We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Laur Fernandez. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Laur below.

Laur, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Let’s talk about social media – do you manage your own or do you have someone or a company that handles it for you? Why did you make the choice you did?

I currently manage my own social media as most of my leads come from Instagram! I think it’s so important to build a presence and set a foundation for your social media to show a face behind the business. With so much competition and beautiful images on Instagram, it’s important to build trust with your audience so they know who you are before they even reach out to inquire! I try to focus on the experience with my couples more than just delivering pretty images. If the couple has loved the experience of working with me and I can build a good relationship with their friends and family on the day of the wedding, that is what makes me most excited and I try to show that as much as I can through my social media.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

I am a wedding and elopement photographer based in Denver, Colorado but get to travel all over the state for my couples! I started photography in high school and got serious about it in college when I bought my first pro camera. I started off doing graduation sessions at my school at UCF, but quickly realized my love for weddings. I second shot for an entire year in Orlando in 2017 to learn the ins and outs of wedding day before acquiring my own bookings. Once I built up my reputation, I made a choice to move to Colorado in 2019 in hopes of dreamier landscapes, a more active/outdoor lifestyle, and a chance to book beautiful mountain weddings. A few years later, I am so grateful to say that I am doing exactly that! From family sessions and couple portraits to weddings, elopements and lifestyle shoots, I fell in love with the entire process. My favorite part of my job is I get to be with clients on some of the most happiest days of their lives! I get to see their lives change and grow as most of my couples carry their relationship on with me over time. It’s an honor to continue working with my clients and watching their family keep growing! I have connected with so many amazing humans in this beautiful state and feel that I have truly found where I belong in the wedding industry.

I take a very experience-based approach with my clients. I like to hop on video calls right away and start building a relationship as soon as possible. Wedding planning can be A LOT and my goal is to educate my couples as much as I can with what will work best for them, rather than what the industry standard is. I love bouncing ideas off of one another and helping them understand what their priorities are. Your wedding day doesn’t always have to fit the template. Cherry pick your favorite traditional aspects, but don’t be afraid to change things around to make it feel uniquely true to you and your partner!

Looking back, are there any resources you wish you knew about earlier in your creative journey?

I honestly wish I just knew that it is okay to ask for help and it is definitely okay to invest in yourself! I was an art major in college, so I did not have any business background before starting my photography business. For a while, it felt like I was able to just meet cool people and take pretty photos. But I quickly learned that so much more was needed to actually build and operate a business. Learning the not-so-fun stuff… like , payroll, taxes, advanced marketing strategies, etc. As business owners, we can wear so many hats and sometimes it can be confusing and overwhelming to even know where to begin.

There are an abundant amount of free resources that are great when giving tips and lessons learned from other entrepreneurs, but that can also lead to a lot of self trial and error at times. It’s fun to test strategies and see what works, but after a few years of doing that I knew it was time to invest in a business program to help me truly understand what I was missing. This program was wedding industry focused and helped pinpoint what areas of my business I truly needed to focus on. It was honestly one of the best decisions I have made since going full time and really taught me how to operate like a business, while still deeply connecting with my clients. It can be scary betting on yourself or having someone else bet on you, but you will never truly know what you’re capable of unless you take that leap of faith.

What do you find most rewarding about being a creative?

There are so many rewarding aspects of being a creative like simply creating art for a living, getting to witness the most intimate moments of a wedding day with my couples, hiking before sunrise to reach an epic spot for elopements. But I think the most rewarding aspect of being a creative is reaching a point where you truly find your style and when your couples work with you specifically for that reason I think. It took me a very long time to find my style and it still keeps evolving today. In the past I would say yes to anything and everything even if I wasn’t super passionate about the project. It can be tough figuring out where your true passion lies and what fuels your fire!

But after so many years starting out and saying yes to everything, I eventually started to niche down once I got to Denver and figured out the projects that lit my soul and passion. Now the clients who reach out to me are absolutely stoked about my work/style and what I offer. I often hear now, “Oh we trust your vision, just have fun and do your thing and we can’t wait to see what you create!” I can’t think of a higher honor than that.

Contact Info:

• Website: laurfernandezphoto.com
• Instagram: @laurfernandezphoto
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/laurfernandezphotography/

Image Credits
Laur Fernandez Laur Fernandez Photography