From the moment we started our wedding planning, there was two things I knew for sure: That I…read morewanted to marry my husband, and that I wanted to have Judah Avenue as our Wedding Photographer. I was obsessed with Danni Starr's Maternity and Newborn pictures and one of my best friend's Maternity and Newborn pictures that Judah Avenue had photographed.
In the early stages of planning, I was so hesitant to reach out to them, because with our wedding less than six months away, I was sure they would be booked and could NOT handle that disappointment. After searching for other photographers in the Washington DC, Maryland and Virginia area, I kept coming back to our first choice-nothing could compare to the beauty, elegance, and creativity of their photos. So I took a chance, preparing for the worse. I emailed Judah Avenue in March of 2017, for our September 2017 wedding and for the second time in my life (only second to meeting my husband), I felt like the luckiest girl in the world! THEY WERE AVAILBLE!! And not only that, buy they had also started doing Wedding videography as well! I'm telling you I was so happy I could have cried! Within the week I had spoke to Nafa (the main photographer and founder) as well as exchanged emails with Suzan and put down a deposit for both photography and videography. I cannot explain how sweet these ladies were and how extremely helpful they were during this process.
As it got closer and closer to the wedding, Susan became one of the people who completely helped pull my wedding together. Going SOO above and beyond, she helped coordinate the timeline and participated in numerous conference calls with my day-of-coordinator. I am the most indecisive and ill prepare bride in the world and Susan's calmness, knowledge, professionalism, and compassion really made such a difference in the weeks before my wedding. The day before my wedding, Nafa called to relate how excited she was to photograph the wedding and asked if there were any last minute things that they could help with. After getting off the phone with her, I couldn't help but feel so blessed to how this all worked out. On the day of the wedding, Suzan emailed me her best wishes and congratulations for the day. Judah Avenue and its staff had become so much more for me then just photographers- in the weeks leading up to my wedding, they were my sanity!
So the wedding day came and I was shocked to see the number of photographers and videographers and managers present to capture my wedding! We had the pleasure of working with photographers Nafa, Nii, and Joseph, with videographers Sherwyn, Kai, and Biam, and manager Nigel. While this may sound like a lot of people, I assure you, once the ceremony and reception got started, they completely blended into the crowd and still somehow capturing amazing footage!
Both the photographers and videographers were so helpful in terms of posing, timelines, ideas for pictures, and suggestions throughout the night in order to get the best pictures possible. They were so fun, and kind, and flexible with our suggestions as well- we could not have asked for a better experience. My husband and his groomsmen said they best part of the wedding was taking pictures before the ceremony!! They truly made it feel like we had invited our closest friends to our wedding, who happened to have cameras and be wearing black. They were so amazing, they were even able to pull my husband and I aside during the reception for a mini sparkler session!! Judah Avenue's contract ended about an hour and a half before the actual reception ended and we were actually pretty sad to see them go!
About three weeks after the wedding, Maria was in touch with us to provide us a couple (5) pictures while we waited for our sneak peak to be ready! What a tease! It was amazing to have a couple of pictures so soon and it left us just wanting more! We could already tell from the few pictures that we were going to love what was to come!!
About 3 weeks later, Maria again provided us with a link to a Sneak Peak Gallery with even more pictures (nearly 150) and a 5 minute highlight video! We were so amazed with the photos and had such a fun time recollecting moments from out wedding together! We had already begun picking images that we wanted to frame around our house, but then remembered that Maria said that this wasn't even the all the final photos, and the remaining would be ready in the next couple weeks!
I don't think I need to wait for those photos to leave this review. I am so, beyond words, grateful to have had Judah Avenue as my Wedding Photographer and Videographer. If you are looking for a Wedding Photographer in the Washington DC, Maryland, or Virginia area (I think they even do New York!), you would be doing a disservice to yourself not to consider Judah Avenue.
Thank you so much to Nafa, Suzan, Susan, Nii, Joseph, Sherwyn, Kai, Biam, Nigel, and Maria for beyond such an irreplaceable part of my dream wedding.