Happy?…New Year!
A few more hours to go, and we officially begin 2025. This year was a rollercoaster that’s for sure. Work wise, I photographed 22 weddings. I photographed a little wedding with twelve guests that was held in the brides parents backyard in the north end of Toronto, and on the opposite end of the scale, a three day, 450 guest wedding in Niagara Falls for two families with dynamic backgrounds, and fantastic taste in food, wine, champagne, and cigars.
While work kept my dopamine levels high, our family had a very challenging spring and summer, with our youngest daughter (the pro swimmer) getting quite sick with an autoimmune condition after getting Covid.
A fever turned into a rash, which then turned into five days in ICU, where she suffered organ failure and a massive loss of muscle mass. Just over a month of hospital stay with round the clock care, and a summer of rebuilding her body took a lot out all of us, but we made it through it by putting our attention to where it was needed the most - on taking care of each other.
She a fighter and super dedicated to her sport, and she’s now recovered and is back to her swimming, and things are looking great for her again.
This fall and early winter has actually been a bit of a challenge as bookings seemed to taper off for next year - anytime there is an election there is a dip in our business, this time I think Trump winning again really messed with people. Maybe it’s the economy, maybe it’s the fact that couples have an almost unlimited number of vendors to choose from - it’s likely a little bit of everything combined if I’m honest.
I think what’s making things a little more “real” for me this year, is that my oldest daughter is going to University next year. $$$$$ Yikes!
So while things started out slow, I’m optimistic and looking forward to another year of shooting about twenty weddings.
This is a pattern, and things usually work out. I’ve been through a slow down in the wedding business before. Back in the recession of 2008, business was down for everyone, but hospitality was hit harder than other sectors because a big fancy party, regardless of budget, isn’t an essential service, and weddings and celebrations usually get hit pretty hard.
The pandemic hit us hard as well. Our society has experienced a massive shift in how we work, and how we communicate and socialize. Because of the lockdowns and workplace changes, less people dated, and less diamonds were sold – I believe total diamond sales around the world dropped by almost 22% in early to mid 2024…I may be off on those dates, but either way, less people dating=less engagements=less work for everyone in the wedding business.
Okay, enough doom and gloom. Well…more like just me being honest with you. Things are okay, they could be a lot better, but if there’s one thing I know well after having done this for 20 years, is that eventually, we get the bookings we want for the year and everything turns out okay.
I have eight weddings booked in 2025 - and a few in 2026. Today alone three inquiries came in for Spring and late Summer events, and September and October in 2026 is already booked. I’m in Boston, and New York this year, as well as a few interesting “non traditional” venues in the Toronto area for intimate weddings.
I’m not cheering for 2025 to be some year of big change, in fact, if it was the same as 2024 (at least work wise), I will be very, very happy. My son is on his way to getting his Red Seal as an automotive tech, and my oldest daughter will be going to University to study music, and our youngest daughter is healthy and has her sight set on trying to compete in the Olympics and med school (a path inspired by the many incredible women that took care of her at McMaster Children’s Hospital).
My wife and I will start the new year celebrating twenty years of marriage. That’s something! Work wise, I have some great weddings booked so far, and I’m really looking forward to meeting the couples that have booked me.
To those that haven’t booked yet, I look forward to having that initial phone call with you - it’s always a great conversation, even if we’re not an ideal match for one another….that’s right, I’m interviewing you as much as your interviewing me. ;)
Well..that’s it for 2024. Maybe I’ll post something tomorrow.
