This year was a big year for myself and Royal Photos! It was our second full fiscal year in business – May 2025 with be three years since our launch date – and our first full fiscal year in Missouri.
Let’s start at the very beginning of 2024 (well actually just a week or so before)…
Surgery
Just days after Christmas 2023, I was being wheeled out of MO Baptist Hospital after a four day in-patient stay that ended with my gallbladder being removed. This was after about 11 months of dealing with attacks, various symptoms, and even being unable to leave the house on my own at certain times. So 2024 started out pretty rough to say the least.
A Slow Start
January up until around March or April was definitely a recovery phase for me. I was getting out on my own, we worked with a few portrait clients and covered just a few weddings but for the most part everything we were doing was admin work – client communications, responding to inquiries, and reorganizing from the crazy year we just had.
Warmer Days
As the temperature outside picked up, our time spent behind the camera did too! We worked with some awesome senior clients, photographed some beautiful (and hot!) engagement sessions and weddings, and even traveled to Illinois with our favorite baseball team, the St Louis Clydesdales First Responders.
Wedding Season
It truly feels like wedding season came up on us and then flew right past us before I could even blink! We documented 8 beautiful weddings in less than 6 weeks – including our first triple wedding weekend September 20th, 21st, and 22nd.
The first wedding to kick that streak off was straight out of a movie and a long 15 HOUR day. It was absolutely amazing but talk about a lot of photos. We had 6,000+ images between three photographers and 5 cameras.
And just when we thought it was over, it kept going. We booked 4 “last minute” weddings this year – meaning they were booked within less than two months of their wedding date. Some were even booked within days of the wedding.
We also squeezed in a few senior sessions, engagement sessions, and a proposal somewhere between September and November.
Our last official booking of the year was an in home session for a repeat client just a couple days ago. We started with some individual portraits, moved to some group shots of their family and friends, and even documented them opening a few presents together! It was such a sweet moment, can’t wait to edit the photos.
Wrapping Up This Post
Even through all of the challenges we’ve faced, this year truly has been our best yet. And I know everyone says this but it couldn’t be more true for a business like this one, our clients and supporters are the reason we are able to do what we love and share that passion with others.
Thank you for an amazing year, wishing you nothing but the best in 2025!
Our 2024 Wrapped Stats
- Weddings & elopements documented: 21
- Portrait sessions: 15+
- Homes photographed: 6
- Concerts covered: 2
- Total galleries sent out: 74+
- States visited: 5
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