An absolute pleasure to work with, and truly incredible results
We worked with Maren for both an engagement shoot as well as for the wedding itself, and like the title says, she was an absolute pleasure to work with! We both had so much fun during each event, and as Maren’s enthusiasm and enjoyment radiated out of her, we felt extremely enthused, too. Maren made us both feel at ease with being professionally photographed (something that neither of us have had much experience with); she really wanted to see how we interacted as a couple, and because of her direction, it almost made us feel like she wasn’t even there. The sessions felt more like the two of us were just enjoying one another’s company, and we were able to slip into our usual, candid, authentic selves. Maren was always complimenting us during the shoots as well, saying that she loved how we interacted with one another and how great we looked; this in turn gave us more confidence while we were in front of the camera, and also got us more excited during the process! She was open to any ideas we had for the photos, but she was also very helpful in coming up with a lot of unique ideas for us to do during the shoots themselves. For example, in our engagement shoot she helped us get some photographs on a swing set (something meaningful to the two of us), but also suggested that we do some action shots by having one of us run up behind the other and hug them, which generated some pretty funny (but also lovely and genuine!) photos. Similarly, during the wedding, she took some photos of us during golden hour like we requested, and also provided many different suggestions for photos (bride holding groom, running together at the camera while holding hands, etc.). We cannot overstate how fun she was to work with—as well as her assistant during the wedding—it was like working with a friend we had known for years, even though we had only met a couple times! Maren also made sure that all of the formal family/friend portraits we requested got taken and was excellent with time management during the photo sessions; her attention to detail was a huge help on our wedding day while we had a million other things to focus on.
As for the results, they were truly special. The turnaround time after the wedding was a little over two months, which wasn’t too long considering that it was peak wedding season and Maren had been photographing many other weddings in addition to ours. She provided us with probably close to a thousand different photos (!), all edited so professionally and perfectly, and we were so happy. After showing the photos to our family and friends, they also were very impressed with both the quality and quantity of Maren’s work! One of our favorites was taken in a room with some old fancy chairs, and at Maren’s suggestion, we posed with the bride sitting in the chair and the groom standing above it. The result was a photo that looks straight out of the Victorian era, yet simultaneously could be in a high fashion wedding magazine, and we love it!! We spent hours going through all of the photos from the wedding, reliving each moment as Maren and her assistant had really captured the energy of the day, with plenty of organized as well as candid photos to work with. We were amazed with literally EVERY moment they captured during the day—from us being all teary-eyed right after saying our vows and the officiant pronouncing us husband and wife, to the looks of admiration we were giving our speakers during their toasts, to us rocking the eff out during the reception dances—the entire day was there in our gallery delivery. Maren and her assistant were pros at being “flies on the wall” during the big wedding moments: unobtrusive but completely in each moment at the same time. We could not be happier with our choice, and would 100% recommend Maren to anybody who is looking for a wedding and engagement photographer. She is sweet, fun, professional, does fantastic work, and made us feel so thankful for working with her. We could not have made a better choice in hiring her. Thank you so much, Maren—we are absolutely thrilled with the results and with the experience we had with you!