the woman who caught my mistake in billing…
I wouldn’t have saved myself over $100…

So even in our mistakes and angry days, God is working it all out for our good. It also showed me I still have quite the temper!! 🙂

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Day 1355 – Behind The Scenes – Kristofco Wedding At Padonia Park Club

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I had a lot of fun putting together the Murphy Behind The Scenes, so I wanted to do one for Kevin and Caitlin!

So when you hire us you get….

Professional posers

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First look advice…

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Sometimes Bret gets in my way…I give him a hard time but it gets a smile from those in the picture.

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Then I realized I get in his way too sometimes…

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We’ll talk to your guests…

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We’ll tell you where the best dancing spots are…

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Sometimes we almost get hit by bridesmaids on the dance floor…

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We’ll do what it takes to get the shot…

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Sometimes we’ll show you what we got…

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Oh, and we ALWAYS get a picture in the photobooth!

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Day 1354 – What Once Was Lost Has Now Been Found

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Ok, two weeks ago, I told you Bret lost ring his fourth ring and took one of my old rings.

Well, Sunday, in this saga of Bret’s rings, Bret found ring number 4!!! It was in his work glove! Yay!! Now he’s actually wearing ring number 4 AND rings number 5, 6 and 7! I didn’t get a picture of all four yet, but here’s a shot of all of them separate…

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Day 1353 – Thank God For Snow Days!!!

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Today, it snowed. It’s still snowing. I don’t think I’ve ever seen snow this late in the year! I realized either today or last night that all the weird weather started when Bret got here…we had those two big snow years back to back…then no snow….and now weird spring snows. I’m blaming it all on Bret. But, I was SOOOOO thankful for the snow today!

So, my Sunday was just a little crazy. I attended church and heard an AMAZING sermon about palm Sunday. There were things about Christ’s triumphal entry that I never knew and it made me so much more thankful about how God is in control of all the details, big and small, in our lives. I’ll try and blog about that another day, but if I don’t, just ask me!! 🙂

At church, I met with one of my grooms (I love photographing my church family!) and we finalized his contract.

Had a little time to kill so I got to read a bit of my current fiction I’m reading.

Then I went to a going away party for a few hours. I got to see a TON of people I haven’t seen in a long time. It was such a sweet time. 🙂

I took a quick break at Panera Bread to update my blog (it feels soooooo good to be caught up finally!)

Then I drove up to Elkton to meet with a couple, who booked me on the spot thank you very much! 🙂

THEN I drove back down to Bel Air to deliver the Rupert album at about 9 at night!

I was so tired when I got home, but I was able to stay up to finish the third round of the contest….which has been super successful by the way! I’m so thankful for the contestants and their friends and family!

Unfortunately, I got a bad night sleep…which was not good because I had a breakfast meeting with some of my favorite vendors. It was so hard to get up this morning! I got up in time to go but didn’t think it would be wise…being so tired and driving in the snow (which I don’t think is too bad driving wise…) But got a text that it was rescheduled.

No joke, I went back to bed. I have no shame in saying I slept a good long while after that. I can’t remember the last time I slept in! Ahhhh. I feel so rest and so ready to take on the week! I only have about 4 things on my calendar this week and I am very thankful for that! Keep a look out for all the updates/new things I do!! 🙂

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