Samantha James Photography Reviews
Reviews
We're all about trust. Our community relies on honest reviews to help you make those big decisions with ease.
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Jennifer Sent on 08/10/2025
Simply the best!
When my husband and I started our wedding planning journey, we knew without a doubt that we wanted Sam to capture our day!
Our very intimate wedding was absolutely perfect and Sam took such great care of us! Any fears or doubts I might’ve had, Sam took control and made things happen! We’re so thankful for her attention to detail, personalization to our guests and caring the requested shots we had.
We woke up the next morning with a selection of previews and we’re just in awe! We absolutely love Sam and WILL be using her again! -
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Dustin Sent on 07/09/2025Wedding Day
Samantha was very professional, very kind and polite, and such a joy to work with her. She meet all of our needs and captured our big day with so many amazing photos. The only problem is we have too many options to frame! -
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Emma Sent on 12/13/2024A Dream Come True Photographer!
I can’t say enough amazing things about Samantha. From start to finish, she went above and beyond to capture the most special moments of our big day. Her creativity, professionalism, and every photo reflected her incredible attention to detail. Samantha made the whole experience feel fun and relaxed. Her warm and friendly personality made her such a joy to have around on such an important day. She didn’t just take photos; she created memories we’ll treasure forever. When we got our gallery back, we were truly amazed. We felt so lucky that we got to relive the best day of our lives through Samantha’s photos. Samantha was so organized and easy to work with throughout the whole process. She really took the time to understand what we were envisioning and made sure every detail was covered. Samantha absolutely exceeded our expectations and gave us a collection of photos we’ll cherish for generations. If you’re looking for a photographer who’s not only talented and professional but also genuinely cares about making your wedding day unforgettable, Samantha is the one. She’s truly a gem, and we feel so lucky to have had her as part of our wedding!
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Maha Sent on 11/24/2024BEST wedding photographer
Hiring Samantha to capture the memories of my daughter's wedding was the best decision. Samantha is very experienced, creative, and efficient. She did an amazing job capturing all the key moments of the day. I would highly recommend Samantha. She is a true professional and a real pleasure to work with! -
Maddie Sent on 11/01/2024
BEST Wedding Photographer!
We had the absolute best experience working with Samantha for our wedding. From our initial call, I could tell Sam was everything we were looking for - organized, professional, experienced, well priced, and clearly cares a lot about what she does - in addition, she is so upbeat and has a great personality so I knew she would be the person I wanted to spend basically the whole wedding day with. She communicated clearly throughout the planning phase and we had a great engagement shoot in Grand Rapids where she made us feel comfortable in front of the camera - she even got some adorable shots of our dog who is not easy to take pictures of! On the wedding day, she was on time and got started right away with some beautiful detail shots. Throughout the day, she kept us on track without rushing anything and exuded such great energy for us and our family. She also knew our venue (Aurora Cellars) so well and had so many ideas for photo backgrounds and poses. We appreciated how she gave us and our family members tips on posing and made sure to fix any stray hairs to ensure each photo was perfect. We received previews just days after the wedding and our full gallery in just a month and a half and are so impressed with her work. I would highly recommend Samantha as a wedding photographer!! -
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Caeli Sent on 08/08/2024Simply the best!
I first met Samantha when she photographed my best friend's wedding. I knew after working with her then that I wanted her to be my photographer for my wedding and even more so once I saw the pictures. She was the first vendor we booked once we had our date set. Pictures are really important to me so I knew I wanted the best of the best. Someone who would insure I have beautiful pictures from my wedding day! She did just that & not only were the pictures great, Sam did an amazing job helping us plan out our timeline & keep that timeline throughout the day. Her calming & supportive personality allowed me to stay present for my day & know everything would get taken care of. I really appreciated how she directed us to insure we got great pictures! I never worried about how I looked because I knew Sam had my back. Simply the best & so good at what she does! Cannot recommend enough :) -
Ally Sent on 07/28/2024
Absolutely incredible
When you book your wedding photographer, you trust someone to capture the biggest day of your life and invite them to be a part of your day. I truly could not have imagined a more perfect person than Sam.
