Best of 2020 Weddings, Elopements, Editorials and Personal Projects

2020. What can I say about this year?

I have to confess I can’t believe I just made a “best of” of my “worst” professional year ever. In 2020 I only had one wedding. It was an elopement (wedding with no guests) of a Portuguese couple. When the cancelations started I always thought “at least I’ll have that one”. Because 90% of my weddings are Destination Weddings, which bring guests from all over the world, it became very hard to keep on having weddings during this pandemic.

After months of anxiety and of watching as many Disney movies as I could – it was the only thing that would cheer me up – I decided to start taking advantage of what was happening and doing things that I love: editorials and personal projects. And that’s mostly what you’ll see in this best of 2020.

Looking back at those pictures, I’m really proud of what I was able to do during such a hard year. If you asked me before I made the selection how my 2020 went, I would mention laziness, procrastination, discouragement, a year that went nowhere. But after seeing the pictures I’m convinced of the opposite! It was a tough year for sure. But it involved much strength, resiliency, creativity and it made me grow. For a while, I felt I was on autopilot and that I needed a break to breathe and think about what I should do next. 2020 brought me that break in a hard way. It was a slap in the face, a punch in the gut, and a giant drop in sales.

It was a tough year, but I’m really proud of what I was able to do! These photos wouldn’t be possible without the help of all my colleagues and friends that supported me during this shitty year. Many of the pictures you’ll see in this “best of 2020” come from a project that was born this year: Women Wed Affair. It made me get back to work and continue doing something that makes me so happy. Thank you to my girls Bruna from Muza, Cati from Cati Beauty, and Migalhinha from Migalha Doce.

Now let’s hope for 2021 full of weddings! At least more than 2020, because I miss shooting parties, smiles, tears, and love!

A big hug to all my colleagues and friends from the wedding business and to all the couples that had to postpone their weddings.

I’d just like to leave a final note to the colleagues that may be reading this post and feeling some anxiety or thinking that they should’ve done more in 2020. If you didn’t do anything that’s alright! It was a terrible year and the good part of being our own boss is not having to explain ourselves to anyone.

I’m addicted to my work and it brings me tons of joy. Pictures are my oxygen. I hope 2021 will bring us health, money, work (balanced with our personal lives), many parties, and many weddings for us to cry of happiness while we shoot them!