2019: A Year in Review
Wow, I can’t believe 2019 has already come and gone! I had originally planned to do several end of the year blog posts- one for weddings, one for engagements, one for families, and one for personal stuff, but I decided to just combine them all into one for this year! Looking back on this year, I am honestly in disbelief of how much I have accomplished and how many incredible couples and families I have had the honor of serving this year! When I think about where I was in my business at the beginning of 2019, I realize just how much I have grown- as a photographer, as a business owner, and as an individual. That’s the main reason why I decided to do just one year in review blog post. Not because each of the parts didn’t deserve their own post, but because I didn’t have 4 separate 2019s. I had ONE 2019! One huge 2019! And I’m so grateful for it. I know 2020 has SO much to live up to, but man, I’m so excited about it! There will be some big changes coming in 2020, and I’m so excited for them! Take a look at what 2019 brought below!
2019 Weddings
My first wedding of 2019 was my brother in law, Patrick, and his gorgeous wife Sarah’s wedding! It was such a fun day filled with so much joy and celebration in Eclectic, Alabama! I loved seeing how all the plans Sarah and I had been talking about for months came to life the day of their wedding! This wedding was also a special one for me as I was both the photographer AND a bridesmaid! Double duty was so much fun and so special!
A week later, I had the honor of shooting Ashley and Ben’s stunning wedding at Temple Emanuel and Pine Leaf Country Club. I didn’t get to meet Ashley and Ben until the day of their wedding as they lived in California, but I felt like I had known them for years. This wedding day was unlike any other day I had ever experienced. All wedding days are joyful celebrations of the love two people share, but this wedding was so special as Ashley had fought and BEATEN triple negative breast cancer. This day was such a long day coming for she and Ben to join together in marriage, and when they said their vows, you better believe there wasn’t a dry eye in that temple. You could see just how much they meant those vows, but they had also already started living these vows out long before their wedding. Their reception was an absolute blast, and they celebrated with friends and family from all over the world! It was such a fun night!
In May, I got to celebrate with Emily and Tyler at Park Crest Event Facility in Hoover! It was my first time getting to shoot at Park Crest, and it did NOT disappoint!! Emily and Tyler were one of the most joyful couples I’ve ever gotten to celebrate with on their wedding day, and their day was so filled with love, laughter, and pure joy. Their first look is one of my absolute favorites from all of 2019! I actually made it around to blogging their wedding (shocker, since I didn’t make it to many this year haha), so if you want to check out their whole wedding, click here!
In June, I had the honor of celebrating with some of my fellow Auburn alumni- Caitlin and Draper! Caitlin and Draper are two of the funniest, most laid back and chill people I know! They were so relaxed and stress-free on their wedding day, and it made their day an absolute BREEZE! They got married at St. Francis Xavier Catholic Church and had a heck of a reception at Iron City! I got their wedding up on the blog recently, so to see a whole review of their incredible day, click here!
The following weekend, I got to celebrate Emily and Connor’s wedding day at The Theodore in downtown Birmingham! Emily and Connor had one of my other favorite first looks in all of 2019. Connor’s anticipation of seeing his beautiful bride for the first time was one of the sweetest things I’ve ever gotten to capture. The pure joy and true love these two share is so heartwarming and so easy to celebrate! Emily and Connor’s blog post is currently in the works (hello 2020 goals haha), so stay tuned for that blog post in the next few weeks!
In August, I headed over to the beautiful Highlands Chapel at Grants Mill and the Town Hall at the Preserve in Hoover for Genesis and Miles’ wedding day! Genesis and Miles had one of the most God centered ceremonies I have ever witnessed, and the love of their friends and family that were there celebrating with them was so clearly evident to all. I also loved how they incorporated such personal touches into their wedding day! Genesis’ family is Peruvian, so they had Sabor Latino catered for their reception as it is family owned and brought in some familial touches into the wedding day. That food was some of THE BEST wedding reception food I have ever had!! 10/10 highly recommend! Genesis and I also met up prior to her wedding for some gorgeous bridal shots at the Elyton Hotel, and that marble staircase paired with gorgeous Genesis was just something else!!
I wrapped up my 2019 weddings down in Gulf Shores at Craft Farms Gulf Resort for Sarah and Cain’s wedding day! This was the wedding that I got to travel the farthest for this year, which I was so excited about as I LOVE to travel! Craft Farms Gulf Resort is such a stunning venue, and everyone was so wonderful to work with! Cain and Sarah’s first look was so special and emotional, and the personal vows Cain wrote for and read to Sarah right before we headed back to do family photos and bridal party photos were some of the sweetest moments of the day.
One thing that I am so grateful to all of my couples from this year, is just how close I’ve gotten with them. I value the relationships I build with my clients so much, and I’m so grateful to have gained so many new friendships throughout this year! I know 2019 will be a hard year for many of these couples to beat, but I hope they have the BEST 2020! One thing I realize I need to be better at in 2020 is getting more pictures with my couples, but here’s one couple and two brides from 2019! 🙂
2019 Engagements and Couples
I got to work with so many wonderful couples this year through engagement sessions, proposals, and anniversary sessions! Some of these clients were past clients whose weddings I have captured, some of them have weddings coming up in 2020, and some of them just wanted to get some updated photos taken this year! To each of these wonderful couples, thank you SO much for choosing me to capture this special time in your lives! It is such a joy and an honor to celebrate with you!!
2019 Families
In 2019, I got to work with SO many wonderful families!! For some of these families, they were getting their updated family pictures made for their annual Christmas cards, while others welcomed new additions to their families. These sessions are so special to me as they mark such important milestones of children being born, kids growing up, families getting larger, and celebrating the love between a family. To all the incredible families I had the pleasure of working with this year, THANK YOU so much from the bottom of my heart! It is such a joy and honor to capture and share these memories with you!
2019 Styled Shoots
2019 was a big year for me in the area of styled shoots. I hosted two styled shoots of my own and attended a few others throughout the year. These shoots were so much fun to collaborate with other creatives on and grow as a business owner and photographer. I met so many new vendor friends that I am so grateful to know  and work with!
2019 Personal Life
2019 was a fun year for David and I! This was probably our busiest year of traveling as we went to Lake Martin for a weekend getaway, took a trip to Seaside for a long weekend, went back to our favorite city in the world- Charleston, watched Auburn beat Oregon at the opening game in Dallas, got to see Magnolia in Waco, watched talented musicians at Shoals Fest in Muscle Shoals, and took a trip over Thanksgiving week to Jamaica! Looking back over these trips, I remembered to take pictures on some, and the ones that I did are mostly film shots! This is something I’m so proud of as learning film has been a new hobby of mine, and I’m so excited to be growing in this area! We went on bachelor and bachelorette trips, watched siblings get married, redesigned our living room, saw some new movies, watched way too much Friends, Star Wars, and Harry Potter, and cheered on our Auburn Tigers! 2019 also brought its fair share of challenges our way from house troubles to health issues, but I am so grateful that we are closing out 2019 with lots of completed home repairs and are in one of the best places we have ever been in. We have so much to be grateful for! We wish you an incredible 2020 and can’t wait to see what’s to come in this next year and decade!
If you made it all the way through this blog post, give yourself a pat on the back! Thanks for reading and following along, and I’ll see you in 2020!!
xoxo, Chelsea
