Amanda VanVels Photography Reviews

Name: Amanda VanVels Photography
Address: Grand Rapids, MI, 49599
Rating: 4.4

Amanda VanVels Photography

Grand Rapids, MI

4.4 out of 5 rating, 12 reviews

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4.4 out of 5 rating

4.4

Good

12 reviews

Recommended by 89% of couples

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Quality of service
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Average response time
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Professionalism
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Value
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Flexibility
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Maesee Sent on 12/09/2021

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Look No Further - Amanda's the Best Photographer!

Amanda is the most chill and sweetest person during our sessions (both for our engagement + wedding photos)! Her down-to-earth personality and candid-like photos were what drew us to choosing her. She kept in touch with us frequently, even when we had to postpone our wedding due to the pandemic. I truly admire all the hard work she did, running around with us and our crazy schedule, while we changed into 3 different outfits throughout the day. The photos she took were incredibly authentic and really highlights the emotions of the day. I couldn't stop smiling as I went through our wedding photos, just looking at people's reactions and how much fun everyone had. Amanda captures not only memories, but she captures the joy of it all. 1000000% would do it all over again with Amanda in a heartbeat.
Charmaine Sent on 06/24/2020

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We Love Amanda Vanvels!!!!

Where do I begin.... I am so thankful to have found the best photographer EVER!!! 😍 Seriously, Amanda has been amazing to work with from the day I contacted her, she is easy to conect with and so refreshingly personable... She was so flexible even when there was so much uncertainty due to the COVID-19 pandemic and was able to support us as plans changed. My new husband and I absolutely adore our wedding photos and are so excited to work with Amanda again for our wedding reception in August! We highly recommend her, you are sure to love her sweet nature and her work as much as we do. ❤
Kimberly Sent on 05/30/2020

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A Perfect Experience

My husband and I could not have asked for a better photographer for our wedding. Amanda was an absolute dream to work with!! We were looking for something a little nontraditional in our photography, and Amanda's documentarian style of shooting was the perfect fit for us. From our engagement photos to the photos she took for our wedding, looking at them brings us right back to each moment, and we remember exactly how we felt when the photo was taken. On the day, she was a total rockstar- Super organized and focused. When we got our photos back (in a very timely manner!), my husband and I were in tears remembering how special the day was and how Amanda so perfectly captured each element of our celebration. We aren't the only ones who think so, either. Our family and friends have been effusive with their praise of Amanda's work, too! While her photos are spectacular, she is also just an incredibly warm, comforting, and calm presence to have around on your wedding day! She was extremely communicative throughout the entire process with not only us, but with our wedding coordinator, too, and took time to address all of our questions and concerns (whether or not we would need a second shooter, how she felt about the lighting conditions in our venues, how to maximize the amount of time we could spend at our reception vs taking portraits before/after the ceremony, etc.) I am personally not a fan of having my photo taken, but Amanda made us both feel so comfortable for both of our shoots (engagement & wedding). I would HIGHLY recommend having Amanda shoot your engagement photos as well as your ceremony! In our engagement shoot, we got to "test drive" Amanda's photography style, which really helped us with knowing exactly what to expect from her on our wedding day. It was in the planning of that shoot that we really realized how carefully she tailors her approach to each couple. My husband and I decided to do our engagement shoot in our neighborhood where we live, and Amanda found the most incredible spots for photos in a neighborhood we walk in every day and had never noticed. She really has a fantastic eye! She's so collaborative and thoughtful- You really cannot find a better mix of talent and presence. We are so, so grateful for Amanda and will treasure our photos forever!!

