Wow, I survived 2020! We are now into 2021 (phew!), and I am continuing with my tradition of posting the best of the year as a British Columbia elopement photographer. It’s been a wild year in both my personal life and my business. Here’s what I’ve been up to this year!

But first, a little (maybe not so little) overview of what transpired this year. A lot happened in 2020 including a big renovation of our basement (I probably will blog about this another time), but most things were defined by this pandemic. While renovating our house lifted my spirits in more ways than one, this year was overall not a good one. Not only for my business, but also for my health. I didn't realize it until it all came crashing down, but I secretly thought of myself as somewhat invincible. I held the idea that others who had health problems did so because they didn't eat well, had long-lasting bad habits, went through trauma, or did dangerous things. Let me tell you, you can be the most health-conscious person possible, and still end up in the hospital for something unexpected.

While I didn't get COVID (thankfully), in mid-May, I ended up in the hospital with appendicitis, and the infection (by the time I got to the ER) had spread throughout my abdomen and multiple abscesses had already formed. This meant I couldn't get surgery right away and had to wait things out and rely on antibiotics and drains to clear the infection. It was a long hard road, and without visitors allowed in the hospital, those first 2 weeks were probably the toughest time I have gone through. It's hard to explain, but no one told me what I should expect in regards to a timeline, everyone was telling me something different or didn't have any solid answers for me, I felt largely unimportant in the hospital, I was already stressed about work, and to top it off, I was doing it all alone. It felt like I was never going to get out of this metaphoric hole I was in. However, after a month and a half, I was able to start working again and grew my energy slowly from there. I scheduled my appendectomy at the beginning of December, took another month to recover, and finally I am feeling about 100%, with no appendix problems in my future.

Looking back, it's hard to believe I spent over 2 months of the year, bound to a bed. As all of you are trying to do with COVID, I have tried my best to look for the good in all of this; there is so much to be grateful for. For example, I didn't have symptoms from my infection until immediately after I completed a double-header wedding weekend, and because of COVID, all of my June weddings postponed, leaving time to recover. My relationship with Mitchel grew, and I saw love and support from him that really put the vow to love each other through "sickness and health" into perspective. I also have a greater understanding of what it is like to interact with our medical system, and I empathize with people who are in the hospital fighting COVID; not knowing what will happen. With every painful obstacle, comes growth and I definitely found that with this experience.

On top of all that, COVID hit my business, and the wedding industry, hard. With around 15 weddings cancelling or postponing in some sense, it left my couples stressed and scrambling. It forced me to rethink everything, and it helped at times to put my stress and anxiety to the side by helping my couples feel that everything was going to be ok and that they had options. Yet again, I have found some refreshing positives because of this pandemic. More people than ever before have decided to elope, which is what I have been transitioning into! It forced couples to think about what is really important to them and make that the priority. I heard a lot of people say how they were actually more satisfied choosing to elope or have a small wedding because it lifted the pressure of things such as who to invite and freed them from others' expectations. Though I 100% want us to be able to hug each other tight and get back to normal life, I hope this surge in elopements allows couples to rethink what is possible on the day they get married. I want every couple to have an amazing experience on their wedding day and make it the most "them" rather than doing what is expected by others.

Now, if you got through that, bravo! I always love to look at my professional year as a whole, so as tradition, here are some fun stats! This wrapped up my 7th year of photographing weddings, and my 4th year of being a full-time photographer. Usually, I outline where I have travelled, and the funny thing is, the only international place I went to all year was...can you guess? That's right, 20 minutes across the US border to Bellingham WA when we picked up our front doors from Home Depot in February. Thank goodness we didn't wait! I did travel a lot around BC, Alberta, and Manitoba in the fall for our friend's wedding. I explored new places in my home province such as Jordan River and Tofino on Vancouver Island, and finally got a taste of what it's like to enjoy summer here in Canada. I entered the BC Professional Wedding Awards for the first time resulting in being a finalist in two categories, and winning the Best Candid/Photojournalism Photograph! What an honour! In total, I was still able to photograph 27 weddings & elopements, and 31 family and engagement sessions. I delivered almost 18 000 photos and probably took around 60 000 pictures on my cameras. I believe I only flew on two planes (to Winnipeg), but I drove quite a bit. My 1998 Honda Civic reached over 300 000 km on the odometer, and in the fall I finally replaced it with a VW Golf. I am proud to say it is ready to help transport my couples on their wedding day (something my Civic was not always prepared to do).
Finally, onto why you're really here; the pictures! It was so hard to choose, and I have tons of other favourites that didn't make it in. Everyone who I photographed; I love you all! Thank you for supporting me through this crazy year.

A special thanks to Sydney Aleisha who saved the day and stepped in to photograph one elopement on my behalf while I was in the hospital. You da bomb.com!