The absolute best!
More than just a photographer, Davina was a confidante, a wedding-planner, outfit planner, and visionary. From our initial consultation, I felt instantly comfortable. She was easy to talk to, accessible, and a constant comfort throughout our wedding season. You could sense Davina loves what she does and I was always astounded by how thoughtful she was about every detail, how organized she was, and how generous she was with her time and talents.
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Engagement Shoot: Part of why we hired Davina is I knew my partner and I would feel pretty awkward in front of the camera and we had heard that she helped couples feel comfortable. She achieved this and more, allowing our personalities to shine through while also elevating us so we looked better than imagined! Davina was incredibly generous with her time, spending almost the whole day with us. I’ll note that we asked her to travel to NYC (where we first met) and she was incredibly reasonable with additional travel expenses. The experience of the shoot was so much fun! She had a nice blend of knowing exactly where to take photos and honoring our desires for particular locations or vibes. Ahead of the shoot, she sent me a shared pinterest board so we could share inspiration photos, and even answered questions on what to wear and what to bring which helped soothe my type-A, anxious personality. By the end of the day, my partner and I were laughing freely with Davina and her husband and enjoyed easy, warm conversation.
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Wedding Day: Leading up to the wedding day, Davina was extremely organized in helping us outline the details for the day - helping us fine tune our day-of schedule, sending a list of potential items needed for “detail” shots, suggesting ways to troubleshoot some potential issues at the venue, even offering to bring her own equipment (e.g. an unsightly vent in the ceremony space). I felt that I had all these anxieties about the little details leading up to the wedding, but one meeting with Davina made everything fall into place. On the day-of, Davina again was extremely generous with her time, arriving with her whole team very early in order to scope out locations for photos, set-up, and test lighting without charging any additional fees. When we met on the day-of, it was such a comfort to see a familiar face, it felt like a sigh of relief. I remember I was stressed because we were behind schedule, but Davina immediately reassured me that this was normal and from then on, I felt I could just trust her implicitly to keep the day running smoothly. Her and second-shooter, Jessica, kept us right on schedule, directing every individual to where they needed to be when. My bridesmaids constantly noted how amazing the whole team was.
She gave great tips to our guests/family members for poses while also allowing natural moments to happen. I loved that she was always enthusiastic and encouraging (”Oh, I love this!”) which made everyone feel more at ease. It was wonderful to do our couple photos with her after the engagement session because she had learned which expressions and poses looked most natural for us. How amazing to work with a photographer who understands you! Then, literally the NIGHT of our wedding, Davina sent us several photo sneak-peeks and they literally brought tears to my eyes because they so captured the emotion of the day.
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tldr: nothing but the most glowing praise for Davina and her whole team! We can’t wait for the rest of our photos! Every time we take photos now, I wish Davina were there to help us haha.