MILWAUKEE— 2020 has been a year of uncertainty and, for many families, broken holiday traditions. There will be fewer people around the dinner table, or opening gifts together. 

A business owner decided to put her skills to use to provide families with festive backdrops for holiday family portraits.

“This is something we’ve never lived through before,” says Theresa Tews. “Hopefully, these beautiful photos will say ‘Hey, we made it through!’ and be a beautiful memory to end a tough year.”

Tews owns Archangel Services, LLC. She designs custom arches for every special occasion, including weddings and baby showers. She wanted to provide some for holiday pictures as well, which may be the only tradition some families can hold onto this year.

“What is ‘The Holidays’ and what will they look like?” said Teresa Wagner who had portraits done of her family. “Are family members going to be sick, or are family members not going to be there? 

Wagner admits this saddens her.

“I think we can still do things though at home as a family, like baking cookies with the kids and making gingerbread houses,” she said.

Photographer Ken Kojis says especially this year, he finds joy in bringing people these memories that they will share with one another, even if they can’t be together.

“We like to give that value of a photograph or Christmas card when we can’t really see each other,” he said.

A portion of the proceeds from these portraits will go to The Redeem and Restore Center. It’s a non-profit that helps women restore their lives after escaping from sex trafficking.