We were lucky to catch up with Kelsey Muma recently and have shared our conversation below.

Kelsey, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today We’d love to start by getting your thoughts on what you are seeing as some the biggest trends emerging in your industry

The wedding industry as a whole is one constantly evolving trend and similar to fashion, it’s been fun to seen some cyclical trends!

For the most part our parents and grandparents did not have weddings the same way as we see for Millennials & Get Z today. Every detail is perfectly orchristrated and there’s a lot of room for individual expression that never existed decades ago. In older generations wedding were quite simple and today starting with save the dates all the way to cakes, there is abundant opportunity for punches of personality, creativity and uniqueness.

One major “trend” that I’ve seen come back is film photography, which I’m probably more aware of than your average Joe and also actively “participate” in this trend, as I offer film in addition to digital. Film is special because there’s no instant gratification of being able to immediately look back at how a photo turned out and there’s also no guarantee that the shots even turned out at all, but this is why film is messy, fun, grainy, imperfect and a look that simply cannot be recreated. I personally am a BIG film fan and hope in stays around forever.

An example of a cyclical trend I’ve seen come back in the wedding industry are kitschy 80’s style cakes with ruffled tulle piping and layers on layers! On the flip side, unique long rectangle shape cakes and DIY cakes, like a live-made tiramisu are all the hype.

Regardless on where someone’s wedding falls on the spectrum of trendiness, it’s important to chose details that you love and that feel true to you, not just simply a trend that you think looks cool.

Kelsey, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

My name is Kelsey Muma and I am Southern-California based wedding and engagement photographer.

Professionally, I’ve always worked in marketing while ALSO building my photography business. 2025 is a pivotal year, since I’m all in on photography! I’ve been lucky to grow organically via all word-of-mouth and also Instagram.

I am most proud of the relationships I have with “strangers” entering their wedding day, which is arguably one of the biggest days in anyone’s life. It’s incredible to be side by side with people on their best day and support them in a way that is meaningful. Every relationship is different, every family dynamic is different and every wedding is different, so it’s really important to have strong emotional IQ as a wedding since I’m interacting with SO many people on a wedding day.

Having clients that return later on for maternity or family photos is even more special too and a blessing to be part of moments in their life that mean so much.

Where do you think you get most of your clients from?

Instagram – I don’t pay for any leads and believe that your BEST clients will always come to you naturally.

What else should we know about how you took your side hustle and scaled it up into what it is today?

It sure did! I’ve worked in digital marketing since graduating college back in 2017. While camera gear is expensive, I always had my full time job in the marketing world to fund my photography as it just ramped up.

I also believe that no matter what industry you work in there is a common dominator to ramp up, sweat equity.

I shot for free a lot in the beginning to build up my portfolio and don’t think I’ll ever retire from this mentality. If there is a brand I want to shoot with today, I’ll reach out and offer a free shoot. If you’re selling products, give them away for free. If you’re playing music, perform for free. If you’re a photographer, shoot for free. Repetition creates consistency and through consistency you learn and grown, then before you know people will come to you.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.kelseymumaphotography.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/kelseymumaphoto/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kelseymuma/

Image Credits

All Kelsey Muma Photography :)