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Essence Photo & Video

4.6 out of 5 stars and 388 reviews
4.6
(388)
best-of-weddings

Chicagoland

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About This Vendor

Essence Offers Bundles For Up To 6 Services

Congratulations on your engagement! Thank you so much for your interest in Essence! We offer: Photo & Video - Photojournalistic style DJ & Photo Booth - Fun & energetic DJs Formalwear & Wedding Dresses - Nobody cares about the way you look more than your Essence photographer, we got you covered! A note about pricing: We at Essence believe in being up front and transparent to brides like you who want to know how much the services they want are going to cost them. I have created a custom quote generator on my website where you can select the exact services and options you want to get an instant quote without having to meet with anyone first. The quote generator will calculate your discounts after you select all the services and options, the discounts will be displayed to you on the last screen. We give additional discounts for each service you select, so the more services you add, the more $ you save :). To get instant, customized pricing, visit https://www.essenceweddings.com/quote. If you have any questions, give us a call at 888 777 7011. Best regards, The Essence team: Mike, Ron & Chris essenceweddings.com

Details

Photo Shoot Types
Bridal Portraits, Engagement, Trash The Dress
Photo & Video
Digital Files, Online Proofing, Photo, Printed Enlargements, Printed Proofs, Second Shooter Available, Social Media Sharing, Wedding Albums
Photo & Video Styles
Artistic, Documentary, Modern, Vintage
Wedding Activities
Getting Engaged, Wedding
Awards and Affiliations
Hall of Fame2020 Best of Weddings Winner2019 Best of Weddings Winner2018 Best of Weddings Winner2017 Best of Weddings Winner2016 Best of Weddings Winner2013 Best of Weddings Winner2012 Best of Weddings Winner2011 Best of Weddings Winner2007 Best of Weddings Winner

Pricing for Essence Photo & Video

Curious to learn more?

Essence Photo & Video Reviews

4.6 out of 5.0
388 reviews
5 Star
78%
4 Star
12%
3 Star
3%
2 Star
3%
1 Star
4%
Reviewed On 9/27/2023 by Cathy Z
When we began planning our wedding vow renewal, our first stop was Essence Photo/Video in Orland Park. We met with Chris and he was fantastic. Explained all the pricing, bundles, etc. We signed on with them for Photo/Video/DJ and tuxes. They we...
re phenomenal. Ron at Spinnin Discs was so helpful. Our photographer Ryan and Videographer Jessie were outstanding. And our DJ Chad...he was fantastic. The tuxes were exactly what we had wanted and everyone looked terrific. We really cannot say enough about everyone at Essence. If you are planning a wedding or some other type of celebration, we highly recommend using them.
Reviewed On 9/21/2023 by Taylor J
I cannot recommend Essence enough! Our photographer, Ryan, and videographer, Danisha*, went above and beyond to capture footage of our day. They seemed to be everywhere the action was happening at all times, I don't know how they did it! Ryan h...
as clearly been doing this for a while - he was incredibly thoughtful in framing, posing, and generally providing direction (like always be smiling, try moving your hand over here, try turning your hips towards me, etc.). We had a pretty rambunctious crew for the wedding party and family and both Ryan and Danisha handled it amazingly. The company is also incredibly communicative and their web forms make it really easy to share details to make sure everyone is on the same page. *apologies if I misspelled your name!
Reviewed On 9/17/2023 by Aaron and Amy C
We went through Essence for our photographer, DJ, and photobooth. Booking was straightforward and easy, and Ron and Sheila were both very responsive. Our photographer Allison did an amazing job on pre-ceremony shots at the Garden of the Phoenix...
, and when an emergency came up, her boss Peggy stepped in and took over seamlessly handling both the ceremony and reception. Both Allison and Peggy really captured our best sides, despite neither of us being particularly photogenic. The photos turned out great, and the turn-around time was unbelievably fast!
Any questions?
Reviewed On 9/13/2023 by Bryan K
Our original wedding date was cancelled due to COVID, but three years later we were able to have our church wedding and Essence honored our original contract. Chris Sigl was very easy to work with, prompt to respond to our emails and addressed ...
any questions we had immediately. He also did a great job working the photobooth at the reception. We went with two photographers, Jesse for wedding prep and Ryan for everything else. We had requested some specific photo shots and a few of those did get missed, but other than that the quality was great. Jeff, the videographer, had us feeling a bit rushed at times and was unaware of surroundings now and then, but we were happy with how the video turned out. Overall, we were quite pleased with Essence and would definitely recommend them.
Reviewed On 9/07/2023 by Kaitlynn A
The team at Essence is absolutely incredible! We had been engaged for nearly 3 years due to covid and decided to throw together a wedding with 10 days’ notice. Chris and the team at Essence were able to get tuxedos for me and all my groomsmen i...
n just 3 days! They went above and beyond and ensured that everything fit perfectly and were willing to work late hours to make alterations to ensure we looked great! They also were able to provide photography and videography for the wedding itself, and we ended up with stunning photographs and video footage from the wedding! We truly cannot thank them enough, and I highly recommend their services to anyone who is getting married. Their work is outstanding, and their customer service is phenomenal! Without their help, it truly wouldn’t have been possible for us to get married with such short notice. To anyone reading this, save yourself the trouble and stress, and go with Essence!
Reviewed On 9/06/2023 by Alexis S
We got married 9/3/23 and I can’t brag enough how wonderful our wedding day went with our awesome crew from Essence.. dj terry was so much fun & photographer Joe and videographer Ken were so great with capturing out photos and video footage. We...
obviously haven’t got our pictures back yet (it’s been 3 days lol) but I have 100% faith that they will blow us away. I would recommend them time and time again! They are the best! Also Chris, Gerry and Peggy were awesome and super responsive made the whole planning experience very easy.
Reviewed On 9/03/2023 by Marie W
The photographers, Peggy and Joe were outstanding! There were a few hiccups in the road, but they were so reassuring! Peggy was wonderful and gave the best direction. As a quieter person, having a photographer that was able to direct everyone a...
nd help set up shots was NEEDED. The videographer, Ken, was a sweetheart and got the shots we needed. I can only highly recommend their services. The photo booth as well was a HUGE HIT, high quality photos and a gorgeous set up! And Chris was a hit with the family and was very pleasant to work with! Thank you to all who helped us!
Reviewed On 8/31/2023 by Neil G
We can't speak highly enough of Essence. The photography that Peggy and Joe were able to capture of our wedding is exactly what we were looking for: Beautiful framing, true to color, and all the special candids throughout the night. They were ...
extremely professional with clear communication, timely arrival, and flexibility when the moment required. Our friends & family loved the photo booth which included props, printouts, and an attendant to help the guests all night. After exploring many boutique photography options, Essence stood out in both quality and value. If you want photographers who will truly enhance your event, Essence is the clear choice.
Reviewed On 8/24/2023 by Brianna I
We did all of our tuxes through Essence and it was amazing. Super flexible and easy to get all the groomsmen in for their fittings! Couldn’t have had our wedding without Gerry! Highly recommend to everyone.
