Baltimore Maryland and Germany Wedding Photography Team

**Edit: As of July 2021, JHP is fully based based back in Maryland. The effects of covid were still hugely impacting life aboard well into 2021 so we made the extremely difficult decision to end our time in Germany after 1 year. 

I would be lying if I said I was not nervous to hit publish on this blog post! Hitting publish makes all of this feel even more real. With that said, I have some very exciting news to share with you all. My husband John, has accepted a job in Europe! As far as we know, on August 3rd of this year we will be on a plane to Germany to start an incredible new journey living abroad (for three years). Coincidentally, this also happens to be out 8th wedding anniversary! If you know us personally, it probably seems fitting that we would be venturing abroad on this day LOL. We will be living in a small town called Grafenwohr in the northern part of Bavaria. Our home will always be open to visitors so feel free to plan a trip to Germany!

I’m sure many of you are asking yourselves, “WHY”? Why on earth would you do this or even want to do this. What about your business? And this is exactly why I decided to write this blog post. Of course this is nerve wracking for many reasons but the positives out weigh all the negatives in our eyes. John and I have a deeply rooted love of world travel – Wanderlust at its finest. Living abroad is something we have actually talked about since John’s days in the Navy. It’s always been a possibility in our minds it was just a matter of having the means to do it.

John was actually offered the same job three years ago and turned it down to take a promotion here in Maryland. When the opportunity came a second time we decided to try with the notion that it probably wouldn’t happen. Not only did it happen, it happen fast! Even amidst a pandemic. John interviewed in March and received a tentative job offer in April. If you know anything about the government you know that all jobs are tentative pending a full background check which can take months and is not a guarantee. Plus, all orders had been on hold for government and military due to the pandemic. About 10 days ago John received his official job offer and we had our choice of two dates to be in Germany – We picked that date that best aligned with my 2020 wedding schedule.

Living abroad will allow up the opportunity to experience a new culture and to travel more easily to certain parts of the world. A couple bucket list items so far: Our first trip will admittedly probably be Prague since we’ll only be a 2 hour train ride way. Finally see Switzerland after our debacle when WOW Airline went under, Hike the Tour de Mont Blanc  – A 110 mile trek through the alps in France, Switzerland and Italy. Our goal is to see and do as much as possible while we are there. We even bought some new camp gear!

So what does this mean for my business. Lets chat about weddings first…

I want to make it very clear that I have ZERO intention of not running this business. I have poured literal blood, sweat and tears into building this business. Traveling for my clients is something I and always done and will continue to do. I still take weddings back in Washington state and have shot weddings all along the east coast and 2 destinations outside of the US – This is nothing new to me. It will look a little different though over the next few years. I normally take 30-35 weddings per year and will be reducing that to 15 weekends a year to lessen the stress of travel not only on me but also on my husband and our pups. I want to enjoy the limited time we have in Europe and still provide the best experience to my clients. I have built in the cost of travel for my remaining 2020 clients and of course 2021 and 2022 clients. Because I am taking such a limited number of clients each year as a PSA to future clients – Don’t wait to get on my books! But if you do, my fabulous team will take amazing care of you on wedding day!!

In addition to reducing the number of weddings that I personally take on for the next 3 years, I will be offering my Team’s services more frequently. THESE LADIES ARE ROCKSTARS! They are super talent and equally amazing and fun human beings! You’ll start to see more and more of them, and their work on my Instagram and Facebook over the coming months. With the addition of the Associate Team JHP as a whole has the ability to capture so many more beautiful love stories!

For my JHP Family and non wedding couples…

Don’t you worry! I got you covered! Since there is always more flexibility for you session, you will 100% still able to get you on my books for dates around weddings. I’ll be in town throughout the year and would LOVE nothing more than to see you all. I’ll be following up with a news letter that has more information available and I’ll keep you all up to date on my travel plans and upcoming session dates.

I have put together a list of some common questions clients have had so they can be answer right here.