I am devastated and frustrated. I have no one else to complain to, so I’m choosing to do it here, amongst my peers.

11 years ago I started my wedding photography business. I busted my ass for years to get to where I am today. I have always been so cocky – I own my own business, I make my own hours, the wedding industry is recession proof, people will always get married, etc etc.

When I started I knew working for myself came with inherent risks – owning a business is risky. But I felt like I was above it. My referral base is strong, my relationships are rock solid, I book all the business I need (and then some). I’m invincible!

Except I’m not.

Obviously no one could have predicted any of this, but as it stands my income for the next 3 months, best case, will be cut in half. Worst case, it goes to zero. Who knows what happens after that. I keep assuming things will ‘blow over’ by the Summer, but what if it doesn’t? Can I survive a full year with no income?

I’ve done well enough to be able to save for ‘rainy days’ but I never thought I would have to save for rainy years. I was too confident, and now everything is starting to come apart.

I have been considering a slow transition out of weddings into something else. I was going to start school this year and slowly taper my weddings over the next 4 seasons. Now that seems less plausible.

I’m not sure what the point of this is. I’m so so so frustrated, and frankly I’m very scared. I assume I’m not alone in this, so I’d love to hear from some of you. How’s your life? How’s business? What are your plans if things really go sideways? Will you be ok? How are your other vendor friends?

I’m hoping I can lean on this community as things seemingly get worse and worse.

Sigh…

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