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Janice Sent on 01/20/2020

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Love Amanda

My husband and I could not be happier with how our experience with Amanda turned out. We met Amanda several times before, as she was the photographer for some of our friends’ wedding and I had always admired her photos. It’s a true testament of her work and reputation when she has already photographed several of your friends’ weddings. Amanda’s images are raw and she is able to capture every emotion throughout the night. On top of that, she is so sweet and really easy-going – which makes her subjects feel at ease in front of the camera. Her portfolio really speaks for itself. My only wish is that Amanda was still out in CA so she can capture every milestone of ours going forward! With that said, there’s a lot of amazing documentary-style photographers out there, but Amanda is special because she’s literally the whole package – we can’t recommend her enough
Mia H. Sent on 01/09/2019

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makes you feel so at ease, you want her to be your new bff!

Amanda was the sweetest, best photographer I could have ever wanted for our wedding. I feel weird in front of a camera, especially in intimate moments, and I somehow get a weird staged face when I know my picture is being taken. Taking couples photos felt easy, because Amanda made me feel relaxed and actually made us enjoy a little time together, away from the party. Communication with Amanda was outstanding, I immediately felt like she was my friend and would recommend her 100%.
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Leah Sent on 03/04/2017

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Amanda photographed our engagement session & wedding this past July. She was great to work with and most importantly our photos are amazing! She is super sweet and easy going, good at guiding you and helping you with locations/poses and also totally open to incorporating anything you want/any suggestions or ideas you have into her work. She was professional, reliable, prepared, sent all our photos to us within the promised time frame and we got numerous compliments from friends & family regarding how beautiful our photos are. We are thrilled that Amanda was our photographer and would definitely recommend her to others! Thanks Amanda!!
Sharon Sent on 01/13/2017

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My husband and I had an amazing experience working with Amanda for our wedding and engagement photos. We are both Art Directors in the advertising and design field, so you can only imagine our scrutinizing eye when it came to the photography on our big day. For Amanda’s photography style, quality and coverage, her prices were beyond reasonable. My husband and I are also used to working with photographers behind the camera, not in front of it, and her warm personality really made the whole shoot a lot less awkward for us.

The overall process, was such a breeze. She was collaborative and respectfully provided her expertise and point of view when we needed it. We provided a shot list of all the shots we really wanted captured on the day, and agreed on when photos will be delivered. All of which she fulfilled. She even packaged up all the printed photos in a beautiful wooden box with matching USB drive.

She did such a beautiful job capturing the day, we even got featured on wedding blogs!
Lisa Sent on 12/19/2016

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I've been a fan of Amanda's work for several years. As a native Michigander, I'd run into her work on social media, and began following it for several years-- way before I ever thought about to whom/how/when I'd get married, and certainly not what that day would be like. I was just so drawn to her ability to capture gorgeous, life-filled images of families and couples coming together. When my partner of many years and I decided to (finally) get married, I got right on trying to book Amanda for our photos. We were married in Minnesota and on a relatively short timeframe (3 months of planning), and all of the logistics, planning, and decisions about photos were totally supported by her long-distance. She was incredibly helpful to me (especially after I dubbed myself the 'dead-beat bride') in planning the schedule for our wedding day, because, well, she's been to TONS of weddings. Expert! When we received the final product we were just blown away-- incredible pictures of us, people we love, the beautiful space where we held our wedding... Uniquely ours, but with her signature style that we love. What stands out the most to me about working with Amanda is her attention to capturing the entire experience of our wedding-- and what it meant to us-- through still images. nI think couples also get incredible value in working with Amanda-- her wedding package pricing seemed very comparable, she was incredibly flexible and reliable, we received tons of images, the were so beautiful and full of the emotion of the day.
Lauren Sent on 11/15/2015

