Kansas City Wedding Photography | Allison Marie Photography

Hard to believe that 2010 is already behind us in the rear view mirror. It has been a year full of changes, challenges and joys! This was my first full year in business (began in March of 2009), and I am very proud to say that it was a great success! I ran into an old friend from high school last night who said, “I have to say, your photos are much better than they were in high school!” Oh man, I don’t even like to think back to what my photos were like in high school…let alone a year and a half ago! It’s exciting to see how much I have learned about the technical aspects of light and photography. With each of the unique 17 weddings I photographed this year, I always left saying, “Yes, that was a successful day and I got some great shots, but man, I have so much to learn about _________.” As a small business owner, there is always more to learn and ways to grow personally and professionally.

Tomorrow is the start of a new era, a new year, and I am eager to work harder than ever before. I am committed to daily learn new things and experiment with others and do all I possibly can to provide the best ever experience to my wedding clients. Below is the list of business goals I have created for myself. Each goal is attainable and measurable, and I will track my progress on these goals as the year kicks off. I share them with you so you can help hold me accountable to reach them and cheer me on when I need a push!

What are your goals for 2011, dear readers? Which ones are you most excited about achieving? If you have posted any online, leave a link to it below so we can cheer each other along in our pursuits to enthusiastically cross items off the list!

I’ve always been amazed at some people’s gift-giving talent. Even after watching family open Christmas gifts, I have all these great ideas I should have used…but would never have thought of myself! When Grant and I opened wedding gifts, it was so wonderful receiving things we had put on our registry, because they were items we needed. You know…dishes, flatware, baking tools, sheets…important stuff like that. Necessary but not whoop-and-hollar-because-it’s-so-cool sort of gift. The gifts that were really exciting to open were things that were not off our registry. Like this really cool, personalized piece of art. I know it’s not good to have favorites, especially when it comes to the things other people give us…but Grant and I can’t help but call this gift our favorite. Grant’s close friends (also known as his second family, the Daly’s) gave us this beautiful hand-painted piece of art:

It tells the story of how we met, how Grant proposed, and things that are most important to us:

How sweet is that?! It’s a piece that we LOVE to display and can’t wait to show off when friends stop by! So…if you have friends getting married that you need to purchase a gift for, think creatively. Definitely check out their registry because those things are important, but think about some sort of unique, personalized gift!