IT IS MONDAY!!

WOW! What a busy weekend! I took today OFF work, to re coop... plus driving kids to daycare I just did not want to deal with in the snow. ha ha ha
Friday evening, Jill & I did a newborn baby session of Emily Kate. I must say, she is ADORABLE! I will get some pics of her up soon. She was 3 weeks old, and eyes open most of the time. As in previous blogs I mentioned we are not... or I am not big into baby sessions... meaning I do not market & go after that business like I do weddings. We had the heater going, and what-not and baby Emily Kate still was not sleeping. OH well, she did perfectly fine with her eyes open. :) Her  Mom may even like those better!???
Then on to Saturday... I had the babysitter come over & watch kids as we went to set up for the Wedding showcase. UGH. Setting up Pipe & drape... so not fun! Thank goodness we had a vendor, Chris with Beauticontrol, and Aaron, my neighbor, plus some good friends there to help us set-up.
Sunday... bum-bum-bum... Jeremy had text me to see if I was going to be there by 7am... yeah right me? 7am? ok, so I got there at 7:20, and HE WAS there by 7... even though our first vendor arrived about 7:45. I had to go get the doughnuts & Coffee for the exhibitors ya know. LOL... But we got everything together. The gym looked AMAZING! The exhibitors came in & set up their stuff, and our "mini-meeting" went off well! So much so, some of the exhibitors said they LIKED introducing themselves & getting to KNOW one & other. We had the models show up & have hair & make-up done.. and the style shows were perfect! the first show we had close to a full house in the audience! We had so many compliments on the style shows, the decor, the added 'little' stuff that brought the whole show together. It is always nice to hear when you work so hard on something. The only flaw was the SNOW! Which in Wright County we hardly had much until we had to take-down. So the weather reporters scared people a bit early & we did not have the brides in as we thought we would... but we just cannot work against Mother Nature. So now we have to get the exhibitors the bride's list, and start planning for NEXT year LOL! Thanks to all those who participated & attended!

Is it Monday yet?

How often do you WISH it were MONDAY? -yeah I didn't think so. For me I am super excited for the wedding show... yet I am looking forward to Monday & it being all over with. I am even debating about taking off work Monday to re coop. Sounds silly... but just the worry of things going right, or not right, people showing up & what-not is enough to cause a stress headache to say the very least. We have a fashion show this year that is all new... so I worry: are the models going to show up? Will we have the stage up in time?
Then with all the advertising... I just PRAY we get in enough BRIDES to make it worth the exhibitors doing the show so they will come back next year. We are bummed... one vendor who said they were going to be in, we never got a final confirmation... she is GOOD, I am not liking not having her in the show. I was hoping to have her help in decorating the show itself. (she won the best looking booth last year) Oh well... perhaps something came up & she is unable to come.  I so look forward to seeing the exhibitors come back that when they can't it is a bummer. I not only network with these exhibitors, but also often become friends with them in a way as well. For me the show itself does not get me much business... because I do not do a ton for my own booth.... for me it is a lot about the networking & meeting other businesses who can refer me. A fellow photographer JUST referred me to a bride because he is booked, and to me that means the world.
Well... anyone reading about me & my so-called like (lol) that knows ANYONE engaged... please tell them to come to the wedding showcase this Sunday, Feb 20th at the Buffalo middle school 10:30-2:30
THANKS!! REMEMBER: Any wedding we book off a referral we will give a FREE SESSION with prints to!

Website music???

Well... I have been 'putzing' with my photography website since Saturday. I was getting so frustrated I had to call my hubby to come get our son. My hubby was putting in our volunteer hours for hockey up at the ice arena, and was scheduled to be there much of the day. My son was plain BORED. Therefore he was driving me CRAZY. "hey Mom, can I go play at the neighbor's?, Hey mom can I build a fort?, Hey mom if I help clean will you give me money?" I admit, my son got my trait & has the GIFT OF GAB... I literally wanted to put ear plugs in he was asking so many questions. So finally he had a temper-tantrum when the neighbor boys were not home to hang out with & I called my hubby to come get him. They both hung out at the arena & had a blast. (Thank-you God, and Spencer!-lol)

So anyway, still dinking around with my website... and I was thinking hummm--- should I cave in & add music to my site? When THEN, I spoke to a friend of mine...!!! He was able to attend a "Bridal Panel" put on by the Central MN Wedding Association last year where, from what I understand, they asked several brides to come in & answer questions to help wedding professionals with feedback from actual brides.  Anyway the thing they said is NO MUSIC on websites! A HUGE percentage of brides are checking websites & doing planning while AT WORK when not suppose to be, therefore websites that have music, they immediately click off of those websites that contain music, so they do not get 'caught' doing their wedding planning while at work. This SOOOO Makes sense to me! I have N-E-V-E-R been a fan of music on websites. If I want to hear music online, I will go to Pandora, Lymewire or YouTube. I despise music on websites. As I am in the same boat I am dinking around while at work (shh) or late at night when kiddos are sleeping... and I forget I have my speakers cranked because I was listening to PINK earlier, and I click on a website... and BOOM! Super LOUD annoying music on a site I am checking out. I try not to use the word HATE, but I do HATE that.
So there done, decision made... NO MUSIC will go on my site. I did find out how to change some things for my site... that I will try shortly to see if what they tell me is true.
So... we had today as the very last day to sign up to be a part of the showcase, and we had 2 vendors sign up! So Jeremy tells me we are at about MAX capacity for room for keeping it all in one room, and not splitting it & having it in two different rooms. So I am SUPER excited that we have all these exhibitors! Many returning from previous showcases, and many brand new! And of course we have our handful of very loyal participants who have been with me since day one! Thank-you to those of you! You know who you are :) Have a good rest of the week as Jeremy & I try to help each other from stressing out over all the last minute details. Hope to see you at the 5th Annual Buffalo Area Wedding Showcase this coming Sunday, Feb 20th starting at 10:30am.

