Today we’d like to introduce you to Madison Masey.
Madison, we appreciate you taking the time to share your story with us today. Where does your story begin?
I have always had a passion for photography, starting from the gift of a little pink point-and-shoot camera that I took on every family vacation as a kid. I did yearbook in high school and loved doing mini photoshoots just for fun with my friends. In college at Texas A&M University (Whoop!), I began doing family sessions and senior sessions for family and friends in order to fundraise for a mission trip to work in orphanages in Ukraine I went on my sophomore year. After I returned, I realized how much I still loved photography and kept doing sessions to make ends meet and help pay for tuition. In fall 2019, I began second shooting with a local wedding photographer and learned as much as I could before officially opening my business, Madison Grace Photo, in January 2020. I quickly fell in love with wedding photography specifically and knew I wanted to focus my business on capturing people’s best days ever. It’s such a blessing to get to witness and capture these moments of genuine joy. Zach and I got engaged in June 2020, and I quickly (like literally 2 days after he put a ring on my finger) threw him into the business with my backup camera and taught him on the spot as he photographed an elopement with me. Throughout our engagement and following our wedding, our perspective on wedding photography really shifted. We were now looking through the lens as if it was our own wedding day. It gives us a really sweet perspective on capturing weddings, as we see all of the little moments and details that we would want to photograph if it were our day as well. Being a husband-and-wife team also allows us to capture the day from both the bride and groom’s perspectives. Zach hangs out with the dudes all day while I focus on the bridal party. This way, the couple is able to look back on their day through their gallery and see the whole day from each other’s eyes as well as their own.
A few months after our own wedding day, we were vision-casting how we wanted the business to grow and how we wanted to use it as a ministry to bless young couples. At this point, I was still working a full-time job as a second-grade teacher and Zach was in full-time grad school. I knew I wanted to get to a point where photography could be my full-time job so I could really focus on it and make sure I was serving my couples well. As we were talking, we talked about things that had stressed us out during our engagement and how we could help avoid this for our couples. We wanted to center our business around not only capturing our couple’s wedding days well but supporting them throughout their entire engagement, building relationships with them, and being an encouragement to their marriage after the big day as well. In order to do this, we decided to add more team members and services to allow our couples to book a vendor dream team that would work together to create a seamless and consistent wedding planning process for our couples. In January 2022, we created our new business, Masey Wedding Co, keeping Madison Grace Photo as a branch of it. Our team now offers photography, florals, decor rentals, and coordination services. (Shout out to our talented florist McKenzie and coordinator Cora!) We offer discounts for our couples that choose to bundle services and absolutely love getting to be so connected and involved in the planning process. We love working in the wedding industry so much because it is highly relational, and we always end up becoming friends with our couples! Some of our favorite things about our job are seeing how giddy couples are when we first meet them, coffee dates for planning meetings, getting to pray over them before the ceremony, and seeing how excited they get when their inspo photos come to life with florals and custom-built decor, seeing them realize how absolutely beautiful they look in photos and getting together for double dates to catch up when they get back from their honeymoons. We also love traveling and have started traveling for weddings and elopements across the country! One of my favorite weddings we’ve done was an elopement in central park this past summer. One of my biggest goals is to travel internationally for weddings as well.
As of June 2022, I officially resigned from my teaching job and am absolutely loving working full time as the owner of Masey Wedding Co. and lead photographer at Madison Grace Photo. Zach also graduated and is working as a full-time youth and worship pastor, but still loves photographing weddings with me! I can’t wait to see how God continues to bless this business in the future! We have big plans for how we want to continue to grow our “small” business and use it to serve and encourage others in one of the most exciting seasons of their lives.
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not, what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
We definitely would not say the road has been all smooth. One of my biggest struggles was the timing of opening the business. I officially started Madison Grace Photo in January 2020 and was so excited to have booked 15 weddings for my first year of business. Obviously, with COVID starting in March 2020, I struggled with having the majority of the weddings canceled or postponed while also dealing with trying to plan my own wedding and graduate from college in the midst of it all. It was so hard not only to feel like the business would never make it but to watch my couples that I care so much for so sad and disheartened having to push their days or cancel them. I completely understood the need to be safe and stay home, and I am so blessed and thankful for the safety of my loved ones during the pandemic, but it was still very tough as a small business owner. Another struggle was continuing to grow it when it was just my side job, and I had a full-time job teaching 2nd grade. It was hard splitting my passion and work ethic between two jobs that I loved. The 2021-2022 school year was filled with 90-hour work weeks, very little sleep, and very little time left over to spend with family and friends. There were several times when I thought it was impossible and considered giving up photography altogether for the stability and financial security of a teaching job instead. Looking back on it, I am so thankful that I did not. I would not have been able to keep doing it without the support and help of Zach. He took care of almost everything around the house, edited galleries for me while he was in class (don’t tell his professors), and made sure that I took some time to relax as well. He really does love the business just as much as I do, even though photography is not something he had ever considered doing before we got engaged. I am so thankful that he was not only willing but encouraged me to take the leap and pursue leaving the education field to make photography and running the business my full-time job.
Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know about your work?
I am a full-time photographer, Madison Grace Photo, who specializes in weddings and couples. My husband, Zach, photographs weddings with me and also now co-owns our business, Masey Wedding Co. As a husband-and-wife photography team, we are known for capturing weddings from both the bride and groom’s perspectives and delivering a gallery full of “creamy and dreamy” photos you can feel. Our business is also set apart because we offer multiple services, making the wedding planning process stress free and easier for our couples. We genuinely care about all of our couples and feel so proud that they trust us with their wedding. We don’t take lightly the fact that we get to work with people on one of the best days of their lives; it is a huge blessing.
What makes you happy?
My biggest joys in life are Jesus, my sweet husband, photography, traveling, and cozy coffee shops (iced vanilla latte included.) I really just feel so blessed that the life I used to dream about is actually happening. I never thought I would actually be able to be a wedding photographer; it just seemed like a fun answer when people asked what your “dream job” is. I love getting to not only live out my dream job but do it with my best friend. Photographing weddings with my husband is so unique and fun!
Contact Info:
- Website: www.maseyweddingco.com
- Instagram: @madisongracephoto ; @maseydesignco
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/madisongphoto
- Other: https://www.pinterest.com/madisongracephoto/
