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Behind the Scenes with The Tuckers | 2017 Edition

December 22, 2017

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Friends, Sam and I are humbled and almost in disbelief as we glance back at how unbelievable 2017 was. It was so fun for us to have all of you follow along through our Instagram stories + past blog posts + sneak peeks!

Before I start with some funny BTS pictures, I want to share something that we never really publicly talked about. You may have seen glimpses, but we never told the story.

You guys know that I left my side-hustle-full-time corporate job in March to be with our Wedding Photography business full time. What you might not know is that 2 weeks after I had my last day, God was like YES, LET’S DO THIS and totally shook things up/took the wheel  – in a good way. 

TWO weeks after I quit, Sam got a call from his boss. See Sam was already working remotely as a fancy UX/UI web designer for a corporate company. We had NO plans of rocking that stable boat for years…if ever. Here’s the plan we had in place: I’d quit and Sam would keep his corporate job (you know, the one with benefits and steady income and the “real” job status) so that if we failed, we would still be okay. 

But all in one phone call, Sam’s department’s funding was cut and he was laid off. TWO WEEKS AFTER I LEFT MY STABLE JOB.

OK JESUS, I love you, but WHATCHA DOIN’?! 

Very clearly in the midst of some divine intervention, although Sam’s skills were in high demand, he literally could not find the right job. Even job recruiters helping Sam were baffled at the luck.

We were quickly picking up momentum for the year with our Wedding couples. We prayed our little booties off. Our families prayed and we even had close friends praying for the “right” job to be made clear. Time was ticking as we’d have to soon dip into that Savings Safety Net we talked about in this blog.

Through the painful job hunt, Sam slowly started to use his skills and freelance to make extra money by designing websites for small businesses. Then those clients lead to more clients. Soon Sam had built his own business and actually stopped looking for corporate work. Refresh Site Design was born and we have literally been blown away at how fruitful God has been.

Guys, we know what you’re thinking because we agree. It’s legitimately crazy. I felt like so many times this year we had to walk with our eyes closed and just trust God that we weren’t walking towards eventually moving into my parent’s basement.

I would NEVER recommend two people to jump from stability into “contract” work within the SAME MONTH let alone in the same year of a new small business, it’s just so risky. There was no solid plan, only to trust in God’s. He’s always provided more than we deserve or need. 

We now have TWO businesses, separate from each other, but they intertwine in fun ways.

Guys, I can’t even. I am shook as the kids say. We are so grateful. We don’t want to take any of this for granted and we also want to thank ALL of you for being SO encouraging and fun to share our story with!

NOW, a little glimpse of what it looked like behind the scenes with our amazing 2017 Wedding Couples 🙂

WARNING: this post is pretty ungraceful! We are somehow always able to pull it together, but not without some chaos that embarrassingly gets photographed!

Two things I can’t stop laughing at here : Katey + Ty epically crushing donuts(?) between portrait locations AND Sam’s RIDICULOUS hair cut that will make an appearance in a few more of these BTS shots!!

He looked like Bert from the Sesame Street muppets…but like a really cute version that sweetly carries my bags 🙂 

Aside from patiently waiting for his “high fade” to grow back, whenever Sam saw someone trying to take an iPhone selfie he would always offered to take it for them instead. “Instagram Husband-ing” to all in need, what a gent!

No idea what’s exactly happening here, but Sam seems to be a mix of emotions about bubbles! Haha!

Sam, please still love me after this blog goes Live.

The moment I realized I had no way of maneuvering out of photobombing this group’s toga shot!

When you really want a cold beer on a hot Wedding Day, but a cold Juice box also tastes pretty great.

Okay – all Wedding Photographers know this move: When you make the poor choice of eating McDonalds before a wedding and you step away to “take a big shot.” He actually did take a cool wide shot, but deep down I knew Sam was over there to create some space downwind from guests!!

From hilarious dance floors to zipping up a Bride in her Wedding dress, we have loved every silly and sentimental moment.

We’ve loved every Engagement Session and even TWO triple headers.

Some of our BTS favorites were actually captured on our fuzzy iPhones, which we shared via Instagram Stories this year!

We cheered, we danced, we made lots of feng shui changes to all the rooms we photographed.

We photographed the sweetest Proposals.

We taught couples how to feel comfortable in front of our cameras. (Even with 100’s of tourists watching us in Washington D.C.!!)

We shot close to 66,000 photos this year between Weddings, Engagement Sessions, Proposals, and Bridal Boudoir. We put over 5,000 miles on the Jeep, with a silly amount of pit stops at Chick-fil-A.

(We’ve learned to keep Emergency CF sauce in the glove compartment!)

Every Couple has reassured us that being in love with your BFF is the best and can endure the craziest of scenarios.

Every Wedding has shown us to truly cherish our community of family and friends.

Every Gallery and Wedding Album delivered has made it real that the images we take mean so much more than having pretty pictures.

They are reminders of your vows in hard times. They are living memories of when you did the limbo under Grandpa’s cane. They show Behind the Scenes of your entire Wedding Day. They are a window into each couple’s beautiful legacy!

 

W0ah sorry guys, I’ve been watching A LOT of Hallmark movies this December… Holy moly, what a great year.

I’m SO sad we didn’t get a picture with all 16 of our Wedding couples! Here’s a few that some nice guests took of us!!

Extra special thanks to Anna Kardos Photography for taking our headshots/favorite photos EVER this year!

 

Friends, We wish you all a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

🙂

 

Love,

The Tuckers

 

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Based in Richmond, Virginia and serving the surrounding States