We used Marlayna for our engagement and wedding photos. She is an absolute delight to work with and produced amazing photos. She asked so many helpful questions about our preferences and listened to our feedback and provided great recommendations. Throughout the year she checked in with us often and made sure to prepare us for each step along the way. The final delivery of our photos came in very quickly and were absolutely beautiful. We received so many comments from friends and family about how great she was during the wedding. We highly recommend Marlayna and look forward to working with her again in the future!

Marlayna was absolutely incredible. She photographed our small wedding (20 guests) and was thorough, efficient, prepared, kind, generous, funny, and generally delightful. She was so personable and communicative, and made us feel really natural and like ourselves. We wanted photos that were spontaneous and captured the joy of the day, and boy did she deliver! Marlayna perfectly highlighted our dynamic in a way that was fresh, easy, and classic. She is also a genuinely lovely human and made us feel SO comfortable. One of our guests asked if we were old friends, because she immediately felt like part of the gang in an unobtrusive way. My husband is usually pretty camera-shy but admits that Marlayna took the best photos he's ever seen of himself. I also appreciate Marlayna's willingness to adhere to our covid protocols, as several of our guests were immunocompromised. Hiring her was our best wedding decision (other than each other)!!! One million out of ten, would recommend.

Why does this rating form not offer more than five stars?! Without hesitation, Marlayna deserves an 11/10, three thumbs-up, A++ ... need I go on?

We initiated contact with Marlayna in December 2019, about a month after we got engaged. From that very first email, I knew that Marlayna was the perfect fit for us. Her energy, positivity, creativity, skill, and attention to detail are absolutely unparalleled.

For our engagement shoot in DC in January 2020, we discussed potential locations via email, but then Marlayna scouted out photo ops in advance to ensure the best spots and angles. She even found an amazing chandelier inside the Intercontinental Hotel at the Wharf, where we never would have thought to look. Then, she met us in our neighborhood and chauffeured us to each location, all while battling wintry weather. To top it off, she delivered our whole gallery in a matter of days!

Our amazing experiences continued with Marlayna throughout 2020, especially once we chose to postpone our big celebration and pivot toward a mini-wedding due to COVID-19. Marlayna was incredibly responsive to my many emails and routinely sent me positive vibes through Instagram DM conversations! She also made the postponement and re-contracting process totally seamless, offering a special COVID elopement rate for our mini-wedding and not requiring any additional deposit to move the date of our big celebration.

However, where Marlayna took the cake was on our actual mini-wedding day. Not only did she take over 700 gorgeous photographs of us, our families, and the stunning architectural details of our venue (The Winslow in Baltimore - check it out!), but also she basically served as impromptu coordinator/planner in moments of need. (It's unreal how many details there are to consider, even for an event that only involved 18 guests!) I felt completely calm, carefree, and special on our wedding day and it's largely because of Marlayna's efforts. Our families could not stop raving about how much of a boss she was -- helping with things outside her job description, directing everyone through COVID-safe family portraits, capturing all the emotions and best angles, and even staying past the end of her contracted time. Four months later, I still scroll through our photo gallery at least weekly and I remain obsessed!

All in all, we have literally zero regrets in hiring Marlayna. We cannot wait to have her continue on this crazy COVID wedding journey with us and I hope she doesn't get sick of us because I have a feeling we will be calling on her to document every event in our lives for years to come! XO!

A picture is worth a thousand words, and I can’t say enough kind ones about Marlayna. She is a gifted photographer, organized professional, and goes above and beyond to make your experience memorable. Marlayna takes the extra time to get to know you as a couple, and it shows in her photos. She immediately makes you feel relaxed and at ease. We have countless beautiful images to look back on from our engagement and wedding that capture who we are as a couple. Marlayna is incredibly organized, and helped our wedding day run smoothly while ensuring that we got all of the photos we wanted. Marlayna was quick to answer the many questions I had throughout the process, and made sure that everyone was on the same page. I was so excited to receive a few sneak peeks the day after our wedding, and a full gallery of edited photos 2 weeks after the wedding! To top it off, she so thoughtfully sent a few prints of our wedding day (and our engagement session) a few weeks later in the mail. I am so happy Marlayna was our wedding photographer--she is a true artist of capturing all the love, smiles, and laughs during this special time in life.

