When I was a kid, I LOVED to make friends, and not much has changed since. Maybe it has something to do with the fact that I am an only child. Growing up without brothers or sisters, my friends became the family that I never had. I cherish the relationships that I've formed with others over these last 27 years of life and I am so grateful for those people in my life.

Because my business is a direct extension of me, it's not hard to believe that I love to become friends with my clients. In my first official year of business I formed great relationships with my clients. I treasured their trust and faith in me, but more importantly I valued their friendships.

I quickly realized that this was how I wanted my business to look. I realized that these were the types of relationships that I wanted to have with my clients. I realized that I wanted to be more than just their photographer. I wanted to know what was happening in their lives, I wanted to be able to connect with each couple on a human level. I wanted to be their friend.

Here's a photo of Stephanie and Erik who came to our Christmas Party this past year. I had set up a photo booth in our spare bedroom but spent most of the time cooking and hosting that I hardly knew the mayhem that was happening upstairs. Well, my client meeting space is connected directly to the spare bedroom. At the end of the night when I was checking the card, I found these gems left as a present for me by Steph and Erik. Thanks for being great clients and great friends guys!

If you're a client of Deborah Zoe Photo, most likely I am going to try to friend you on Facebook, use too many smiley faces in emails and hope that we can become good friends. I want to share a cup of coffee with you, gush over the new Anthropologie bridal line, discuss our favorite movies, "like" your photos of your dog and learn all that I can about the person that you are.

So past, current and future clients, I hope that I we can develop a relationship beyond just vendor and client. I hope that we can become friends:)