From our first conversation with her, my husband and I knew we had to book Sam for our wedding, so much so that we cancelled all the other calls we had lined up and booked her immediately. She was incredibly professional, knowledgeable and her kindness and authenticity comes through the phone.
For our engagement pictures, I let her know that we wanted to go to a Christmas tree farm. She found a location, talked to the vendor for us and came up with a bunch of ideas. Our engagement pictures turned out so cute and they were exactly what we wanted. Sam made us feel comfortable in front of the camera, and she has such a fun personality that the time flew by, and I forgot that she was a stranger.
About 3 months out from the wedding, I last minute needed to find a new hair stylist and knew Sam would have me covered. I called Sam immediately for a recommendation, and she DELIVERED! She called a close friend of hers to make sure the dates work and totally saved me. In addition, we had a few phone calls and emails to go over the timeline for the day and ensure we were on the same page.
On the actual wedding day, Sam and the second shooter (Kristi) were perfect. They showed up on time and started looking around the property to scope out the best picture locations. There aren’t words to describe how incredible they were to work with, and our family and guests raved about how nice and professional they were. They helped us stay on time, but also made sure we took a few breaks to relax, have our time together and just enjoy the day. We recently got our entire album back and are completely blown away with the results. We get to relive our day through these photos and will cherish them for the rest of our lives.
100/10 - cannot recommend enough. You NEED to book Sam for your wedding! -
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Laura Sent on 07/18/2024
More than a Photographer 🤍
Where do I start! I have known Samantha for quite a few years and have always DREAMED of her being the one to capture my wedding day. Sam is hands down the best when it comes to photography in so many ways. She is so fun to work with and makes you feel comfortable in front of the camera. She is a professional with many years of experience as you can definitely tell from her work. When we look at our photos they come to life with the love and joy that surrounds us. Sam captured our memories for us that we will cherish for a lifetime.
We couldn’t be more happy to have Sam not only as a friend, but also having the opportunity to work with her on our special day. -
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Nicole Sent on 07/18/2024Best Wedding Photographer Ever!!!
There really aren’t enough positive things to say about Sam!! She was SUCH a wonderful addition to our wedding day! She helped keep us feeling calm when it started to rain, she was so professional and on top of things, and our photos turned out better than we could have possibly dreamt of! Booking vendors for an out of state wedding was hard, but Sam truly made the process so easy and fun. She was communicative and supportive leading up to the wedding, and she was the ultimate hype woman on wedding day! I’ll fly Sam across the country to shoot family photos in the future. Our friends and families have raved about her demeanor and photos ever since the wedding. Absolutely one of the best things I did while wedding planning! -
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Colleen Sent on 04/17/2024Above & Beyond!
From our first phone call, I knew Sam was exactly what we were looking for in a wedding day photographer! She has such a natural way of putting her couples at ease, and she made us feel so comfortable in front of the camera! Sam's bright personality helped keep the energy high throughout the entirety of the wedding day. She is incredibly professional, efficient, and communicative from before the time of booking, engagement photos, our wedding day, and after!
But arguably the most important... the photos!! My husband and I were blown away when we received our sneak peeks and then our online album. We would not be happier with how our entire day was captured from beginning to end. Sam's attention to detail is simply unmatched. Her photos are absolutely timeless, and Sam is a vendor that we would choose time and time again! -
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Maggie Sent on 03/10/2024
A beautiful eye & organized planner
Something I don’t think that brides realize, is exactly how large of a role your photographer plays in your wedding. You choose your photographer bc you love their eye, their photography style - but they also are the ones that truly end up running your wedding day! Sam has such a beautiful soul and unbelievable eye for catching the moments that matter, but she also can RUN. THE. DAY. She set our schedule, kept us (and others) on it and was so graceful with her execution of the family and bridal party photos. After our engagement, we hired Sam for a family reminding and since our wedding, our family members have hired her for special moments. We plan on continuing to to use Sam throughout the significant moments in our life and I can’t imagine using anyone else. -
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Stephanie Sent on 01/01/2024Do not hesitate booking Samantha James!!
