Vivian Chen Photography Reviews
Reviews
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![Christina]()
Christina Sent on 04/24/2025Love our photos by Erin Prado and Vivian Chen!
I highly recommend working with Vivian Chen and her associate photographer Erin Prado for your wedding! Both of them were wonderful from start to finish and our photographs came out gorgeous. I really wanted a photographer with a natural look (not the overly bright/blown out look you so often get in wedding photos) and a focus on candids, and they came out just as fantastic as I expected from looking through their portfolios.
We worked with Erin for a mini engagement session and our wedding and she was lovely on both days - really relaxed and personable while still giving us great direction on poses and positioning. Small things so we were still moving naturally and acting like ourselves, but really helpful (ie: having my husband put his hand in his pocket, reminding me to hold my bouquet lower). She also did lots of candid-style/natural positioning, like having us look at each, talk, laugh, walk, etc… and all of those are my favorite shots. She’s also just really nice, professional, and respectful - we did private vows and she gave us some space for privacy while still getting some lovely shots of it.
The final edits done by Vivian came out beautifully, her style feels very cinematic and I love it! She also turned them around much faster than I expected, we got teasers 4 days after our wedding, and the full gallery of over 850 photos in just two weeks! She advised us to expect 4-6 weeks so that was a lovely surprise (probably helped by our wedding being a bit before busy season). I’d absolutely recommend them both to anyone! -
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![Zoe]()
Zoe Sent on 04/10/2025Dream Wedding Photos
We are absolutely blown away at how skillfully Erin captured the essence of our wedding. We can’t stop looking through our gallery, which was available to us within just a few weeks of the event. Friends and family are raving about the best wedding photos they’ve ever seen. We’ve felt like celebrity models since the teasers came out. There are so many incredible, tiny moments beautifully and stylishly immortalized: our expressions at the exact moment of our first look, kids literally in the air while they were jumping around and dancing. From romantic couple shots at a location Erin suggested, to stunning large group photos where every single person looks beautiful, each photo offers us a unique moment to remember from our wedding. Erin, we are so grateful for your keen eye. -
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![Lavender]()
Lavender Sent on 12/26/2024We love to work with Vivian!
I'm a wedding planner in the Bay Area, and Vivian Chen is one of our absolute favorite photographers to work with! As planners, we deeply value photographers who not only deliver stunning images but also bring professionalism and a calming presence to the wedding day—and Vivian does exactly that.
With her experience and expertise, Vivian knows how to guide couples and their families effortlessly, ensuring everyone feels at ease. She’s a pro at crafting photography timelines that integrate seamlessly into the overall schedule, which makes the entire day flow smoothly.
Whether it’s posed and editorial shots or candid, documentary-style moments, Vivian captures every detail with artistry and care. We’ve loved every collaboration with her and can’t recommend her highly enough! -
![Ryan]()
Ryan Sent on 03/23/2023Vivian does an amazing job.
Vivian did a fantastic job with our wedding. There were weather concerns, our makeup was running behind schedule. Vivian was cool a a cucumber. My wife feels like she has a hard time smiling for photos (especially many photos in a row). Vivian did a wonderful job bringing out natural moments between my wife and I and capturing the beautiful scenic venue. She also did an amazing job capturing genuine candid moments among our guests. We are so happy with our wedding photos and highly recommend Vivian. -
![Tessa]()
Tessa Sent on 08/02/2022Amazing wedding photographer!
We worked with Erin Prado from Vivian Chen's team for our engagement photos and wedding photos and had the absolute best experience! Photography style, communication, and turnaround time for the photos were all fantastic and the photos turned out even better than we could have imagined. -
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![Kimber]()
Kimber Sent on 01/20/2021Best Decision Ever!
My fiance and I decided to have a very last minute minimony after postponing our original destination wedding. We reached out to photographers 1 week out from the date of the ceremony and Vivian was the first to respond saying she was available!
