In today’s world, trying to get married has become... a hot mess. So, to all the COVID brides to have been, grooms and wedding professionals: you’re not alone. Welcome to Bride To Have Been, a StudioPod original podcast hosted by Emily Lewis, with the purpose of building a community by sharing the reality of this new normal in the wedding industry. Let’s keep inspiring each other and celebrate the thing we treasure the most: love.

Miss Rona couldn’t keep wedding photographer Sara Nobel down for long. Even though nearly 20 of the weddings she had booked last year were cancelled or postponed due to the pandemic, Sara got creative and loaded up her schedule with family photo sessions and found new ways to find last minute wedding bookings. Take a listen to her interview with host Emily Lewis as she explains why low expectations are the key to less disappointment and shares other unexpected outlooks on the global crisis we’ve all been bobbing and weaving our way through over the past year. 

Jump straight into:

(02:38) - Sara on how she got into wedding photography - “When I realized that you could get paid to go to people's weddings and hang out and take pictures, that was kind of it for me.”

(06:34) - Sara’s wedding schedule for 2020 - “I was supposed to have 30 weddings. I was like, ‘This is my year, baby! Let's go!’”

(07:04) - How Sara stays positive - “That sadly has been my motto since the third grade, ‘Low expectations, less disappointment.’”

(08:29) - How Sara’s year ended up playing out - “I ended up actually shooting like 16—I'm using air quotes—weddings. Some of them five people, some of them 150 people.”

(16:36) - Marketing during the pandemic - “A lot of people find me on Instagram. It was a combination of word of mouth, very Yelp and a little bit of Instagram.”

(25:37) - Trying to stay safe while working - “I did end up photographing a wedding that I honestly didn't feel super comfortable with.”

(28:35) - Trends Sara sees sticking after the pandemic - “It's not about the wedding, it's about the marriage. Like let's get married, let's focus on the future rather than spend our life savings on a Saturday in June.”

Resources

Follow Sara on Instagram 

See Sara’s work and learn more about her wedding packages 

Thanks for listening! Follow us on Instagram, don’t forget to use the #COVIDBrideTribe, and feel free to send us your COVID wedding stories. Bride To Have Been is a podcast brought to you by GiftPod and produced at StudioPod. Edits were made at Nodalab and music was produced by GaryOAKland. Don’t forget to subscribe, rate and share with all of your fellow brides.