2022 was a year.
I mean that in a good way, of course. After 2020 and 2021 weddings had to reschedule due to the pandemic, 2022 saw restrictions come back pretty much to normal, and the wedding industry was booming. About 1/4 of my weddings in 2022 were reschedules that were supposed to happen in 2021, with a couple even postponed from 2020. I am so happy that they were all able to get the weddings they had dreamed of, even if they were delayed. Love conquers all, right?
In 2022, we also sold our condo in Simi Valley and moved to Moorpark into a beautiful house. I found out I was pregnant with my second child in June of 2022, right before the busiest wedding season of my career, of course. I'm still kind of reeling from everything that happened this past year, and just how fast it went. My last wedding was December 3, so it hasn't even been a month yet since I've been on official/ unofficial maternity leave. The truth is when you work for yourself, especially as a wedding photographer in Moorpark, you don't really stop working. What's the saying- do what you love and you'll work pretty much all the time because you can't actually clock out from a business you own? That sounds right.
I also redesigned my website in 2022, and I am so excited to get blog posts up and running again now that I have a better system to do so in, and that I will be slowing down from editing to focus more on my blogging and marketing. Tell your friends- seriously, if they're looking for a wedding photographer in Simi Valley I'm your girl. I love where I live in Moorpark, I'm right down the street from gorgeous wedding venues like Hartley Botanica and The Walnut Grove, which are both pictured here. Not to mention Rancho de las Palmas, and Eden Gardens, which I did not personally shoot at this year, but an awesome associate of mine did. I also got married myself at Rancho de las Palmas, so being able to do wedding photography for Rancho de las Palmas in Moorpark is really a crazy life loop!
I also photographed several private and smaller elopements in Ventura County. Including a Simi Valley backyard wedding for my dear friend from high school. I travelled to Paso Robles to Villa San Juan Juliette for a gorgeous vintage Mexican inspired wedding, and to Cambria (twice actually) for a Cambria elopement, and for a wedding at the incredible Cambria Nursery. I love photographing weddings in Cambria and Morro Bay. Both places are my happy place for me and my husband, and I always find it a treat to travel up there to be a Cambria wedding photographer. Paso Robles wedding photographer is another great one, I loved the incredible winery and villa that my couple chose.
Let's see, 2022 also brought several weddings at Reptacular Animals, a wedding venue in the hills of Los Angeles that I've been photographing at for 6 years now. I think I did four weddings at Reptacular Animals in 2022, as a wedding photographer in Los Angeles. I also did CSUCI graduation photos, and maternity photos at El Matador Beach. Plus an incredibly gorgeous wedding at the Redwood Room at Calamigos Ranch at Malibu. Malibu does not disappoint for weddings, and I loved doing wedding photography there at Calamigos Ranch.
There were so many more great things, but I feel like I can't name them all. I'm hoping for more beautiful people and places to work with in 2023 for weddings. And if that's you, please contact me so we can chat more! Or share the love and referral for a small business Mama wedding photographer in Moorpark. It would mean the world.
Peace and love for 2023,
Holly Castillo Photography
