What a wonderful photographer! My husband and I did a portrait session and we got exactly what we…read morewanted!! Could not have been happier!! I would definitely recommend for engagement photos, family portraits, wedding photos, etc!

Ty over at True American Weddings did an outstanding job at photographing our wedding and…read moreengagement photos! Not only was he a pleasure to work with, he has an artistic eye that can spot a great photo opportunity where you wouldn't expect it. He has extremely reasonable prices when compared with others in the industry, he takes great photos, he even brought a backdrop for formal photos at our reception, he worked his ass off from 9:00AM - 11:00PM, and best of all, he gives you the digital copies for no extra charges! If you are in the market for a wedding photographer in the Chicago land area, look no further!

Abel and his team at Tequila Graphics did an amazing job of capturing every moment of my recent…read moreengagement ceremony in Chicago. After conducting extensive research on photographers, I decided to go w/ Abel. Someone else I know well recommended him to me. He is incredibly professional and a genuinely nice guy. At most of all, he took breathtaking photographs. With his credentials and my experience w/ him, I would consider him the go-to photographer of special events in Chicago.

Abel (photographer) was great! He's truly a professional. I used him for my family portraits and…read morecouldn't be happier with the results. He was extremely patient with us as my 2 year old daughter was more interested in everything else around than taking photos. I must add, his turnaround time was pretty quick. I received my images in less than a week. I am completely happy with the pictures! Overall, I highly recommend Tequila Graphics. I will most certainly be using them in the near future!

We cannot recommend Alysia enough as a wedding photographer!!! We are not a couple that loves being…read morein front of a camera, but Alysia gave us prompts and guidance to make us feel comfortable and at ease with so many eyes and cameras on us throughout the day. If I had a nickel for every compliment I have received on our engagement photos or our wedding sneak peek photos (which she got to us in just a few days!), I feel like I'd come close to covering the cost of our wedding. In addition to complimenting our photos, our friends and family also complimented the photography/videography team for their respectful approach in capturing the day without barking out orders and directions as I'm sure everyone has witnessed at one wedding or another. Throughout the planning process, Alysia was always available via text, phone call, or email answering questions and offering expert recommendations, providing me reassurance that we were in good hands for the big day. We loved Alysia's guidance throughout the process, her respectful command of our group day-of, and her comfortable direction of us during our (free) engagement shoot and wedding day, not to mention the beautifully edited photos! Alysia met all of our expectations and more and we would recommend her to all of our family and friends. We might have to throw another wedding just to have her capture it again!

I cannot say how much I loved working with Alysia and S2 Photo + Cinema! I originally got the…read morerecommendation from my sister as she used Alysia and S2 for her wedding. I loved how my sister's pictures had turned out and she raved about Alysia, the team and the whole process. It was an easy choice to make when it came to my wedding and Alysia was one of the first vendors I booked! Overall, the entire process was so easy and calm. Alysia's pre-wedding process was so straightforward and she was great with coming up with suggestions on places to shoot our wedding photos. Alysia and her team were amazing to work with during our ceremony and reception as well. We didn't have to worry about anything and we got the photos and video footage that we wanted. The picture quality and shots are GORGEOUS and I cannot stop looking at the pictures! We also were able to do the film package as a trial for the company and we were blown away by those photos as well. They gave us a bit of nostalgia from our childhoods and were such a different type of photo but absolutely beautiful. I highly recommend adding it onto a photo package! Alysia was so helpful in helping us curate the vibe we were looking for in our wedding photos. She was so creative during our photo shoot and amazing photos resulted from that! Alysia and the team are also so friendly and personable which made taking photos so much fun! One of the photographers even gave me her coat to warm up after we were outside for awhile by the river in some pretty cold temperatures and wind. Overall, all of our photos, digital and film, and our video are absolutely stunning and I could not have asked for better and more beautiful photos (or people) to capture our wedding day! I would recommend Alysia and S2 Photos + Cinema to anyone and everyone!

