Thanks to recommendations from couples on The Knot
Based in New York, NY, Elena Vels Photography offers authentic, emotional images that tell the story of your wedding day. Elena Vels aims to create vivid pictures that transport you back to specific moments, allowing you to treasure your memories for a lifetime.
Elena finds beauty in everything and draws constant inspiration from her Eastern European background and New York City. Her sense of style is deeply influenced by her cultural roots, bringing a unique perspective to her work. Elena Vels Photography is delighted to document weddings in both New Jersey and New York and is also available to travel for celebrations further afield.
Elena Vels Photography has curated a selection of packages to meet the most popular demands for wedding day photography. Elena is happy to attend your celebration for extended hours, with the option to include a second photographer or partner photographers upon request. Meeting new people, whether it’s a new couple or their guests, fuels Elena’s creativity. She aims to capture every detail of the day, starting with the most sensory aspects. Whether it’s a close-up of a flower or two glasses joined in a toast, Elena creates photos that elicit a deep emotional response.
Woman-owned Business
Prices & packages
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Details
Destination Weddings
Destination Wedding Packages
Photo Shoot Types
Bridal Portraits
Engagement
Photo & Video
Digital Files
Photo
Second Shooter Available
Wedding Albums
Photo & Video Styles
Artistic
Classic
Documentary
Wedding Activities
Getting Engaged
Rehearsals & Parties
After Party
Wedding
After Party
Awards and Affiliations
Any questions?
Meet the team
Elena Vels
Owner
I am Elena Vels, a wedding photographer based in New York, serving both New York and New Jersey, with a passion for capturing exquisite moments and a readiness to travel for destination celebrations.
My upbringing in Eastern Europe within a family of musicians has profoundly influenced my artistic vision, endowing me with a distinctive sense of style. This unique background, coupled with my travels and exposure to diverse cultures, enriches my approach to photography, allowing me to infuse each image with a sophisticated, cultural depth that evolves with my experiences in the US.
Reviews
5.0
out of 5.0
12 reviews
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Review Summary
This AI-generated summary is a snapshot of this vendor's ratings and feedback.
Elena is highly recommended as a wedding photographer. Multiple reviewers praise her professionalism, ability to make couples feel comfortable in front of the camera, and attention to detail. She is described as easy to work with, accommodating, and communicative. Reviewers appreciate the quality of her work and the natural and beautiful moments she captures. Overall, Elena is highly recommended for engagement and wedding photography.
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Jonah W
Highlighted review.
5.0
10/31/2023
Elena was such a pleasure to work with and I VERY MUCH recommend her for engagement and wedding photos. Her prices fit into our budget and we felt that the quality to price was AMAZING. It was great to be able to get to know her and work with her during the engagement photo shoot so we could see if we liked her for the wedding photographer. It was so easy and natural being photographed by her and the pictures turned out so well that we immediately booked her for the full wedding experience.
She was flexible with us in where we took pictures for engagement photo shoot.
When it came to the wedding, she worked with us in figuring out what would be the best use of time for her and her second photographer. They were so thoughtful in making sure to get all of the pictures we needed along with pictures that they knew we would want for after. She has such a presence that made us feel so comfortable with the ability to also command a crowd so that people were where they needed to be when they needed to be.
She is the best and I HIGHLY recommend working with her!
Ursula R
5.0
7/11/2022
Elena was absolutely incredible from start to finish. She did our our wedding and also our engagement photos, and both turned out SO well. My husband and I are not at all comfortable in front of the camera, but she managed to get some really great shots despite how nervous we were. She also got so many wonderful candid shots from our reception and afterparty - putting together a wedding album is literally impossible because I love every single photo! And to reiterate, I do NOT like having my photo taken. But I love every single one of these.
Elena is also extremely professional, prompt, and communicative. Our families all raved about her and her professionalism once the wedding was over. She also was extremely accommodating - we had to reschedule due to covid and she made it easy and stress-free.
Please don't hesitate to book her! I love our photos so much!!
Any questions?