Reviewed On 8/05/2023 by Samantha V
Extremely happy with every service essence provided. We used 2 photographers, 2 videographers, 2 djs, and the tux services, and all of them exceeded expectations. Mike was able to answer all of our initial questions and made making the choice t...
o go with Essence easy. Peggy was great as she was our main point of contact throughout the planning process and always answered quickly. Gerry is very easy to work with and works around your schedule to get everyone looking amazing. My husband has had some horror stories of prior weddings with his pants ripping and being very uncomfortable. This was one concern Gerry said “you will have to try and rip my material”. He did not disappoint! Everyone was very comfortable throughout the entire wedding with no rips. Amazing quality! I would highly recommend anyone to use their services. Rob and his team were our photographers and they provided beautiful pictures. Rob made taking photos easy, fun, and efficient which was key with a July wedding. We just received our video as well and love it! We would highly recommend Essence and their variety of services!
Reviewed On 8/03/2023 by Brittany S
We could not be happier with the services we received from Essence! We did a package that included: photography, videography, photo booth and DJ and we are beyond thrilled with our choice. It helped so much knowing that everyone had already wor...
ked together and it truly helped our day flow smoothly! From our first meeting with Mike to our engagement session with Peggy we knew we had found the right fit. Not only were our photos for our engagement session and our wedding AMAZING but we also got them back so fast! Our video and photo booth photos came back to us quickly as well! Everyone on the team was so kind, organized, experienced and efficient and truly helped us to make our day incredibly special and exactly what we were hoping it would be. We highly recommend Essence for your wedding day!
Reviewed On 7/24/2023 by Kevin C
We loved Essence for our wedding photo, video and formal wear for men in the wedding party. Gerry was amazing to work with and provided great insights on trends, what looks good with different themes and made us felt like we were VIPs through ...
the whole experience. Chris was proactively communicative through the whole process, responded quickly to inquiries, extremely flexible to ensure our wedding went as planned with photo/video/photo booth and was awesome to work with the day of the wedding. I already have one person from our wedding party using Essence for their wedding and a couple other's planning on going to them when they begin planning their weddings. Really happy that we were able to work with Essence for the wedding!
Reviewed On 7/12/2023 by Deanna M
I recently had the privilege of working with Essence Wedding for my dream wedding, and I cannot emphasize enough how amazing their services were! They provided me with a comprehensive range of services, including my gorgeous Wedding Dress, Form...
alwear for all the guys, Photo, Video, DJ's and Photo Booths. Having all of these services conveniently available under one roof was an absolute game-changer! The prices were SO competitive that we were able to use our money saved for an extra special Honeymoon. I highly recommend Essence Weddings to anyone looking for a stress-free and memorable experience!
Reviewed On 7/11/2023 by Claire P
**This review was completed based upon our experience leading up to and day of the wedding. We do not have photos back yet, but this review will be updated once photos are received.** We had a fabulous experience with Essence! We worked with K...
aren and Ron to get everything scheduled, and they were prompt with responses to emails and very accommodating when a year out our date changed. Our primary photographer Tommy and secondary photographer Jesse were both incredible to work with. They were both on time and they both brought great energy to the day. They both were very kind and fun to be around. They gave clear direction for the posed photographs, and they made sure we got every photo that we had requested.
Reviewed On 6/10/2023 by Rachel G
Rob was our head photographer and Jolena was our second photographer. They were both amazing! Rob started working right away and seamlessly weaved into our day. He made us all so comfortable. Would recommend him to everyone! Jolena was everywhe...
re getting all of our candid shots! I have full confidence that she didn’t miss a thing! Truly so happy we decided to go with Essence Photo & Video!
Reviewed On 6/08/2023 by Laura P
I'm a wedding planner and have been incredibly impressed with Essence - their staff, facilities, communication, online portal, and products. I'm proud to be associated with them and really resonate with their values!! They want to save you time...
, money, and give you the peace of mind you deserve on your big day.
Reviewed On 6/07/2023 by Rebecca J
We are so happy we went with essence for our wedding day. We selected the package for photo and video. The process was very clear and easy. Peggy and Karen were always very quick to respond to my emails and answered all of my questions. Two day...
s before our wedding, I received a call that my photographer became sick with covid and would be unable to shoot our wedding. Without any hesitation, Peggy assured me that although my photographer was sick, they already secured another wonderful photographer to shoot my wedding. Of course, I was upset since I spent hours trying to pick my photographer, however I truly believe everything happens for a reason. Ben, or “Big Ben”, was assigned to shoot our wedding last minute. Within a few minutes of my phone call with Peggy, Ben reached out to me to set up a phone call to go over the wedding details. His knowledge, experience, and positive energy assured me everything would be okay. Ben was a pleasure to work with the day of my wedding and knew exactly what I wanted. He kept everyone laughing and calmed by bride nerves. We were also assigned Jeff for our videographer who captured all of the important moments of our ceremony and reception. We cannot wait to see our pictures and video. Thank you essence!
Reviewed On 5/25/2023 by Mary C
We used Essence for Photo, Photo Booth, and Tux Rentals. We mostly corresponded with Chris at the Orland Park location and he was always incredibly prompt with responses. We hired two photographers for the day of and chose Nora as our main ph...
otographer. She was absolutely amazing. Our second photographer was a little disappointing as the guys felt like they had to provide direction and ideas for their part of the photos before we got together as one group. Overall we are very happy with our pictures, it took about 5 weeks to get the files. We worked with Gerry for the tux rentals. He was very patient with my husband who took longer to choose his tux for the big day than I did to choose my dress (haha). There was a snafu with the guys being given the wrong color shoes (brown instead of black) but Gerry delivered the correct shoes to the hotel for us. He also brought a bunch of options for bow ties for my husband to switch up his look after the ceremony. The tuxes had a manufacturer's defect and the buttons seemed determined to pop off constantly despite most being brand new, but that's to no fault of Essence. Gerry and Chris were sewing for us on the spot! Chris ended up running our Photo Booth the day of the wedding and he was amazing. He showed up early and ended up staying until pretty much the end of the wedding. He also stepped in with the buttons on the tuxes and I couldn't be more appreciative of the excellent service we received! The only negative I would comment on is that you don't get to choose your second photographer, they are assigned to you. I'm very glad we had Nora as I don't know that we would have been happy with our photos otherwise. But overall I enjoyed working with Essence. They were very prompt in replies and definitely went above and beyond for the tuxes and Photo Booth!
Reviewed On 5/19/2023 by Ariana G
May 2021 bride here. I don't remember how is stumbled upon Essence but I'm sure glad I did. Being a one stop shop for photography, videography, picture booth, and even the men's suits was a blessing. They also offer a dj service but our venue ...
had a dj, otherwise I would've booked that too. I had no idea where to start when it came to wedding planning. This made it insanely easy to book everything and coordinate the day off. My husband raves about the formalwear service. He loved how simple the process was. And for less than what most rentals cost, the groomsmen were able to even keep their suits! Gerry, who handles the formalwear, went above and beyond. Our wedding was still in the mix of covid related back orders and shipping delays. Our suits were delayed in transit days before our wedding. Gerry tracked down the packages and drove to intercept them at a warehouse. Amazing customer service. Our pictures are something I will cherish forever. They were better than i imaged. Essi Ala-Kokko was a photographer and he was so easy to work with. He knew how to position us for the formal pictures and was able to get communicate effectively. Lastly, I had concerns with our wedding video. After discussing these concerns with Chris, general manager of Orland location, Chris did everything in his power to make me happy. We decided on a song change and a re-edit because the song I chose just made the video boring. Peggy, wedding director, also went above and beyond. She was he one who approved to re-edit the video and she stayed on top of the editing team. Side note: I didn't reach out about my concerns until well over a year after my wedding and they still did everything they could to help me. I am incredibly please with the final product and am so happy to have been able to work with such an awesome team. They truly care about their clients.
