50 by 50: A Wedding in Every State

50 by 50: a lofty goal but when I set out on my journey as a photographer, I never imagined it would take me more than a few miles from home. I honestly thought this was going to be a “part time gig” to maybe “make a few bucks” while my then-husband brought home a main income. Life has a funny way of seeing your plans, adjusting its hat and saying “Hold my beer, watch this.” 

My business hits 10 years this August, and in those 10 years, it’s survived a divorce, two (almost three) presidential elections, a recession, a re-marriage, and so many other things. It’s been my creative outlet when I felt uninspired, my uplifting activity when bouts of depression hit, my passion for creating keepsakes that let us remember the smiles of our relatives past, the moments we lost them, and the days we were gifted to love them. This is all sounding a little too poetic… 

In my 10 years of business: I’ve completed projects, abandoned half finished ones and brainstormed dozens of ideas. I’m currently moving from working a second part time job to being ONLY a photographer, which is scary, but was one of my last goals to complete. During a conversation about this, my husband asked “What’s next?” and I’ll be honest, I didn’t know. Then I remembered a goal I’d made that I hadn’t moved forward on: 

50 by 50: 50 weddings in 50 states by age 50

I remember seeing another photographer whose goal was to shoot a wedding in all 50 states in one year. I don’t remember her name, but she made the local news for her determination in succeeding. Whether or not she did succeed, I have no idea, but I sure hope she did. Being a mom of two little girls, I thought it would be a lot of fun, but knew my heart wouldn’t let me leave my kids for that long. After all, there are only 26 weekends in most years! For that photographer, she had the freedom to do it, even if it seemed like a lofty goal. 

The best part about goals and businesses, is each individual can tailor a goal to themselves. Tailoring this goal to my business took some thought. With three small children (ok, one is almost a teen but still) and a husband at home, leaving for long periods of time isn’t an option. I would miss way too much. However, I’ve already knocked 3 states off my list of 50: Washington, California and Connecticut. That leaves me with 47 states to go before my 50th birthday on April 30, 2036. Sixteen years to do 47 states is just under 3 states per year! Totally doable! 

Special Travel Packages 

Because this is a huge goal, I’m offering a special travel package for weddings in states I haven’t photographed. My typical travel package is listed on my investment page and looks like this: Couple pays transportation (airfare, rental car, etc.), minimum 2 nights accommodations and a reduced wedding fee. The wedding day consists of up to 10 hours of photography coverage, an online gallery and personal print rights. 

When you book me for a wedding in a state that I haven’t photographed, you’ll receive an additional 50% of the wedding fee in my travel package! I still have limited availability in 2020 (mostly fall weekends) and will be limiting my out of state weddings to 5 per year! So if you, or anyone you know is getting married outside of Washington and still needs a wedding photographer… *raises hand* I’m right here and ready to go!