Punctuality: Yea, I’m Going To Go There

Disclaimer: Before you get all ruffled please read this  LIFE happens. Many reasons get in the way of getting to places and meetings on time. Babies puke, tires go flat and sometimes you just spill coffee on yourself on your way out the door.  Stuff happens…sometimes.

Punctuality.  It’s a word you love or hate. There are just some people you KNOW will show up when they say they will and will be where they say they will be.  There are also some people who claim "on time" is anywhere with a half hour to even an hour of the set time frame.

As stated in my disclaimer, I know things happen. I live life too. But here’s the clincher. There is something very personal and insulting about people who just can’t/refuse to mind their time and are perpetually late.

Let’s put it on me. If I tell a client I will meet them to discuss their wedding at 5 pm and I show up at 5:20. Do you know what that immediately tells my client? It tells them, they are not high on my priority list and my time is more valuable than theirs.  If I can’t be on time to a meeting, will I be on time for their wedding day?  It sets a terrible precedent right from the beginning.

The reverse is the same.  If a client is late, I feel that they disregard my time as a professional.  As much as I want EVERY client to feel special, each client is not my only.  Sometimes I have back to back appointments, sometimes I have a little one waiting at home for dinner, sometimes it’s just polite to be on time.

My very good friend ( who I will not name) told me that being perpetually late is a childish behavior (ouch!).  She says things more succinctly than I do.  I can’t disagree.  It does take planning to adhere to a schedule whether it be a dinner out with friends, a business meeting or just telling someone you will meet them for coffee. It says a lot about how you view their time and yours if you are always late.  You are quietly and every so firmly announcing that your time is more valuable and you don’t respect theirs.  

You may disagree. You may shake your head wildly. I never thought of being late as disrespectful either, until someone explained it the way I just explained to you.  But let’s face it, we all have clocks. If we hate roman numerals, we have lots of digital answers to that. Being on time is a choice. (most of the time).  A flat tire doesn’t happen every time you leave, a child doesn’t puke on you every time you walk out the door and if traffic is a problem, plan to leave early.  It’s thoughtful, it’s professional, it’s kind to just be on time. Punctuality = respect.   That is all.  :)

Should you separate your professional and personal twitter accounts?

To tweet or not to tweet...

Breakdown from my point of view is pretty simple. 

My age group and beyond (ahem 30 and over) mainly use twitter on business related platforms.  We don’t  lament about relationships or subtweet so our friends/enemies understand what we are saying.  We do create conversational content, but it’s usually directly related to business or it’s something personal that’s fun and lighthearted. We rarely decide to open our hearts and divulge the fact that our parents are ruining our lives on twitter.

20-something twitters...  You have gotten through your teenage years with nearly exclusive rights to twitter. No one else knew what the heck it was, much more know how to use it!  You could tell your ex-boyfriend to shove it in one tweet and cry over your college syllabus the next.

Many 20 somethings are becoming entrepreneurs and ready to take on the corporate world. This is where separating personal and social media may be necessary. 

 Let’s use photography for instance.  If I’m a potential client who has decided to follow you, a photographer, the last thing I want to see is a tweet about the fight you had with your parents or an *@!% to your last boyfriend, then two minutes later there is an update about the last wedding you photographed, I'm going to unfollow rather quickly.

Do yourself a favor. Separate. If you are in your 20’s and you still need to vent on social media or claim how much a song reminds you of someone, you may need to cut the ties a bit or move into the world of complete professionalism and provide a twitter handle that only your clients can see.  The 20 year old's are at odds with this problem because you have been tweeting now for longer than my business has been alive. You are the first generation that has to decide when it’s time to “mature” and go pro on social media. Good luck!

Teens: have a new challenge. Your twitter world has been infiltrated. The business world has figured out how twitter works. Applying for college and jobs just got a little more interesting. Where once you could express how much the despise your math teacher or hate your ex-boyfriend’s new best friends' girlfriend’s sister, you are now being held slightly more accountable.  The person holding the key to your future may decide to see how you handle yourself on social media. Is it fair? I don’t know, but it's reality.  The choice has to be made at 15 or 16 now that whatever you put out there, stays out there and for the first time in history- your angry tweets and lovey dovey romantically notions can be considered by employers. 

Just the humble opinion moi :).

Upstate NY Wedding Photographer: Are Rustic Barn Weddings Just A Trend?

Trends come and go and change faster than ever.  So is it possible the beautiful barns and rustic venues that are the hot spot of the wedding industry right now will eventually become abandoned ideas of weddings from the past?

Some of my couples who are getting married in these types of venues have said “well it’s certainly trending right now”.  Yes, it’s true, rustic, chic weddings are all current and key words in today’s wedding world, but I would say, it's not just a trend.

Heck no, Rustic Weddings Will Never Go:
 Rustic barn weddings are not a trend.  I think you will see various forms of wedding trends come and go for this style of wedding, but as a whole it shows no sign of dying out. Plug in rustic weddings on Pinterest and you will see for yourself, it's a community of creativity overload!

How do I know this?
Because I know everything. ;) Just kidding, but I do know that rustic wedding have a strong dominance in the wedding market right now and vendors are continuing to thrive, create and provide better service for couples looking for rustic style weddings.  I also find that many NYC couples are making the short trek upstate to savor making their forever promises in the rolling hills of the Catskills and Schoharie County.

Couples are too creative
Couples are just too creative to let a good thing die. Rustic venues certainly serve a creative person’s style and inclination to deviate from tradition.  Creativity is not an exclusive right to a country style wedding, but between the blogs and magazines dedicated to this genre of wedding ceremonies, it certainly promotes a sense of uniqueness and I think you will see it grow and change and get better and better.

It’s more than mason jar magic now kids:

This past year I have seen many crazy cool twists and turns to the wedding industry in the rustic sense.  Mason jars were the early poster child for all things unique in the country wedding, but it’s become way more than that.
I encourage you to follow along on Pinterest as we post images from our rustic weddings and find some ideas of our own.
Check out a few of my boards as we continue to build on ideas - we always welcome to hear some of yours!  Amber J Weddings on Pinterest


Stay tuned for our next blog features Maple Shade Farms in Upstate NY. They have actually found a way to make a DIY wedding happen for you! I think it's a fantastic idea and I can't wait to share it with you!