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The 5 Love Languages + How It’s Changed Everything

April 12, 2015

A few months ago, Randy and I got introduced to this book called “The 5 Love Languages” by Gary Chapman. At first, I’ll admit it – I was a little confused about what a “love language” was how it could help my marriage, and how it could help Randy and I communicate better. And then I read it … and suddenly everything made more sense (and it definitely made sense why some people break up!).

Randy and Ashley by Kiersten Grant

Randy’s love language is touch. It means more to him for me to come up and hug him and give him kisses than it is for me to compliment him, or bring him a special treat (beer) from the grocery store. Touch is his “love language” and it totally made sense – he is totally the touchy feely guy who always wants to hug, and hold hands and cuddle!

Now me? I have two love languages that scored much higher than everything else – “quality time” and “receiving gifts.” It made sense once a label was put on it – I was always the one in my group of girlfriends growing up who would always bring birthday gifts and cards, holiday gifts, etc. And even in my business, it always made me so happy to spend as much time with my clients as possible (and the more time I spent with them, honestly, the better the photos came out) and I LOVE giving gifts to my clients – whether it’s surprising them with an extra print, a complimentary session or just a little gift card … it seriously makes me feel better as a person to give. So while Randy might appreciate a bear hug, it makes me equally happy to come home with some Reese’s peanut butter ice cream and a 6 pack of chilled Fat Tire for him.

Since we moved to Southern California last year, I’ve been trying to figure out the best way to incorporate this into my workflow. How can I best serve my clients? How can I show them how much I care? And how the heck can I put myself in a position to spend more time with them??

And after starting at the International Academy of Wedding Photographers – it hit me like a ton of bricks: I need to update our Wedding Collections to speak my love languages! I need to put it out there that I don’t want to be a “day-of only” wedding photographer – I want to shoot engagements and weddings, I want to be there for rehearsal dinners and day-after brunches. I want my brides and grooms to be able to remember their Wedding Experience with a phenomenal, timeless album. I want to shoot bridal boudoir, and just knock the absolute socks off the groom on the day of the wedding with a groom’s gift he’ll never forget. I want to grab pancakes and beers (maybe not at the same time…) with our clients friends when they come in to town! For us, it’s NOT just about being wedding photographers. It’s about making real connections, passing the wisdom of our own experiences and truly documenting your journey into your marriage, every step of the way.

We are still going to offer a single part-day package, perfect for elopements and intimate weddings under 4 hours … but our focus will be on the full-day weddings. All weddings will always have two photographers for well-rounded coverage. Engagement sessions will be included in all full-day packages as a “getting to know you” gift from me. Albums will always be included. We WANT you to have your digital files, and be able to make prints and hang them all over the walls (and use as your Christmas cards!). We want you to be able to share all of your wedding images with your friends and family, so they can relive their favorite moments of your wedding weekend. We are going to be available for your rehearsal dinner and your day-after brunch. Full-day Wedding Collections will now range from $2,800 – $4,900, and we’re only going to be shooting one wedding per weekend so we can absolutely devote our time to you, our clients, our friends.

And on that note – 2015 is nearly booked in full! We have just a handful of weekend dates left for August through December (excluding October, which is fully booked), and yes – we are booking into 2016 already! If you’d like to schedule a coffee date with me to get to know each other better and talk about your big day, please shoot me a message! We look forward to meeting you!

 

Photography provided by Kiersten Grant Photography, Panama City, FL

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  1. Katie says:

    Love it <3

Heyyyy ... I'm Ashley Durham and I'm a luxury wedding photographer in Phoenix, but I travel all over Arizona and the desert southwest to hang out with the most incredible people. I am obsessed with puppies, extra hot coffee, sunrise and firmly believe that love conquers all.

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