Rustic Backyard Wedding in Eagle Rock, VA || Shawn & Kelsey's Clifton Forge Wedding

Let’s talk about the perfect Fall wedding day that Shawn & Kelsey had! Oh my goodness! After what felt like weeeeeeks of rain, their wedding day was sunny and beyond beautiful! There was the beginning of Fall chill in the air, and it really was just the perfect day!

Their day began at the most beautiful Hill Crest Mansion Bed & Breakfast in Clifton Forge, Virginia, where Kelsey got pampered with a mimosa bar, hair, makeup, and celebrations with her bridesmaids! Oh the bridal portraits we got on the porch there are to.die.for! The Southern Charm, I am just obsessed!

Their ceremony and reception was held on Shawn & Kelsey’s Farm and property- and guys, let me tell you! It was BEAUTIFUL! Tucked away in the middle of Eagle Rock, Virginia- there are mountain views every way you turn! Their friends and family gathered together to celebrate with them and they had a party! SO.MUCH.FUN.

Congratulations Shawn & Kelsey! What an honor it was to be there celebrating with you and your families!

Thank you to the amazing Vendors:

Getting Ready Location: Hill Crest Bed & Breakfast in Clifton Forge, Virginia

Bridal Gown: Reflections Bridal in Harrisonburg, Virginia

Flowers: The Flower Center in Clifton Forge, Virginia

Hair & Makeup Elaine Mitchells in Clifton Forge, Virginia

Ceremony Location: Their Farm in Eagle Rock, Virginia

Officiant: Dennis Nicely, The Grooms Grandfather

Coordinator: Shannon Woodson in Clifton Forge, Virginia

Catering: Court Street Restaurant in Clifton Forge, Virginia

The Club Car Shop & Deli in Covington, Virginia

Cake: Cakes Your Way in Covington, Virginia

DJ: Gavin Haynes in Clifton Forge, Virginia

Band: Chad Nickell and the Loose Change in Covington, Virginia

Favors: Old Dog Coffees in Covington, Virginia

Videographer: Bess Video Productions in Covington, Virginia

Photobooth: Sanders Family Photobooth in Lynchburg, Virginia

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Ashley Eiban is a Wedding & Portrait Photographer based in Central Virginia. Serving the Lynchburg, Charlottesville, Afton, Danville, Roanoke, Richmond, and surrounding areas. Available for travel world-wide.  Ashley is passionate about cultivating genuine relationships built on mutual understanding, trust and lasting friendship.  

Currently booking a limited number of wedding and portrait sessions for 2019. Interested in learning more? Inquire here! 

Beyond the Lens: Danielle Wallace with The Crimson Magpie Rentals & Design

I am SO excited to be sharing with you a new series while I'm out on maternity leave! I've asked some friends in the wedding and creative industry to write about a topic they're passionate about- whether that be tips helping brides while planning a wedding, what they've learned in their business, balancing life and owning a small business, plus so much more! Let me tell you- there's some amazing stuff coming up and I can't wait to share! 

Photo by Crystal George

Today, Danielle Wallace with The Crimson Magpie Rentals & Design is going personal today, and talking to us about how she survives as an Introvert, in an extremely extroverted field- the wedding industry! As an extrovert, when she told me what she was thinking about talking about, I was super excited! I love hearing and learning how I can love on others well- and knowing not to take things personally when my introverted friends just need to have a night off, or some alone time! 

Surviving being an Introvert in an Extrovert Centered Career

Reading an entire book in a day. Gardening in warm morning sunshine. Journaling in the stillness of night. Those moments are my idea of a good time. More often than not, though my reality is quite different. Imagine the hubbub of Grand Central Station combined with the blistering pace of the Indie 500 and the drama of “My Big Fat Greek Wedding.” Picture that and you have an idea of what it’s like to build a business in the wedding industry.

The wedding industry is bright and full of joy, creativity, passion and collaboration. It’s full of opportunities to solve problems both big and small. But as an introvert the continual need to be “on” socially exhausts me to the deepest part of my being. Add a very busy one-year old to the mix and some days I want to crawl into a closet with the aforementioned book and stay there forever. For the introverts reading this, you know what I mean. If you’re an introvert, well hopefully this helps you understand why your introverted friend canceled plans to go out Friday night. Here are a few of the things that help balance my introvert neurosis with my love for this crazy awesome wedding gig.

Photo by Adam Mullins

Behind the scenes. The song is coming to a close. The DJ is about to direct guests’ attention towards four tiers of buttercream perfection. Aunt June leans over and whispers she forgot to bring the heirloom cake knife. I make a dash to my kit and grab my spare cake server, and dash back to lay it calmly (don’t let me kid you, my heart is pounding out of my chest) on the table seconds before the bride and groom arrive to cut the cake. Okay, maybe not a super hero move in the same category as Clark Kent or Bruce Wayne, but I love filling in the numerous gapes so the wedding dreams of very special people go off without a hitch.