We couldn't be happier with our Brittania Drew experience. We took family photos with our 8 month…read moreold and Laura was an absolute dream. She immediately put us at ease (the photos show us so relaxed and comfortable) and the pictures look effortless, beautiful and memorable. I can't stress enough how wonderful the whole day and subsequent photos are for us as a family. It is so hard to find family photographers that don't subscribe to posed and stiff photos. Laura provided us with a variety of locations within a forest preserve (seated, standing, walking, wide shots, close-ups) and we didn't ever feel like it was "work" or even know what "type" of picture she was taking at the time. I am so excited to frame our photos and can't wait to work with her again in the future. I am in awe of how amazing everything turned out!

I don't even know how to start this review. Brittania Drew is great. Our first meeting was via…read morephone- we had 3 photographers lined up to have calls with and the energy and enthusiasm that Laura and Stephen showed was unmatched. We immediately felt that right connection and moved forward with the process! Next step: engagement photos. For timing, the initial phone call was in June and we wanted a more fall-ish vibe to our engagement photos, so we waited until the end of September to do them. It ended up being about 95 degrees out. I did a trial with my hair and makeup artist that day, and with all things beauty related, we ended up running late. So Stephen and Laura waited for us, on a 95 degree day, in the middle of a field. We finally pulled up, about 40 minutes late and super apologetic, and they acted like we were 30 seconds late- not even a glimpse of grump or inconvenience. We did some photos, did a quick outfit change, then did some more into the sunset. I should mention that from the time we signed our contract in June to the time we took our engagement photos in September, I had been back and forth over whether or not to add video to our package. I've always read that it ends up being a big regret- and I just wasn't sure!! So Laura and Stephen offered to chat with us after the shoot to see if we could make it work. Because we had been running late, they had to get home to take care of their son, but invited us to their house to discuss- what a nice gesture (especially when we were the jerks for being late)! We went over and they were able to slice and dice our photography package so our photography addition didn't kill our budget. We were at their house for a little over an hour and the photo/video conversation was probably 5% of it. They were just great hosts and it was wonderful to get to know them a little better! We left knowing we made the right choice in who we hired... until we got the pictures back. Then we ABSOLUTELY knew we made the right choice. The pictures came back with quick turnaround and every one seemed to be better than the last. We thought we did pretty good for our first time in front of the camera- turns out it's the people behind the camera that work all the magic. We have a few back and forth a between the engagement shoot and the weeks leading up to the wedding- mostly just any changes or updates to timing. The week before the wedding we had our final call with them where we nailed down the final timeline and the things most important to us to photograph. They had a worksheet we had filled out to assist with this that was super helpful. It also included the family photos we wanted to have taken. They were, as always, calm and friendly during the final call- and we were so excited for the big day! So the day comes and Laura and Stephen are there on time, with bells on, and we are, of course, late (however long you think is enough for hair and makeup, add an hour!). As soon as we got there, I felt rushed because of the lateness but Laura and Stephen kept me calm and insisted we still had plenty of time to remain true to our timeline. Phew. They took my dress and rings and went off to make magic with them. Once she returned, Laura stuck around to get the pictures of the girls helping me dress, final make up touches, and shaking out the nerves. Stephen went off to photograph/video the groomsmen. I won't bore you with the details of the whole day but Laura and Stephen were there shooting for a whole 6 hours of it! They left as the party started (we decided we didn't need photos of everyone getting drunk- that's what the photo booth was for), and my husband and I danced into the night. As the wedding date passed and we enjoyed our honeymoon, smaller details of the day started to escape us. We were so excited to get our pictures back to remember every detail. It took about a month and every single photo is so worth the wait. The photography part seems to go by so fast, but they manage to capture every photo you could want! We made an event out of going through all the photos- it was like reliving the day! We remembered the emotions we felt in those photos- and we laughed and cried all over again. Can you ask for anything more from your photographer? We haven't received the video yet, but my expectations have been set! I cannot wait to see it, and I imagine it will be as wonderful as everything else they do. I'll be sure to update if not. :) Laura and Stephen were a dream to work with and I'm so glad we found them!!! Stop looking, you found them too!

