From Server to Full Time Wedding Photographer
In this post, I will walk you through the last nine years of how I went from photography student to a server to a full-time wedding photographer. This is how I went from making $5,000 in my first year to $200,000 in 2018.
This post has a ton of value, whether you’re just starting or have been in the business for 8+ years. There’s always something to learn from other peoples’ experiences. My goal is to help inspire others and show you that you can succeed. I’ll share my wins and my failures and how much money I made each year.
2011
This was the year I was supposed to graduate from the photography program at Humber. I was convinced I was going to go into fashion and be a fashion photographer and have the freedom to do what I want and be weird.
Then Storey Wilkins, a wedding photographer, arrived in class and did a presentation to us students. She blew me away in class. She started talking about what she does, played a 1-2 minute slide show to music, showing humans connecting on their wedding day.
My heartstrings got tugged on, and I got really emotional. Do you know when you have that moment in your life when you know what decision you needed to make? At that moment, I scrapped four months of work in creating my fashion portfolio and decided I would start from scratch, just 2 months before graduating and build a wedding + families portfolio.
I found last-minute a wedding photographer from Henry’s named Gary, who brought me to 2nd shoot my first wedding and helped me get my first portfolio pieces for graduation.
Humber didn’t teach us how to run a business, so after graduation, I thought my website was enough. It wasn’t. I had to be a server on the side and got fired. I am a rebel at heart, and I didn’t like the way things were run. I didn’t think they made sense. I don’t think I was meant to work for anyone else, so I looked at it positively.
I found a new bar to serve near an airport. I tried it out, but I felt harassed and uncomfortable. I don’t like wearing revealing clothes, and I didn’t feel right there. One time I was serving a table, and these guys made a comment, and I had to leave right then. I ran outside for a smoke (yes I used to smoke...but only for a year or so) and bolted across the street to The Keg to talk to a manager. I told the manager straight up that I worked across the street at a bar and was ready to work for him because I couldn’t handle the harassment from the other job.
Being straight up is something I always have done to get what I want, and I find it works very effectively. This new job working at The Keg by the airport was amazing and a huge catalyst for me being able to start my business. I was able to fund so many of my business expenses to get it where I wanted to go.
In 2011, I made $5,200 from my business.
2012
This was a big year with a lot of hustle and experimenting. I was still working at The Keg, and I was making more money than I’d ever made up to date. That meant I got to work less and use my off-time to do anything I could do build my business.
It was the year I booked my first wedding. It was 6 hours for $900. I was over-the-moon excited but had a problem. I didn’t know what I wanted to do with my photography. I was a generalist. I tried marketing to families, maternity, to weddings. And I had no idea I was doing that.
I tried many marketing ploys, and I didn’t know Facebook communities existed. I just had ideas out of my ass and went with them.
Failed marketing ideas I tried:
I made flyers and just left them around Toronto, but I didn’t get one call. I spent $1,000, and it didn’t work.
I went to High Park on Mother’s Day and offered free photos in the hopes that people would remember me and pass my name along, but that didn’t work.
Groupon
The one thing I did that went really well for me was that I second-shot 47 weddings. Gary had more work for me, and I went to a wedding with my ex, and the photographers there that I approached took me on as a second shooter, and that really helped me out.
I was able to use those photos for my portfolio, which really helped me out for my business. I learned how I like and don’t like to shoot, what got me excited about wedding days and what didn’t, and what I liked what the photographers did and what I didn’t like. Second-shooting taught me a lot of lessons.
I was still working at The Keg, and there came an opportunity where I was able to go to Italy with my friends for three weeks. I couldn’t take more than two weeks’ vacation with The Keg (policy), and I was in a bind, but the GM there said that there was a workaround. For me to get the extra week off, I could simply quit, then reapply when I got back and there would be a job waiting for me! So, that's what I did! I applied to quit, took the three weeks, maxed out my credit cards (cuz that's just what I did back then), fully expecting to have a job when I come back.
When I got back from my trip, I called The Keg right away, but the GM who had told me about the workaround ended up saying "Sorry. We don't have an available spot for you". WOW. Burn. WTF. He clearly did not want me to work there, and that was his way of getting rid of me. It was a shitty feeling of feeling rejected and I was PISSED. What a sneaky move. After a punch of crying my eyes out, I asked myself, what can I learn from this? This moment was the catalyst to help me build my business even more because I decided to actually FOCUS my energy on that!
I went on Craigslist asap to find the money and jobs I needed. I got another bar-tending job and a job editing and culling photos for someone else. And I was still second shooting. I ended up editing for Z Molu Photography on the side and while we were editing in his basement, he was watching Creative Live. had never heard of Creative Live before and as soon as I started to watch it myself, I was hooked! This was the next catalyst to my growing business!