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What a pleasure it was to be able to work with Amanda. Living out of state I relied on referrals from the first two vendors we booked and I was given the name of two photographers. Those referrals were already hired on our wedding date, however they BOTH suggested Amanda as an alternate. I am SO glad that those other photographers were not available because Amanda did an INCREDIBLE job! People cannot stop talking about how gorgeous the wedding looked and how great our pictures came out. When I looked Amanda up online before contacting her I was very impressed with her online gallery, however I can honestly say I'm not sure this portfolio does her work justice! My husband is obsessed with the pictures, my mom is calling dibs on some of them for her Christmas card, our sister-in-law ordered a huge print of the family for her home, and so on! Everyone wants copies of these pictures! If you are looking to duplicate wedding shot ideas found on Pinterest, Amanda may not be your girl (although she will probably accommodate you). When we go through our album, it is as if we are reliving the day and we could not be happier.
User2423555 Sent on 11/12/2015

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I'm so glad we used Amanda as our photographer! She was really great to work with, super nice and made us feel comfortable and directed us gently. She delivered our photos to us exactly when she said she would, and we LOVE THEM! She was a total professional and didn't miss a thing. I couldn't be more pleased with how they turned out!
User6928961 Sent on 01/16/2014

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I think Amanda is an amazing photographer which is why I was willing to pay what I would consider a lot for her. Its a big investment but after looking at her photos for hours I knew it was a good decision.
The day of my wedding everything went as planned she showed up, took photos, was very friendly & did a great job.
In her contract it states final delivery of images would be approx 8 weeks. I accepted this, but hoped that maybe we would get to see 3-5 photos before then. Nine weeks after our wedding & we still had not seen a single photo. I emailed her after 10 wks hoping she would give us a sneak of our photos. A week went by & I didn't even hear anything from her. I facebooked her & she messaged me right back saying we would get a preview the next day. The next day comes & goes & no preview. 2 weeks later I decide to message her again & she says they would be up shortly. Finally 12.5 weeks after our wedding we got to see our photos. She also sends out a flash drive with all the photos & the rights to them. When she last emailed me, she said she would be sending out the flash drive to us the next day. More than 2 weeks go by & we still did not have it. I emailed her again asking what was going on & what to expect (how it was sent, if there was a tracking #) & have yet to hear back from her....but we did FINALLY receive the flash drive close to 2.5 weeks after she said she would mail it.
I'm a very reasonable person & I know that our wedding was not #1 on her mind 24/7 and thats OK, but I do expect to be treated respectfully & like I'm a valued customer of hers. Its unfortunate that I'm having to write a review like this, because she has a lot of talent & honestly I could've dealt with the delay in everything if she had treated us well. It also frustrated me that she was posting her vacation photos as well as other couples engagement previews that were taken WELL after our wedding before we got to see a single photo
Sasha Sent on 06/19/2014

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I was greatly disappointed in Amanda on so many levels.
The day of she showed up and hear that when she did photos of my groom and his groomsmen they asked to do a few fun photos and she flat out said no. The only pose she would do is everyone standing in a straight line with their shoulders squared to the camera.
On your wedding day getting all the photos you need is not the first thing on your mind.She never mentioned that I did not get a photo with my parents, in-laws, or our son who was our ring bearer. I was extremely disappointed that on such a big day I am missing extremely key photos and I cannot go back to fix this.
During the ceremony her second shooter was actually sitting in the back texting for all our guests to walk pass and see. I had more than one of my guest ask why the photographer had been on her phone for so long.
I mentioned a few things that I was self conscience about and if she wanted to edit those things I would be happy and she happily agreed, however none of it was done. She also did not fix the scrape on my sons nose or remove the large zit on my husbands face. As a professional photographer these are things that should just be done and not something that I have to give her every photo number that they are in and remind her multiple times that they need to be fixed.
She gave us an 8 week turn around for photos and after multiple reminder emails at 9 weeks and later we finally got our photos 13 weeks after the wedding. In her package she also includes an album, I had to remind her of this 4 months after the wedding and she said she was out of town for the next month but could do it when she got back. This was also do 8 weeks after. With two more reminder emails we finally got our $500 album 6 months after the wedding and it was damaged. she emailed a return label and finally at the 8month mark we got it in the mail. I am still dealing with her trying to get some other photos she owes us and she is not responding.