Visions of Vogue

What it’s Like Being Married to a Blogger (From His Perspective)

Couple stealing kisses in the city of Chicago on the riverwalk.

It wasn’t until recently that I started getting more and more inquiries about my position of “spouse of an Insta-blogger.” It all started on a typical Saturday morning, Jenna and I were out on the Chicago streets shooting some photos…

Our dress code was consistent with all of our photo shoots: I was in sweats and Jenna was dressed like she was headed to a wedding. In the midst of creating content, we stopped due to a clueless pedestrian walking right through our shot (this happens regularly). I then noticed this wasn’t any pedestrian, it was actually one of my co-workers. We locked eyes, exchanged pleasantries and away he went. However, upon walking into the office Monday morning he was obviously intrigued by how I spend my weekends. One thing led to another, and by the end of the day word had spread and Jenna had a dozen more Instagram followers. So if you’ve noticed I’ve been more PG in Jenna’s Instagram Stories lately, you now have the reason.

Anyways, the questions and comments are endless. How did this start? Who takes the photos? You’re so lucky! Et cetera. Et cetera. Et cetera.  I asked Jenna if I could do a Friday Five for this post, citing out five things people wouldn’t understand about this lifestyle. Then I realized the post would need to be a Friday Twenty Five, because the list goes on and on.

In actuality, there’s a lot to it. And just like anything else, you have to take the good with the bad. The biggest misconception our friends and family have is that this is a little side thing. People believe we shoot photos when it’s convenient and Jenna writes posts when she feels inspired. This could not be further from the truth, so allow me to explain.

We typically take out full days of our weekend, avoiding all human contact to create the photos used on Instagram. While Saturday’s may be for the boys, Sundays are for the blog. What started as a hobby is now a full-fledged business and it’s treated like so. Things may seem glamorous when you look at the trips we’ve taken, and the sheer amount of clothes/bags/shoes Jenna has acquired, but as I alluded to earlier it’s all been earned. Vacations are no longer vacations; they are photos shoots in unique locations. The taking of a “quick pic” before we walk into a restaurant for date night is typically a 20 minute ordeal. And anything Jenna is doing on her phone is in her words “working.” I have to hand it to the girl, she created a job where spending hours on social media every day is profitable and exempt from any disapprovals. You don’t build a business like this by being dumb though right?

I’m personally not a big Instagramer. You’re lucky if you get one upload a month from me, and 80% of the accounts I follow only post memes. So the weirdest element of it all is people having that insight on your life, when they shouldn’t.

“Your weekend looked fun.”

“I love the décor in your bedroom.”

“I’ve always wanted to visit Greece.”

You stop and remember why.

It just comes with the territory. Therefore, I’m more careful about the precarious positions I sleep in or the meals I attempt to cook for Jenna. I know full well that my life is an open book and any wrong move WILL be made into an Instagram caption. Sometimes I think Jenna married me just for endless unintentional content I provide, which honestly would be a very tactical and wise move as I embarrass myself on a regular basis.

I like to believe I’ve been exposed to successful people in both my professional life and personal life. With that said, I’ve never met anyone who works harder on anything than Jenna works on this blog. She does not stop. Weeknights after long days at the office, airplanes, beaches, it doesn’t matter.  It’s to the level that it’s often uncomfortable for me. I’m your typical dude, after a long day of critical thinking and meetings at work I just want to collapse onto the couch and play some video games. But I look across the cushions and she’s pounding away on her laptop. There may be bloggers out there that have superior photos or more followers, but I’d be hard pressed to believe there is anyone who works harder than Jenna does.

So if you’re planning on starting on this journey, you have to ask yourself how serious you are going to be about it. Being an Insta-blogger requires a bunch of traits, from brains to beauty and everything in between. But the element that may be harder than anything else is having a partner that’s willing to go down this rabbit hole with you. It hasn’t always been glamorous, and there have been many times where I’ve cursed myself out for giving her the idea to create this monster. But when I look back on the experiences we’ve been lucky enough to be a part of, the photos and posts that will live on the internet forever and what’s on the horizon for the future, I wouldn’t change a thing.

Enjoy this post? You can read more posts from Matt here.

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. I love this post! All so true, coming from another blogger ;) I love to send Matts posts to my boyfriend so he can relate! Thanks for sharing the insight! Jenna, you’re inspiring!

    toreystreasures.com
    @toreystreasures

    Reply

  2. Love this post, Matt and Jenna! I will tell you Matt always makes me laugh in your stories- I think because it’s so relatable to what so many of our blogger husbands think! Jenna, you are so inspiring and motivate me to put in that extra work too! Thanks for coming up with such great content!
    xoxo, Jenna
    Bostonchicparty.com

    Reply

  6. I always love hearing the husband’s perspective! Matt is such a sweet guy to put up with you. hahahaha :) JK

    Reply

  10. I enjoyed reading this post so much!! He is so funny, and I think this really does capture a glimpse of what goes on behind the scenes. You guys are awesome and so supportive of each other, it’s inspiring!

    Kileen
    cute & little

    Reply

  12. This post was truly awesome! I’d love to hear my husband’s thoughts on this as he has become my photographer also.

    xo,
    Steph
    @trendyinindy || trendyinindy.com

    Reply

  17. It’s always cool to hear with our better halves’ think about us blogging! I just may get my fiancé to write a post like this!

    Reply

  21. This is such a great post, sending it to hubby. I agree it’s about having a partner who is willing to go down the rabbit hole. We have our share of crazy experience too.

    Reply

  22. Wow – my husband hates being an Insta anything and doesn’t like the attention at all. I don’t think anyone at his work even knows what I do LOL. I actually keep him out of it as much as possible – luckily I have a bunch of Insta kids who take my pics and love coming to events with me. You’re really lucky to have a partner in crime!
    XO
    http://www.lehoarder.com/

    Reply

  25. I love hearing his point of view. His standpoint seems very similar to my husband. It’s so wonderful that he so supportive of you and what you do

    Reply

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