Documentary realism for the moments in-between
$4,500 starting price
Chicago, San Fransisco, NY and beyond
Travels up to 10000 miles See details
Photography services available
Michael Marten
OWNER
Typically responds within 24h
AWARD WINNER (2X)
Thanks to recommendations from couples on The Knot
Michael Marten is an award winning documentary style cinematographer with over 10 years experience creating fashion, commercial and wedding films with a uniquely authentic aesthetic. Michael crafts intimate, reflective films. Every wedding is approached as a special opportunity to tell one unique love story to be remembered forever. Michael’s visual language is raw, observational and subtly fashion-forward. Michael places an importance on capturing the texture of the day, the moments in-between obvious chapters, and the voices and expressions of family and friends; all culminating into a watching experience closer to reliving than remembering.
Michael takes eminent pride in collaborating with brides. Understanding how each couple wants to remember their experience and reacting to changing needs throughout the wedding day is essential. Michael takes an unobtrusive approach to seamlessly blend with the couple, attendees and fellow vendors. Michael’s second videographer is his wife Jess, who also has years of experience in videography, photography and event planning. Rest assured your day is safe in the hands of Circle Dot.
Michael has filmed in 25 states and multiple international locations. His work has been featured in Vogue Weddings, Green Wedding Shoes, Over the Moon, Adweek, Wedding Chicks, People, Best of The Knot, Wezoree Feature, Zola Preferred, Quality Business Awards and countless living rooms as couples gather for their yearly viewing of their cherished wedding film.
Do not hesitate to contact Michael, he loves hearing about each couple’s love story and understanding their exact “vibe” to best capture their day.
Prices & packages
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Details
Destination Weddings
Destination Wedding Packages
Photo & Video
Digital Files
Drone
Photo
Second Shooter Available
Social Media Sharing
Video
Full-Length Video
Highlight Video
Photo & Video Styles
Artistic
Classic
Documentary
Dramatic
Lifestyle
Modern
Vintage
Wedding Activities
Getting Engaged
Rehearsals & Parties
After Party
Wedding
After Party
Awards and Affiliations
Any questions?
Meet the team
Michael Marten
Owner
Having worked as a cinematographer for 9 years I now find more joy in delivering documentary style wedding films than I did creating giant commercial ads. The intimacy and uniqueness of each couple requires such attentiveness to really capture; I live for those moments. I love integrating with wedding teams in a seamless, collaborative way. Brides find me extremely easy to work with because I listen to the details that matter to them. I take great care in preserving the memories that will become family keepsakes for decades.
Reviews
5.0
out of 5.027 reviews
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Review Summary
This AI-generated summary is a snapshot of this vendor's ratings and feedback.
Circle Dot Weddings, led by Michael & Jessi, received glowing praise from multiple couples who were thrilled with their wedding videos. The duo's professionalism, artistry, and ability to capture heartfelt moments were highly commended. Reviewers highlighted Michael's kindness, attention to detail, and seamless integration into the wedding day, making couples feel comfortable and natural. The resulting videos were described as breathtaking, cinematic, and sentimental, with personalized touches like capturing family interactions and adding vintage film effects. Overall, couples were extremely satisfied with the quality and memories created by Circle Dot Weddings, recommending them wholeheartedly for their special day.Review photos
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Kristina G
5.0
3/09/2025
We are SO happy we chose Circle Dot to capture our wedding! Michael was fantastic to work with throughout the whole process and was a pleasure to work with on the day of our wedding. We are absolutely in love with the final video and could not be more happy with it!! It is exactly what we wanted and we highly recommend Circle Dot!!
Katie K
5.0
2/12/2025
5-stars doesn't do Circle Dot full justice. We had such an incredible experience working with Michael & Jessi. Their professionalism, courtesy and art direction throughout our wedding day was second to none. Our final film was unbelievable. We are so thankful to have this as a keepsake and cherish forever!
Any questions?
Angela Z
5.0
12/31/2024
Michael and Jessi were incredible!! Our wedding video turned out absolutely amazing- it was like a movie! They made us feel so comfortable and natural the entire time- could just be ourselves and they captured our happiness and love so effortlessly! The rainy weather made our day took a turn and they eased my nerves with their positivity and support. Thank you Circle Dot for everything!!!
Krystal N
5.0
12/31/2024
We were recommended CircleDot by our photographers and were so happy that they did! Michael took the time to listen to what we wanted within a wedding film and absolutely nailed it with the final product. He was extremely comfortable and professional to be around during our wedding day and we couldn’t be happier with the videos he made for us.
Sophia T
5.0
12/30/2024
Where do I even begin? Saying that our expectations were blown away is an understatement! From start to finish, Michael made our wedding videography one of the absolute best investments we made for our special day. From our initial meeting to the week leading up to the wedding and the day itself, he was incredibly kind, organized, and professional. Working with him was truly a joy—he’s an incredible artist who clearly pours his heart and soul into everything he does.