A Saturday update

Well... the girls are liking their new daycare. They get to help feed horses.. I swear Laura is going to have a profession with animals when she grows up. She just thinks every animal is there for her to hug. The girls have more structure than they are used to, and we LOVE that.

Zander had a sledding party at school yesterday & cannot stop talking about it. His teacher went down the hill with him once & he thought THAT was soo cool. I am currently helping out with his classroom's basket they get together for the carnival for the 26th. So any of you willing to make a donation... contact me! If you have a business or what-not that you can donate SOMETHING let me know.

The showcase is coming along. I was recently contacted by the Celebration of Style, which is a wedding expo in St Cloud. It is the SAME day as ours, and we have close to the same amount of vendors in our show as they have in theirs... so we are doing VERY well this year for the showcase. Just finalized with the gal who will be doing the hair & make-up. She apparently is a pro with this stuff, so I am ALL for that. We are having this fashion show as something new this year & I am clueless, and am GLAD to have the help of someone who knows what they are doing :)
Today I am updating the website and working on weddings. We are doing a newborn tomorrow, and Jill has been scouting for new props. Will show pics when ready. Have a great weekend all!

Getting ready

Ho-hum... The show is creeping up which equals S-T-R-E-S-S. So we THOUGHT we had the pipe & drape all figured out... well we found out today that the ONLY color drapes that they carry is BLUE... um no. Blue for a wedding fair is just ugly. So we had to find a different vendor and got that all ordered today. WHEW! So the drapes will be black & white. Much more neutral. I have been on a new ordering frenzy as well. New metal prints, new photo boxes, new bevel gallery wrap... and MORE. Getting the new stuff ready for the show.
PLUS Jill & I are getting excited for our newborn baby session on Sunday! It is a baby girl & we are super exited. It is an area we (when I say we, I mean HER-- LOL) are trying to better ourselves in. We have Emily Kate coming to meet us on Sunday & Jill has been on a mission looking for a few things she wants to use for props.
Until after the 20th I may not be as blogging friendly as I try to be, so please forgive me. I get myself all stressed out this time of year just before the show.  Humm... I hear a warm tropical vacation calling my name... Happy Thursday all!

Tuesday

Well last night was the monthly TCPPA (Twin Cities Professional Photographers Association) meeting. I really do LIKE most all the TCPPA seminars, the only thing I do NOT like is that they run till 8pm. When it is an hour drive home in the dark it is no fun. A friend of mine & I left early... then she found out she WON a prize. Go figures the day we leave early one of us would win something.
The thing I liked about this seminar was I have been being like so many photographers & have been upset by all the "newbie" photographers, or as they call them "THE MOB". It was interesting to hear how rather to get upset... let the "mob" do the consumer thing, and us professionals continue with what we know, and offer the things we can from our professional resources that the "MOB" who has their images printed at the Walmarts & Costcos cannot offer customers. It was refreshing to hear a new take on it... as I admit I am one who let's the "newbies/mob" bother me. So after last night I hope to change my thinking & do as they suggested.


Let's see... what else...OH! For those who have not seen  me lately... I chopped off all my hair! I have never in my life had short hair, so It is a lot for me to get used to. Yes.. I have what a friend of mine says "the mom look". LOL! REALLY??!! To me I feel like I am wearing an old lady curly wig. I have naturally curly hair... and now that is is short... everyone is asking if I had it permed. Um- NO... So it is taking some getting used to... but at least it does not take me an hour to DO my hair. Literally hair is done in about 3-5 minutes. I LOVE THAT!
Well the Wedding Showcase is less than two weeks away! I have Buffalo Royalty & Rockford Cheerleaders, and one professional model all modeling the gowns. So it is all coming together. However I am looking forward to Monday Feb 21st when it is all done. :)

Not keeping up...

Sorry guys... I have not been good on the blog lately. The wedding show is in SUPER-CRUNCH-TIME mode... and WOWIE!! We have had more vendors sign up this week! MANY more! I think I spoke to 5 vendors on Tuesday, and 3 today! We have some of my former cheerleaders, some of the Buffalo Royalty and a few others who will be modeling gowns for us- YAY! So even though I feel like I am stressed out to the MAX... things ARE falling into place.
All vendors have bridal passes to give out, so if anyone reading this is a Bride or groom and would like a free bridal pass, please contact a vendor for a free pass. (sorry passes are only for Brides & Grooms. Moms, aunts, bridesmaids & other friends joining you at the show will need to pay) Hope to see you at the 5th Annual Buffalo Area Wedding Showcase!! Sunday, Feb 20th 10:30am - 2:30pm Style shows at 11:30 & 1:30