My husband and I do not have enough positive things to say about our experience with Samantha James! Sam is professional and experienced, while also so warm and fun to work with. Sam took the time to get to know us and our vision for our wedding day, beyond just the pictures. While we ended up meeting with her for the first time at our rehearsal dinner, it felt like we had known her for much longer. Our rehearsal dinner pictures and wedding pictures are perfect! We have received so many compliments from friends & family. She captured our day in an even more beautiful way than we could have imagined! Photography is certainly an investment, but Samantha James is worth every cent! -
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Laura Sent on 11/05/2023Dream Wedding Photographer
Samantha James Photography was my dream photographer for our wedding in August 2023. Samantha is very gifted and incredibly professional. Every day that we look at our wedding photo gallery, the more we love the photos! So glad we chose Samantha to preserve this incredibly special time in our lives and cannot wait to capture more milestones in our lives with her! -
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Jennifer Sent on 10/31/2023Sooo much love for Sam
This review is long overdue but I wanted to say that I cannot say enough positive things about Sam. Take it from someone who started out with over 30 photographers recommended by her venue and planner and decided to research every single one of them. I set up a call with Sam and by the end of that call, my now husband and I were like wow she's good, let's go with her. We could tell that Sam was passionate about what she did and she brought forward really good energy that we wanted on our wedding day. And we were right! We got a preview of Sam's skills when we had our engagement shoot in Chicago. We ended up having so much more fun than we were expecting and the photos turned out even better than we had expected. Sam is seriously everything you would want from a wedding photographer. She was responsive, professional, and easy to work with. On our actual wedding day, I felt like she was a big sister - she made sure we stuck to our schedules, she helped me with things like fixing my hairpiece, and hyped me up so I felt confident! She helped me pick my engagement shoot outfit and even my wedding dress when I was down to the final two choices. Honestly, I could go on forever but I'll just say, if I could do it all over again, I would choose Sam again. -
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Danielle Sent on 09/29/2023Absolutely perfect!
Words could never adequately describe how grateful I am to have had Sam take our wedding pictures. She truly is everything you need and more in a photographer. She is extremely involved with her clients, is pure genius behind her camera, and is the sweetest person in the whole world! Frankly, I'm not the most comfortable in front of a camera - I feel awkward and struggle with positioning myself. Sam always had a perfect vision of how she wanted us, gave us directions on how to pose or where to look, and ultimately captured so many unforgettable moments. If you want to be able to look back at your wedding photos and be flooded with the emotions and memories you felt during that day, Sam will be able to provide that. Her photos capture the essence of each moment and truly depict the love expressed and the beauty of the perfect day. While it might seem like an investment to commit to, just remember that these are the photos you will be able to cherish for the rest of your life. These are the photos that you will be able to show your kids and grandkids someday. Sam's photography is truly priceless and I feel as though everyone deserves to have their day perfectly captured by someone as talented and selfless as Sam! -
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Shana Sent on 09/29/2023More than a photographer!
Choosing Sam as our wedding photographer was the best decision we made in our two year wedding planning journey. From the beginning, she told me and my husband that she would be there for us in any way she could to help us through the process and she stayed true to that. She is passionate, dedicated, reliable, has a great eye for detail, and is such a joy to be around.
Sam did my boudoir shoot for my husband’s wedding gift and I will never forget what a fun experience it was! I remember driving to the studio feeling so nervous, then leaving two hours later feeling the most confident I had in years. My husband is in love with the photos. Fast forward to our wedding day and she truly felt like a wedding coordinator, photographer, and best friend all in one. She gave me a sense of calm during my most anxious moments. She did everything she could to make sure the day ran smoothly and that everyone felt comfortable and looked their best in photos. The photos turned out better than I could’ve ever envisioned and we will treasure them forever. -
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Jennifer Sent on 07/11/2023Above and BEYOND!
