Firsts

Hi all, Mellisa here!

It’s been a while since I introduced myself or touched on any sort of solid topic. It’s not for lack of interest or trying; When we decided to start blogging, I was (very foolishly) trying to do everything from my iPad. What I have to say to that is… UGH! Don’t get me wrong, I LOVE my tablet, however trying to work and edit from it was getting to be a nightmare. So I FINALLY, after three years, got myself a new laptop so that I can work from wherever I wind up. So I’m officially back again.

We at Catskill Weddings have been very fortunate to have an extended 2016 wedding season. Our first wedding was this past weekend, April 30th, and we go steady right to the end of October. It’s already been a busy season and it promises to get busier and more exciting. We get to take on amazing new adventures this year; new venues, new catering, new vendors, and new people.

This last week also marked my official one year with the company! Its so crazy and amazing to me how fast it went and how much i have truly absorbed, how much I’ve learned, and how much I’ve grown. So to commemorate this last year, I want to talk about my big firsts in the wedding biz.

I actually wasn’t a photographer when I started working weddings. While I was in college, I worked at a resort, and the main clientele was wedding guests. I was hired to basically clean up after the bride and groom and their entourage throughout the course of the day. I have a vivd memory of cleaning a ravaged cheese table after cocktail hour, watching two photographers (who I oddly enough would befriend many years later) and thinking… this is NOT my destiny. I shouldn’t be here scraping half eaten cheese from a table top… I should be out there with THEM! My wheels were in motion from then on.

My first wedding which I photographed was probably about a year after I quit working at the resort. It was a super hot July day, I had my first camera, and I took about a million photos. Shortly after this I did my first paid wedding gig. Oddly enough, it was supposed to be at the resort I previously worked at, but a hurricane ripped through the area the weekend before and completely demolished our community and there was no way to even get to the resort as the roads were just gone. Through much determination, the couple were able to still have their dream wedding, just in a different location.

A lot has changed since those days.

On my first day working with Catskill Weddings, I walked in extremely exhausted; I had just gotten back from Canada, Having photographed my best friend’s wedding the night before. I walked into the shop and the task of the day was to learn to clean and prep flowers and… make lunch boxes. What? Yes. We do a little of everything on any given day. So we spent that day, and every day after, prepping for our first 2015 wedding. From Lunch boxes, to favors, to menus, I quickly learned that we are very hands on.

I started to learn the ins and outs of the shop. I quickly fell in love with all the different kinds of work we got to do and all the different people I got to meet. I bonded so instantly with my workmates, too. I can’t even imagine life without them at this point!

I think the most important first for me, though, came a few months later, in the heat of late August, when Lydia had entrusted me with my first solo wedding ceremony. I was filled with nerves, of course, but I truly had no reason to be.

Kaitlyn and Eric were two of the kindest people I’ve ever met and I instantly connected with them. The morning we first met, both Kaitlin and Eric greeted me with big hugs, like we’ve known one another for years. Immediately, I knew these were my kind of people. They were the first couple I worked side by side with, and truly were the first clients I had a genuine connection with. They helped me feel a sense of excitement about my job, because I finally knew I was capable of doing this!

My big year of firsts has proven to be an amazing journey. I’m so profoundly grateful that I get the honor of not only working with Lydia and the rest of the staff, but also with the amazing venues, caterers, photographers, and everyone in between. It has been a wonderful year of learning from the masters, and I look forward to learning more and more, and sharing with you all of the firsts that this season will bring.