Organizational routines. The fuel of a successful event is organization, and lucky for me I love spreadsheets, timelines, calendars, bullet points, anything that smacks of a plan or a to do list. Que the entrance of my daughter (pride goes before a fall, anyone?)  last year making it almost impossible to be as organized as I would like to be. My latest comprise: I let her unwind an entire roll of toilet paper so that I can update my spreadsheet while doing calf raises because that counts as a workout, right? All you mamas who run a business while raising kids, you are my heroes.

Photo by Mixed Creative Company 

Intentional recharging. For me that means being completely alone. Alone isn’t really a thing when you have a child, so I’ve had to get creative. To be perfectly honest I have a way to go with this part of my life. There are days when I feel like I’m scrapping the bottom of the barrel. Sometimes my car is my sanctuary for half an hour while I write or read, which is not as depressing as it sounds! A big one is turning off my phone. A reprieve from digital human is a must, so instead (if I’m not working at night) I journal, or bake a treat to share with my husband while we binge on Stranger Things or The Office after our baby girl is in bed.

Really cool people. This one seems to contradict everything I’ve said previously, but I’ve met some amazing people in this industry. Many of my brides and grooms, their family members, and fellow vendors have impacted my life the past three years. My bride that hand-painted wall hangings for the nursery when my baby was born.  My bride that checks up on me regularly to see how I’m doing and ask about my life. Fellow stay-at-home vendor moms who reached out to me the first difficult months after my daughter was born. The former bride and groom turned friends who used their trailer to help me pick up rental stock and then wouldn’t let me pay them. My coworkers who have become best friends and yell at me when I’m not taking care of myself…I could go on.

Photo by Sherry Congrad

And I do go on! Let me have my quiet place to recharge, and I’m ready to hit the road again. The joy, the romance, the beauty, and the opportunities of the wedding world adds a depth and breadth to my world that I didn’t know was possible. I can’t wait to see what new adventures the 2018 season has in store.

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Ashley Eiban is a Wedding & Portrait Photographer based in Central Virginia. Serving the Lynchburg, Charlottesville, Richmond, and surrounding areas. Available for travel world-wide.  Ashley is passionate about cultivating genuine relationships built on mutual understanding, trust and lasting friendship.  

Currently booking a limited number of wedding and portrait sessions for 2018 and 2019.  Contact Ashley today for additional information!

Utilizing Slow Season & Setting up Systems || Lynchburg, VA Wedding Photographer

We're hitting the end of "slow season" for wedding photographers here in Lynchburg, Virginia! I'm so excited for the 2018 Wedding Season! I have the most amazing, gorgeous brides and I cannot wait to share the joy of their big day! 

I also really enjoy slow season. After a crammed packed fall each year, it is so nice to have some downtime to celebrate Christmas with my family, and then to have some slower days with a break in editing! I love to take this time to really nail down my workflows and systems for the year, as having these things in place make the rest of the year organized and doable! 

When going through this process, I start my day by writing down the pain points from my previous wedding season and what worked really well. If I have one wedding a month, things are a lot easier, but when there's 4 or 5 in a month, plus engagement sessions, a lot of the little things get dropped or delayed.  My goal is for each of my brides to have the same amazing experience! By recognizing the pain points, I can then brainstorm ways to make that easier for me to ensure it gets done on time.  

I also take this time to write out each and every point that my clients go through. From signing the contract, mailing the wedding guide, scheduling an engagement session, to showing up at the wedding location. Yes, this can take time to write it all out, but this is where you'll notice where you're dropping the ball, or where you'd like to have more contact with your clients! 

I LOVE that HoneyBook now has a workflow option where you can now input and automate a lot of your workflow- which is amazing!! I am able to automatically send emails to new inquiries, send reminders before engagement sessions, and see a list of tasks to do each day. 

There's always a lot to get done in the "slow season" like updating magazines and portfolio images, clean out my office & camera equipment, etc. but setting up my systems and workflows is always one that is SO worth taking the time to get done!

So tell me, what do you like to get done during slow season?

PS: Are you interested in Honeybook? Here's my link to get you 50% off your membership! http://share.honeybook.com/gNBpM  

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Ashley Eiban is a Wedding & Portrait Photographer based in Central Virginia. Serving the Lynchburg, Charlottesville, Richmond, and surrounding areas. Available for travel world-wide.  Ashley is passionate about cultivating genuine relationships built on mutual understanding, trust and lasting friendship.  

Currently booking a limited number of wedding and portrait sessions for 2018 and 2019.  Contact Ashley today for additional information!

Wedding Photographer Planning for Maternity Leave || Lynchburg, VA Wedding Photographer

Happy Monday! Phew- what a busy weekend we had! We’re in full baby prep mode as little guy could be coming any day now! All of the sudden I want and need to get all the things done. Ha!

