We are starting 2016 with a bit of a more personal post this morning. The past year or so I have been struggling – struggling to the point where I have found myself so beat down and unsure if I am even making the right decision to be a wedding photographer. There is an immense pressure when you are in the wedding industry to find your ideal client and your niche… and I’ve been searching. I’ve spent countless hours praying for an answer to the question “What is the ideal Bride and Groom for Lauren Myers Photography?” Its been exhausting. If you aren’t in the wedding industry you probably think this post is silly, and I am overreacting. (and thats how I felt most of the time- why do I have to make a decision?!) But when you are in the wedding industry there is a constant pressure to find your ideal client while also having an flawless, happy online presence. Most of the time, I’m so stressed worrying if I am posting an image that will get the most engagement/ attract the right bride or if I styled something beautifully enough for Instagram and frankly, I am just tired.

After attending numerous conferences and workshops I have left feeling overwhelmed and empty. There is so much pressure to get our work featured on wedding blogs and in magazines that it actually makes you feel like your work as an artist is meaningless without it. For the longest time I felt lost. Why was I even a wedding photographer if I couldn’t even make a decision on the types of bride and grooms I wanted to work with? And then it hit me.

I have been so consumed with how “the industry” has been telling me to run LMP that I have forgotten why we started this business to begin with. I was just a small town girl with an artist heart and a love for love. A love for marriage and for capturing moments. I wanted to capture the beginning of marriages for couples who love each other the way Eddie and I love one another, putting love above everything. Don’t get me wrong, I LOVE romantic-garden weddings with soft pastels, Hayley Paige gowns, organic loose florals and grooms in classic tuxedos BUT that is not why I was called to be a wedding photographer. Details are just a bonus. I live for capturing grooms seeing their brides for the first time and they can barley control their emotions because they’ve never been happier, or the moment a father walks his little girl down the aisle and you can see both heart break and happiness in his eyes. These are real people and real emotions that make my heart so full.

So, for 2016, my resolution for Lauren Myers Photography is to embrace, cherish and capture unforgettable moments for my couples who put love above everything. To remember why we gave this big dream a chance to begin with – to share our gift of photography with couples who love the way we love.