Reviewed On 5/18/2023 by Gregory M
Essence Wedding services in Orland park has been an amazing help with my wedding. I went in to meet with my fiancé and family for their photography service, and I ended up walking out with their formal wear service as well. I had already rented...
a suit a few hours prior but had canceled the rental after having an amazing service at essence. Chris Sigl was who greeted us with a warm welcome the day we arrived for the appointment. We originally went for the photo service when Chris began to ask if we needed any other services. At first I was unaware that they did any other services than the photography, Chris provided information about what they had offered. I mentioned that I had already rented a suit when he showed me the amazing selection they had at the great prices they offered. He was very knowledgeable about all the products and I got fitted to utmost perfection the Very same day and looked amazing. Gerry was the gentleman who helped measure and prepare the suits for me and my entire wedding party. Gerry helped with the selection for the colors of each of the suits for the guys and I am thrilled on the results. Before the suits we went over the photography, the presentation was amazing and the pictures that Essence took from other weddings were gorgeous! Chris provided a breakdown on the different types of photos as well as an explanation on how the day would play out. Chris and Gerry had made my wedding complete and my wife and I am very blessed to have had a chance to meet them and use their services. As far as I am concerned they are part of our family and we will be back to use their services for any other occasions we made need. I recommend Essence 200% and you will not be disappointed. Greg McLain
Reviewed On 4/24/2023 by Barbara P
Sadly this is a continuation of on earlier review I did after receiving photos that were not even touched. Basically you get hundreds of photos with multiple of the same takes and you have to do the clean up that you paid for. Lack of commo...
n sense, professional advise and set up, but a nice person. So, a very sad results, as we thought the two photographers knew what they were doing. As a mother of the bride who recommended Essence, I couldn't feel more guilty after we saw the pictures . Be very cautious , because they post few very best portraits, but the total work of prep, family photos, church ceremony very disappointing. Last minute photographers change who we didn't even spoke with and were not informed of our requests, tradition, must have pictures or church setting. Then after receiving pictures and asking for some touch up of dozen of selected pictures as you could see background that should not be there in a first place, the pictures were returned after weeks of waiting and calling with a blurry spots to cover some background in a quality that doing yourself on a phone a person could do it better. Finally, reach out again to ask for either proofs to pay someone else to correct it or professional true touch up of the most important pictures and till now never heard back from Essence / Peggy. Newlyweds gave up and I feel just horrible for the recommendation.
Reviewed On 3/23/2023 by Jasmin S
We had Amanda for our big day. She was extremely organized and guided us through all of the day/timeline. She went above and beyond to make sure we got the pictures we wanted. She worked well with the DJ and the event staff. Super kind! We al...
so got to work with Jesse! He was super organized and worked well with Amanda and the event staff. I liked both of our photographers and appreciate the time and effort they put into making our big day a special one.
Reviewed On 11/27/2022 by Gabrielle C
I cannot say enough good things about working with the Essence team. From discussing our wants and needs in the first meeting, to hashing out timelines and planning for additional hours needed through the customer portal, to finally working wit...
h our photographer Amanda on the day-of, my husband and I had a wonderful experience. Everyone was so kind and communicative leading up to our wedding day, and I never had to wait long whenever I had a question. Our photographer Amanda spoke with us the week of our wedding and went through every detail, and on the day-of, she was wonderfully patient, thorough, and kind when working with the bridal party, our families, and us. Once the wedding had passed, we received our photos about a month from our wedding date and we were THRILLED with how they turned out! After we made our final wedding album choices, our book arrived in the mail not long after and it is lovely quality. We are so pleased with our experience working with the Essence team and can't thank everyone enough for helping made our day so special.
Reviewed On 11/14/2022 by William I
The Essence Team is top shelf. Have a question? They are there for you. Itinerary tight? They will be prompt to every location! Our photographer even helped us find a new first look spot on the fly because....well...Chicago weather. She f...
ound a spot that was perfect for us! Thank you again, Essence Team!
Reviewed On 11/09/2022 by Lisa G
Great service and beautiful Tuxedos! Gerry Avi and Chris Sigl are the best! I highly recommend.
Reviewed On 11/07/2022 by JANET S
First time bride here...on the older side and had no idea where to begin for a photographer, videographer, and DJ. I stumbled across Essence Photo & Video in Orland Park (very close to where I live) via WeddingWire and gave them a call. I wo...
rked closely with Chris Sigl (General Mgr of Orland location) and he was great! He contacted me in less than 24 hours. He made the entire process stress-free for me. We ended up hiring everyone; our photographer, Nora, the videographer, Augustine and the DJ, Clint. They worked together like a well oiled machine. Nora had such a great personality and came with an abundance of energy. Augustine was always around but because he is the videographer he stays quiet...until there was a break in the action and we had a chance to chat. Augustine is a very nice person and we enjoyed talking with him. Clint, the DJ, and I worked ahead of the wedding on my playlist which I built myself. Clint was so easy to work with and helped me with my song for me and my Dad; my Dad's knees would not last a 5 min song, so Clint cut the song three different ways and sent them to me so that I could choose which one would work best. That was great! I knew we were in the right place when we had our engagement session with Peggy. She was great. She had the best suggestions and even taught us how to do a proper dip! The pics were amazing!! Last but not least, we also used Essence for the men's formal wear. Gerry Avi (formal wear director) was great and easy to work with as well. He's been in the formal wear business for some time and his expertise showed through. Essence has it figured out...one stop shopping. Their bundled package was the best price out there vs. hiring individuals from different companies. I highly recommend them!!
Reviewed On 11/05/2022 by Shannon P
We used Essence photo and video for our wedding day, they also have a DJ company to book all 3. We had 2 DJ’s both were amazing. We have our must have plays and gave them the ability to go with the flow. Our wedding was small but they had almos...
t everyone dancing all night. Our photographer was Ben! Absolutely amazing. Great to work with and helped ease the stress of the day and make things go smoothly. We were able to preview our photos and they turned out great. We have seen the video yet but the videographer was awesome also. I would recommend Essence to any family or friends.
Reviewed On 9/26/2022 by Nina M
We used Essence for our photos & DJ on 9.23.22 and we were so happy with everything! Our main photographer was Rob and he was excellent! He was so professional and really kept the ball rolling. He was very flexible with our changing schedule an...
d was always snapping photos at the right moments. He made us feel so comfortable and was always making me laugh. Our second photographer was Jolanta and she was amazing too! She was was also very professional and helping us with our schedule. She captured all of our table photos and was very patient with my crazy family which I greatly appreciate! They were both amazing and we are so happy they were our photographers! Thank you both so much and we cannot wait to see our photos!!
Reviewed On 6/24/2022 by Bridget C
We used Essence for both our photography and DJ. They were a great service and I'd highly recommend them! Our photographer Peggy was awesome to work with. She made our family photos rub smoothly, and really listened to us to make sure we got th...
e type of photos we wanted (or didn't want.) The photos were beautiful and the turnaround time was quick! Pur dj was great. We gave him a few specific songs and some guidelines, but he filled in the rest. We had some unusual requests he was able to find and he read the room to see what the crow responded to. He kept the party going! The sound system was perfect for our space: clear, but not overwhelmingly loud. We also used their photo booth. The attendant had a lot of props, and kept the photo booth running smoothly. We had our photos quickly too! All around a great business for your wedding services.
