Melissa Palka Photography Reviews
Reviews
5.0 out of 5 rating
![WeddingWire Couples' Choice Awards 2024 Winner]()
5.0 out of 5 rating
14 Reviews
100% recommend it
Awards
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![Lana]()
Lana M. Sent on 10/03/2023Melissa was the best start to our wedding planning!
My fiance and I got engagement photos with Melissa here in DC for our destination wedding. We were very specific in what we wanted (sunrise at the monuments in DC) but for everything else, Melissa was a wealth of knowledge. During our meet and greet, she asked purposeful questions about our wedding planning, what we envisioned for the photos, what we were planning on using the engagement photos for, and so on. After the meet and greet, she had us sign a straight-forward contract (no googling if something was weird in the contract or not) and then sent us a very long questionnaire to get to know us better and know what we wanted (and didn't!) with our photos.
Prior to our shoot, there were hiccups - the park service permitting system is An Experience to Deal With, there were forecasted storms, there was a surprise event being set up that completely hid the Lincoln Memorial with scaffolding, and there were more runners than you ever expect at 6:30am. But Melissa made us feel cool and comfortable; she told us exactly what to do, where to look, what to do with our hands; she even asked permission each time before going over and adjusting my hair or fingers or something. I appreciated that she respected my autonomy and made us look great without feeling like dolls being moved around. She is great to talk with, and she made the shoot go by so fast.
The only things I would improve upon are things I didn't know to mention until we got our photos back - most of the photos are vertical, when our website (where we're hosting most of the images) wants horizontal; most of the photos one of us is gazing away, and so there's only so many photos of us posed looking straight on; and there are a LOT of kissing photos (which I'm less likely to use for a Save the Date to send to my granny). Those aside, all of which I didn't even know to mention until after I got the photos back, I'm sure she would have adjusted prior to the shoot had I mentioned in the questionnaire. I know this because there were things I mentioned in the questionnaire I didn't like, and she never even brought them up.
All in all, I'm really happy with our engagement photos and I would certainly use Melissa if I was getting married locally. She made us look great and feel great, and after our shoot with her it made being engaged feel Actually Real. -
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![Hye]()
Hye Y. Sent on 04/17/2024Hire Melissa for your special day! You will not regret it.
Melissa was such a joy to work with for our engagement photos and our courthouse wedding. I am not very comfortable with taking photos (I don't take pictures of myself often), but Melissa made it so comfortable that I thought I was good at posing for photos! Haha. Melissa always comes prepared, knowing all the best spots to take the photos. And the pictures came out BEAUTIFUL! We took our engagement and courthouse wedding photos in Maryland, but we are having our wedding ceremony in New York City. We booked Melissa instead of going with a local NYC photographer because we love working with her so much. We will definitely reach out to Melissa for any other photo needs in the future! -
![Kathryn]()
Kathryn M. Sent on 04/28/2023Elevated Visual Artist, Ultimate Client Experience
You are going to have a long term relationship with your wedding photographer, so it better be someone awesome, professional, cool under pressure, and really committed to the customer experience. Melissa embodies all of these qualities and is truly the consummate professional who caters to the luxury client.
I met Melissa at a photography workshop and had the pleasure of working with her throughout the week. She consistently demonstrated mastery of her artistic craft, vast experience working through complex wedding situations, and took extra time to mentor less-seasoned photographers. I would book her in a heartbeat to capture my love story in an elevated, artful manner. -
Joanna S. Sent on 04/20/2023
Dream Photos!
Melissa captured our day so beautifully! She really made us feel comfortable having our photo taken (which is not natural for us.) She gave us the best suggestions and allowed us to really the day. It was VERY cold on our wedding day and she took our outdoor photos so professionally and quick so we could warm up. She is so kind! I could not have asked for a better experience! -
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![Stephanie]()
Stephanie P. Sent on 03/14/2023Melissa is the BEST!!
We felt so very lucky to work with Melissa. From the moment we spoke with her for our planning phone call, we knew it was a great fit. Melissa is not only extremely knowledgeable in her field, but she is a truly kindhearted and supportive person. We went over all the details and felt completely at ease going into our wedding day thanks to her approach.
