Finding Joy in the Ordinary | My 2015 year in review

Here we are friends! I can barely believe it. A brand new year, a brand new look and SO much to be thankful for from the past 365 days of business-growing, dream-chasing, hurdle-jumping, client-loving madness. My year was so full (the new “busy” incase you haven’t heard!) and so is my heart.

I’ve summed up 2015 as an ordinary year for me, in the most beautiful of ways. It wasn’t big, grand adventures or award nights and it sure wasn’t six figures successful. It was slippers and cold tea and hustle and doubt and dreaming. It was finding the joy in the ordinary. It was beautiful.

It was sprinkled with a whole lot of love and days that made my heart skip and below is QUITE the recap of those days, even though I’m pretty sure I could have thought of 50 more. My top 15 in 15, even though there was so much more of the small stuff in between. I suggest you make a fresh cup of tea, open a couple of other tabs so it looks like you are working and sit back and enjoy on this first Monday of sweet 16!

1. Daisy & Jansen’s beautiful Beloftebos Wedding.

Each year we are lucky enough to travel back to South Africa for the month of March for my husband’s job (and for me to escape winter!) I love that it’s the height of summer & wedding season back in Cape Town and that I could head back for Daisy & Jansen’s wedding. They celebrated at beautiful Beloftebos, just outside the coastal town of Hermanus (which happens to be one of my most favourite and special places ever…three piles of balancing rocks later and you gotta know that’s true!) So, we made a weekend out of this booking and my family joined us to celebrate my parents’ 30th wedding anniversary!! To top the weekend off, my bestie and her family were also spending the weekend in Hermanus and we met up for an evening family shoot on the special beach outside her Ouma’s (Nana’s) home. During the shoot, I took some individual couple portraits and LOVE that her brother & Kate requested their “signature” pose on the rocks.  Little did she know that she would be using it to announce her surprise engagement the VERY next day!

2. Kate & Pierre’s (almost) Proposal

3. Alex & Kerrilin’s Cape Town Elopement

Possibly my most favourite photo of a bride and groom ever! Nope. It’s not the most perfect light/composition/focus. But, it’s perfectly imperfect in every other way. I have been friends with Kerrilin for over a decade. So I was super honoured when she booked me (holla to friends who value your worth!!) to be the only one present when she said yes to her forever with Alex. Long story short, after a wild fire ravaged a lot of Table Mountain a week before their date, we needed to change the venue. And you know that secluded forest deck where Andrew asked me to marry him? Yup! They said yes at that very same spot. Then ate cake for lunch. It was magical.Their romantic elopement was featured on the Knot, which was another huge highlight of my year. But nothing beats the feeling of watching one of your best friends belly laugh on her wedding day.

4. Sonya & Siraj’s fairytale day!

You guys!!! Extending my trip to be available for your day was one of the best decisions I made in 2015. After excited emails back and forth and a trip to Cape Town for the weekend JUST for their engagement shoot, I got to watch these two happy dance their wedding day away. Literally. Sonya happy danced around the bridal suite. Siraj happy danced during their portrait session. He serenaded her in his wedding speech. They danced the night away. These two shine so much light into the world and reminded me that life together is always better when you dance.

5. I GOT MY PAPERS!!!!!!!!!!!!

Yes, that could have done with more !!!!! No, I didn’t take a selfie in front of the Queen’s picture. Didn’t want to push my luck you know. But another long story short. When you move to Canada the way we did, you can’t work until you have your approved paperwork and your residency. Thankfully on my beautiful maroon passport I could be here during the process and we didn’t have to be apart like so many other spouses. But after a gruelling process with immigration lawyers, much dolla dolla later and a loooong wait (well, shorter than we expected but still!). #5 was definitely the turning point of my year and boy, did the whirlwind then begin.