Reviewed On 6/14/2022 by Cyndi C
I choose Essence because two of my cousins used them for their weddings and not only were their photos beautiful but their photographers were awesome! Due to the pandemic, I rescheduled my wedding twice and the process was really smooth. We wer...
e extremely lucky that Peggy who did our engagement photos also photographed our wedding almost two years later. We were already familiar with her and she made it a great experience!
Reviewed On 6/03/2022 by Juliana U
My fiancé and I booked essence for our photos/video for our upcoming wedding next year! Today we took our engagement photos with Peggy and had a wonderful experience! Not only did she pick beautiful places to take pictures, she also developed o...
ur photos hours after our shoot. All of the photos turned out amazing!!!! We look forward to taking our wedding photos with this awesome company next year! Thank you Peggy !!!!
Reviewed On 5/02/2022 by Kristy G
We got married on September 25, 2021. We had Essence for photo, video, and tuxes. After waiting 6 months for our video, we were extremely disappointed. The slow song for that montage was not the correct version, the slow song montage contained ...
reception footage that was more appropriate for the dance montage, there was blurry footage, the sound did not match when people were speaking, during our ceremony, the sound completely changed in the middle of our officiant speaking, the video did not contain any footage of our cocktail hour (which the videographer went to cocktail hour instead of taking video of our group photos), and our video did not contain chapters as we were told during initial discussions. After requesting the video be fixed to remedy this list, one month later, we received a revised video that changed the slow song, removed the blurry footage, and added 3 seconds of cocktail hour. The video is extremely disappointing, especially when considering how much we paid for it. Our guests took better quality videos. As for the mens apparel, the shoes were extremely uncomfortable - everyone was in pain. The photos turned out great. We loved our 2 photographers: Amanda and Stephanie. We loved that we got a large group photo of everyone at the wedding early into the reception. This review would have been 1 star, but the photography was great.
Reviewed On 12/31/2021 by Ellen A
We had great service from the Essence. They made my husband and I feel comfortable in front of the camera when we are not usually picture people. Would recommend to anyone asking! Thank you Peggy!
Reviewed On 12/19/2021 by Jamie B
Our Photographer, Ben and Videographer Sam were amazing! But sadly our experience has not been so great since our wedding. Our wedding was on Sept 3 2021 and we still have not received our video. It states videos take 8-12 weeks to be complete...
d. Now they stated they are weeks behind due to a COVID delay and will not provide an updated time line on when we can expect to receive our video. It is extremely upsetting that we are still waiting!
Reviewed On 12/17/2021 by Emily M
When I was searching for a photographer and DJ, I called several places, and Essence was the only one where I got to speak with the actual owner. There was something special about his enthusiasm and I decided to go in for an in person consult. ...
Man I'm so glad I did, because meeting with Ron gave me such confidence in this business. Thank you to everyone who helped and was a part of our wedding, shout out to Noell our incredibly awesome DJ who got our requests and made sure everything was just right, and also to Tommy our photographer for capturing amazing moments and having fun at our reception. All the best to everyone there! Go with Essence!!!
Reviewed On 11/14/2021 by Chrissy S
We had the best experience with Essence Photo & Video for our wedding in August! Kari P. was our photographer, and we were very impressed. Kari is great at guiding groups for photos, and is great to work with! I highly recommend Kari. We ended ...
up receiving an album of about 1,000 photos, and we are very happy with how the photos turned out. Thank you, Kari & Essence!
Reviewed On 10/20/2021 by Reyna P
We got our engagement pictures done with Peggy and my fiance and I were so nervous! Peggy was not only comforting but so sweet and encouraging. She made this process the highlight of our day. Essence has such great flexibility, communication, a...
nd staff. I am blessed to come across such a loving environment of staff who truly care about their clients. Not only are they caring, but they are extremely fast. Mike reached out right away when I requested a quote, contacted me about packages, offers, etc, booked my wedding and engagement session within a few hours. Not only was the process fast, but Peggy had previews and engagement photos done so quickly as well! Impressed is an understatement to how we feel so far, and we are so grateful and excited for our wedding photos to come!
Reviewed On 10/18/2021 by Alyssa C
My husband and I got married on October 9, 2021. I found out about Essence on The Knot, and I could not be more happy with our decision on working with them! From the start they were very professional and helped with all the planning for our bi...
g! We were matched with Thomas and he was nothing short of AMAZING! Me and Thomas were on the same page from the first time we spoke. We agreed on the types of pictures we wanted to be captured and more. When I saw Thomas on the wedding day, I was so excited! He was the perfect mix of professional and fun! I cannot say enough great things about Thomas and the whole Essence team! We are about a week and a half from our wedding day and we are still having people rave about how great Thomas was! Thank you to all the Essence team for helping make our day PERFECT! And Thomas, thank you for being you! You truly have a gift! Alyssa & Brandon Conkle
Reviewed On 9/28/2021 by Brooke E
We got married July 31 and had a great experience with Essence Photo and Video. We wanted to add a second photographer after we already booked and signed for one, and they made the process smooth for us to do so.There were some last minute chan...
ges that had to happen before the wedding, but Peggy and the rest of the team were very helpful with working all of the details out. The day of the wedding, the photographer showed up early to the location and got all of the shots we asked for. Both photo and video were very professional and prepared. We love how the pictures turned out and can't wait to share them with our family and friends!
Reviewed On 8/14/2021 by Marie P
This company was amazing to work with! The booking process was so smooth and they worked with us to find a package that perfectly suited our needs while fitting into our budget. Their planning tool was so helpful and made pictures day of so muc...
h easier, as the photographer already knew exactly what pictures were most important to us. We also worked with their partner DJ company, which made setting up audio for the video so much easier! Our photographer, Kamil, was incredible. I have not stopped raving about him to friends, family, and even strangers online. He was professional and polite but did not shy away from letting people know exactly what we needed from them. I told him that I was a little nervous about having pictures taken, and he really helped make me feel comfortable and gave me direction when needed. He also was the one who calmed me down when we had a weather scare. While everyone who loves and knows me was trying their best and it just wasn’t working, he told me some silly joke that made me laugh and put things into perspective. He went above and beyond the whole day to make sure we were happy and getting all the pictures we wanted. I highly recommend anyone looking for a photographer in the Chicago area check them out.
Reviewed On 7/21/2021 by Grace S
What a great company! Essence truly went above and beyond with every part of our wedding! We had them do our engagement photos as well and both turned out beautiful! All of the photographers there are so talented! Kamil was our photographer for...
the wedding and he did an amazing job. He was so easy to work with and kept everybody moving. We got our pictures back in about 3-1/2 weeks and WOW do we love them! We are waiting to get our video back still and even though there was a problem with the videographer, Peggy saved the day and came out to do our video for us. We could not be more thankful for how everything turned out!
Reviewed On 5/31/2021 by Nicole W
We absolutely loved working with everyone at Essence. The online portal made it extremely easy to communicate and put all of our wedding details in there. For our wedding we had Peggy & Tommy as our photographers and Jeff for our videographer. ...
All 3 were amazing! They were so friendly and made everyone at ease (even when we were running behind on time and couldn't take pictures outside due to the rain). Peggy looked at my Pinterest boards I previously sent, and made sure to recreate those pictures. We can't wait to see our final pictures and video! Highly recommend!
