(Pictures from Top Left to Bottom Right: Millie’s Get It Together Kit, Micah & Me waiting to meet Caroline & Nancy at a coffee shop, Prime Time in Abilene, Our bowling Gear,

Micah before her big strike, Micah & Me posing for Cosmic Bowling, Micah and her hubby David,

My lucky bowling socks, Me and my hubby Eric, Micah hitting the gofers extremely fast, Micah’s reward for her amazing gaming talents,

Me cutting my face off in pictures like normal, David & Eric doing the shooting game, Another picture of Micah winning a million tickets, Me pretending the tickets are mine,

Evidence of who is the best gamers, Micah showing us how it’s done in SkeeBall, The medicine Micah got for me at the Feed Store that’s supposed to get splinters out of my rear that I got while posing outside for Micah, the awesome green table I got at a place in Abilene)

Last week I drove to Abilene to meet Micah for a week of dreaming, planning, and creating. The first thing we did when I got there was open and read the amazing Get It Together Kit by the incredible and inspiring Millie Holloman. We felt challenged to take our business to the next level and to create lots of systems for our business that will help us create an amazing and consistent experience for each of our clients, plus give us structure in our work week so we can be more productive in less time. Sounds great, right?

We sat down in the living room and read our goals to each other (3 months, 1 year, 3-5 years – Thanks, Millie!). What was so cool is how we practically had the same vision for our business, totally a God thing. One HUGE goal we wanted to obtain was that we both really wanted was to be full time Double Knot Girls (no more Ashley Wilkins Photography and Micah Schmidt Photography), plus some other “additions” to our business that we will eventually share! We named lots of things that would be attainable, yet we had just never sat down to get it on paper and discuss a plan for getting there. Really, the first 2 hours I was there I could not stop thinking how blessed I am to be in business with Micah. She’s such a dreamer. I am not. I’m the realistic one. Realism only gets you so far, ya know? I always think about what it takes to get something done, which usually discourages me from dreaming. Micah dreams big, but doesn’t always know the steps to get there. We really are a good team, but you always want what you don’t have. I’m thankful for her. By the end of the first day, we decided to take the leap. We are officially full time Double Knot Girls!

With a large To-Do list every  morning, we managed to make changes to our packaging, bought/installed/set up Shoot Q, created lots of useful systems, and tons of other things. We were supposed to have a photoshoot with the ever-talented Caroline Joy, but the weather held us back. It was SO cold! The cool thing was, the timing of our photoshoot sat directly between the two dates for the Branches and Light Workshop that Caroline and Nancy Ray were hosting! This meant that Nancy was in town from North Carolina and I got to meet them both for the first time! Since Micah was already friends with Caroline and I’m a blog stalker, I felt like I already knew them both SO well. In fact, I made the confession that I took a picture of Nancy to my hairdresser so I could get my hair cut like her. Our first conversation when we all met for coffee was about how she does her hair. Awesome. I’m such a creeper. haha!

On Friday, Eric drove down and Micah & I got to spend some quality time with our husbands and each other at the same time! That hardly ever gets to happen and it was so much fun! Micah & David had planned for us to go to Prime Time, which had bowling and games. So perfect! Micah also made sure to cook every meal for us (amazing) plus some cupcakes that were out of this world! We all had a blast and it was such a great way to end the end of a productive and hard working week!

Last week was so awesome and this week we’ve been hitting the ground running. We’re so excited about all the changes and we know you will be too! Stay tuned for some inside peeks about what changes we’ve made and how it will affect you! Also, if you are a photographer and are interested in taking your photography to the next level, take a look at the Double Knot Workshop we are hosting in February!

We feel SO blessed by all the incredible people who helped us put on this show. From day one we had a vision of what we wanted our booth to look like – but we needed help getting it to look that way. One of our friends, Karla Elston, is super crafty and we knew she was perfect for the job! Okay, maybe crafty is an understatement. She’s literally incredible! She helped us design the set, and then created it with her husband. Can you say amazing?

We had a small staff of hard workers who did such an amazing job at creating an environment that represented our business the best! We are so so so grateful for all the hard work everyone put in and just could not be MORE pleased with how everything turned out! Thank you thank you thank you Karla, Kalin, Naomi, Joice, and David for everything you all did for us. Ya’ll are precious!

