Kala and Keith's Surprise First Dance

You always hear stories of “bridezillas” but very rarely do you hear of a bride sharing the spotlight on her special day but Shelby did just that. When asked to describe the most special moment of her wedding day, Shelby wrote about the first dance she surprised her friend Kala and her new husband with.

“One of our close friends got married the week before us, I was a bridesmaid her wedding, and she was one in ours. Unfortunately, at her reception, there was a glitch with the sound system, and they could never get her first dance song to play. This wasn't okay with us, so we talked to our DJ and told him what to do.”

“After our first dances, they were called to the dance floor. Confused, they head that way as our DJ starts to explain to the crowd how they were newlyweds robbed of their first dance. Cue their song, and the most precious scene unfolds as Keith is singing to Kala and they get their first dance. I cried so hard. Being able to stand in the back with my husband and watch them experience that moment was one of the best parts of that day.”

Shelby truly has a heart of gold and we adore this story so much. It was easily one of our favorite moments of the wedding day and we are sending so much love to both couples!

Lacy Matusek Photography Named Winner of The Knot Best Of Weddings 2020

Fourteenth Annual Best of Weddings Awards Honor Top Wedding Vendors Across America



Raleigh, North Carolina — Lacy Matusek is pleased to announce that she has been selected as a 2020 ­­winner of The Knot Best of Weddings, an accolade representing the highest- and most-rated wedding professionals as reviewed by real couples, their families and wedding guests on The Knot, a leading wedding planning brand and app. 

In 2020, only five percent of hundreds of thousands of local wedding professionals listed on The Knot received this distinguished award. In its fourteenth annual year, The Knot continues its longstanding tradition of supporting local wedding vendors with The Knot Best of Weddings 2020, an annual by-couples, for-couples guide to the top wedding professionals across the country. To determine the winners, The Knot analyzed its millions of user reviews across various vendor categories, including venues, musicians, florists, photographers, caterers and more, to find the highest rated vendors of the year. These winners represent the best of the best wedding professionals that engaged couples should consider booking for their own unique wedding. 

The Knot has inspired 25 million couples (and counting!) to plan a wedding that’s uniquely theirs. With a rich history of providing high-quality content and inspiration, The Knot makes it easy for couples to connect with and book the right wedding professionals to create their perfect wedding day. On The Knot Marketplace, couples can get connected to any of the hundreds of thousands of local wedding professionals across the country. The Knot Best of Weddings gives couples the confidence to find and book the best local vendors to bring their wedding visions to life. In combination with years of trusted content, The Knot’s innovative technology makes planning one’s wedding celebrations easier and more enjoyable.

Wedding professionals who win The Knot Best of Weddings are members of WeddingPro, the leading B2B wedding brand. As the largest marketplace and community for wedding professionals, WeddingPro connects businesses with more than 13 million visitors per month who are planning weddings on The Knot and WeddingWire, as well as with hundreds of thousands of pros in the industry. Through its online marketplaces, educational programs and community-building events, WeddingPro is dedicated to helping wedding professionals build relationships with couples and pros that grow their businesses.

For more information about The Knot Best of Weddings and this year’s winners, please visit https://www.theknot.com/vendors/best-of-weddings.

About The Knot

The Knot is the nation’s leading multi platform wedding resource offering a seamless, all-in-one planning experience—from finding inspiration and local vendors to creating and managing all guest experiences, wedding registries and more. The trusted brand reaches a majority of engaged couples in the US through the #1 wedding planning website TheKnot.com and #1 iOS and Android mobile app The Knot Wedding Planner, The Knot national and local wedding magazines, and The Knot book series. Since its inception, The Knot has inspired approximately 25 million couples to plan a wedding that’s uniquely them. Visit The Knot online at TheKnot.com and follow on social media: Facebook.com/TheKnot and @TheKnot on Twitter, Pinterest and Instagram.

An Open Letter To All Small Business Owners

Straight out of college I thought I would be set. I had a commercial photography degree and a business minor. I was ready to take on the world, start my own business, work when and where I wanted to, never have to wake up early, basically it was going to be vacation every single day! Boy was I wrong. I had absolutely no idea how hard it was going to be to not only start, but run a legitimate business. There is no check list of all the things you need to do your first year in business (trust me, I've checked.) Also, I have this irrational fear that I'm filing my quarterly sales taxes incorrectly and I'm going to get audited by the IRS, and then I remind myself I'm probably not making enough money for them to care.

Here's the thing, sure, I could be like every other so-called photographer and start a facebook page, slap some pictures up and start taking paid gigs for next to nothing. But there's a catch. I'm not like every other person with a DSLR. I went to school for four years and paid to get a degree in photography. So right off the bat I have overhead costs that are much higher than most people's, but along with that debt, come's experience. I actually know what I'm doing. So yeah, you can hire your friend and they can show up to your wedding with a decent camera and get some okay photos but what if something goes wrong? I have the knowledge, the skills, and the ability to overcome the unknown and you'll be able to tell a difference in our photos. So yes, the market may be saturated, but you get what you pay for. 