On our wedding day, Michael made everyone feel at ease in front of the camera. He captured heartfelt interactions with family and friends that we will treasure forever. His artistry shines through in every shot he took, and the way he pieced everything together was breathtaking—beautifully cinematic with a seamless blend of vintage and modern film effects.
Michael went above and beyond in every way, creating stunning videos of our ceremony, vows, and family testimonials that we hold dear. In particular, his thoughtfulness meant the world to us. Sadly, Nick’s grandmother passed away shortly after our wedding, and Michael created a separate video with all the footage he captured of her. Words can’t express how much that meant to us and to Nick’s entire family. Being able to relive those moments and see parts of the wedding I wasn’t present for has been incredibly special.
Choosing to invest in wedding videography by Circle Dot was one of the very best decisions we made. I wholeheartedly recommend Michael to anyone getting married—you will not be disappointed! Thank you, Michael, for everything you did to make our memories last a lifetime!!
Paige B
5.0
12/04/2024
Cannot recommend Michael and Jessi enough! They were diligent, but SO laid back. If you want a low maintenance and high performing team, you won’t find a better one. They really know how to capture the essence of what you want-you can tell they not only work off of the words you describe for what you want, but the feeling as well. There is such a strong artistic component to their work that I feel really sets them apart. Not only are they fantastic at producing art, but they flawlessly fit into your day. They seamlessly worked with our photographers. You would have never been able to tell that they didn’t come as a package deal. Not only that, they were also just genuinely awesome to be around. We had several people in our wedding party comment how great they were. Worth every single penny!!
Atalia D
5.0
11/30/2024
Circle Dot Weddings was truly a DREAM to work with! From the very beginning, Michael was absolutely amazing. Michael was very kind and patient and answered all of our questions we had. Michael also delivered footage beyond what we could have ever hoped for! From the sneak peak wedding clip to the full wedding video, everything was beautifully filmed. Michael filmed our entire day perfectly, we are so lucky and thankful to have found him to shoot our special day! Michael was very responsive and very experienced. Michael had all the best ideas when it came to telling us how to pose or capturing all the big & small details of our day. Michael, you were truly incredible to work with! Thank you for all that you did for Tommy and I! We feel beyond blessed, lucky & grateful to have worked with you! We love everything you delivered to us so so much! We will be recommending you to all of our family & friends that are entering the chapter of wedding planning! Thank you again x a million!!!
<3,
Atalia & Tommy
Sydney M
5.0
9/04/2024
Circle Dot Weddings is incredible! We found Michael after looking at weddings videos online and fell in love with his style. We are so pleased and overjoyed with our video and can't stop watching it. We have shared it with family and friends and can't wait to relive our day every year. Thank you so much for capturing our day!
Heather L
5.0
11/28/2023
Circle Dot did an unbelievable job capturing our wedding! Our video is unique, thoughtful, and represents our day so well. Day of, Michael was professional and helpful in keeping the flow of the day natural and unposed. We are beyond happy!!
Tess F
5.0
11/22/2023
The Circle Dot team is top notch when it comes to professionalism, quality, and creativity. During our meeting, I told Michael the ceremony was to be very formal and the reception to be a party - they matched the energy in both! Our wedding video turned out amazing and truly captured our day. HIGHLY recommend!!
Sara W
5.0
11/15/2023
Michael and Jessie were an absolute dream to work with for our wedding. Their approach to capturing our special day in a documentarian style was exactly what we wanted. They were game to use real super 8 footage, and we feel it added such a nostalgic and unique touch to our video. They managed to be everywhere without feeling intrusive and truly captured the essence of our celebration. We're so grateful for the beautiful memories they've given us through their work.
Margaret B
5.0
11/14/2023
We loved every last thing about working with Michael and Jess! From the planning process, to the big day- everything was so professional and timely. We had a rather large wedding party and they took on the challenge head on.
We received endless compliments on the teaser (which was less than a week after our wedding!) We love our final video and could not recommend Circle Dot Weddings more!
Michelle H
5.0
11/07/2023
Michael and Jessi were an absolute dream to work with from start to finish, and we are blown away by our wedding videos. The two of them are kind, professional, and so easy and fun to work with. Our videos exceeded all of our expectations- they are expertly edited and captured our day perfectly. The first video included everything that was important to us- the big and small moments, the behind-the-scenes details, and all of the people we love. In the week leading up to our wedding day we decided to film our ceremony as well, and Michael and Jessi were more than accommodating. This video was just as beautiful, and captured the whole ceremony. Michael and Jessi are the best of the best, we loved working with them and can't thank them enough. We highly recommend Circle Dot Weddings!