Reviewed On 5/20/2021 by Kimberly D
We first looked into Essence when our actual wedding photographer said they could only do engagement photos Monday-Fridays 8-4. Because that time slot did not work with mine or my husband's schedule, I started calling around. Essence called me ...
back right away and although we were not using them for our wedding, agreed to do our engagement photos. Our engagement photographer was great and we received our beautiful photos about a month later. Because I felt bad that they had done these photos for us, we agreed to use Essence for our tuxes. We worked with Gerry and he was nothing but friendly and helpful during the whole process. He was always available through email if we had any questions or concerns. We were very happy with using Essence for our formal wear as well as our engagement photos. We felt they went above and beyond even though we did not book them for our wedding day photography.
Reviewed On 3/03/2021 by Jennifer M
I absolutely loved the 2 photographer’s Gabe & Elle that took the pictures for my son & daughter-in-law’s wedding. They had an eye on making it a very happy & beautiful day even in the cold weather. They both were very professional, but also ve...
ry good with going with the flow of thing’s for it being in February and being so cold. They did an amazing job taking pictures and capturing so many pictures that are absolutely beautiful. I also would like to mention Peggy who is in the office & is the photographer manger, with her help I was able to get this all done without a hitch & she did an amazing job. I completely would be giving everyone their business that I know that is having a upcoming wedding just because this company was so helpful & understanding of all our needs. I truly am GRATEFUL for them & all that they did for this wedding
Reviewed On 2/24/2021 by Jennifer K
I absolutely loved essence. The constant communication, the fact that they have 3 services so you don’t have to go to more then once place, how organized they are, and how nice and friendly you are. Most places are more concerned about making m...
oney off of you instead or the costumer service but they were on top of everything. They also have for your decision making portion part, your own wedding site to pick and choose your music for your wedding and what photographer you prefer. Most places just pick for you but they give you plenty of options which is rare now a days. Even though we have ended up not using them because we decided on an out of state wedding they did great in giving us all the information we needed and actually cared to enough to keep in contact with us to make sure we didn’t need anything else. Thanks essence! If plans change we definitely will use you guys!
Reviewed On 1/09/2021 by Kimberly E
I was so thrilled that I struck gold in finding Essence Photography! Michael is the owner of this company. Planning a wedding amidst COVID was hard and stressful enough, upon meeting with Michael he took his time, meeting with us in person to g...
ive us a feel for what his mission is for brides. The albums full of pictures were stunning, as well as the photographers he hires. You can tell he loves his work, as well was compassionate about brides, grooms and their day. He was super transparent of trying to not get us to spend more money that we really needed too, ex, hiring a second photographer m, which I thought I needed. He was also super respectful in what to call each parent, aka “how do you want us to address your step dad, if we say parents of the groom is this ok?” I had never come across anyone who thinks of little things like that to make sure everyone would feel comfortable! Peggy, the lady who manages the photographers and helps you choose who she thinks is the best fit, based off of your vision for pictures. Always allowing you the final say, which as an anal bride that was important to me. Both myself and my fiancé were blown away with the compassion, the personable touch and even notes they took of what we wanted to see for our wedding! Their online forum to help you outline your wedding day was to DIE for and made me feel at ease. The website to write my notes of specific pictures I wanted was easy to maneuver and was saved compiling a list of photos I expect for my wedding day. They assured me that in requesting specific pictures that it was my “insurance” to know that it is the expectation to get those photos, which I love! It put me at ease, so that my wedding day could be worry free! So we were able to put the most important photos and poses in our notes. My brother in law had also used them, in which they turned a rainy junky day into stunning pictures! Everyone we came in contact with was knowledgeable, super responsive and looking out for the best interest of my happiness. You truly do not find this! (I had booked a different vendor that was a nightmare and the difference was night and day, essence being the better one!) Essence was super affordable for the quality of customer service, the touches of reassurance and dependable people to work with. From what you get, including them to help coordinate your wedding day, and to make sure all pictures were taken through the planning process was awesome! A value all on its own! I can tell they love what they do! I would highly recommend them, especially if you like to have a more personable experience!!! So book them!
Reviewed On 12/26/2020 by Kelly R
I’ve given this company 1.5 years to resolve this issue before writing a review. I got married June 2019 and hired Essence for videography. Up until we received our video, we had no issues. But; videographer was clearly inexperienced (or to mor...
e accurately put it, had no idea how to use a camera). The quality of the video was much worse than I could have shot on my cell phone camera. There lens wasn’t cleaned so there was dust on the lens that could be seen throughout the ceremony. The video was extremely blurry at times, and sometimes the videographer fumbled with the camera and shot the ceiling instead of the wedding. The camera was stationary the entire time and did not include any artistic angles like the video posted on the website. The quality was very similar to 90s home videos. We hired a videographer for 8 hours and got only about 40 minutes of footage with major wedding moments missing from our DVD. When we asked for them to redo the editing to add in the parts that were left out, we were told that there was no footage for a lot of it. I’m not sure what the videographer was doing during this time (getting ready, cocktail hour, etc.) Even though I feel we deserve a full refund, we requested a 50% refund. We were told they were working on it, and have been told this for the past year. I truly feel that Essence robbed us of both our money and wedding memories that we should be able to watch forever. If Essence should decide to resolve this issue, I will edit my review. I would NEVER recommend Essence for photo or video services.
Reviewed On 8/26/2020 by Kristina M
I don't know how to leave this review. I would give the management side a 2 and the photographer himself a 3 (pending pictures still so who knows)..... there is no 2.5. We went in a year and a half ago requesting a specific photographer becau...
se he worked with my sisters wedding. They verbalized how they knew exactly who we were talking about and then had us sign our contract. Following that we got access into our "portal" and when we requested that photographer they stated he quit weeks ago. Just frustrating that they knew/aware that he had quit before we signed our contract with them and didnt tell us. The photographer was very nice and worked well with my wedding party. I know some of my ladies could be crazy. What kind of bothered me was when we got to the venue we were waiting and one of my bridesmaids had called him because it seemed like a little while. He said he was just waiting in the parking lot for a while... i dont know why but whatever, he ended up coming in. Then I had asked about getting pictures outside at our venue because the outdoor area was very beautiful. He had said he got enough nice shots at the other location we had taken pictures. I am very "go with the flow" so I didn't continue to ask.... but I am just really bummed that I didn't get those pictures. I don't really push for stuff, which I 100% regret with him. I saw my entire family take pictures by the waterfalls at our venue after the wedding and all their pictures turned out so beautiful, but we wont have a single one. He got pictures of us underneath a canopy in a different location. My husband asked about getting pictures by the bed of flowers and he said "the lighting wasn't right." I just trusted him too much and I am really nervous about getting all of our photos. It's heartbreaking that I am nowhere near excited to see them all and it was just a stressful wedding given the year being 2020.
Reviewed On 8/15/2020 by Miranda L
Rob was my photographer for Essence and he did an amazing job!! He was super professional and personable. He made all of us feel super comfortable in front of the camera and was very thorough with capturing everything! He took time to deal with...
all my family’s crazy photo requests and knew exactly how to pose us all for photos. I couldn’t have chosen a better photographer for the most important day of my life!!
