When we set out to find a photographer for our wedding, we didn't want a run of the mill photographer. We wanted someone with a true artistic vision who could capture our spirit. Since the chapel is relatively dark, we started looking at photographers who already worked there, and then found ones that matched what we found valuable in pictures. We found Dave and then looked at his other work and knew he was the one for us. We reached out and Dave scheduled a call; it was similar to a screening for a job interview. He wanted to make sure that our vision and energy was something he understood and appreciated. We hit it off immediately! We were so excited to have our big party....then Covid hit. We decided to still have our wedding on the date of October 10, 2020, but it was going to be super small. At that time, only 15 people were allowed indoors, so it wasn't even all of our immediate family. Five days before the wedding, my brother and his family tested positive for Covid. We had to cancel immediately, since we had been exposed to them and the reception was going to be at their house. Dave understood right away, and promised to be there when we rescheduled. Cut to December of 2020 when we rescheduled, and my other brother's wife took a turn for the worse after valliantly battling cancer, so we did it again...we cancelled. We FINALLY made it down the aisle in March of 2022, and it could not have been more perfect.

We decided to keep it relatively small still, 50 guests, and it was just right. Dave worked with us every step of the way, sharing his expertise and assurance that he's got us covered. The second shooter he had, Ben, was just as amazing and so personable. We had them until 9:00 pm but our reception kept getting turned up and up, and they stayed to keep shooting. I was concerned that we were cutting into their personal time at that point, and I said, "Dave, it's past 9:00!" He told me all is good, and they'll leave when they are truly ready. Just as they were getting ready to stop for real, a friend started an impromptu performance and Dave kept shooting. It was magical, it was special, it was just right.

Dave Shay Photography was amazing to work with. Form the first time I reached out to Dave, throughout the pandemic ruining our original plans, to our “big day,” Dave was professional and knowledgeable throughout the whole process. He answered all of my detail-oriented questions and then some! In addition to all of the pre-wedding confidence I felt using this company, the day-of was incredible. Dave and his associate, Josh, took the reins to the day’s timeline and made sure I got all of his and my desired shots within the time limit we had (pre-ceremony photos). In addition to his organization and beautiful shots, I think it’s important to say that my husband and I didn’t even notice Dave or Josh shooting during the ceremony and his candid shots during the reception are total keepsakes! He even made sure to sweep my husband and I away after the ceremony for some time alone before the day got too crazy; during this time, Dave and Josh made us laugh and got the real, candid side of our relationship.

Not only was Dave on top of capturing the small moments we would never expect, he made sure we were the priority all day, helping us take in the small moments, even using his team as a human shield so we could enjoy a quick dinner before mingling. I could not recommend more.

Dave endured a whole lot on our wedding day and I will never be able to thank him enough for how perfectly he captured the best day of my life. When I say Dave goes the extra mile, I mean this man will put himself in pain, get drenched in pouring rain & lay down in dirt to get you the best shots you could imagine.

Where do we even begin?! Dave did our engagement photos at The Biltmore and photographed our wedding. All of our photos are absolutely breathtaking. Dave is such a good guy. He even went as far as laying in the middle of our dance floor to get THE shot. On our wedding day he helped keep us so calm and was so much fun to work with. Tell can’t say enough great things about him and his photography

Dave is truly talented and creates masterpieces!! I have and will continue to recommend him to anyone who is in need of a photographer. He is professional, approachable, reliable, genuine, and great to work with. I vaguely described what I wanted as far as photographs for my wedding, and he went above and beyond and knew exactly what I was looking for. He also took the time to get to know my husband and I, and took care of us more than our wedding planner did on the day of!! I am absolutely in love with our engagement and wedding photos, and will never forget the awesome experience we had with Dave.

Hiring Dave Shay photography for our wedding day was the best decision we made! Dave was excellent in answering any questions, super approachable and reachable, and just made the day easy and relaxing. Not to mention, our photos are gorgeous. We received them in an incredibly fast turn around time. People are constantly complimenting us on our beautiful wedding photos.

Dave was great! Our shoot was downtown Raleigh NC. We had a great time shooting and pizza afterwards.

Dave has been an absolute pleasure to work with since our first meeting with him. He's a no BS kind of guy and won't try to sell you on anything that you don't want to do. He takes the time to get to know what you're looking for, and shares his style with you to determine if its the right fit. We booked Dave immediately. He did our engagement session with us which was so much fun. We were really nervous about taking cheesy photos but Dave isn't into anything cheesy (unless you're referring to tacos). On our wedding day, he ensured we got incredible shots but also got to enjoy the entirety of our day. We had our photos back to us by the time we got back from our two week honeymoon which was INSANE! If you're looking for incredible photos that capture your day, then you need Dave.

Our pictures turned out absolutely amazing! We got so many complements on how they look and we really couldn’t be happier.

My husband and I were a bit nervous when we were searching for a photographer. Pictures are one of the most important things to us when it came to our wedding. We knew though from the first time that we met Dave that we were in good hands. Not only was he super easy to get along with, he was really knowledgeable about what he does.

We had an engagement shoot included in our package and at first we thought that we didn’t need it. However, it was really nice to have it done. The engagement shoot not only resulted in pictures that we were excited to show people, but it allowed Dave to learn how my husband and I interacted as a couple. It also showed us what he expects from us on the wedding day and made everything go a lot smoother once our big day was finally here!

When it was finally time for our wedding day, we were extremely thankful to have Dave by our side capturing everything. He was there from the time I got ready in the morning to end of the reception. During the ceremony, he was really respectful and managed to capture a lot of photos while blending in to the crowd. Once at the reception, Dave was able to capture a number of awesome photos while still getting us back in time for us to enjoy the cocktail hour. Even throughout the night, Dave captured all of our important moments and then some!

We had a hard time trying to write this review because it was almost too difficult to express how amazing Dave was to work with and how good he is at his job without sounding really cliché. I still don’t think this review was able to capture how thankful we were to have Dave as our photographer. Dave, thanks for everything that you did for us! We couldn’t have a better photographer with us on our special day! We wish you the best of luck! Keep taking amazing photos!