What It Is Like Working With Your Spouse?

We often get the same couple of questions about working as a husband and wife wedding photographer team.

“Is it hard working with your spouse?”

“How can you work together all the time, don’t you get tired of each other?”

“How do you split up the work?”

“Do you guys EVER fight??”

There are plenty of other husband and wife teams out there and everyone’s experience is a little different. But for us, the answer to these questions are easy and surprise most people. It is assumed that a husband and wife cannot possibly stand each other’s company for long. That over time, a couple is supposed to move from love and commitment to an attitude of merely tolerating each other. We have seen this narrative played out in movies, TV shows, and social media. But the truth is, a marriage doesn’t have to be this way. It should actually be the opposite.

It’s About Working Together

A marriage is a unity between to people and a commitment far stronger than a business partner. Much like running a business together, in marriage you and your spouse make very similar decisions. You decide together how much money should be spent and on what. You decide together how time should be spent, where you travel, where to work, where to live, and much more. These decisions are far more important than the day-to-day decisions of a business because they impact both you, your spouse, and your future children.

For Leidy and I, we decided to photograph weddings together BECAUSE we are married to each other, not in spite of it. If you believe that there is no way you would be able to run a business with your spouse then you should consider ways to strengthen your marriage. Your husband or wife is your best friend and partner in all things, not a roommate to be tolerated. We believe this to be the biggest lie about being married and we hear this on TV shows and internet memes far too often.

Unity Under A Common Goal

There are other reasons why we decided to shoot all our weddings together. From a purely business standpoint, it would make sense for us to split our weddings up and shoot two weddings on the same day. But for us, we wanted to put people before making money. We have always felt we could serve a couple better by working as husband and wife wedding photographer team. Take a wedding ceremony as an example, Leidy photographs the bride and groom from their perspective. At the same time, Josh activates photographer ninja mode and captures candid moments of the family and guests in a photojournalistic way that completes the couple’s wedding ceremony story. Sharing this philosophy not only guides our business in a direction that serves our couples better, but it brings us closer together as husband and wife. Working with your spouse does that, unites you under a common goal.

Enjoy Your Time Together

Not only is our business something we are deeply passionate about, but it helps maximize our time together. Contrary to how the media portrays a husband and wife, we actually LIKE spending time together. Imagine working with your best friend, doing something you love to do while helping people at the same time? How could we not love working together?

We believe that working together is a natural extension of our marriage. Because marriage is amazing and spending as much time with your spouse is too. This is a major reason why we became Grand Rapids wedding photographers.

Leidy and I have been working together long before we were married. We literally got through our graduate program by working together. So working together now is a natural progression to our relationship and marriage.

We find that working together has brought us closer. Perhaps is the nature of the work we do. Maybe the fact that we photograph happy couples in love makes us love our work and strengthens our love for each other that much more. Starting this journey together has made our daily life and marriage a happier and more intimate one. Which is evident by all the love notes we leave each other. =)

Working With Your Spouse

We encourage all our couple and readers to find a way to work together with their spouse. Whether we are talking about remodeling the house, building furniture or starting a business together. The memories you’ll make and all the things that you create together will enrich your relationship and strengthen your bond as husband and wife. Besides, think of all the opportunities to play jokes of each other during this time! Even if you don’t work in a business with your spouse, working together in the game of life isn’t any different. If you are looking for ways to strengthen your relationship, we recommend The Five Love Languages to all of our couples!