I made $13,000 from my photography business.
2013
I was still bartending and second shooting, but I didn’t want to drive to Toronto anymore to do it. Both of my parents got laid off, and I lived with them. I needed to help them, so I applied for a new job.
I decided to apply to a different Keg location and was completely upfront and honest in the interview about my parents’ situation and basically showed them that I would do anything to work hard and keep the job. They ended up hiring me, and I am forever grateful for it. I was able to help my parents financially and build my business on top of that.
This is the year I booked 5 of my own weddings thanks to the Total Wedding Show in January in Mississauga. I also took on a bunch of other gigs and second shooting, while still constantly watching Creative Live to learn and grow.
I discovered Facebook photographer groups, and it was eye-opening to find communities and that I didn’t have to do this on my own.
I got inspiration from Tamara Lockwood and loved the energy on her website and her photos. We met for coffee and really connected. She referred me to some clients when she was unavailable, and it was the first time I realized there was more of a community than the competition in this industry. It was such a positive thing, and I felt less alone.
My income from my business for this year was $34,000.
2014
This was a very transformative year. I did another wedding show in January, Canada's Bridal Show. I was very generic, but I still booked 5-6 weddings. I was very focused on fitting in and doing what everyone else was doing.
I ended up booking 15 weddings, and it was so exciting to see all these couples trusting me. I still felt in my soul that I was pretending to be someone else. I was 24 at the time, and I wanted people to take me seriously, so I wore pantsuits and felt that I had to be super professional. I felt like I was in a cage and not who I was, and I was tired of it.
I was looking up different photographers on the internet. I found Meg Courtney’s website and was blown away by her brand. She was literally a wedding photographer for spontaneous & enchanted brides at the time. I thought to myself, "Huh!? How can she be totally herself, so specific, and make money!?". I had never thought that I could be myself and attract new clients. I needed to have that freedom.
I went to her blog and read about how she hired a business coach Jeff Jochum to help her specialize. I immediately knew in my soul that I needed to reach out to him!
I contacted Jeff to see if we could work together, and things went so well! We were a great fit! Now it was time to make a decision, because, in order for me to get coached by Jeff, I would need to invest $10,000! I didn’t have the money; I just had credit cards. But I knew in my soul that was what I needed to do. I was thinking long term not short term and charged it to my credit card. Best decision ever!
I’ve always had this mindset that no matter what, I will be able to be successful. I’m really glad I went through and did this. Jeff taught me how to be myself and be successful and incorporate it into my business.
As I learned more about who I was in my core I ended up reflecting on my relationship as well. I realized that I was in a relationship that wasn't right for me so I broke it off with my boyfriend at that time.
I also made the shift of changing my business name from Sarunia Photography (Sarunia is a cute way of saying Sara in polish) to Sara Monika (Monika being my middle name), and it made it a lot easier to share my business name.
Then! The universe had aligned me with meeting my person! I was so aware of who I finally was that I was ready! I met Rory at a wedding that I got hired to shoot in Barbados. He was the best man. I am so grateful I met him. He is literally the partner of my dreams, and I can’t believe I met him.
Jeff mentioned to me that there would be a dip in my business as soon as I came out and showed up as myself because they were used to the other Sara. They either needed to adjust to the new me or wouldn’t connect, and that is okay. I would attract other like-minded people.
When fall and winter came around at the same time as my dip in my business, I was feeling very depressed and down about the fact that I had finally put out into the world who I was, but there were crickets. But Rory was there for me and told me that if I kept pushing, things would work out. I still felt so exposed but he stuck by me and kept coaching me through it. I will forever be grateful for that!
That year, I made $60,000.
2015
In January, I invested in a booth at the Canada's Bridal Show. I kept listening to Jeff’s coaching, so what I did was I created a booth at the show where I stood out like crazy. I made it all bohemian, and I was even barefoot!
I polarized everyone who walked by, people either loved it or hated it. Those who didn’t like it walked by, but those who loved it were VERY excited. They would come up to me saying "OMG are you real! So happy we found you!". It was the most incredible weekend, and I am so grateful for everyone who came to the show and saw me. I gave me my confidence and helped me accept myself. I booked seven weddings from that show.
I booked 13 for the whole year, which was two less than last year, but it was okay because I was attracting people who were like me. We could be free to be ourselves together.
Things took off after that point, and I was showing up on Instagram way more confident in who I was. But I had to do one more thing: I had to transition from how I was currently shooting, which was more of what I thought I was supposed to do in the industry, to the documentary style that I wanted to shoot.