We were drawn Vivian's style and her ability to take these romantic and authentic (but not cheesy) photos of other elopements and minimonies she'd done around the Bay. Her aesthetic matched what we were looking for perfectly - beautiful golden hour light with some good moodily lit shots that highlights the natural scenery of the Bay Area. Vivian also donates a portion of her monthly profits to a number of social justice organizations, which cemented our decision to go with her.
Vivian was extremely professional: prompt in her communication, helpful during the day-of, she did a wonderful job of directing us but helping things feel natural for our camera-shy selves. Our good friend who was officiating is also an event planner and remarked, "If all photographers at my events were this good, it would make my job SO much easier."
Vivian was also a trooper, handling the ambiguity of our plans very gracefully (we still didn't know exactly where to have our ceremony until the morning of!) and was down to hike with us and go off trail so we could find a mind-blowing spot on a bluff with more privacy.
Her pricing was very reasonable and she sent us a few "teaser" photos to share with loved ones the morning after the wedding and the full gallery 4 days after our wedding. I have shown our photos to a few friends who are engaged and now they'd like to book her as well.
I highly HIGHLY recommend Vivian! -
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![Sophia]()
Sophia Sent on 12/23/2020Highly recommend!!
Working with Vivian was a dream! Vivian was responsive, flexible (especially important in 2020!) and extremely easy to work with. Vivian was very accommodating in our last minute elopement and even helped us plan out our day with suggestions for sites for photoshoots (after hearing our goals for the shoot) and scheduling to ensure best lighting. My partner and I are shy when it comes to photos but Vivian made it fun and captured so many natural laughs and smiles. I would highly recommend Vivian and hope to partner with her again in the future! -
![Bradley]()
Bradley Sent on 05/20/2019Calm Style, Beautiful Photos
Vivian was the perfect choice for our wedding - her style and calm energy set the perfect tone on our wedding day. We were so happy with how we got to spend the time before the ceremony with her, going around to some lovely spots taking pictures. She really helped up make the day feel happy and joyful, and she delivered the photos extremely fast! She really understood what we were going for, knew when to assert herself and when to back off, and was just wonderful. Would highly recommend to anyone! -
![Eugenia]()
Eugenia Sent on 11/06/2018Amazing wedding and engagement photos!
We loved working with Vivian! She was friendly and responsive, and made us feel at ease throughout the whole process. Best of all, the turnaround time for delivering our photos was amazing. She gave us teaser photos days after the wedding, and delivered the final high-quality photos after only a couple of weeks. The photos all look amazing with great backdrops and lighting, and she was creative with how she directed us throughout the shoot. -
![Lilly and Tim]()
Tim Sent on 09/08/2014Viv was absolutely, absolutely amazing to work with. She did both our engagement shoot and the wedding itself, and both times was just a dream. She's an awesome person, takes fantastic photos, is quick to respond to any questions or suggestions, and had the first preview of wedding photos in just a couple of days. She is also remarkably well priced for the Bay Area, and every picture of hers we've seen is just stunning. We're huge fans of Viv and her work. -
R Kl Sent on 06/23/2024
Viv is great!
We are so so happy we decided to go with Vivian as our wedding photographer based on recommendations from a friend. She spent plenty of time getting to know us as a couple and our vision for what we wanted in our photos. She suggested a beautiful hidden redwood grove in the park as a second location after City Hall -- she really knows the ins and outs of the area! We were very nervous on the day of, and Vivian really held our hands and led us through it all. She helped us get to the right place to get our marriage license, told us where to wait, and led us to all the good spots for pictures in City Hall. We were also so sure we were going to feel awkward posing in public, but Vivian did a great job directing us and making us feel so comfortable with her calm presence. We had some specific pictures we wanted to get and she was very accommodating. We were super pleased with how the pictures came out. She is so knowledgeable and was switching through 4 different cameras! She was even able to get us a sneak peek super quick and delivered the final pictures earlier than promised. She's also overall just a cool person. We will definitely pick her again for any photoshoots we want in the future! -
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Ngan Sent on 10/13/2022
Everything we wanted in a photographer!!
