Wedding Photography in Washington DC

Jack

5.0 out of 5 rating

5.0

Stumbling upon the So Tender is Humanity website during our exhaustive search for a wedding photographer proved to be one of the most important, if not the most important, moments of me and my wife's wedding planning journey. It's not entirely difficult to articulate what one wants in a photographer – in our case: authenticity, candidness, heart, motion, an almost complete disregard for convention – but to find someone who can successfully execute your vision is an entirely different prospect. However, it only took a few moments of browsing Alex and Anastasiia's website and portfolio to realize we had found our partners for this journey. And that's exactly what Alex and Anastasiia were: partners. Sure, they are masterful photographers. Actually, that's doing them a disservice; let's go with virtuosos of the visual. However, what truly separates them is how they approach the relationship. We weren’t just subjects through a lens. Whether it was the kickoff call, the assorted follow-ups, our engagement shoot or the big day – we felt valued, we felt heard, we felt involved. In truth, it felt like we developed a friendship along the way that proved to be the catalyst for some of the best photos I’ve ever viewed. Genuinely. From our engagement shoot at Dave & Buster’s (where my wife and I first met) to our boho wedding at Brentsville Hall, Alex and Anastasiia captured these milestone moments with flair, gusto, beauty, warmth and realness. The spirit of my wife and I courses through these photos, to an extent we didn’t even know was possible. Alex and Anastasiia are creatives in the truest sense of the word, but more importantly, they are incredible human beings. We are forever grateful to Alex and Anastasiia and cannot wait to work with them again.

Robin

5.0 out of 5 rating

5.0

Lee's been super helpful and collaborative since day 1. He really takes the time to build relationships and rapport with couples which helps capture meaningful and stunning photos. Our engagement shoot at the National Gallery of Art was amazing and we're excited to work together again at our wedding this summer!

Terri

5.0 out of 5 rating

5.0

We are beyond thrilled with our experience working with Julia at Julie Summers Photography! From my daughter’s very first meeting to the final gallery delivery, they were professional, warm, and incredibly talented. Julia made everyone feel so comfortable in front of the camera, nothing felt forced or awkward. She captured every important moment, every little glance, every burst of laughter, and every happy tear with such authenticity and beauty. The photos are absolutely stunning—timeless, full of emotion, and beautifully edited. We’ve looked through them a hundred times and still tear up! Not only is Julia a gifted artist, but they were also such a calming and positive presence on the day itself. She helped keep things on track without ever making anyone feel rushed and worked seamlessly with all of the other vendors. If you’re looking for someone who will go above and beyond to capture your day exactly how you want to remember it, we can’t recommend Julia Summers Photography enough. These photos are something we will treasure for the rest of our lives. Thank you for giving our family the gift of these memories! — Mike and Terri Barnett, parents of the bride

Elise

5.0 out of 5 rating

5.0

Dominique did an amazing job with our wedding photos!! We were so happy with them. She captured so much during the ceremony and in the staged photos afterwards. She did a great job cuing us during the family and couple portraits even though neither me nor my husband is great at staged photos. Looking back at the photos, I felt so much of the emotion of the day again, and I had friends and family members say the same thing. Also, she was really fast in getting our photos back to us afterwards. I would recommend Dominique so highly to anyone looking to capture a special moment. 

Michaela is an excellent photographer to work with! She made us feel comfortable during our engagement shoot, suggested poses that turned out perfectly, and knew which time of day would have the best lighting. On top of that, she is so sweet and went above and beyond with editing our photos. When we need photos taken in the future, I plan to work with her again :)

We worked with Joey for our wedding, and he was truly wonderful! He showed up with so much kindness and enthusiasm that it felt like he was just as excited to capture our day as we were to live it. He connected so easily with us, our families, and our guests, and it shows in every photo! Joey didn’t just photograph the big moments. He caught the small ones too. Genuine interactions, laughter, and the energy of the day! We went to a second location after the ceremony, and he was completely flexible and creative, while still taking the time to listen to the shots we wanted. We love the posed photos, but the candid ones are our absolute favorites! We couldn’t be happier and highly recommend Joey for any photography needs!