6. Canadians are the friendliest people on earth.

It’s true. We have been SO welcomed here. Everyone wants to help. A stranger saw us struggling with fitting an armchair into our car and you guys, he put it in his truck and drove it to our house for us. They are the best. But what’s been even more incredible is how I’ve been welcomed to the Canadian industry here. I already had my two weddings ready and waiting to book (thank you for trusting me!!) I then reached out on some forums with a crazy amount of excitement that I could now work for the summer and would shoot anywhere with anyone. Thankfully, this resulted in shooting the most beautiful of weddings with Catherine, Lori, Jenn and Jess at incredible venues around Ontario. I can’t thank you ladies enough!! I had such fun & can’t wait to blog a couple of highlights from the weddings in the coming weeks.

7. My family visit Canada for the first time!

My parents, sister and brother visited us in Canada this summer for the first time. Andrew is a self-proclaimed pro tour guide (I joke that it’s his calling in life!) and we PACKED our itinerary full; Niagara, Montreal, Toronto, Ottawa and a million and one sight-seeing outings in between. We took a ridiculous amount of selfie-stick group pics and I think it’s safe to say Canada won their hearts as quickly as it has ours. My most favourite moment? After a day of unplugged, quality family time of terrible games of tennis, against the current paddle boating, swinging like kids on the playground and snoozing the day away at the pool, we all sat roasting marshmallows to this view. It was the perfect reminder.  A 15/10 day.

8. Sarah & Greg’s gorgeous barn wedding

As if Canada could win my heart any more! Guys. Weddings in barns!!! Big, beautiful, re-purposed barns that are yes, a little warm on a summer’s afternoon but MAN! So beautiful. I met Sarah through my yoga bestie here (more about her later) and loved telling their wedding day story. These two strive for a life of surprising each other, respecting and encouraging one another’s dreams and loving on everyone in their lives in such a true, connected way. It was a beautiful thing to witness!

9. The Rising Tide Society.

If you’ve been following my work for a while, you will know i am a SUCKER for a good networking function. I’m an extroverted introvert, I’ll admit, but nothing fills my tank like connecting with driven, passionate, creative people. Enter The Rising Tide, which, again, long story short, has changed the face of our wedding industry. Built on the idea of community over competition, we meet up on the second Tuesday of every month and basically encourage one another to keep doing this dream-chasing life thing. As entrepreneurs who sit at home, singing to ourselves out of tune in slippers and sipping on another cup of tea that’s gone cold while we juggle ALL the hats…this type of thing is golden. And I couldn’t be more thankful for the beautiful people I’ve met already.

10. Another feature, hooray! (Neil & Erin’s DIY book theme wedding)

I was thrilled to kick off the fall with another feature on The Knot, this time, with Erin & Neil’s fall DIY wedding. Seriously. Click the link above and just LOOK at all the elements these two pulled together. Hand made paper bouquets, a book arch, a wedding cake made by the bride herself. And to top it off, the weather held out just in time for the outdoor ceremony they dreamed of. (We got hailed on during the portrait session but hey, these guys were absolute troopers!)

I also got to spend time during October enjoying two of my most favourite weekends of the year: spoiling on my husband for his birthday & celebrating two whole years as Mrs. Murray. We combined the celebrations this year and headed out to Manitoulin Island for the weekend. Fall (or as us South Africans call it, Autumn) is my MOST favourite. It’s been such fun having four distinct seasons & seeing more of what this country has to offer is definitely making our 2016 list.

Doing life with this guy for the past nine years has been quite the adventure. On two years married? I wrote a whole post about it here!

11.Carolyn & Frank’s Gambrel Barn wedding

I told you, barn weddings!! And this one was another beauty. I met Carolyn through the yoga studio that I owe a lot of my sanity during all this change to! I seriously love a couple who will dance to the beat of their own drum and say it like it is. These two are comfortable, beautiful and real in every way. They braved some serious chill for the light during their portrait session and sent me a testimonial that had me in happy tears. I adore you guys!

12. The rebrand & the commitment to trying new stuff

Business besties, there is a WHOLE series coming your way on rebranding, what I learnt and why you should book. the. professional. Just book them. After a couple of business coaching sessions, two wedding shows in September, and booking my first four clients for 2016, I knew the time had come to call in the professionals for a branding overhaul. Working with Lolita  was a dream. After seeing her work on Instagram and having a chat with her via email and across timezones, I signed up for a new year look. She then had it done for me in one month and it was ready by the end of November. Best investment ever. I hope you love it as much as I do! I have so much planned for this coming year and I love having you all along for the adventure. Thank you!

