To start off with, would 100%, 10 out of 10 always and repeatedly recommend Ashley Rutland Photography to be your photographer for your big day! Just do it, just do it, just do it. You will not regret booking Ashley, she is an absolute darling and provides many years of experience photographing weddings to make sure you get those timeless shots that will transcend years within your family. I chose Ashley after having to switch my Mexico wedding (due to COVID) to a local wedding.

So here’s a deep dive into my experience with Ashley:

Booking Services (July 2020):

I will admit, I really appreciate vendors who really provide their pricing out right on the website and Ashely lists out right on her website what you’re getting and for how much, no funny business there or guessing. Regarding her pricing, she lists out what her packages cost and what comes in those packages, and I will say that her prices are some of the most competitive pricing around given her experience in wedding photography. Booking with Ashley was a straight forward process of contacting her through her website portal. I reached out to Ashley to see if she was available and what her retainer fee would look like (at my time of booking it was 25% of the total package) and decided that she was the right photographer for my wedding based on some photos she sent me taken at the venue I had chosen (tip: finding a wedding photographer familiar with your venue assists in their scouting so you get better photos!).

Engagement Session (September 2020):

After we booked her services, we talked about timeline on when we could shoot engagement session (very short timeline for everything on this wedding because it was scheduled in July for November due to COVID transitioning our plans from Mexico to locally). Luckily, she was available the week I had already planned to take PTO and she was actually able to accommodate to the day we wanted and our location (in Dallas with a nominal travel fee). On the day of our engagement session, we took her around to spots we scouted ahead of time and were able to take some amazing shots in 2 different areas of uptown/downtown Dallas. Not only did she take some efficient shots while giving us some pro tips on how to pose our bodies as a couple (things you don’t really think about on the regular) she was also able to return to us our photos in an amazingly quick timeline (within 2 weeks) after our photos were taken.

Day-Of Services (November 2020):

Before I get into day-of services, let me remind you that Ashley is very responsive and open to questions. When I was worried about timeline for photography with sunlight being an issue on a November issue I reached out to Ashley and she helped provide me with a simple timeline that we could potentially follow for our wedding. Then about 3 weeks before the wedding, Ashley sent out a very detailed questionnaire about general information (i.e. arrival time, location, etc..) shots that we needed to have on the day of the wedding (i.e. bride & groom, bridal party, family, etc..).

On the day of the wedding, Ashley came right on time as requested from the questionnaire (not only that, she confirmed with me the day prior if that was still the correct time) and immediately went to work on photographing details while we were still setting up (unfortunately, I was still running around getting things in place when she arrived). We agreed on a time to set up for our first look shots and I was able to run around until we were scheduled to take those photos. Once we took those photos, Ashley and Maria (her second shooter) were taking us around the venue to really get some awesome shots of us, our bridal party, and our families prior to the ceremony with extra time to spare so that we could relax before the ceremony and Ashley could take more detail shots before the ceremony. During the ceremony and reception, Ashley did a great job of sitting on the sidelines capturing the candid moments that you really hope to get amazing shots of (or at least I hope I get amazing shots of). With great trust in her skills (which pay off through these photos), she was able to capture really all those candid special moments of our wonderful celebration that we’ll never forget while we were living in the moment.

Another moment of the wedding where Ashley shined was giving us some suggestions on our send off. We originally had the idea of having a send off with LED balloons that we had purchased from Amazon. Unsurprisingly, those LED balloons were a bust (not that bright) so she suggested that we have everyone hold up their cell phone lights and man, it did not disappoint. Just a great example of how much experience of what can look great at a wedding!

Again, I just want to reiterate if you’ve made it this far that if you are considering Ashley to be your wedding photographer, you will not regret choosing her. She did amazing work for us (seeing from the photos) and will do the same for you and your future family.

Ashley is amazing!! I got her wedding package with engagements, Bridal’s, and the wedding day. We have hundreds of pictures we absolutely love that captured this entire journey. She makes your feel extremely comfortable, and can recreate any Pinterest-worth picture you want. Her pictures come back quickly, and you definitely get more than you pay for! This is the one area I was told to choose wisely in my wedding planning, and I’m SO happy I went with her. We have gotten so many complements about her and her work!!

She photographed my wedding and did an amazing job!! We got so many special pictures that we will cherish forever! I recommend Ashley to everyone!