Clare

5.0 out of 5 rating

5.0

Zaida is a consummate professional and an artist. The samples on her website are a very good representation of the quality provided. What you won’t know from the website is that she was also a real pleasure to have around! She’s friendly, has an easy laugh, and makes others comfortable. She’s flexible and creative when things don’t go as planned on the wedding day. She took time and care to make sure that she got a list of the shots we wanted to capture and understood who was important to us. For instance, I shared that I really wanted to get pictures with my niece and she captured some absolutely adorable shots that I will treasure forever! My husband has always been shy about taking photos, and I was very nervous about getting nice shots. Zaida gave the perfect amount of guidance – suggesting framing and approximate poses, but not overdirecting and allowing us to be comfortable with her. It worked really well. We have never had such lovely photos together! She was also totally game to do an unusual location for our engagement shoot, the air and space museum. She mentioned she loves photographing couples in locations that are special to them. You can tell that she really loves love, learning about couples and their stories, and being part of weddings. It was a pleasure to have Zaida be part of our wedding day. We received the photos back in less than two months and will treasure them forever.

From the moment we started our first shoot (small and intimate wedding), Haley (Hayy) brought an energy that was contagious. My spouse and I are generally a bit awkward in front of a camera, but that nervousness vanished within minutes. She didn't just help pose us; she made us laugh, chatted with us like old friends, and made the experience so effortless. The entire atmosphere was upbeat and lighthearted. Instead of feeling like a chore or a stressful "picture time" deadline, every interaction was genuinely fun. Her positive attitude helped us relax and be our authentic selves, which shines through in every single photo. We spent half the time genuinely cracking up, and we would recommend her to anyone and everyone looking for a genuine photographer who loves what she does. Thank you Haley!

Chauna

5.0 out of 5 rating

5.0

Cannot recommend enough! Jilanne did our engagement photos, wedding day photos, and wedding videography. We are so in love with how everything turned out and got so many compliments from friends and family. Her photos turned out so well, the venue asked if they could post them on their website! Easy and fun to work with and always a timely turn around on final products. I can’t wait to work with Jilanne again on future photography and videography needs.

Julian

5.0 out of 5 rating

5.0

When my now-wife first sent me a link to Sokolov Photography's vendor page, I guess I wasn't sure what to expect - the photos looked amazing, but then again, so did pretty much every other wedding photo I've seen. It wasn't until our first call with Serge that I realized how important it is to have a photographer who ~gets your whole deal~. As a couple of weirdos more interested in skulls and blades than hearts and flowers, our goth wedding was about as nontraditional as it gets, so it was crucial that the photographer documenting the most important day of our lives was on the same page. Well, we had absolutely nothing to worry about! We vibed with Serge pretty much immediately, and he completely understood what we were going for. Rather than do an engagement photoshoot we instead had him shoot the rehearsal dinner/Halloween party, and he absolutely killed it with dozens of amazing photos of everyone's costumes. On the day-of, Serge and his partner Aspen showed up ready to roll and despite being given little in the way of instructions, they already knew where to be and what to do. They did a fantastic job corralling our families for all the important shots (which was not easy, I had like 30 people on my side alone) We got the first look photos in only a week, and even then we were already blown away - even the cover photo of the album captured me and my wife's vibe perfectly. The full photoset was nothing less than incredible and more than surpassed our expectations! Even though we were obviously the stars of the show, we really, really appreciated that they managed to get fantastic shots of pretty much every single one of the ~100 guests; we can't wait to include our favorites in the thank-you cards! We truly could not have asked for better photographers - in addition to being total professionals, Serge and Aspen were also cool as hell and a delight to hang out with, and their enthusiasm really showed in the photos. You two are the absolute best, and we are eternally grateful for your hard work in capturing the most important day of our lives!