I also committed myself to try new stuff once a month for the year of 2015. It would be another whole blog post to show you what I got up to but I’ll leave this fun little delicious attempt here for you:

via GIPHY

 

13. A new offering from Paper Planes and Peaches 

Phew! This is quite the post! But I couldn’t think about wrapping up before mentioning a couple of incredible #girlboss connections I’ve made this year. I love living this creative life and the ladies it brings into my life. The support from these ones in particular has truly blown me away!

Leanne, Be You Health & Wellness: She is my yoga bestie (and by yoga, sometimes that means half price bottles of wine!) & she is doing incredible things for women & mothers. I’ve loved working with her on her branding and personal portraits this year and can’t wait to see what the future holds!

Anna, Spunky Sapphire Events: We met on Instagram. How cool are we!! But honestly, it’s so refreshing to chat to someone who is on the same journey of moving to new places and building business. I said yes to helping Anna with a styled concept shoot and can’t wait to work with her more this year!

Laura, Laura Olsen Events: It was one of those networking events that you kinda don’t want to go to. It’s winter and you’re nervous and you get there and it’s super awkward that you wish you had stayed in your two day old yoga pants and eaten a tub of ice cream. But then just as you are about to leave, you meet Laura and it’s like you have known each other for years. Haha, this sounds like a romance novel but this girl! So much love for her & her constant encouragement, bouncing of ideas over too much Starbucks & texts when we shouldn’t be working but we totally are!

Jenn, Jenn Kavanagh Photography: OH man, where do i begin with Jenn. Working weddings with her is so much fun (and I totally have a girl-crush on her work, I mean really!) But more than that, she is one of the kindest, most supportive people I now know. Thank you for everything lovely!

I’ve been working on an exciting project for Marcia of The Dessert Room. This girl is going places FAST. And I get to eat the leftovers!!! Go check out her brand new website that just launched today and if you listen really closely, you’ll hear me cheering her on from my office. Congrats on such an incredible year lovely. So happy our paths have joined!

This Christmas I was a little slack with decorating I won’t lie. The holidays kinda snuck up on me and I took a little time getting into the spirit of things. Lucky for me (& our front door), one of these gorgeous Ashley Elaine florals came home with me after a quick product shoot for this lovely lady. They will be available next season and I can’t tell you how delicious they smell!!

14. The cutest photo i took all year: Emily’s 1st Birthday Cake smash.

I mean REALLY?? Does this need any words? I’ll be blogging the rest of this beautifully sticky shoot over on Paper Planes and Peaches in the next couple of weeks (once we hear back from feature submissions) so for now, just scroll back up and enjoy the cuteness a little more!!!

15. The happiest news to end off a year: Krista & Dave’s announcement shoot

I wrapped up my work year with a couple of end of year coffee/lunch dates with some industry beauties (I’m determined to throw us a Christmas party next year!) But what made my catch up with  Krista (of KJ & Co, who has been helping me with my business coaching) was being let in on the happy news of their growing family. After a long wait. Oh man, my happy heart. These guys braved the chill with me at Merry Farms for a little Christmas tree announcement shoot, complete with the cutest little skates you ever did see! So excited to blog this one now that the Christmas announcement has been made!

BONUS #16 : The best news to start a new one!

MY BESTIE IS ENGAGED!!!!

(Photo from their family session I mentioned earlier! That place. That sky. These two! My happy tears!!!!)

Pretty perfect way to head into a new year if you ask me. I posted on New Year’s Eve that my year was beautifully ordinary. Because yes, it was filled with 15 wonderful highlights (& a whole bunch more!) but ultimately, my people are all happy and healthy and here and that makes my heart fuller and more grateful than anything else I could wish for.

Happy sweet ’16 friends. We hopefully get 366 days of this trip around the sun (yup, took me a while to remember too). Let’s make them count for something. Print your photos. Record your memories. Squeeze the ones you love. Forgive fast and laugh loudly. Look for the lessons in the challenges and most of all, give thanks for all that is good. Because there is OH so much of it!

xxx