Wedding Blog

Money. A sensitive issue. Although, one of the first questions we’re asked when we tell people we’re planning a wedding in Hawaii is, “Who’s paying for the wedding?” Well, we are, although my dad has generously offered to pay for our luau reception/dinner. Mr. Sushi and I will be paying for the bulk of the trip/event.

A few months ago I applied to a few retail stores in hopes that having a part-time job (on top of my current full-time job) would bring in extra income. Well, during the summertime, retail stores aren’t exactly booming with new hirees. Now I’m relieved that I wasn’t called for an interview, because I’ve been doing sooo much freelance photography that I barely have time to myself (let alone time for Mr. Sushi).

I’ve enjoyed photography for as long as I can remember. I actually can remember being in a dark room at age 8, not really knowing what I was doing, but it was fun. As a young kid in the ’80s, my photography skills were pretty much limited to how to push a button on a point and shoot camera. Growing up in a military family, I got the opportunity to see many (and live in many!) countries as a child. My dad was an intermediate-novice (oxymoron?!) photographer and had a manual Minolta SLR camera; he would document our travels. His camera would end up being my first SLR camera.

I don’t consider myself a professional photographer. All of my “customers” are friends, family of friends, and they come mainly by word of mouth. I sometimes feel weird charging friends money, so we’ll sometimes exchange services instead. In exchange for me doing photos of a friend and her family, her husband is installing two lights and a ceiling fan at my house. Not a bad deal!

Besides being able to build up my portfolio and gain more experience, I’ve been able to pocket a nice chunk of change!

I gotta admit, I was hoping a retail job would help when it came to holiday shopping (store discounts!), but I really think I got the better end of the deal. While the extra stress of getting all this work done has affected me, it has also taken away the added stress of figuring out how to pay for the wedding.

Did you take up an extra job to pay for your wedding?