I had a few questions about how to do that:
How do I get more clients who want the documentary-style when most of my portfolio was more Pinterest-style?
I felt self imposed pressure to be featured on blogs like Style Me Pretty. I had to ask myself why I felt that way.
All I saw on wedding blogs was details, shoe shots, perfect couples’ photos. But it created pressure for me to shoot that way because I thought couples expected me to do that. But I realized it was a self-created story.
I asked myself: What would I want if I was getting married?
To begin transitioning, I knew I had to take actionable steps, so I wrote a blog post about how I wouldn’t do detailed shots and would instead focus more on capturing moments and connections between people. I decided I would explain to new clients I was in the middle of transitioning and send them old galleries along with that new blog post explaining how I will be shooting from now to see if we would be a good fit.
I was afraid of being so blunt, but I knew that’s how I felt, and I wanted to change the direction of how I shot weddings. People responded positively to my blog post, and it was exciting for me to be free to document wedding days how I wanted.
2015 was pivotal for transitioning to the style I wanted and becoming freer. I was booking a lot more weddings for the following year. I ended up making $69,000.
2016
I booked 29 weddings and was able to charge more per wedding. I was able to be free and have more fun. This was the year where I started to dabble in outsourcing my editing.
I was serving during the off-season and shooting during the wedding season. I wanted to be full-time so badly, and I know a lot of people also want to, but it can be hard to decide when the right time to do it is. So I experimented.
All the money I made at the Keg, I set aside and would not touch unless I needed it during the winter. Winter came and went, and I did not need to touch the money. That meant I was ready to go full-time.
This was the year my dream came true + my work paid off. I made $135,000 from my photography business that year.
2017
This year, I shot 33 weddings, I also got a better handle on outsourcing, marketing, running my business, working with people I wanted to, raising my rates, raising my confidence, offering more value to clients.
This was a huge year for me to focus on providing a better experience because I was no longer stressed about money and making ends meet. I was able to focus more on learning how to improve my client's experience, how to outsource and have more time for myself.
2018
I shot 37 weddings, the most I’ve ever shot. I would not have been able to do it if I had not been outsourcing. I also hired a VA for the first time. At the end of 2018, I hired someone to cull.
I worked the least I’ve ever worked while making the most I’ve ever made in my life while keeping the quality of my work intact.
Ever since I started my business, I remember looking up to photographers who made multiple six figures, and I finally made $206,000 that year. When I saw that number, I thought about all the setbacks and trials and lessons that got me where I am now. If it’s possible for me, it’s possible for you, too!
2019
I shot 24 weddings. I wanted to work less because I wanted to have more weekends to spend with myself and with Rory. I do a thing called “what I want,” and I decided to raise my prices and book less and make the same amount of money as I did in 2018 and guess what, I’m currently on track to make the same amount of money!
Now, I’m transitioning into teaching other photographers how to make money and work less. I used to work 80+ hours a week for 6-7 years when I was working on my business. My health went to the wayside, and so did the relationships I built in high school, parents, grandparents, etc. I missed out in the last 8-9 years connecting with my friends and grandparents and making memories with other people instead of them.
I am very grateful and happy for where I’m at in my business, but it’s time to work smarter, not harder. I have to wonder where the last decade of my life went. But now I work 30 hours a week max from May - October to do with wedding photography. I give myself boundaries: I don’t work evenings, and I don't do any other type of work on weekends other than documenting weddings.
I am very passionate about this new chapter I’m in, and this extension of my life’s journey. I know that this story will inspire you and make you feel less alone in some way. Even if it helps one person, that’s enough. Please reach out to me if it helped you; I want to keep teaching and inspiring and being vulnerable.
Looking Ahead!
My new goal for 2020 is booking 20 weddings for an average of $8,000 each. So far, I have booked ten and are about $7,000. I am on track, and I am determined to keep this energy up.
I know I can provide the best experience for couples and families on their wedding day and create timeless and emotional photos. I know I am worth it.
On the flip side, now that I have so much time for myself, I can now have another goal of teaching other photographers how to live a balanced life while also being a wedding photographer.
Last year I only had four weekends to myself from May to November. This year, I had 12 full weekends off! While making the same amount of money! It was life-changing. It doesn’t get any better than that, and I want to share it with you guys.
Thank you!
I am so excited to keep sharing with you guys so you can Shine & Thrive in your own life too! ❤️
I hope this helped you. If it did, please do me let me know by sending me a DM on Instagram (@saramonikaphoto). If you have a friend who's dealing with something like this too, share this blog with them!
Love you guys and thank you so much for reading!
-Sara Monika
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