Melissa arrived early on our wedding day to take those details shots and ensure we had plenty of time for our first look and group shots before the ceremony. She made all of us feel super comfortable and contributed to a relaxing environment. Her genuine kindness was noticed by several of our wedding guests who came up to me during the reception to tell me how great our photographer was 😊
Melissa was very organized and ensured we got all the group photos we hoped for. With crazy family dynamics like most, Melissa handled all groups with ease and kept things moving. We are so appreciative of this.
Finally — the photos!! Wow. We are so in love with all the photos she captured. I’m always rather hard on myself and don’t like photos, so the fact that she was able to document us in our element on this once in a lifetime day, is so special. Her ability to get candids and posed photos that look natural is amazing. We are so happy and will use Melissa for future life events. She made our day extra special and we look at our photo book and think of how lucky we were to have gotten to work with her.
Lastly, there was supposed to be a support photographer with her but due to an accident she couldn’t make it. I was nervous we wouldn’t get all the photos we hoped for, but this was not the case. Melissa reassured us that she would take care of it and she certainly did. We are still in awe of how she captured a wedding of 150 guests by herself. -
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Kaitlyn B. Sent on 03/09/2023
Absolutely Recommend!
Melissa photographed our wedding this past September and she was amazing! She made sure we stuck to our timeline all while getting every shot we wanted! She made things go so smoothly and kept it fun! Melissa spent time reviewing our timeline and went through the list of shots we wanted while answering all our questions! She was just awesome! -
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![Tina]()
Tina H. Sent on 03/10/2023In love with our wedding photos!
My husband and I absolutely loved our experience with Melissa! Our wedding photos were so beautiful and we can’t stop looking at them, even almost a year later. Melissa was so great with communication and planning and brought our vision to life! She got all of the shots I wanted. She took some of my ideas for photos and added her own expertise. We are so happy to have worked with her and would love to work with her again! -
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Sb At Sent on 03/14/2023Great experience, worth the investment!
I worked with Melissa for my 2021 wedding in Washington DC, and I could not have been happier! She was working for a photography company at the time, but I am very excited to see that she has launched her own endeavor, as I am sure the same vision and superior quality of her photos will carry over. I am also excited because her own vision and creativity will have room to shine when she is her own boss. Melissa made the process fun, kept things professional, incorporated our suggestions and wishes, and produced stunning visuals, giving us memories to cherish for years to come. I appreciated her input and suggestions about structuring the shoot around one of my main goals – capturing the Golden Hour. She also integrated seamlessly into the environment of the setting, a private social club which featured stricter rules than other venues and required extra care for the historic mansion which provided the venue. She was great to work with in general, and very good at providing instructions/direction without being inflexible or overbearing. I highly recommended Melissa to anyone interested in elegant, expressive images, and I can vouch for the fact that she is well worth the investment! I wish her the very best in this new chapter, and won’t hesitate to use her again for family portraits or special occasions! -
Erin Sent on 03/12/2023
Book Melissa now!
My husband and I are so thankful to have found Melissa. She photographed us for both our engagement and wedding photos. We could not have been more thrilled with how they turned out. From the moment we first met her, she made us feel at ease and it was as if we had known her for a long time. She took her time and put so much thought into making sure she captured everything beautifully - which she did. Years from now when we look back on our photos we will think of Melissa and be so happy we chose her to document such an important time in our lives. I highly encourage you to book her for your event - you will be so glad you did! -
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![Chelsie]()
Chelsie Sent on 03/15/2024Adoption Book Photos
My husband and I are in the process of adopting from foster care and are creating a photobook for our potential child. We wanted to show pictures of ourselves in our home, in a more casual way, instead of all of our formal photos. Melissa did such a great job of capturing us, our home, and our pets looking natural. I was afraid it would be awkward, but Melissa just talked to us, or directed as needed, and we felt completely at ease which translated to great photos. She was thoughtful in how we would be using these photos, very communicative, and made a great experience. I would highly recommend and definitely plan to use her for family photo sessions in the future!!
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