Reviewed On 6/27/2020 by Jannett E
We got married on 2-22-2020 and found out about Essence Photo & Video at a bridal expo. There were other photo/video/photobooth vendors there but Essence's booth was very inviting so we decided to stop by. We met Chris and he happily introduce...
d us to their services and showed us their samples and portfolio. We were impressed and proceeded to schedule an appointment to discuss in depth what we wanted for our wedding. At the consultation, Chris was very informative and helpful. He made suggestions based on our wants and needs. For everything we wanted, Chris managed to give us the best deal for photo, video and photobooth. We ended up saving over $2000 by bundling all services versus hiring 3 different companies to do each service. The other companies we spoke to at the expo were charging so much for mediocre work! The communication between us and Essence was wonderful. Throughout the planning process, Kathy and Erik were always prompt with answering all my questions. They helped me with the wedding day timeline to make sure that we stayed focus on all the shots we wanted done at the wedding. We were given several choices for our main photographers and we chose Gabe. We had Patrick as our videographer and Tommy as our 2nd photographer. Both Gabe and Patrick reached out to us about a week before the wedding to discuss timeline and asked what we wanted included in the shots/poses. Gabe, Patrick and Tommy were very professional, friendly and fun. We loved the guys’ personalities and they all made us comfortable and it showed in our photos and videos. I’ve seen pictures where smiles and poses were just so awkward-looking and I think that it has a lot to do with the wedding party not being comfortable with the photo/videographers. We also enjoyed the photo booth. They have an open booth concept so more people could fit and they had a touch screen camera so we and our guests had a lot of fun with that! They also provided really fun props and we enjoyed looking through all of the photobooth pictures the day after the wedding because the attendant left us a USB with all of the photos taken at the booth. A couple of weeks after our wedding the pandemic started and everything shut down. We were afraid that we would not get our pictures and video for a while because of the lockdown and offices being closed but to our surprise we received an email that our proofs were ready almost 2 weeks early and the video not long after that. The pictures and the video were so wonderful! The shots that both photographers took were great and the video captured things that we didn’t see at the wedding. There were some people and portions of the wedding that were important to us that weren’t included in the edited version of the video (we completely understand why they weren’t included since the editor wasn’t at the wedding). I reached out and Chris was so helpful and courteous by getting us in touch with Peggy who handles the designs/editing part of the process. They both quickly made sure that our concerns were addressed and went above and beyond to make sure that our issue was resolved. It was nice to look back and relive our wedding. We are so happy that we went with Essence to capture the most amazing day of our lives. Can’t thank you guys enough for being “our eyes” at the wedding and allowing us to experience our wedding day all over again.
Reviewed On 6/11/2020 by Stephanie C
I have been holding off on this review, hoping Essence would make it right and it is now clear to me they won't be. To begin, at our engagement shoot, when we arrived the photographer let us know he was on tons of Vicodin due to a root canal. N...
eedless to say, the shoot was awkward and the photos were terrible. I wanted to post a review then, but my now husband told me to hold off, our wedding photos would be better. 2 days before our wedding our chosen photographer, Kelly, ended up in the ER due to kidney stones. Scroll down and you will find the exact same story listed by another couple, leading me to believe that was a complete lie. So 2 days before our wedding we were looking at more portfolios and had to pick one right then and there. I didn't love any of the portfolio's but what choice did I have? The wedding day came and went, our photographer was awkward and not what we wanted but we enjoyed our day together. Once we got the photos back, we were in shambles. More than 20 photo shots listed in their contract were never taken. Shots of siblings, aunts and uncles, parents at different venues, we have not one photo of our parents together etc. etc.. Also, the information about siblings and special shots we would like example : my husband's group of work friends, that you lay out in the portal was never even looked at. To say we are disappointed is a complete understatement. It has caused us so much pain to have to tell family members that we really don't have any of them when they excitedly ask to see our wedding photos. It's embarrassing, and I feel completely breached by their contract we signed. They will make it all sound so great and lovely until your actual wedding day and everything will come crashing down. We have spoken with them several times about getting some money back in which after waiting 3 months they told us there is nothing they can do. I wouldn't suggest this company to my worst enemy. I hope no couple has to deal with their shady practices.
Reviewed On 4/09/2020 by Adam F
We were very pleased with our Photography and Videography experiences with Essence Photo and Video. Our photographer, Ryan, was very professional and likable. He had a great smile from the beginning of our day all the way to the end. He brou...
ght good ideas for photographs while also being dynamic with what we requested and our movements or nuances throughout the day. We were blessed to have photos at three locations, one of which was outside. Ryan worked with us in the 30 degree snowing weather and was even able to capture the snow in some of our photographs! We recently received our proofs, (Only 4 weeks turn around due to COVID) and we are happy. The posed photographs are beautiful and photos of the ceremony turned out great. Ryan paid attention to small details in the photos which made them that much nicer. My only comments would be that I hoped for a little more photoshop/editing on some photographs that had unavoidable elements like telephone poles or street lights - I think a few minutes with some of these photos would have made them that much nicer. In relation, our first dance photos didn't turn out the best, probably due to unpredictable movements - hopefully the video will make up for this. Overall, we are very pleased with the photographs from Essence Photo and we cannot wait to see the Video! Our photographer and videographer were very kind, blended into our ceremony well, and captured all our most important moments and then some.
Reviewed On 3/09/2020 by Deborah S
Wish I could do 10 Stars!!!! We used Essence for our DJ, Photo & Video and couldn't have been happier!!! They went above and beyond our expectations. The DJ had the dance floor full all night. The photographer & videographer were amazing. ...
They got all the regular weeding shots but also got stuff I never would have thought that we wanted..but we did!!! And every time I had a friend taking a pic of us the photographer was there to take a professional picture for us!!! I would recommend Essence to anyone who is looking for a great, caring, professional experience for their wedding!!!
Reviewed On 2/29/2020 by Lauren D
Great working with both Ryan (photo) and Jeff (video). They both got so many shots of everything I wanted, made us feel so comfortable, and was a great help in posing and fixing my train. It was perfect! Ryan went above and behind to get some u...
nique shots, especially with the sunset and even in the wind. Beautiful!! Can't wait to see the finished products!!
Reviewed On 1/21/2020 by Marissa P
We first learned of Essence at a wedding expo event and booked a consultation. The first day we met with Chris at Essence, we booked! From Karen in the front office, to the prep the week of with Allison and Kuni/David (photo/video), we could no...
t have asked for a better experience. The portal essence utilizes is a fantastic resource to have. Every conversation and every request is recorded. When speaking with both Allison and Kuni, they were looped in on all of our requests and made the process very easy on us. Our date was July 26th, 2019. Photo - Allison quickly became one of the wedding party. We had an absolute blast with her! Throughout the craziness of family photos, she was able to take lead and get them done in the most polite manner. Our wedding party enjoyed every moment! Everyone had a great time, while getting great shots. As a bride and groom, Allison was able to capture intimate moments and create those once in a lifetime shots throughout celebratory group photos. It was a perfect combination!! Thank you Allison for your vision, professionalism and being a fantastic piece of our special day Video – Kune and David were also fantastic! They both had worked together before, which was great to hear. I loved seeing their creativity come to life. Kune was able to be subtle and captured intimate moments beautifully! We loved his ability to sneak in and out and get really got shots on the dance floor. Thank you Kuni and Dave for your hard work, teamwork and ability to capture our big day! Essence collaborated on every aspect from start to finish. Keep in mind, you do not hear from your personal photographer/videographer until the week of the wedding. We set up calls with both our photographer and videographer the same day and made us feel comfortable for the wedding day. If you use the portal provided through out planning process, you should get everything you need ahead of the big day.
