Finding Joy In Wedding Planning, a Behind the Scenes look at the birth of Joy Filled Occasions. Today I want to take you on a little journey back to where it all began over four years ago. What started the ideas and how those ideas rolled around in my mind for years before I finally decided to make it happen.

A little over 5 years ago Aaron, my hubby, proposed. I said yes and started planning our wedding day. The trouble was that I had no idea what I was doing. I had photographed weddings for three years at that point and yet I hadn’t a clue what it took to actually plan a wedding. I had timeline creation down but all the details that went into it were foreign to me.

I mean don’t get me wrong, I had been in the wedding industry long enough to know about the best venues and vendors, but the checklists and timelines of who to book when was not an area I was well versed in. I fumbled through the process happy when all was booked. I was just another bride with a list of “to-do’s” a mile long.

At 12:00AM on October 21st, 2012 our wedding day was officially over. While I thought I would be relieved, I found myself wishing it wasn’t over. Wishing I could take all of my knowledge and do it over again. I’ve been telling Aaron that I would love a do-over for years… Same guy, just a different wedding style. lol

We came home from our honeymoon of ten wonderful days, and it hit me, I had fallen in-love with wedding planning. As I sat down at my desk on my first day back to work since our wedding, I felt like something was missing. I wan’t to google, checklist browse and plan away. So with around 2o weddings to photograph the next year, I launched weekly wedding tips, started meeting with vendors and finding ways to better help my brides wedding plan. I didn’t want another bride to feel as overwhelmed as I had felt when I started to plan. I wanted to become her go-to girl.

Over the years, I wedding dress shopped with my brides, visited venues, created color palettes, built and rebuild hundred of timelines, coordinated days, set up decor, you name it. I even played DJ and florist several times. It wasn’t till a little over a year ago that I even thought I would ever turn the fun I was having into something more than it was.

So many people had said I should make it into something more. I had already been planning weddings for 3 years so why not run with it? I had rolled the idea around in my head for months then finally a little over a year ago, I took the leap. I vocalized my dream.

I was afraid of what would happen when I started to gather my thoughts and tell others. While the business name I came up with wasn’t as well received, I felt that my own personal journey to joy is what had brought me to this little little dream. Whether everyone loved it or not, finding joy in my life’s journey was what had brought me to building Joy Filled Occasions.

When we launched in January, the support you all gave was overwhelming! This second dream of mine was happening! I was living out my new dream and it’s now happening. It’s crazy to think of what Joy Filled Occasions has become already and all it will become in the future but I’m ready for it! Bring it on!

So with a wedding in the books already, I’m ready for more and ready for all this this joy filled journey has for me.

– Tiffany