Marla knows what she's doing!
We opted for an engagement shoot and wedding shoot with Marla. At the time we reached out, Marla indicated that she would be performing the sessions by herself. On the eve of the engagement shoot, her husband Peter joined to assist, offering opinions, insight and holding gear. During the wedding, he decided to join with a camera of his own. And so this review will reflect their services together, because that's what we received.
The engagement shoot was a great opportunity to meet Marla and Pete, get to know their style and familiarizing ourselves with how they give instruction. They were very receptive to our needs, but I'll be honest: We had no idea what we wanted. We leaned on Marla for her thoughts, ideas and vision. I found the session valuable because during the wedding day, I had a good idea of the poses the photographers would be looking for, so less time was wasted asking me to do something else with my hands or to hold that kiss just a second longer. Many of the photos we received from that evening quickly found their way on social media for our friends and family to see. So let's move onto our wedding day!
When I look back at the things we stressed about leading up to the day, or during the day, photography was not one of them. Marla and Pete knew where they needed to be at each point in our itinerary, and asked all the right questions where needed. Its hard for me to offer criticism because they were very attentive to our needs, a pleasure to work with, and they helped us make the most of our time with them. A few times during the day they suggested we take some photos at a few places we didn't think of, and it was great to see their creative ideas help lead to some unique shots.
More than that though, they captured stories and moments that I look back at fondly. Yeah, the posed photos are great, but I'll be honest, I saw a lot of great "bridal party with bride and groom all line up" photos from everyone on this site. What I was looking for were photographers who took photos that told a story - those moments when the bride's father shed a tear, when the my table laughed at my sister roasting me in her toast, or our mothers dancing the night away. For those, Marla and Pete delivered. I also need to emphasize how amazing our photos at my wife's family's house look. Having looked at it for many years, I had no idea how beautiful it could be and really accent our pictures with our bridal party and family. As I look back at them, some of them may not be the most posed and flattering - we wanted a lot of fun, silly, honest photos - but I'm transported back to that moment and remember how happy we all were or what joke was made at the time. We got the photos that we wanted.
Looking back at our wedding day, sure there are things that could have gone differently: Maybe my wife wouldn't have tripped on her dress up the stairs, but the photos of her dad helping her up the steps are priceless. It didn't need to rain that day, but the pictures of our rings with spattered drops of water are beautiful. We stressed about a lot of things leading up to the big day, and our faith in Marla to know what she was doing took a great weight off our shoulders and for that reason, I would rebook with Marla in a heartbeat.