This review is long overdue from our July 2022 wedding. Our photos are stunning, we will cherish them forever!! Vivian captured our day perfectly, the details, the small, big & in-between moments. I was first drawn to Vivian based on the authentic & photojournalistic style of her wedding photography. I also loved that she’s such an amazing person who donates proceeds to charity annually. The cherry on top was how if you book a wedding package with her, she does a complimentary engagement photoshoot when you donate $200 to a charity of your choice! From the get-go Vivian was a joy to communicate & work with. We clicked with Vivian right away during our consult call. She was so comprehensive with answering our questions and throughout the whole planning process she was always reliable & easy to reach. We felt her engaged through the whole process, she was also flexible with doing a venue walkthrough with us. We were so comfortable around her and felt so carefree day-of trusting that she had everything covered. -
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Jobina Sent on 10/04/2022
WONDERFUL photos and photographer!
Where do I begin? Vivian photographed our September wedding in Sonoma and every picture is STUNNING! We love the portraits, but her candids is what really took things over the top. All of our guests look like they're glowing in her photos! She truly captured the joy of the day. I could not stop smiling scrolling through our gallery. She went above and beyond to include a photo of all of our guests.
Vivian is super cool. She made sure everyone was comfortable and she kept things on time on the wedding day. We were tight one time, but she got my "getting ready" pictures done in minutes. You would never know by looking at them what a short timeframe she had.
Vivian already had a strong working relationship with our wedding videographer. That partnership made things run smoothly from a logistical perspective, but more importantly showed how respected Vivian is in the industry. We're so happy we booked her for our big day!! You won't be disappointed working with Vivian. -
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Kenneth Sent on 06/25/2022
Amazing photos!
Working with Vivian was fantastic! First off, her photos are absolutely stunning. She shot at many different sites across our Santa Barbara wedding day -- hotel, beach, two different parks -- and what stood out is how diverse and yet complimentary the whole album is. All the shots are wonderfully composed and highlight the natural beauty of the place.
Vivian is also a dream to work with. She is super warm, chill, and made us feel comfortable for all the staged photos. She also has just the right amount of assertiveness to make sure the day stays on track and you get all the shots you want. Throughout the process she was very responsive, on top of everything, and helped us think through various locations for our first-look and portraits.
We're so happy to have gotten to work with Vivian. Thank you for capturing our wedding as beautifully as we remembered it! -
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Hallie Sent on 11/25/2019
An "inspired" choice!
We feel so fortunate that we chose Vivian to capture our wedding and engagement photos. She's a true professional: communicative, experienced, while also possessing a clear sense of warmth and intuition. Before any pictures were taken, she knew the right questions to ask to gain a sense of our vision and preferences. She served as a valuable sounding board as our wedding got closer, and an incredibly reassuring presence for us on the day of.
After our ceremony, we had a long list of family portraits to get to with a lot of unwieldy family members, but she was equal parts patient and assertive in getting everyone in line. In fact, for most of our wedding day, we were actually ahead of schedule, and I believe we have her to thank for that!
Vivian was also extremely prompt in sending us both sets of photos -- we received our engagement photos within days and wedding photos within two weeks. As you can see, her work is extraordinary! We truly couldn't have asked for a more talented and capable photographer. I think my mother-in-law said it best when she called her an "inspired" choice! -
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Stephanie Sent on 11/05/2017Viv is amazing! I fell in love with her classic, journalistic photography style from her website and then as I began to get to know her, I was elated to hire her for my wedding. It can be a little nerve-wracking hiring a vendor with whom you have never worked or even met in person, but Viv made me feel comfortable and I found her process very smooth. She is a true pro from planning to execution, and has mastered the delicate balance of being forthcoming enough onsite to take control and keep things moving along, yet also fade into the background so as not to disrupt any special moments. She is also extremely adaptable, easy-going and personable. Her work speaks for itself and I am thrilled with the nearly 500 wedding photos I received, all perfectly cataloged by sequence of events on a USB thumb drive and mailed to me within just a couple of weeks. I highly recommend Vivian Chen to all future brides. Thanks for everything, Viv!
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