Reviewed On 12/19/2019 by Robby G
5 stars. Our wedding was October 11, 2019 and we booked Essence for photo/ video for 10 hours. (Seems long but the staff really feel like family and not a bother) Prior to this, we were totally naive to the pricing of these roles in a wedding a...
nd after a lot of research it had us worried our expectations would not be met for our budget. We found essence and immediately booked a consultation. They took care of us right away showing us all options. Leading up, we were constantly in contact through the portal with our expectations and poses we found on Pinterest; not sure if other companies offer this but it did help to build that relationship even before meeting our photo/ video men. Thankfully they were reasonable enough to even upgrade the video quality which now receiving our video is awesome- the picture quality is so crisp/ clear! We have already recommended 2 couples and are thoroughly excited to see the style of video they choose and will continue to do so. Thank you for capturing our special day and making it beautiful!
Reviewed On 11/01/2019 by Kelsey M
We got married May 2019, Gabe was our photographer although he wasn't who we initially chose. Sergio is who we decided to book with but then the week of we were notified that Sergio's grandmother had passed away and needed to leave the country....
Of course these things happen and are understandable but the backup we were given was Gabe...and backup he was. DO NOT RECOMMEND going with Gabe. Although he takes great pictures of still objects like our table arrangements, he does not do a good job at pictures of people or capturing the moments. He doesn't look at the entire picture when things might actually be sticking out of your head, the rest of the picture isn't even in focus, finding a good background for couple pictures, etc the list goes on and on. We are extremely disappointed with our photographs but thank goodness we have an amazing video, not from Essence, that we can relive the day that way. We have about 10 pictures we'd actually find suitable to print out and put in our home...that's a lot of wasted money spent on a very important day. DISAPPOINTING and not worth booking with. BEWARE and know exactly who you're going to get on your day...
Reviewed On 9/29/2019 by Laura T
We used Essence for photographer and photobooth. Photobooth was on time and interactive with wedding guests. penny was the photographer we selected and she did an amazing job. She kept everyone on task and kept it moving the whole day. She got ...
all shots that I asked for ahead of time. She was amazing to work with and had a great personality!
Reviewed On 9/09/2019 by Luke S
Our experience with Essence so far has been a good one. Unlike other companies, Chris and the Essence team were responsive to our questions and set up a time to meet within 24 hours of our inquiry. When we met Chris, he explained all the pa...
ckages that they offered and worked with us to create an experience that fits our budget. Chris did not pressure us to sign with Essence and asked at the end of the meeting what Essence can do to create a better experience for the next couple to inquire about their services. The Essence portal is great for keeping in contact with them. Kathy is very quick to respond and great in answering questions. We scheduled our engagement photo session and picked our wedding photographer through the portal with ease. We chose the standard location for our engagement photo session with Dave as our photographer. The standard location was at the Schaumburg Municipal Center, which is close to their Schaumburg office. Dave texted me the day before to confirm that the plans were still on and gave me his cell phone in case we couldn't find each other. Dave was a great photographer that has more than 13 years of experience. He has taken pictures at that location for years and knows all the good spots for the best pictures. He shot over 100 photos in less than an hour, at more than 5 different locations, around the park/pond. At the end, he made sure that we took all the pictures we wanted. The turnaround on our photos from the session took less than a week and most of the pictures came out the way we wanted them. We were put in a couple awkward poses that we tried out and those pictures did not come out as well as the others, but that was only 6-10 pictures out of 110-120 photos. We have not had our wedding yet, so I cannot comment on their photography/video for the event. I plan on updating this review once the wedding pictures and videos are in my possession.
Reviewed On 9/01/2019 by Kat G
Everything was flawless! From the moment we sat down with Chris Sigl to talk about options, we signed right away. The services, vibe of the company, and pricing made us know it was a done deal. We signed before we even left that appointment. ...
From that day forward, everything fell perfectly into place. We worked with Karen through their portal for any questions that we had and were promptly answered. No matter what we came to them with, nothing was a "problem" and they were so helpful and understanding. Then the day of the wedding quickly came, Chris Caizer was amazing! We could not have dreamed for a better photographer experience for our wedding! We went in with no list of photos we wanted and Chris had a ton of ideas and was super efficient! We never felt rushed or uncomfortable in any poses. Chris has an awesome eye for anything out of place and quickly adjusts for the perfect photo. I had gotten ready at a hotel and he was able to get those perfect dress hanging in the window pictures with limited space and the room looked spacious. He took really cool shots too of the cathedral veil, from the getting ready to pictures with my husband, he was able to truly capture the beauty of veil. Lauren was our second photographer and her and Chris worked wonderfully together. She braved the cold day to take photos of my husband and his groomsmen outside on the riverwalk. She captured the fun that they had before the ceremony. Chris and Lauren seamlessly worked together with David Tikalsky, our amazing videographer. So many people at our wedding commented at their professional, respect (especially during our religious ceremony) and never seemed to get in each others way. I've already watched the video 3 times since we got it a few months ago! David captured our best day perfectly! He went with the flow and captured so much more than we could have ever imagined. I recommend doing the video SO much! There were several parts of the video I didn't even realize what happened with guests or distracted during parts of the ceremony to notice all the details. I now can relive it all whenever I want. Kathy went above and beyond too! She helped us get our photos and when I was having trouble downloading them, she troubleshooted with me and offered to help another way to get me the photos. I thought it was the sweetest! Even though we had already had our wedding and our photos were ready, Kathy still valued me as a customer and wanted to ensure we were all set. Everyone should work with this group for their wedding! There was a huge weight taken off our shoulders by working with this company for our photo and video. They truly allowed us to cherish our wedding and capture every moment. I will forever be thankful for their amazing work and dedication in giving us photos and a video of a lifetime!
Reviewed On 7/18/2019 by Carly Z
Essence Photography was great to work with. Specifically, our photographer Kelly was fantastic! She was attentive and flexible. She knew exactly how to pose everyone to make us and the background look incredible!
Reviewed On 6/10/2019 by Shaneice J
Our Essence Photography experience was a great one overall! Our initial meeting with owner was a great one to get to know us as a couple, as well as all of our likes and dislikes. The photographer we were paired with (Penny) was phenomenal! I w...
as thrilled with their services overall! So many of my guest complimented me on my photographer! Great attention to detail and attention to us as the bride & groom. I felt listened to and catered to. The only inconvenience at all for me was their user portal process. It was a bit unfriendly , as it kept making re-enter the same information. Other than that I sincerely have zero complaints!
Reviewed On 6/10/2019 by Sara S
We first met with Chris to talk about different packages, and he helped us decide the package that would best fit our needs. He also recommended getting a photo booth, which I highly recommend because everyone had a blast with it. They have thi...
s super cool online portal that you can access any time. They let you view the portfolios of different photographers and pick which one you like best. The portal also allows you to communicate with Karen, who answers any questions you may have. Karen was able to help us pick a great picture location near our venue. About a week before our wedding, our photographer was in an accident and was injured and unable to photograph our wedding. Essence automatically assigned another photographer to our wedding and he was AMAZING. He was super friendly from the beginning, and let me know what was happening every step of the way. Michael was able to recommend a cute place for my husband and I to take our first look pictures. He also was able to deal with our crazy families. He was glued to my side the entire time and was able to get pictures with anyone who asked to take a picture. I was so incredibly happy with everything that Essence was able to do for my husband and I. I would definitely recommend them to everyone.
