Ever wonder what your wedding photographers are doing in the “Off-Season?”
Well, let’s get this boring easy part out of the way, as of course you know our off-season is filled with tons of work. The wedding off-season is when a lot of proposals and engagements are happening. So we’re meeting new couples and photographing some pretty fun, albeit chilly engagement sessions. We photograph nonprofit events, professional portraits, and some marketing photography. Also, while most folks are shoveling their driveway, there are some awesome winter weddings happening all around the globe!
But typically from December to early April weddings happen less often. We take advantage of that extra time and flexibility to catch up on a few things!
Injuries & Elective Surgeries
No seriously, the off-season is when we schedule anything we can that would keep us away from photographing weddings. From Keith’s rotator cuff surgery to Kate’s foot surgery. We push them off or move them up to fit in when we have the most level of flexibility!
Believe it or not, this is also when we have all our unplanned injuries! How does that happen? We have no idea. But it was in the off-season that Keith got tibialis anterior tendonitis from running. And when Kate got a concussion from her scary fall into an ten-foot-deep utility well, it happened in the off-season. We think it’s because we will ourselves into good health during the regular wedding season.
Putting Checkmarks in Checkboxes
All those projects we’ve been adding to our “Do-it” list start to get checked off!! Last summer we moved into a new place and filmed the process for HGTV House Hunters! It was a busy wedding season though, so there’s no shortage of items on our house project list. Hanging blinds, painting, and hunting for used furniture to fit the new space. Kate is a pro when it comes to sourcing just the right thing from Facebook Marketplace. Shopping for used items matches our desire to reduce our impact as much as possible. No packaging needed with used stuff and it keeps good stuff out of landfills!
We’ve also been continuing work on the Lobster Van getting it next leveled for the next wedding season and a future West Coast road trip. It’s now insulated, new cabinets, and some new helpful storage options.
Did I mention hanging pictures? We’ve been married now for over a year and we’re excited to be hanging our wedding photos up this weekend! That amazing photo at the top of this blog post is the work of our incredible wedding photographer Jenelle Kappe!
Saying Yes to Invitations!
This is a big one! One of the great benefits of working for ourselves is the wonderful flexibility that it provides. At the same time, being wedding photographers means that flexibility generally comes on weekdays and often keeps us from attending barbecues and parties during the ‘wedding season.’
We’re incredibly grateful to our community and friends for understanding our commitment to our couples and our lack of availability on summer weekends. It’s fun to see their surprise when we’re able to say “Thank you so much for the invite. Yes! We’ll be there!!”
Passion Projects
Helping and giving back to our community, the environment, and others in need is always a driving energy in our lives! We volunteer our time and photography services to several organizations and causes throughout the year, but the off-season gives us a great opportunity to increase our efforts.
In the 2017 off-season, we realized we were ready to take our passion for the environment to the next level. We founded Sustainable Seacoast a nonprofit organization focused on removing single-use plastics from local restaurants, businesses, and events. We’re also helping other folks learn how they can reduce single-use plastic in their own lives.
Our first year was incredibly successful, we’ve worked with more than 25 restaurants, businesses, and events eliminating more than 500,000 straws, 25,000 water bottles, and thousands of pounds of assorted single-use plastic from circulation every year!! The demand and success of our mission have kept us plenty busy and we’re using this wedding photography off-season to strengthen the organization and prepare for another successful summer of reducing single-use plastic!
The success of Sustainable Seacoast has led to several opportunities to help educate people on the crisis of single-use plastic. In the late summer of 2018 Keith was honored (and terrified) with the opportunity to be a speaker at TEDx Portsmouth!!
Looking Forward to Our Next Wedding!!
Not even kidding here, we love what we do for so many reasons!! The amazing couples that honor us by including us in their weddings. The wonderful families, friends, and other vendors we get to spend our summers with. Creating photos that will last as cherished memories for our couples, their friends, and families. And the best part, the enduring friendships we create with all of these people make it the most rewarding and enjoyable life we could imagine!!
Is it wedding season yet?
I didn’t even talk about all the personal adventures we try to squeeze in amongst all of this other
