Today’s podcast is a little different because I want to share a personal story with you. My youngest daughter, Grace, just got married and it looked and felt so different to be on the other side of this exchange of money and I want to walk you through all of the emotions of it.
Grace is a low maintenance human and they wanted to have a smaller wedding on a Sunday so all of their friends who were still in college could attend. We are now at the point where the budget decisions are coming up, and I was so proud of my kid because she was thinking totally the way I think with regard to being a little frugal. She wanted pizza for dinner because seriously, who remembers a fancy meal? She cut the live music when she saw the prices. We bought the flowers wholesale, had them shipped to Florida and put the bouquets together ourselves.
Then it came to photography and videography and Grace said that this is the most important thing to me. She started searching in her area and the ironic part here is that what we do here in my company at Photography Business Institute is teach photographers to charge what they’re worth. Then I’m on the other side and I’m looking at the wedding prices going, wow, these sure have gone up. So Thrifty Sarah is thinking, oh my gosh, we are all photographers. We can bring our cameras and do it ourselves, right? And Grace said, no, you’re not even allowed to bring a camera. She picked the photographer and the video team that she wanted. And it wasn’t even about price because I’d already settled on paying to get the photographer that she wants.
We headed off to the wedding in early September in Florida and it was very hot. We went outside in shifts to do the pictures and I was so happy that it wasn’t me having to run the show, not be sweaty, keep my makeup on, and be the mom, and try not to be Sweaty Petty. I was able to relax and completely enjoy the whole day and be fully present.
In a blink, the wedding was over and we anxiously waited for the photos to be delivered. The moment came when the photography came in and the images were gorgeous. We can’t stop looking at them. It was so fun to see images of the parts of the day that we weren’t involved in. We also really could see the love that the bride and the groom had. I was just flooded with this gratitude for prioritizing this. All of a sudden that money that I was thinking twice about wanting to spend became the best thing I could have ever done with that money.
Here’s where the good part comes in. Because this is a fall wedding and we got into the busy season, close to Christmas. In my busy season at my studio, we take care of our clients first. And then we look up and go, well, what are we giving to our family for Christmas gifts? My team was able to take the images that we purchased for Grace and make the most gorgeous album for Grace and Caleb for a gift. It was so amazing. Watching this newlywed couple sitting so close together on the couch on Christmas Day and going through it page by page and giggling and pointing and getting teary was priceless. That moment is frozen into my mind.
It was so cool to be able to give that album to this newlywed couple and be able to experience what my clients feel when they give that artwork as a gift. I hope that this has reached you today in a way that reminds you what we do is often the most important thing in people’s lives.
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