Run, don't walk, to hire Xiaoqi and Jess for your day!
We had the great pleasure of working with Xiaoqi Li and Jess on our wedding day and CANNOT recommend them enough! Booking Process: When I first did my discovery call with her, you could tell she had a passion for what she did, and it was more than just a job to her. I immediately felt at ease with her and knew that there was no other choice for our photography. Xiaoqi has several different packages available. We went with the Gelato Package with Jess and Xiaoqi as our photographers. Because we had gotten engagement photos done already, we instead added an extra hour of coverage for the wedding day. Looking back, I would have loved to have a separate session getting to know them both a little better in person, but we had enough planning calls that I felt comfortable day of! Xiaoqi had a couple planning calls through the process and several timeline questionnaires. This was SO helpful in guiding conversation between my husband and I about what we wanted during the day. Xiaoqi was incredibly respectful of all of our decisions about what we did or did not want. After getting an idea of our vision, she created a thorough timeline that we used for all of our other vendors. It was great to have someone else as detail oriented as I was going into the process. I felt incredibly confident with her. On the day of, it had rained that morning and some of our original plans had to be scrapped. They were quick to offer suggestions of where we could still get great shots. They both had a keen eye for detail and framing to get amazing photos. Even better, they kept everyone laughing and at ease, but still herded our very bombastic group the entire time. In between the formal, posed photos, they were capturing quiet, intimate moments others may pass by. I left feeling like every moment was captured! I would argue Xiaoqi has one of the fastest turnaround times for sneak peek photos in the business! As an anxious bride who wants to have photos to share and look back on, she truly delivered! On the dot, 8 weeks later, our full wedding album was ready. Now, what I will say about Xiaoqi, is that she does a reveal celebration. Instead of just getting a link to look at the photos (which I would naturally do even if it's in the middle of a work day), we got a chance to sit down together and look back through all the highlights of the wedding day. We laughed, cried, and laughed again watching it back. For something as intimate and personal as a wedding, I wouldn't want anything less when getting back the photos of the day. We had over 900 photos back from the day, and while I am VERY good at finding everything I dislike about myself, I struggled to look at the things I hated when I was so busy looking at the emotions that Xiaoqi and Jess captured. And that's why I chose them to shoot our wedding. Because they capture what love looks like. They capture you and your family and friends in their most authentic, loveable moments. And I know that when I'm opening up our photo album 50 years from now, I'll still be transported back to exactly how I felt in that moment - so, so in love with my husband, and so happy to be surrounded by the people I love. So when you're looking at a photographer, I implore you - this is one area not to skimp on your budget. Because at the end of the day, this is how you'll remember your day. I wouldn't have trusted anyone else to capture those moments. So when I say, don't walk, run to hire Xiaoqi and Jess for your day, I mean it!