It’s that time of year where we take some time to reflect on the past year and evaluate how we did accomplishing the goals we set. One of the goals we had for 2017 was to slide our focus a little more on our wedding photography and to branch out and get to know the Northeast Georgia wedding vendor community a little better. After all Capture Thirteen started because we began by shooting weddings together and while we’ve grown and branched out into so much more than a wedding photography team, it’s still where our passion lies.
One of our first steps towards branching out within the local wedding community was a collaboration with Diane of Acuna’s Custom Cakes. We first met Diane towards the end of 2016 to discuss a photo shoot to provide her with an online portfolio of her gorgeous cakes to show to her potential clients. We had been long time admirers and consumers of Acuna’s Custom Cakes but had never actually met Diane until that first meeting. After our first meeting with Diane, a friendship was formed. We bonded over similar dreams and goals of growing in the wedding arenas of our businesses. In the spring of 2017, we spent a beautiful afternoon with Diane setting up and shooting her beautiful cakes, and since then she has become a treasured friend and huge encourager to us. That small step brought us a new friend both on the personal and professional level.
Not long after our cake shoot with Diane, Diane called to tell us about a launch party she had just attended… it was for a new wedding vendor community focused on the North Georgia area called Lanier Bridal. We had seen a few things about Lanier Bridal, we even followed them on Instagram but we weren’t too sure about it all because we had never been a part of anything like that. If we’re being honest we were a lot timid and afraid… but after a few conversations with Diane about it, we decided to go for it. So we reached out to Maria at Lanier Bridal and gathered some more information and finally decided to jump in and you know what we realized, we do belong and we do have a place here within the wedding vendor community! We’ve attended a few vendor hangouts, taken part in a few podcasts and most recently the magazine launch party and we’ve made a few new friends and talked with fellow wedding photographers, planners, florists etc. and they have all been wonderful! We’ve longed for community over competition we’ve just been too timid to reach out and find that community but thanks to Lanier Bridal we’ve found the stepping stones towards that. We’re still working on our bravery within the vendor community but we aren’t feeling so scared anymore! If anything we feel more encouraged to put our work out there and have big goals for submissions in 2018. (Before we move on though we must point out Lanier Bridal isn’t just a wedding vendor community, it’s an amazing resource for brides to be planning weddings in the North Georgia area with lots of information on venues, and vendors located all across the North Georiga area.)
Last but certainly not least we traveled to Canton, Georiga back at the beginning of the summer to visit and meet Becky and Cale of Pleasant Union Farm. We had been emailing with Becky about the possibility of joining their preferred vendor list and she had invited us to come up and see the farm. When we got to Pleasant Union Farm we immediately fell in love with its charm and as Becky and Cale told us more about their farm and venue we fell in love with it even more. They even let us sample some of their blueberries and friends, no lie those were the best blueberries we’ve ever tasted! Since joining their vendor list we’ve had the opportunity to participate in their fall open house where we met some more of their incredible list of preferred vendors like Kate from White Vine Weddings, Heather from Stems Atlanta, and Lynn of My Cake Lady Lynn these ladies were all so sweet and encouraging and they each have beautiful work! We’re hoping for an opportunity to shoot at the farm in the new year and hopefully have a chance to work with some of their amazing team of vendors!
2017 for us was all about branching out, spreading our wings, making new friends and telling fear not today! Its been a year to remind us that it takes lots of hard work to reach your dreams but it also takes a lot of bravery to put yourself… your work out there. You have to be willing to do the hard work but you’ve also got to be brave enough to chase the dream too. We’re still a work in progress friends, but we feel like we made some pretty big steps in 2017 towards getting to know our wedding vendor community and branching out outside our circle.
As we start to make goals and chase dreams for 2018 we’ll be carrying this Bible verse with us… as it applies to so many areas of our lives both professionally and personally.
“For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.”
2 Timothy 1:7
Capture Thirteen Photography 