#1- You can’t listen WELL

Sure you might can listen half-heartedly. Making time for one on one conversations ensure that you will both be heard.

#2- You can’t forgive WELL

If you haven’t been spending time with your spouse you are going to start resenting that. You are busy, you are tired, you are ANXIOUS. When anxiousness and and tiredness build up you can guess the results. Forgiveness is much easier when you are meeting each others needs, and that includes TIME.

#3- You can’t share WELL

In order to share whats really going on in your head and your life you’re going to need some REAL one on one time. Sharing the things that you dream of and care about draws you even closer in a relationship. It also gives your spouse an outlet to build up those things you love!

#4- You can’t play WELL

Play can mean a lot of things. I’ll let your mind do the wandering! Relationships are about having fun and sometimes you need to do that just the two of you. Friendships are great and so is family, but it’s not the same as laughing and playing together.

#5- You can’t appreciate WELL

Appreciation and respect are two huge things in a relationship. If you’re going through the motions of life as if viewing a movie with your spouse as the main character you’re not going to appreciate them like you should. You can love them, you can be thankful for them, and you can definitely be attracted to them… but you can’t appreciate them without truly spending time alone together. When you appreciate and respect your spouse you are VALUING them.

So stop reading this blog post and go schedule some time together! There’s no shame in scheduling your dates!

Vendor Lovin’

Venue: The Venue at The Bakery Building

Flowers: Blooms Hattiesburg

Catering: Depot Catering

Band: BlackWater

Although some of you may not be like me when it comes to space, it’s most likely that your spouse is. To clarify, I dislike space. I loved the house I grew up in because it was tiny, I was constantly bumping into a family member…. no hiding. I guess what I mean is, if I love you, I want you near me.

Yeah, yeah I know, that can get unhealthy. I don’t disagree. It’s just harder for me to remember that others might need space that aren’t like me. But God designed us all different right? Otherwise there wouldn’t be so many books like, The Five Love Languages or Women are like Spaghetti, Men are like Waffles. The truth is we all love differently and receive love differently.

I’ve had to learn this lesson the hard way, and I’m still learning it to this day. I have to consciously remind myself that Paul needs space from me, and that does not mean he doesn’t love me or want to be with me. Space gives us time to be who WE are without having to conform to the personalities and hobbies of those around us (for us that would be watching My Little Pony, talking about pottying, or playing superheros).

So give your spouse their time. Let them enjoy something that only they enjoy. Don’t down it, instead ask questions about how it was. ACT interested yo!

And most important of all, if you are holding on too tightly to your spouse because of insecurities; cast your cares to the Lord, not your spouse. He WANTS you to and your spouse DOESN’T need you to.

Even though I love being close to those I care about, I know space gives them the energy and rejuvenation to love me more!

The best thing we ever did for our business was to take a year off from shooting and learn the ins and outs of what our camera can do. Not only has that given us better images, it has also given us more confidence in shooting and a LOT less post process time.

We hope that in comparing our beginnings and ends that you will also see the difference in decent photographs and great photographs. Can we still improve? OF COURSE! But we can also say with 100% certainty that we can provide our clients with great images that they won’t look back on and regret.

Other than skill, one of the biggest differences in our before and after images is pricing. If you were paying the before us $3500 to shoot your wedding, you might just be crazy. =) But seriously, we can’t stress how important it is to notice the difference in the two. We aren’t saying that you should throw out any photographs you had done by a beginner or hobbyist photographer, but you SHOULD think about getting some new and updated ones by a true professional. Yes, it might cost you a little more money, but don’t all things that are truly worth the investment?

We had to grab a few of just Lauren, such a beauty!

Vendor Lovin:

Venue: La Maison Gautier “The Old Place”

Planner: A Plan To Remember (Susie Davis)

DJ: Night Shift Sounds 

Cakes and Sweets: Joshua John Russell

Hair: Shear Southern Style

Catering: Taste! Catering (Chef Patrick Heim)