Warning: Long review coming!!
My wedding photographer was one of the vendors that I really struggled to find at first. I wanted something very specific, and it was not easy to find at all! I got married in October, so I wanted all of the rich colors of the season to be showcased, and not be washed out like I see in many other photography styles. I searched and searched on Instagram, and I finally found Mae!
I fell in love with her photographs on Instagram and knew I had to have her as my photographer. From the moment I contacted her I knew she was the right fit for us. I contacted her through her website, she sent me all of her information in a very timely manner, and it was exactly what I was looking for! (I had contacted other photographers whose prices were way out of my budget, and I honestly didn’t even like their pictures as much!) We set up a phone meeting; she was professional, knowledgeable and an absolute sweetheart. I talked it over with my fiancé and we decided to book her. We immediately set up our engagement shoot (which was included in our package), because I wanted it to be exactly a year from our wedding date.
Fast forward to our engagement shoot. In the weeks before we were emailing back and forth about the shoot. She offered great recommendations for locations that worked for both of us. She lives in PA and we live in NJ, so she was very helpful in finding an area that worked for both of us. She was on top of when sunset would be and was great about relaying any changes that needed to be made with arrival/ weather. My Husband and I aren’t huge picture takers, so we were definitely nervous! However, from the moment we said hello to Mae, she made us feel like we were friends. She helped us get over the awkwardness of being in front of the camera, which we appreciated so much! She was truly a joy to be around, and we felt so comfortable with her by the end of the shoot!
Mae was so quick about getting the pictures to us. Once I saw them, it solidified that I 100% made the right decision to have her be our photographer. The picture were absolutely gorgeous, and my husband and I just loved them! Mae made us look like models (if I do say so myself lol), and like we had being doing photo shoots for years. They looked effortless, with no forced posing or awkwardness. My family and friends gushed over how great they came out, and we couldn’t agree more! Sharing them was such a highlight to the whole wedding process, and they looked amazing on our save the dates!
Flash forward to the couple of months before the wedding. We had stayed in contact though social media in the year leading to the wedding. Which I truly appreciate, and shows that she cares about her couples and isn’t just interested in them for their wedding day. With COVID-19 going on it was a very stressful time to be planning a wedding. Mae reached out and gave an extension on our second to last payment, which I truly appreciated as someone who didn’t gave a full paycheck for quite a few months.
Once we knew 100% we were going through with our wedding it was full steam ahead! We had a phone meeting to plan our timeline for the day, I was very confident in Mae that she knew what she was talking about and how to time everything out perfectly. I also had a family photo list a mile long, and she advised me to cut it down to just the key pictures, so we would be able to enjoy our day and cocktail hour and not be overwhelmed. I appreciated this so much, and it was the right decision in the end. She gave me a list of things that I may want photographed on the wedding day. This was so helpful, I probably would have forgotten all of it without that list! Mae was great in the last few days before the wedding, checking in and making sure everything was good with the timeline, the family pictures, etc.
Now, comes the wedding day!! Mae was absolutely amazing to say the least. She arrived on time, and got right to work. She took our detail shots (invitation, jewelry, dress, etc.) outside of our hotel, which I was unsure about at first. However, after seeing them, you would never know they were taken outside of our hotel! She came back and did shots of the last of my makeup application, pictures of me looking at my dress, with my mom, with my girls, etc. All the pictures came out so beautiful and most of them you can’t even tell that we are in a hotel room. Her assistant photographer, Kristy, was with the boys. My husband said she was great, and dealt with their craziness extremely well!
Mae and Kristy were great all day, and did a phenomenal job! Although much of the day felt like a blur (they aren’t lying when they say it flies by!!), I could not have been happier about the photography portion of it. They made the day run smoothly from first look to the cake pictures. Mae got all of the shot I want and more, she is just a master behind the camera. She was so easy to work with, was amazing at communicating with everyone at all times, and made the day so fun. Family pictures went smoothly thanks to her, and we got all the ones we wanted! And our reception pictures are some of our favorite from the whole night, they embody the fun we had perfectly. They both dealt with the craziness, which is our family, friends and bridal party, flawlessly!
Mae had a picture for us the next day, and we loved it!! She had our sneak peek up in FOUR days!! We were blown away with how quickly she had so many of our pictures edited, and blown away by how beautiful they were! We had all of our pictures by November 14th, just amazing! I know some people who have waited months for their pictures, I just couldn’t imagine! The pictures are all that I could ever as for and more. My husband and I were shocked by how good we looked (lol), and how much the pictures truly captured the spirit of the day! I am so happy that these are the pictures we get to look back on for the rest of our lives, and I know we will cherish them forever.
I am so grateful to have stumbled upon Mae on Instagram, and that she was available on our wedding day. Mae will not only be your photographer, but she will become a friend. We are so looking forward to having her photograph all of the milestone in our lives, and to see her grow as a photographer and expand her career. I could not recommend Mae and her team enough, I promise you that you will not be disappointed at all!