2014 Recap

Well, it's January. January is by far the slowest month for me, I like to go-go-go so sometimes January is a tough month for me. It FORCES me to slow down and I don't like that. But today I am finding myself reflecting back on 2014 and all the new adventures I was able to explore. 2014 was a pivotal year for Simply Smith Photography.. it was a year where I veered away from family portraits and dove deep into weddings. I seriously cannot be more thankful for that choice. I feel like it lead me to my purpose in this business. I feel like I found where I belong. Now the real question is.. do I really want to do every single wedding I am offered? And that was a hard one to answer at first because I can seriously live inside of someones wedding day.. I can get lost on a full Saturday enjoying the bride and her maids getting pretty and anxious.. I can stand back and witness the vows all day long, not to mention "her" Dad walking his daughter down the isle.. I can stare at the bouquet and centerpieces.. I love seeing the unique guestbooks and what song the bride and groom will dance to for their first dance as husband and wife. Now here's the kicker.. I have a husband myself! Not to mention a 5 year-old who is growing into his big boy body and realizing how good he really is at swimming and building legos and writing his name.. I also have a seven year-old who is learning new tricks on his trampoline every single day.. who likes to snuggle with me before bedtime. I know that these moments will not last forever, in fact, I know they will fly by. I'm assuming the joys of photographing a wedding won't ever dwindle away and I'll also bet money that for the rest of my lifetime people will always get married ;)Now if I've led you to believe that I won't be photographing weddings anymore, I'm sorry.. I blame that on my lack of writing skills mixed with womanly emotion. I will most definitely photograph weddings every year from here on out, but I have decided to limit the amount of weddings I will sign my name to. 2015 has booked up. I meet with my last client this Friday and she will, without a doubt, be the last woman who signs her name to a 2015 wedding contract with Simply Smith Photography. My family and my life miss me. I spent lots and lots of Saturdays away from backyard play time, BBQs, nieces and nephew birthday parties, evening dinners, swimming with the boys in summer, football games, etc. I think I did a pretty good job planning my weekends accordingly for this upcoming year. I actually stuck to my guns and have left June 2015 (you know, summer vacation? I didn't get that last year..) open this year for my family and friends. My sisters are going to love me this summer.Okay, I pretty much rambled and got off subject. The point of this post is to reflect on how busy and amazing 2014 was and how much fun I had photographing so many special days that year! and 2015 will be just as great!I shared as many images as I could find in my time machine from the gorgeous couples and their beautiful weddings. I'll try to recap on where they took place as I go along. :)**If you are reading this and you are planning your wedding for 2016, I want to let you know that new packages and pricing will be announced in June this year and like I said up there^, space will be extremely limited. So please check back JUNE 1ST!! :DFirst wedding that comes up is Annie and Jon Rosa out of Porterville, Ca. They were married at River Island Country Club. It was a beautiful day with tons and tons of family and friends! They know how to party.The next wedding that I want to share is Brittany and Caleb's rustic wedding. Drop-dead gorgeous bride and the cutest rustic details!Courtney and Will.. This wedding was so cute. It was super small and took place at the White Horse Inn in Three Rivers. (the famous rock picture)Oo.. this wedding was gorgeous. Summer at Wolf Lakes in Sanger with Jennie and Quintin..I also got to travel to Los Osos for the first and shoot a cute little couple for their engagement session.More summer time with Holly and Kelly :)This wedding might take the cake as the most beautiful and memorable. Only because it rained the entire time and we all had to work our butts off and improvise.. what a treat it was for me thought, because the rain made for some gorgeous images.Ending summer was not too bad when you have all these wedding to cull through.August came quickly and I got to photograph another Wolf Lakes event (Nat+Jorge) and then Karen and Paul Suhovy's in Visalia!Oops.. a little out of order here.. This wedding was one of my first weddings in 2014.. The Scheenstra wedding! I could have shared every single image (she had a chevron dance floor!!!)Okay, I'm getting tired of writing.. lol.. I'm going to jumble all of the gorgeous fall highlight into one group! (sorry.. fingers are tired) Fall did not disappoint. It was absolute perfection.November was just as wonderfulAnd there was Winter :)