Samantha is absolutely amazing, we could not have asked for a better wedding photographer! Our engagement and wedding day photos are stunning and beyond what we could have imagined. We felt completely at ease and comfortable with her. Sam truly goes above and beyond to make sure you stick to your schedule while capturing beautiful moments! We could not have been happier and highly recommend Sam for your wedding and engagement shoot! -
Bailey Sent on 10/07/2022
Sam is incredible!
We had the most incredible experience working with Sam! I loved her photography style when I first found her page. We were sold after our first conversation with her - she was so kind, excited for us, and interested in providing a service tailored specifically to us. Neither of us are very comfortable in front of the camera, but Sam made our engagement session so fun. When it came time for our wedding, we had the utmost trust in her and we couldn't have asked for anything more. Sam will be your best decision on your wedding day! -
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Sarah Sent on 08/11/2022Amazing!
Samantha James did such an amazing job on our pictures! I never imagined the pictures turning out this amazing! WOW worth every penny! What amazing work, fun to be around, just a super talented woman! -
Olivia Sent on 09/07/2021
Book her!!!
Booking Samantha as our photographer was by far one of the best wedding decisions we made!! As a Covid bride who had to postpone our wedding - Sam was so responsive, understanding, and a pleasure to work with. After my first call with her I could tell she genuinely loves what she does and has such a passion for capturing the special moments of one of the biggest days of your lives. She wants to get to know her couples and provide the absolute best, personal service she can. She is the calm in the chaos on the day of. It goes without saying that her work is FLAWLESS. She captures your day in the most beautiful light and I am SO thankful we found her! Thank you thank you Sam - we cannot thank you enough for being a part of our special day! -
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Clare Sent on 08/21/2019The sweetest and most talented photographer!
Hiring Samantha was the best decision! She and I connected as soon as we had our initial phone call, and she exceeded my expectations from start to finish. She truly is so genuine and kind, always willing to help, and was a calm presence throughout our entire wedding planning experience. She has a heart for others and is so passionate about her work. She always made sure we felt comfortable and confident in front of the camera, and captured us as a couple in such a timeless and romantic way, both in our engagement photos and on our wedding day. -
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Josi Sent on 07/29/2019Cannot say enough good things!
I had a very specific type of photo that I wanted for our engagement and wedding photos and Sam did not disappoint! Everything was light and airy and exactly what I was looking for. Tyler and I had never had our photos taken together and were a little nervous going into our engagement session but from the beginning Sam made everything so much fun and enjoyable. Leading up to our wedding day, Sam and I spoke on the phone a couple of different times just for my piece of mind on how the day would run overall and for photos. She helped keep us all on track the day of and Tyler and I still got to have fun. I cannot say enough good things about Sam and we are looking forward to her shooting more for us in the future! -
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Dea Sent on 07/29/2018Samantha is one of the best decisions we made when planning our wedding. Not only is she the nicest and most caring person you'll ever meet, but she truly loves her job and wants to make everything perfect. She went out of her way since day one to make sure we were getting the best images. During our wedding week she came to our final walk through to get an idea of shots and family photos and the layout once more since we weren't doing a first look. She was already very familiar with the venue so for her to go out of her way because she knew we were a little concerned about getting all of the family photos done after the ceremony was very helpful and made us relaxed about not doing a first look. We just love Sam, and she was very professional and extremely nice to everyone in our family and our guests. The best part is her images are beautiful. She took our engagement photos and right when we got them back, we fell in love with them. Our wedding photos were AMAZING and she captured every special moment. She is the sweetest and best photographer we have used, and we will continue to use her for other monumental events. When you are picking a wedding photographer you want to make sure you are getting the best, and I truly believe Sam's images are some of the best I've ever seen. I've included some photos of her work. Book Samantha because it will be one of the best wedding decisions you make.
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Blair Sent on 12/05/2017Samantha is the unicorn photographer you've been looking for. Her vision, gorgeous photography quality, and creativity captures the wedding pictures you've always dreamed of. And not just of you, but of everyone you love too! She isn't afraid to get in there & capture those fleeting moments that someone inevitably says, "did you get that on camera?!" For me, the way Samantha photographed weddings was the way I wanted to remember mine. & that's exactly what she delivered! Matthew and I will cherish our photo collection forever.
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