Balancing finances and friendship with Jess Henderson

This week on Girlfunds, we interview wedding photographer and entrepreneur Jess Henderson. Weddings are often the first time we talk to our friends about finances, making it the perfect topic for Girlfunds, where we intertwine finance and friendship. 

How can we navigate these initial financial conversations with friends, especially when it’s their special day? Also, as a bride, how can you set up a realistic budget but still get the wedding of your dreams? Jess shares her unique and insightful tips on these questions. 

For some background, Jess Henderson is a wedding photographer, owns a photography studio, and has also worked in the real estate industry. During the episode, we discuss some of the greatest financial lessons she’s learned from running her own business, how to pursue a job that you’re passionate about and her biggest tip on how to buy a home.  

Girlfunds takeaway tip from Jess Henderson: 

#1 Weddings are often the first time friends talk about money with each other, have you ever seen this go badly? And if so, how do you think it could go well to prevent a potential strain in relationships.

I think this goes back before you get to the wedding and your close friends that you’re inviting to be a part of your wedding party or to help on that day. I think it’s respectful to kind of know where people are without having to know what’s in their bank account, if that makes sense. As a friend, I think it’s nice to be situationally aware of one of your bridesmaids maybe expecting their first child or maybe they’re getting married two months after you and this is a large amount of time and money. All of those things that they have to figure out. And then, kind of giving permission to your bridesmaids to say back to you, that’s too expensive. 

Join the two best friends who met as financial journalists at HousingWire, Brena Nath, a twenty-something forever renter with her husband and pup, and Sarah Wheeler, an empty nester on her third home, every week for our girls night focused on everything from affording your best friend’s wedding to how to turn your side hustle into your main hustle. Each week, Girlfunds will have a special guest join us as we intertwine finance and friendship. And don’t worry, you don’t have to have your finances all together to join our girls nights. We’re all in this together to learn – women supporting women – and in the words of our producer, so we can all be #confidentqueens