We also want to give a special THANK YOU to It’s About Time. Their awesome furniture was featured in our booth!! Be sure to stop by and say “Hi” to Susan at It’s About Time, off of South 14th Street across from United — 1395 Albany Street to be exact!

Also, a BIG thanks to all of the brides who came out to the show and stopped by our booth!

Now for the good stuff.

All of the brides who stopped by the booth got to enter a drawing to win a $300 suitcase designed by Nicole Miller! It is now time to announce the winner!!

The winner is……………………(drum roll, please)………

Mindy Briley

Yay yay yay! We are excited to present the luggage to you! Congratulations!

In other SUPER exciting news, the Total Bridal Show hosts had a contest of their own. From 11:30-12:00 on the day of the expo, they held a contest for the “Show-Stopper Booth” and winner receives a free both at the next bridal show! Well, guess what?

We won!

No kidding. For real! So if you didn’t get to go to the show, you’re probably wondering what our booth looked like, right? Well, lucky for you – we have pictures!! Take a look!

Joice & Naomi pictured with the a Total Bridal Show director. Double Knot Photography was presented with the “Show-Stopper” award!

Here’s one last plug for It’s About Time antique store in Abilene! Thanks again for furnishing our booth! Everyone should go see them!

Since we have been so blessed in our photographic journy, we thought it would be a wonderful way to help other photographers who are just starting out if we could teach them lots of the things we wanted to know at the beginning. We wanted to spill all of our fears, failures, trials, and errors as well as the victories and blessings we’ve encountered along the way that make us who we are. Our hopes were that by the end of one full day with a few beginner photographers, they would feel inspired to try new things, dare to make mistakes,  and be unique by being themselves.

We could not have been more pleased with the way the day turned out. Thanks again ladies! Ya’ll were amazing and we hope to see you all again soon!

Special thanks to the American Heritage House Bed & Breakfast for hosting our Workshop!

Micah using her teaching skills!

We went out for 2 photoshoots for hand-on learning. First we photographed a family…

Special thanks to the Thomas family. I’ve honestly never seen two more well behaved children in all of my life… and to think this was at 2:30 in the afternoon in 100 degree weather! Whew!

Anne, you’re beautiful!

Next we were off to the couple’s shoot!

Special thanks to the Hilton’s. Brady & Stephanie make gorgeous models, don’t you think?

Wow, Steph. You’re gorgeous!

A HUGE thanks to Jennifer and Cindy May (817-929-3929) for making these incredible cupcakes for our attendees. Not only do they look amazing, but they taste even better. Wow. These ladies are talented at baking cakes!

We love you ladies! Thanks so much for coming! We are praying for each of you in your future endeavors!

Here’s the scoop one more time!

*To all who have signed up or are about to sign up, we will be sending out a questionnaire within the next couple of days to see what YOU most want to learn. We want to spend time on topics you want to learn more about! We can’t wait to hear from you!

What is it? It’s a one-day workshop for photographers who are just starting out and need a little help to get moving in the direction they want to be going! We want to provide you with lots of one-on-one attention so that you can learn exactly what YOU want to learn! We will be covering a variety of topics such as: posing (or how to make it look like they’re NOT posing!), lighting, how to make the camera do exactly what you want it to, what to do with the pictures once you’ve taken them, and a LOT more! How MUCH more? Well, probably more about websites, camera gear, branding, how to get your business going, and plenty of Q&A time! The day will also include a photo shoot with models, yummy food to eat, and great opportunities for networking with other photographers! How much better can it get?

Who is it? It’s US (Micah and Ashley… of course!)

When is it? July 15th (yes, THIS July!) from 10AM-6PM

Where is it? Granbury, TX – Exact location is TBA (stay tuned!!)

How much is it? $400

How do I register? Email wed@doubleknotphotography.com to sign up! A $200 deposit is required to reserve your spot! Final payment is due 2 weeks before the workshop!

What do I bring? Bring all of your camera gear and a laptop (if you want)!

Will we eat? Once you get to know us, you will realize that food is something that we NEVER forget about! We are a couple of girls who can EAT! We will provide snacks and lunch for the group! Join us at 6 for dinner at one of the cute restaurants in Granbury (dutch treat) and a great time of networking and Q&A!