Today we’d like to introduce you to Brittany and Jeremy Bay.
Brittany and Jeremy, can you briefly walk us through your story – how you started and how you got to where you are today.
Jeremy and I were dating, both at a job that we hated. I came home in tears one day and said: “I can’t keep doing these meaningless, thankless jobs that I hate for the rest of my life!” We had also been discussing having babies one day and that I would not be working, or at least working from home for the first year of our children’s lives. It goes by way too fast, and I wanted to have a career where I wouldn’t miss their childhood. So with those conversations, mixed with my love for making tons of silly little videos and taking pictures of every mundane detail of my life, a lightbulb went off.
After drinking a bottle (yes, bottle) of wine, I decided to post on Facebook saying something along the lines of “if you’re getting married and want it filmed, I will film it for $100.” That day I got 13 people wanting me to film their wedding day. I didn’t even have a real camera. So for Mothers Day, Jeremy bought me a $500 starter camera and I went off to my first wedding, knowing absolutely nothing. Eventually, we borrowed a friends camera and Jeremy started to the second shoot for me. For the first 6 months, he hated it. And he was terrible. I was terrible as well, but at the time, I didn’t feel like this was right for him at all. I had never seen him do one creative thing so all of our weddings were me telling him what to do and how to do it.
Fast forward 6 months after we started and he was OBSESSED with video. I had started to do photography and realized that was more up my alley. We had a brilliant idea. Photo and video couple?! Heck yes.
We got married a few months later and that’s when our business really took off. Our first year (and every year since), we did 50 weddings. Filming and editing both photo and video for 3 years (one year while pregnant), was very difficult and tiring… but extremely rewarding. 7 months ago, Jeremy was able to quit his full-time career of 17 years and do videography full time. We have gotten past the struggles and are fully enjoying the benefits of our years of determination and hard work. We went from shooting for $100-$400 the first year to shooting at 10-15 destination weddings a year! We love our job more than words can say. It’s the ability to do what we love, travel, and work with our kiddos alongside. 🙂
Has it been a smooth road?
As soon as we got married, the next month we dove into our busiest month of weddings and it just never stopped. That first year of marriage was rough- but only when it came to business. It was a lot of me not liking what Jeremy was doing and trying to correct it, while he was really wanting me to give him space and figure it out for himself. That was the only difficult part of our entire relationship. I had to learn to be patient and let him find his groove… and boy did he. A year later, he had far surpassed my knowledge and creativity for videography.
I am so not on his level anymore! But I am so thankful for that. I really got to dive into photography head on and really try to master my craft. Now after 3.5 years, I am able to really concentrate only on photography and I couldn’t be happier. I was a crazy person for 3 years, trying to do both with barely any time to myself and not near as much time with my family— which was, after all, the whole reason I started photography/videography in the first place!
We’d love to hear more about your business.
Being a husband and wife photo/video company definitely sets us apart from other teams, because 95% of the companies we’ve found are both photo or both video. Our couples love that we offer both. We are a one stop shop! It’s such a different experience when we work with another photographer or videographer.
The groove that we’ve mastered after doing 200 weddings together isn’t near the same when working with someone else. We’ve learned how to help each other, rather than the complete opposite with someone we don’t know. It makes the day so much easier for everyone! We specialize in weddings, but I have really branched out this year! I did a ton of newborns, births, maternity sessions, families, and corporate work.
What I am most proud of with our company, is our relationship with our clients. We truly become so close to almost all of them. We don’t advertise at all, and yet we are booked solid every year. It’s because of our incredible clients who refer us to their friends! We couldn’t do it without them!
Is our city a good place to do what you do?
Isn’t Dallas a great place for most businesses?:) I truly love our city. Dallas has one of the highest averages for weddings (a little over $30k average), so I would say that it is great to be in Dallas for a wedding photographer. The downside would definitely be the lack of greenery and nature of course, but we do have some killer architecture!
Pricing:
- 3,500 – 9 hours wedding photography, 2 shooters
- 3,000 – 9 hours wedding videography, 2 shooters
- $6,000 – 9 hours both photography and videography, 4 shooters
- $300 – Portrait session, 30 portraits
Contact Info:
- Website: www.bayproductions.info
- Phone: 972-533-6901
- Email: brittany@bayproductions.info
- Instagram: @bay_productions
- Facebook: facebook.com/brittanybayproductions
Getting in touch: VoyageDallas is built on recommendations from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you know someone who deserves recognition please let us know here.