Kayleen B
5.0
11/16/2021
Simply put, Elena will make your special night, one to remember forever. Elena is a true gem and we are so happy we had her there for our wedding. Going into it all, we were nervous because my wife and I do not like to take photos and are very awkward on camera. Elena broke that apart within the first two minutes of taking photos and found a way to break us out of our shells. Her attention to detail, passion for the best shots and openness to suggestions is something that we loved. If you are looking for a photographer to truly capture the important and beautiful moments, then book Elena. She was amazing!
response11/24/2021
Hi Kayleen and Tim,
I am so touched by your kind words! Thank you so much.
What a fun nig...
ht it was!!!
Can't wait to share the gallery with you soon.
You guys were an absolute pleasure to work with :)
Emman Y
5.0
11/08/2021
Choosing Elena as our photographer was the best decision ever! She did both our engagement shoot and our big day and made both experiences super easy, natural, and comfortable which was very important to us when looking for a photographer. Honestly, it was like working with a friend more so than a vendor which we loved! She truly is so talented and made sure to capture everything we were looking for and more. We have not stopped obsessing over our pictures so to any brides looking for a photographer look no further and book Elena as you will not regret it!!
response11/09/2021
Thank you Emman! You and James are so much fun to be around, It was such a pleasure workin...
g with you!
Christine L
5.0
9/11/2021
Of all the decisions we had to make with wedding planning, choosing Elena was the one we were happiest with. Elena is such a great person to work with - she made us feel at ease and made us not feel awkward in front of the camera(which usually is all the time). We really appreciated how she worked behind the scenes during the wedding to make everything run as smooth as possible. We are so excited with how our pictures came out, and we are recommending her to all of our friends :)
response09/13/2021
Thank you guys!!
You are honestly so amazing to work with: great energy and so much fun!
I...
am happy to know that images we produced bring you joy!
Luis and Emeli G
5.0
9/07/2021
Elena, we are so grateful to have found you. You and Zafar make such a great team. I never even noticed you were snapping photos. You both are little ninja haha. Even our guests were amazed at all the small details they saw you capture. Thank you for helping us capture our magical day.
response09/08/2021
Thank you so much Emeli! This means so much to me.
I absolutely loved working with you gu...
ys. So much love and positive energy!!!
Courtney L
5.0
5/31/2021
My husband and I booked Elena for our wedding in May and we were blown away by the photographs she took. She captured our day so beautifully and was so easy to work with. She took time to get to know us and was an absolute joy to work with! We spent about an hour or so with her at a quick engagement shoot to get to know each other and she was so easy to talk to and so open and personable. We cannot recommend Elena enough!
response06/07/2021
Thank you Courtney! Can't wait to work with you guys again in the future!!!
Josh D
5.0
11/12/2020
We were blessed to have Elena as our photographer for our wedding. My wife and I loved not just the photos but Elena too. It was very easy to communicate with her and her personality is amazing. Thank you for creating our most precious memories!
response11/18/2020
Thank you Irina and Josh, it was so great to be a part of your beautiful wedding day! I ho...
pe these photos bring you joy for many years to come.
Nataliia K
5.0
11/10/2020
Highly recommended
We were so thrilled to get the results of Elena’s work! She has an amazing eye for photography and a great energy as well. So easy to work with.
She would let me text, call her with all the questions prior to the day, and provided great services on the day itself.
Highly recommended!
Julia K
5.0
11/10/2020
So genuine!
If you are looking for a photographer that is going to listen to all your needs (and even worries sometimes) look no more! Elena is so genuine and caring! And her work speaks for itself!
Alisa F
5.0
1/16/2020
Your very special day will be a lot less stressful with the right photographer. Working with Elena was such a great luck! Whole day she was creating super warm atmosphere for both of us, me and my fiance. Communication was so easy and authentic, all the pictures we got afterwards look so genuine. Our most lovable pictures are from reception, she captured all the perfect moments, which could be challenging when you have more than 50 people at the wedding! We are beyond happy with our stunning pictures of that magical day! Thank you so much Elena for your acute eye.
Ana T
5.0
1/04/2020
I worked with Elena Vels and she was wonderful.
She has a really good eye for photography and she was so helpful at giving directions for posing. My husband and I rarely get professional pictures taken of us and my husband was skeptical about the photoshoot at first. But Elena exceeded all our expectations! Would definitely recommend her
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Elena Vels
OWNER
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