This is wild.

As I'm writing this I can't believe it's been 10 years. I started filming weddings as a creative outlet on the weekends when I wasn't working at my office job.

I remember looking at a computer screen inside Verizon Mobile Generation and realizing that there was no way I was going to be able to pay my student loans working 1 job. My commission at the time was roughly $600 every two weeks, no health insurance and I was commuting 30 minutes each way to get to work with a $500 car payment every month. I had about $3 in my account before my paycheck hit and I remember thinking that I could get a McDouble and McChicken at least. haha.

I remember being frustrated but thinking that I didn't want to be someone who complains and does nothing. I wanted to be someone who does something so that I could complain. haha. So I opted to work Saturday's and any day I was hired for wedding films. My friend Kyah Jo from Kyah Jo Photography called me up and told me she had a couple that was looking for wedding video. I had 0 work to show for weddings but a lot of videos I'd created in college for a student organization called CRU. Kyah vouched for me and the couple booked me for my first wedding. I charged $1,400 - spent $600 on my second shooter, $500 on gear rental, and I never collected the full payment from the bride. It was a good lesson in business.

Since then things have changed a bit.

10 years late I've had the opportunity to film for TV shows on networks like HGTV, be published in MN bride, Win the couples choice award on the Wedding Wire and the Knot, and help countless couples have a keepsake of their wedding day. I started learning from others who were further ahead in their film careers, noticing ways I could improve and changing the way I film to better serve the client. Today I charge over $4,500 starting for a wedding and am asked a lot to film for other wedding film companies. It's fun to find a niche to excel in and I've greatly appreciated all the opportunities that have come from a need to pay my student loans.

I'm no super sentimental about business because it always needs attention and there's always something to improve but I am thankful I stuck with it for all these years.

Thank you to every couple that booked me, you invested in something that I hope will bless you for generations to come.

-Tim

Below is my first ever wedding film from 2014!