We’ve been working on the finishing touches for the nursery- but let’s be honest- it’ll be a work in progress for quite a while and then it’ll be in transition as he grows.  I’ve also been working really hard on making sure all of my workflows and systems are working and in place so I don’t have to work as hard as we adjust to life as a family of 4. I’ve been batch working to get everything done and scheduled, and have some super fun blog posts coming in the next few months!

If you’re a small business owner, you know how hard it can be to fully step away for any amount of time, but it’s super important to me that I am able to bond with baby, recover and rest! I’ll share later about what I’m planning on maternity leave looking like for me. To be able to have blogs scheduled, emails automated, and workflows in place allows me to ease back into work instead of trying to balance it all at once, which we all know never works out!

Here are some ways that I’m preparing my business for some time off:

1- Lists of tasks that need to be completed before my leave, and responsibilities that continue on and I’ll need to follow up on while on leave. As of right now, I’m not planning on hiring a virtual assistant or anyone to answer emails for me, so while there may be a slight delay in responses, I’ll put up an away message and know my amazing clients are prepared for it and know I’ll be getting back with them soon!

2- Set expectations. By writing about maternity leave, posting about it on social media and emailing my clients ahead of time, I’m letting clients know what to expect.  I also have an away message up for new clients, and will change it up once I’m taking more time away and responses will be a little bit more delayed.  

3- Reviewing my systems and workflows. You know I always preach about workflows and how they make my life SO much easier! Going over the past year and being able to pinpoint those moments of pain or stress really help with creating changes for the next year. With this, I highly encourage having GMail filters in place, having automatic responses in place for new inquiries, and to take advantage of canned responses to emails where you get lots of similar questions about.  

4- I’ve reached out to some amazing Lynchburg, Virginia vendors and friends to help me keep the blog alive while I’m out. I am SO excited for this- hearing from professionals in all different aspects in the industry to help Brides and Photographers/Small Business owners alike.

5- Decide on a timeline! This is so important because it can be so easy to get used to not working and start dropping the ball on important tasks that need a timeline to get moving again.  I luckily was able to take things pretty slowly the last few weeks of my pregnancy office-wise to be able to prepare.  Knowing when my next weddings are and when I need to start working on things again will help make sure no balls are dropped.  I do have weddings scheduled and on the books in the next couple of months, but have backup plans and am still limiting how many weddings and sessions I’m taking over the year for 2018.  I’ll be easing back into working full time hours again slowly to get used to adjustments!

6- Be okay with asking for help! I know that each pregnancy, delivery and recovery is very different- as is each and every baby.  With Emmie, I was able to use nap times and snuggle times to get some work done. That may or may not be the case this time- and that’s okay. I know I have people on board that can help with emails, management, and whatever else I need and I need to give myself grace and ask for help if I need it!

So, that’s my plan for this exciting- yet scary - time full of so much unknown! I’ll be sure to update after the fact with what I learned worked and didn’t work for those of you who own a business and are looking at taking some time off!

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Ashley Eiban is a Wedding & Portrait Photographer based in Central Virginia. Serving the Lynchburg, Charlottesville, Richmond, and surrounding areas. Available for travel world-wide.  Ashley is passionate about cultivating genuine relationships built on mutual understanding, trust and lasting friendship.  

Currently booking a limited number of wedding and portrait sessions for 2018 and 2019.  Contact Ashley today for additional information!

Working ahead to be productive || Lynchburg, VA Wedding Photographer

Why is it that some days are just so much more productive than others? Anyone else run into this problem? I am constantly trying to figure this out for myself and whenever I find somewhat of a solution with my workflow, I like to share it!

First off, having set office hours is SO helpful for me. When I have a full day with nothing planned, I procrastinate and find myself quickly filling the time with everything BUT what needs to be done. Ha! So, planning ahead and knowing that I will be working tomorrow from 10am until school pick up at 2pm, then I need to be serious about my time working! 

I keep my paper planner cleaner with just the important dates and appointments, but I also use my iCalendar on my MacBook to block off time ahead for office hours and then will add some of the big tasks that I need to make sure happen during that timeframe! 

I’ve also found if I can plan ahead the night before or first thing that morning, I can stay on track a little bit easier.  I always have a running list going (hello Trello!) but each morning, writing down what needs to be accomplished that day, and being able to prioritize those tasks helps me so much.  I’m such a firm believer in getting things out of my head and onto paper so I have the mental capacity to think about other things instead of all the little things that need to get done!

For me, having it all written out and on paper is also so important to me! There is nothing like physically crossing off something to make you want to get more done!

So, I want to know- what tips have you found make you be more productive?

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Ashley Eiban is a Wedding & Portrait Photographer based in Central Virginia. Serving the Lynchburg, Charlottesville, Richmond, and surrounding areas. Available for travel world-wide.  Ashley is passionate about cultivating genuine relationships built on mutual understanding, trust and lasting friendship.  

Currently booking a limited number of wedding and portrait sessions for 2018 and 2019.  Contact Ashley today for additional information!