If you know me very well at all, you know I am a bit old-fashioned at times. I long for the day swhen I was a kid and my granny was taking clothes off her clothesline, and I got to play in the bucket of clothes pins. I have my own mini-garden (my last tomato harvest of the season was 75 tomatoes! :D I'm quite proud of that one...) in my back yard. If I had a front porch, I might be temped to be sitting out there right now, instead of writing this post. Aaahhh...the days of Andy Griffith. One thing characteristic of simpler times is good 'ole bartering. Bartering, while it does have it's limitations, works beautifully. Even in times as these. I'll share our experience.
We met with Mandy and Conner a few months ago for their consultation meeting. I had been getting to know Mandy for a while over facebook. She and I hit it off and were were talking careers and life goals. A few weeks later, her dear sweetheart proposed to her. She immediately sent me an email all about wedding photography, and the planning began. She made it clear from the beginning that she and Conner were limited on funds, but did want to work something out with us. They valued our services and wanted to make sure we were compensated for our efforts. I had grown to adore Mandy and just knew we would find a win-win situation
So, long story short, we met with Mandy and Conner to hear all about the two of them as a couple and about all the wedding details. We always ask some general questions to find out about our clients, and to hear about who they are as people. (We're interested. We like you and want to know all about you.) They returned the questions back to us. One of them being about college and our profession. Nathan and I are both Landscape Architects by education (that gives us a strong design background). Mandy and Conner both immediately said, "Wow, I bet your yard is amazing!!!" Nathan and I looked at each other and laughed.
Our yard would be amazing if we had any extra budget to make it amazing, but as for now, it's pretty bare. Then we shared our logic with Mandy and Conner about how we really need to get a fence first, and don't want to invest money into plants and then need to dig them up to install the fence. We need a fence because we walk our dog on a leash in our back yard. He often likes to sniff his way out of our yard, and we'd rather walk him than lose him. A lightbulb went off in Mandy's head.
Conner's dad owns a Fox Fence Company and had done some bartering for his own wedding. He was more than happy to step in and exchange a fence for wedding photography as a gift for Mandy and Conner. What a blessing!!! Neither Mandy or I believe in coincidences, and we were so glad to see a plan come together better than either of us could have dreamed.
So, after working through all the details and HOA regulations, we now have a fence!!! It's an amazing fence, gorgeous, professional, stylish, and even customized for our designing tastes. Tom, Conner's dad, was awesome to work with! We are designers and designers are known for being picky, and changing our minds. Nathan and I are designers through and through. Tom was a real trooper, and was so patient with us. It is a gorgeous fence and we know we are going to love it!!! It feels like Christmas; we have a whole new back yard!!! It's our Old Fashioned Christmas.
Beau, our Boston Terrier, really likes it, too. He's a happy doggie. He even smiled for his photo op!!!
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