February 26, 2018

Why I became a Wedding Photographer | Celina Fournell Photography

I think I had the perfect wedding planned out at least 6 years before meeting my husband, Ben. I was SO obsessed with weddings that I applied for any job that allowed me to be around the wedding industry. I started working as a server for a wedding venue in Calgary right after high school. Three weddings every weekend, and I was in heaven.

After my seasonal job ended, I took a bit of a career detour and worked some odd jobs for a few years. Mostly in retail sales, administration and book keeping, and shadowed someone in marketing a few times. I quickly learned that these were not ’the’ thing for me.

Eventually, it was my time to be the bride. We had a short engagement, and actually eloped in Las Vegas. But, you can read more about our engagement here and wedding here, that’s not what this post is about!

One of the reasons we actually eloped was because we had started to look into booking our main wedding vendors, ceremony and reception venue, a photographer, and catering, and it was adding up to a LOT of money just for deposits to book them for our day. This was when my wheels started turning and we had a few ‘ahha!’ moments that week.

1. We should get married in Vegas, this weekend.

2. I should start photographing weddings… Why? Well…

a) I love weddings, I love photography, I loved photographing the weddingsI had already done.

b) It seemed like wedding photographers made a buttload of money.

c) I’d only have to work one day a week!

So, I should totally become a wedding photographer!

After our wedding, and going through our wedding photos I quickly realized that I would easily be able to produce way better images than what we were delivered. Don’t get me wrong, I LOVE our wedding photos. But, they lack variety, creativity, and heart. We only had a few hours of wedding photography and it really lacks character.

Now, a few years later and 50+ weddings under my belt. I’ve definitely found what makes my soul sing. Photographing people in love and documenting their love stories is the most rewarding thing I could have randomly thought to do! And, I would like to think I’m doing a pretty great job at it!

PS, let me just clarify some of the thoughts I had before actually jumping into wedding photography and being able to compare and understand doing it full time.

I LOVE WEDDINGS: Still true!

I LOVE PHOTOGRAPHY: Still true! It’s definitely a lot less diverse than when I first started though, haha!

WEDDING PHOTOGRAPHERS MAKE A BUTT LOAD OF MONEY: Haha, sure there is a large gross at the end of the year. But only about 20-30% of my ‘profit’ is actually money in my pocket. The reality is a little disappointing and I’d rather spend that money on more dogs and trips around the world.

I WOULD ONLY WORK ONE DAY A WEEK: This one is funniest to me! Even in my off season I work 2-5 hours a day. During my wedding season it’s closer to 30 or 40 hours a week. BUT it does give me the flexibility to stay home with my kids and avoid a huge amount of child care costs!

edmonton area wedding photographer

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hey hey heyy beautiful person reading this... I'm Celina - your queer, AuDHD, Alberta located, boudoir photographer who is here to make you feel empowered and hyped TF up!!!!