Marlayna was BY FAR our favorite vendor to work with. As a photographer, she is everything that you'd want. She has an amazing eye and finds the most flattering lighting and angles. In terms of logistics, she had the perfect balance of structure and spontaneity. She made a timeline of the day beforehand, so that she didn't miss any important moments or events, but she also never hesitated to let us know if there was an unplanned photo opportunity that we might want to take advantage of. Some of my favorite pictures from our wedding day started with Marlayna saying "Hey, if you feel up for it, I have an idea for a shot!" I completely trusted her and never felt like I had to micromanage anything to make sure I got the shots I wanted. We definitely got our money's worth - she delivered an online gallery of over 1,000 images, all of which were beautiful and completely captured the day. Also, as a bonus, she comes with a second shooter (her mom, Judy!) who was delightful. Together, they were able to capture every moment and detail we wanted. However, the best part about hiring Marlayna was her personality. You can tell she loves her job and is genuinely excited to be a part of your day. She regularly sent little notes and care packages during the months leading to our wedding, which was such a sweet touch. There are tons photographers out there who will take beautiful wedding photos, but it's the full experience that sets Marlayna apart from the rest. If you're still searching for a wedding photographer, do yourself a favor and message her.

I cannot say enough great things about Marlayna! She made every step of the process---booking, engagement photos, the day of--run so smoothly! Marlayna also made each part of the process fun. Shortly after we booked, Marlayna sent us a little package with chocolates, a little candle, a card and a photography book of her work. She reached out to us well in advance to schedule engagement photos to make sure that we were able to schedule the photos on a day that worked for us. And after we took our engagement photos, she sent another cute package of printed photos.

And on our actual wedding day, she was such a calming presence. She and her mother (her second shooter) both took charge in an unassuming way--making sure that everyone was where they needed to be and that photos ran smoothly and on time, without being pushy or overbearing. She also quickly learned who was who--grandparents, parents, siblings, etc.--so that if I needed someone for some reason, she quickly went to find that person. And when my sister-in-law was having trouble bustling my dress, Marlayna was right there with her helping to figure it out.

On top of all of this, the photos turned out stunning!!

Marlayna (and Judy, her second photographer) were fantastic both at the wedding and prior to the wedding. From changing the dates for our engagement shoot due to an unexpected move, to a second engagement shoot where we moved, to taking over 2000 photos during the reception, working with Marlayna was truly a dream. She is extremely responsive and listens to each couple with their goals for their photos.

Marlayna is absolutely amazing. She is the most sweet, genuine, passionate person. Having Marlayna photograph our wedding was the very best decision we made. Her photos are the best we have ever seen. All our guests could not stop raving about how much they love Marlayna and her work. Brides - you’ll fall in love with Marlayna, too. Having her there with you while getting ready is such a treat - her sense of calmness was one of my very favorite parts of getting ready. Marlayna without a doubt, is hands down the best photographer - ever!!

Marlayna was such a pleasure to work with. When we first reached out to Marlayna, we liked that she wanted to get to know us as a couple. Through a few emails, she asked a bunch of questions before we even met, which made us feel like she knew us already. When we finally met in person, we loved her bubbly personality and her attention to detail.

Marlayna was very responsive and was always open to our ideas when we emailed them to her. She made us feel extremely at ease on our wedding day by constantly talking us through poses. We have received so many compliments about the photos Marlayna took of us on our wedding day! And we are absolutely obsessed with the photos too! She is very professional, but at the same time, you feel like she is your best friend! And her passion and energy are contagious. You cannot go wrong hiring Marlayna! We highly recommend her!

First of all, I wish WeddingWire let you give more than 5 stars because Marlayna is amazing! Marlayna was absolutely wonderful to work with from the first time we met! She was so easy going and one of the nicest people that I've ever met!

She included a engagement photo session with our package and we absolutely love our engagement photos! We loved them so much we incorporated a few of them in our wedding! She's a natural and can even turn a set of trees on a highway into absolutely beautiful pictures!

Marlayna always answered my million and one questions with a smile! She is so organized and constantly kept us updated on the plan of the day. She listened to everything that we wanted for our wedding day and helped us figure out a realistic plan to get in all the shots that we wanted! She was amazing to work with during our wedding day and even our family, wedding party, and guests commented on how amazing she was! We couldn't believe the turn around time and how quickly we got our photos! We got to see a few sneak peaks the day after our wedding and as soon as we got back from our honeymoon we had our wedding photos in our inbox! We absolutely love our photos and have too many favorites to print!

If we were to do it again, we would 100% choose Marlayna to photograph our wedding and would recommend her to anyone!