I don't have to set an alarm and wake up at 6 a.m. every day, thankfully, because I am NOT a morning person. But some days I wish I had the luxury of a set schedule. I don't go in to work at 8 and get off at 5. If I get an email or a Facebook message at 11pm, people expect me to respond immediately. I always have to worry that if I don't respond quickly enough, a potential client will move right on past me to the next possible photographer. It's frustrating but it's the way of the world. I am always on social media trying to keep up with wedding trends, answer client's questions, and posting on Instagram daily (do you know how hard it is to come up with something interesting to say EVERY. SINGLE. DAY. I promise my life isn't that interesting, y'all!) 

Don't get me wrong, I absolutely love my job. Meeting new people and connecting with old friends is what makes this so much fun. I love that I get to be with people on the happiest days of their lives and I wouldn't trade it for anything. However, you always have to remember that life isn't always as easy or as much fun as it appears on social media, we all struggle sometimes. 

3 Tips For Choosing The Best Photographer For YOU!

I spend a lot of my time on social media, just like most of you, scrolling through friends' posts on Facebook and liking cute photos on Instagram. However, I also use social media to keep up with current wedding trends, to find new clients, and to try to help brides who are desperately trying to navigate their way through Pinterest and plan their own dream wedding. 

I do my best to stay active in wedding groups on Facebook, not to promote myself, but to lend a helping hand whenever possible. One of the most frequently asked questions is something along the lines of, "HELP! There are so many wonderful photographers in my area and I don't know how to chose the right one!" So, yes, I would love to say "ooh, ooh, pick me! pick me!" to every bride across the globe, but let's be honest for a second, that's simply not going to happen. So here are my three tips for picking a wedding photographer!

1. Before we move on, let's start by talking about money. This really should be the first step in looking at anything during your wedding planning process. You have a budget and you unfortunately have to stick to it. Of course we would all love these elaborate shindigs, but someone has to pay for it. If you can't afford a particular photographer (or really any vendor!), no matter how much you love their work, at the end of the day you simply can't hire them. I will always encourage you to evaluate what you're spending money on and make sure that it's allocated in a way you're happy with, but you only have so much. Just like any other business, we can't discount our packages just because you can't afford it, we have expenses too. 

2. Of course it is important to make sure that you actually like the photographers work. Check out their website and instagram page. Are you absolutely in love with their photos? Something I always recommend is to think about looking at these photos 10 and 20 years from now. Does this photographer have a style that might look dated? Is there a chance that you'll look back on your wedding photos and think "Oh my gosh, that is SO 2019, I can't believe we thought that looked good.." You want your photos to be timeless. But I guess in the 80's they probably thought shoulder pads and big hair looked good so who knows!

3. So you had a list of photographers in your area, I'm sure the budget issue knocked some of them off, some of them you didn't like their style, but now you have it narrowed down to a handful and you're stuck! Now comes the most important factor - personality. The thing that you may not think about is the fact that you will be spending practically your entire wedding day with your photographer by your side. Think about that for a minute, you are going to be spending 8-12 hours on the most important day of your life with this person! You want to make sure that they are someone you can count on if something goes wrong (because something almost always does) and you want them to feel like a friend. Because by the end of your wedding day they will have probably seen you laugh, seen you cry, and possibly even cried along with you. 

The Five Love Languages

One of my all time favorite things to learn about and discuss is the five love languages. Dr. Gary Chapman wrote a book in 1995 about how people both perceive and show love in different ways. He categorized these 5 ways as: receiving gifts, quality time, words of affirmation, acts of service, and physical touch. In order to be able to connect with your partner on a deeper level, it is important to not only know what the love languages are, but which ones are important to you and your partner. There are tests you can take online to figure out your love language but I just want to take a little time to break each one down for you in layman's terms so you can start applying them to your daily life! 

Receiving Gifts - Personally, this is one of my love languages, it's one of the ways I show affection. I do it with my friends and family as well as my clients. I will always stop and buy little trinkets on vacation or even at the grocery store just to show "I'm thinking of you." At Christmas, I LOVE to give presents. I send all of my brides customized wedding boxes and I love picking things out for them. However, I'm not all about getting presents. If you want to show me you care, I don't want elaborate gifts, there are other things I'd rather you do or say that mean more to me. 

Quality Time - This is how I'd prefer you show me that you care. My biggest pet peeve is when someone is on their phone when we're spending time together. I want you to be present and in the moment with me. Once again, it doesn't have to be anything elaborate, snuggled up on the couch watching a movie is just fine. To me, this is all about the time spent together more so than what we're actually doing. 

Words of Affirmation - This one is pretty straightforward. Sometimes it is just nice to hear how much someone appreciates you. A simple "thanks for doing the dishes tonight" can really go a long way. Also, flirting tends to get lost in relationships after a while. Tell your partner they look good!

Acts of Service - How many of you would absolutely love it if you came home to a clean house? Or maybe dinner being made? These actions rather than words are another way to show that you love and appreciate one another and want to help each other out.

Physical Touch - Although this one may seem very simple, you have to keep in mind that physical displays of affection also fall into this category. Are you all for kissing in public and holding hands every chance you get? What if your partner is uncomfortable with that?  

At the end of the day, everything always comes down to communication. Without talking to your partner, you will never have a successful relationship. Maybe sit down with them tonight and talk to them about which love languages they think they use to show love and which ones they use to perceive love (hint: they aren't always the same ones!) If you are always trying to show love through physical touch and they perceive love more through something like words of affirmation, try to consider that and make it a point to tell them how much they mean to you every once in a while!