Wow videography has come a long way! I recently met with Jeff about my daughter's bat-mitzvah for…read moreNovember 2023. Yep, crazy we have to plan so far ahead! I visited their office in Northbrook and was shown to their super cool movie theater room. There Jeff explained the many options for videography and had so many video examples to show. One of the options was a cinema style video, which is basically creating a movie out of someone's bar-mitzvah. The videos were so amazing that I found myself glued to the stories of random 13 year old's special days and when Jeff turned one off after a few min I was bummed I wouldn't find out what happened to Drew! Drew's bar-mitzvah kept me as engaged as some of my favorite TV shows! They also take photo montages to the next level. Jeff showed one example of an art themed bat-mitzvah where the young artist basically walked thru one of her paintings into a gallery of all of her art. I was sold and came home brainstorming many ideas for what we can do for my daughter's montage in a few years. Xpress was the only video production company I looked at and I immediately decided they were the one. Between our initial meeting, the Yelp reviews & glowing review from our planner I think they'd be tough to top!

Yeah, they pretty much are the best. We did a green screen video and it was incredible. If you're…read morelooking for any video or montage, come here. Vince and the staff will make sure your dreams will come true.

Melissa...what can I say other than you are a true master of your craft. You are so talented and I…read morefeel blessed that I stumbled upon you while looking for photographers for our 2014 wedding. Truly, I do. We looked at so many people/companies and nothing moved me. I liken your work to romance meets Vanity Fair. Also, you ROCK! We love you. You are so sweet. I felt so comfortable with you the instant we met; you are very approachable and friendly as well as professional all at the same time. I have to say, and anyone I know will agree, I HATE pictures of myself. HATE THEM. You helped me pose while making me feel confident and sexy. Thank you for putting together such an awesome engagement session for Reid and I!

If you're looking for a great photographer, look no further! Let me start by saying that I'm VERY…read morepicky when I hire a photographer and Melissa exceeded my expectations! I was looking for someone to take family pictures and I didn't want the standard posed studio photos. I've always gone for the more artistic, photojournalistic style, and Melissa was able to capture those moments beautifully. I have a 2 year old and a 10 month old and she was great with both of them. Usually it takes my son a while to warm up to new people but he was following Melissa around within minutes. Babies grow up so fast and thanks to Melissa, I'll always have beautiful memories of them at this age. She is now our official family photographer!

As the mother of a newborn and the owner of smarter-than-me fancy camera, I wanted professional…read morepics of the gorgeous little one. Oh, and I didn't want to leave my house. Or pay more for them than the hospital bill. Too much to ask? For once, it was not. Stephanie promptly responded to my email requesting a session (email so much easier than phone with a sleeping baby), flexible with the scheduling of said session, arrived at my home promptly with her little basket of cute photo props, and snapped away... And all the while being very personable and pleasant and open to my suggestions and desire for props and cute baby positions. I was left with a ton of images, the next one somehow cuter than the last and a fantastic one that we used for the baby party invite. We received so many compliments - people seriously amazed at how our little one was captured at only 2 weeks of age with a huge smile. I've given her info out to a ton of people and look to schedule her again in the coming months. Stephanie said that our daughter was the cutest ever. But I'm sure she says that to all the babes! And she would then, of course, be wrong.

Stephanie is easy to work with and not afraid to take control of a large group so that she captures…read morethe best pictures. She is incredibly priced without jeopardizing the quality of the photos you'll receive. When your event is over, she quickly puts your pictures on disc and mails them to you. You then have complete rights to the photos to do with what you will. No, she's not a part of some huge wedding photography company that will put together a book for you, but I appreciate this. Not only would I rather put together my own books, frames, etc...I'd rather not be charged an arm and a leg to collect all the pictures to do so. I plan to work with Stephanie in the future, as she's a great person and a quality photographer.