Kaleb P
5.0
10/15/2023
Michael and his team were absolutely a pleasure to work with for our wedding. They inquired about the style that we were hoping for in our video, which moments were most valuable to us, and made our day truly unforgettable. They helped to ensure that everything ran smoothly and were ready to capture candid moments throughout the night. We cannot recommend them enough!
Apurba B
5.0
10/13/2023
Michael is a creative mastermind. He is hardworking, heartfelt, polite, detail oriented, agile and so much fun to hangout with. Right from the planning process to the day of the wedding, he was very prepared, full of ideas and open to suggestions. The day of the wedding, we added the extra fun and excitement to different parts of our ceremony and reception. We requested extra time from him the day of the wedding and he graciously gave us his whole day. His video was delivered on time and expertly edited incorporating all our suggestions. 100% recommend Michael and his team for you next special day.
Emily F
5.0
8/21/2023
We had the absolute pleasure of working with the Michael and Jessica for our wedding day, and they created something that we will cherish forever.
They captured our day so perfectly and were so laid back and fun to work with. Their style is SO COOL, cinematic, and different from other wedding videographers. Our video truly feels one of a kind, and I would recommend them to any couple getting married!
Thank you, Circle Dot Weddings! <3
response 08/22/2023
Thank you Emily, it was wonderful filming your wedding day! 💕
Sarah B
5.0
7/26/2023
Michael did an incredible job! He was easy to communicate with and was able to perfectly capture our vision. He is the Spielberg of wedding videos! The video got all the great shots without being intrusive so we could enjoy the day without worry or stress. The video played out like a movie trailer of the best day of our lives. We could not love the video and production better and it had great music that matched the mood of the day. We can’t stop watching it. 100% worth the money to hire Circle Dot.
Alexis F
5.0
5/01/2023
I could not recommend Circle Dot more. They were very responsive throughout the entire planning process and did an absolutely amazing job capturing our day. They went above and beyond in every way, thank you so much!!
Siri P
5.0
4/18/2023
Circle Dot Weddings is a husband and wife duo who are amazing at what they do! They are creative, positive, adapting, and kind. We are soooo glad we chose them to capture our special day and can't thank them enough for spending their New Year's Eve with us. We will cherish our wedding video for all the years to come <3
Megan W
5.0
1/07/2023
Michael was amazing to work with. Him and his wife made the process so easy. They responded quickly with any questions we had and were amazing the day of. They made suggestions throughout the day to make sure we got everything we wanted in our video. Our video turned out perfectly! They captured how my husband and I really felt on the day of and put it into the video. The teaser came very quickly and the video was given within the time frame we were told. I highly recommend using this team!
Samantha L
5.0
12/13/2022
Words can’t describe it. We can’t stop rewatching. Our day was captured to absolute perfection including the moments we wanted to remember and those we didn’t even know happened. We get to experience and relive our day because of Michael and Jessi. Talk about power couple embodying #couplegoals… the two were so amazing to work with and we were honored to have them attend our wedding and produce our stunning video. I couldn’t give a more heartfelt recommendation if I tried… they make me want to find something else worthy of recording just to see them again. Even if you have the best of the best photographer (which we did), a video by Circle Dot Weddings should be a non-negotiable no brainer for your day.
Andrew G
5.0
8/08/2022
I was happy Michael was available to travel to film our wedding. Michael was great to have around on the wedding day and he was able to capture great footage without disrupting any moments in the day. We love our wedding film! It is high quality that captures our style and love perfectly.
Allison D
5.0
8/02/2022
Michael was so easy to work with and understood what was important on our special day. The final product was better than I could have imagined - we are so happy! Definitely would recommend Michael Marten to everyone!
Abby M
5.0
8/02/2022
Michael was extremely courteous and professional, and an absolute delight to work with. His chill attitude really helped make the day feel stress-free, which was exactly what I needed. When I saw the final video I was stunned by the unique perspective, masterful editing, and overall high quality of the videography - it wildly surpassed my expectations. 11/10 would recommend!
Kelly C
5.0
8/02/2022
Michael has a great eye and I love his editing style. Everything from the cuts to the song choice, he really captures the couple’s style and love. I was very impressed by his work!
Samm S
5.0
8/02/2022
Michael’s films are high quality and really capture the day! He was also kind and professional.
Karen G
5.0
6/01/2022
Micheal and his Wife, Jessie, were amazing , in their ability to make the wedding Party and guests, feel at ease, and treated each person, in the camera lens, as a valued and loved participant of the Wedding Festivities! I would definitely say to anyone to consider using this Lovely Couple as Photographer and Assistant , to document any Important Life Event !
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Travels up to 10000 miles
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Michael Marten
OWNER
Typically responds within 24h
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