Hey, Danyell here! Today, I wanted to talk a bit about what it’s like working together with your spouse. When you book with LVP Studios, you’re booking to work with a husband and wife team–so, what does that mean for you? Thankfully, Trevor and I love working together. We’ve been doing it ever since we met while working together at our corporate jobs. So, assisting each other as a team, accomplishing tasks side by side, and creating the perfect day for you is something we can do with ease (and have been doing so for years)!

This wasn’t something we always dreamed of doing.

Firstly, let’s start with a little background about us…

We went to school for entirely different things than what we’re doing now. I graduated from Indiana University with a degree in Informatics. While Trevor got his degree in Kansas for Software Programming. Needless to say, we’re both very techy people and expected to work our entire lives behind a desk looking at code and databases. Taking photos or capturing video wasn’t something we always dreamed of doing.

We met at work in Kansas City where we worked for a company doing IT Support for health care software. Our relationship was very professional for the longest time before I finally came over to Trevor’s apartment 3 months later for a movie night… and the rest is history as they say. We fell in love hard and fast, and because we worked together (literally only a desk apart) we were nearly inseparable. Learning to work together during our time at a corporate job taught us a lot about working together as a team with LVP Studios too. That’s what makes us so great at what we do! But, more on that later.

Most about pages that we see in this industry share how they’ve had a camera in their hand since they were a toddler or tell some grand story about their love for creating movies in high school, but that wasn’t it for us. We weren’t interested in videography or photography professionally until the idea literally fell onto our laps by an engaged friend who wanted a wedding video.  It started like this–we were talking with other engaged friends about wedding planning when videography was first mentioned. Suddenly a spark was born, and we realized that this was something we had a passion for. We already had camera gear that we used for our YouTube vlog channel, so I started researching how we could make this into a career. Our first booked wedding was for that engaged friend who originally brought it up!

Research shows that:

• Creating shared business and family goals lead directly to greater happiness.
• Positive outcomes actually result from sharing both the good and the bad regarding the business.
• Entrepreneurs need to be on the same team.
• Showing gratitude and being loving, fun, intelligent, and honest are important.

Despite what the science says, there is no easy answer on whether or not you should work with your spouse. Between the research and from our personal experiences, it can actually be a good thing. It guarantees that you spend time with your spouse, gives you peace of mind knowing that business is in good hands (your partners’ that is, who you can trust the most in the world), and in our opinion, it’s a win-win.

Now, don’t get me wrong, I’m not here to tell you that working with your spouse is always a breeze. However, we make it work really well!! We’ve been doing it for years, have very strong communication skills, and understand each others boundaries which makes working together something that we can do with ease.

How we make it work

1. We know each others’ love language.

This is something from the author of The 5 Love Languages, and you can find the quizzes here. Trevor and I are both strong believers that knowing the love language of all of the important people in your life makes working together and taking care of each other so much easier. We highly recommend you find out the love language of many people that you work with… even if they aren’t a “lover” per se.

Trevor’s love language is Words of Affirmation. This means that I as a partner in life and business know that giving him praise, letting him know that what he is doing is appreciated, and acknowledging his work with kind words brings him joy and encourages him. Knowing that Trevor’s love language is Words of Affirmation means that I can better equip myself with the skills needed to work best along side him.

On the other hand, my love language is Acts of Service. This means that I appreciate when people do tasks for me, complete things that are taking up my time, and do even little acts like loading the dishwasher, carrying my bag, and assisting me when necessary. Trevor knows that my love language is Acts of Service, therefore, he can think about the best ways throughout a wedding day that would make me happy and support me in the things that I need.

2. We don’t talk about work 24/7.

This was a rule for us even when working in our corporate jobs. Back then, we had about a 30-45 minute drive home. This was our time to dump out any drama from the day, talk about work (the good and the bad), and get whatever happened during the work day out of our system. Then when we got home, we made it a rule to stop talking about the office, our work, and anything related to our corporate jobs.

While these same exact steps can’t apply to our self-employment business, the same concepts still do. We understand each other’s boundaries when it comes to how much we can talk about work during the day and create mental time frames when work talk is simply not allowed (like almost anytime after dinner).

3. We have separate work spaces.

This concept kind of goes hand-in-hand with the idea of not talking about work 24/7. Ensuring that we have separate work spaces means that we can get things done apart from one another and work independently. So, even though we may be doing similar business related work, we can feel as though we are apart.

I often work at the studio, but if I’m not at the studio I make an amazing living room desk out of a TV Tray. And Trevor works primarily in his basement “game room” at home. That means that even if we are both at home at the same time we are working in completely separate areas on completely different levels of our home.

4. We do a date night once a week.

Having a date night once a week forces us to shut off work and focus on each other. That being said, date night doesn’t always (actually, it doesn’t usually) mean that we go on a “real date” or hit the town. Typically date night just means that we are giving each other our undivided attention. It’s nice to know that we have this regularly scheduled time on our calendar that is off limits for any work related events or sessions. Our date nights typically include a movie on the couch while eating dinner together and munching on some popcorn.

What can you expect from us on your wedding day?

The reality of working together as a husband and wife team means that there is ultimately good and bad in all aspects, so we must talk and collaborate often. I don’t find that us being husband and wife makes our team dynamic much different than that of any other duo vendor on your wedding day. However, I do find that there are often times where we can better communicate because of our already established relationship. For example: you can expect us to know what we mean when saying only a few words to each other. We also are really good at not saying anything and pointing, raising an eyebrow, etc. and just know what that means in our own little language.

Communication is definitely the biggest element that we share and you can expect on your wedding day. We communicate often, well, and very clearly to one another. This allows us to work my fluidly together and always be on the same side when it comes to how we want to handle particular situations. While our communication on your wedding day is very relational and fun, we still keep things professional and cater to the needs of you and your spouse in that moment. We know when we can crack a joke about our spouses in the kitchen or when it’s more appropriate to keep quiet and let you all have intimate moments.

Working with a husband and wife team like us is the best way to document your wedding day. Knowing that as you are marrying the love of your life, the team capturing every moment in photos and videos is also doing so with the love of their life by their side. Having a husband and wife team on your big day allows us to connect to each of you individually and create a fun couples atmosphere too!