Reviewed On 6/08/2019 by Virginia S
When my (now) husband and I met with the owner, Mike, we instantly clicked and loved his candor. So, when he mentioned he would not be the photographer for our wedding, I admit I was skeptical, but something about his confidence and the fact th...
at he seemed to "get us", eased my mind. He did not disappoint. I can't say enough great things about Ryan. Within the first minute of our conversation, we knew he was the right fit for us. He communicated with my bridal party and offered guidance without being pushy. He blended in well with our guests and didn't feel invasive. He truly made us feel comfortable and was such a pleasure working with. We strongly recommend Ryan and look forward to seeing all the images captured from our magical day. Mike you're a match maker! Karen, you are a rock star!
Reviewed On 6/08/2019 by Virginia F
When my (now) husband and I met with the owner, Mike, we instantly clicked and loved his candor. So, when he mentioned he would not be the photographer for our wedding, I admit I was skeptical, but something about his confidence and the fact t...
hat he seemed to "get us", eased my mind. He did not disappoint. I can't say enough great things about Ryan. Within the first minute of our conversation, we knew he was the right fit for us. He communicated with my bridal party and offered guidance without being pushy. He blended in well with our guests and didn't feel invasive. He truly made us feel comfortable and was such a pleasure working with. We strongly recommend Ryan and look forward to seeing all the images captured from our magical day. Mike you're a match maker! Karen, you are a rock star!
Reviewed On 5/15/2019 by Maureen T
Ben was awesome. He was so upbeat and seemed like he loved his job. He did a wonderful job of capturing the right moments and putting together good scenes for photos. I was a bride that wanted someone to tell me what to do and when in terms o...
f photo moments and setup, and Ben was the perfect photographer for this!! He worked so hard and I already know he got wonderful pictures - cannot wait to see them!
Reviewed On 5/01/2019 by Katarina W
Chris was amazing! We could not have dreamed for a better photographer experience for our wedding! We went in with no list of photos we wanted and Chris had a ton of ideas and was super efficient! We never felt rushed or uncomfortable in any p...
oses. Chris has an awesome eye for anything out of place and quickly adjusts for the perfect photo. I had gotten ready at a hotel and he was able to get those perfect dress hanging in the window pictures with limited space and the room looked spacious. He took really cool shots too of the cathedral veil, from the getting ready to pictures with my husband, he was able to truly capture the beauty of veil. Everyone should have Chris as their wedding photographer! He truly allowed us to cherish our wedding and capture every moment. I will forever be thankful for his amazing work and dedication for giving us photos of a lifetime!
Reviewed On 4/09/2019 by Krystina R
I used essence for photo, video and photo booth. Chris was great to work with to give us a bang for our buck. We ended up having Kelly as our photographer and Dave as our videographer. Both worked together very well. I have to say Kelly was ver...
y kind and helpful. She was more than just a photographer. She was very out going and complimented everyone in the process well. She helped fix my dress and broken bouquet. She was organized and quick and got everything we asked for. We couldn’t have asked for a better day!!!
Reviewed On 4/07/2019 by Joe G
We got married on March 23, 2019. From the beginning we knew we had made the right choice. Mike was very informative in our initial meeting and helped guide us to a package that fit our needs. On the day of we had Ryan as our main photographe...
r. He made us feel comfortable from the beginning and we had so much fun working with him the whole day. Our videographer Kuni was also great to work with! Overall we had a great experience and would highly recommend this company to anyone!
Reviewed On 3/04/2019 by Joanny W
My husband and I got married on Sep 1st, 2019. We were living in Denver Colorado while planning a wedding in Chicago, IL (you can only imagine how crazy that is). We shopped around for video and photography, which are not easy things to do when...
you are out of state and prices can be ridiculously high. The things we loved about Essence were the availability, PRICES and flexibility to work with us. The first person we talked to was Chris Sigl. He was not a pushy salesperson!!! THANK YOU FOR THAT!!!! (believe me, it is very common to find pushy people while shopping around for vendors) Overall, he understood our stress of planning our big day out of state, and took the time to explain and walk us through the entire process. Then, he sets your portal login where you can ask questions and review their photographers (and their previous work-so you can based on that select who would you like to work with). Karen responded very quickly through this portal (and believe or not!!!! even after work hours- side note- this is huge plus when you like to plan every little thing!! the constant communication was huge for my husband and I). We decided to work with John for the photography. We felt that his previous work really captured what we were looking for. Prior to the wedding day, we got to speak with him about what we wanted and how we wanted it. He was very receptive and provided additional ideas. and not only that, but he helped us a lot with the logistics for him and the videographer on the big day. Again, communication is key on your wedding day!!!! He was on time, ready to work and really understood my stress the day of. His patience and consideration was key!!! Timothy was our videographer. He captured beautiful footage of our wedding. They stay the entire time with you, which is awesome because once you get the final product you get to enjoy parts of the wedding that you probably did not notice. Finally, the wedding album IS ABSOLUTELY BEAUTIFUL. Very good quality too!! They really took the time and followed our feedback and revisions with the best attitude. I received previous of the photos with no issues!!! Just talk to them and they will get them to you. The wedding video was totally worth it!!! It includes a chapter menu that makes it feel like a professional film. I recommend them not only because of their great prices, excellent service or their high quality, but for their people skills! You want someone that can make your big day better and not a complete stress and chaos. THANK YOU ESSENCE!!!
Reviewed On 2/22/2019 by Melanie B
Overall we are pretty happy with Essence for our wedding photography, videography, and photo booth. The online portal was super helpful for communication of things before the wedding-we loved that. We loved our photographer Eric (secondary phot...
ographer was Lauren) and our videographer Dave. They were super great and fun to work with and they meshed very well with our families and wedding party. Everyone talked about how warm and awesome Eric was at our reception. They truly were awesome guys to work with and have be a part of our wedding day. The photo booth was great overall, as well. In terms of our pictures, we were happy with them for the most part. There was some poor lighting in some of them that disappointed us a little, and we wish there were more pictures of my husband and me close up, faces close together, veil in the wind, etc. Nevertheless we have at least 15-20 pictures of us that we do love. Since we were pressed for time at certain points throughout the day, I wish Eric would have tried to do less creative shots with us and the bridal party (one on a set of stairs where less than half could be seen) and focused on a few more traditional and timeless photos. Again, we do have some awesome shots of us with our bridal party that we truly do love. There were not as many detail shots as we would’ve liked from our reception, but fortunately screen grabs of the room from our video were able to be converted into pictures, which was great. Overall, we absolutely loved working with Eric and we got some pictures that we truly love, but there were certain kinds of pictures we wish he would’ve gotten/taken. Kathy, their photo editor, was AWESOME to work with. She edited any photo I wanted and did them very quickly. She was super flexible with me and which pictures I wanted edited. In terms of videography, overall we were not super impressed. I did not understand in our consultation that they could not provide the level/quality of videography I was looking for, so we had to go through a lot of edits with our video in order for it to get to where we are satisfied with it. It was a lot of stationary and standstill footage, rather than cinematic and creative footage. I didn’t understand this before signing our contract, but after talking with their sales associate Chris I understood more that what they charged us was a fair quality of what we got. Kuni, the video editor, was also very awesome to work with. He was very accommodating and did whatever he could to edit our video to our liking. While we were not blown away by our video or super ecstatic with our photos, the customer service of Essence is fantastic. They are extremely helpful, flexible, and available whenever you need them. We were lucky to have a company who worked so hard to please us and make us happy.
Reviewed On 2/22/2019 by Tania G
We used Essence for our photo booth, photography, and videography for our wedding. Chris was very helpful in selectiong our packages. Our videographer Kuni and photographer Sergio were professional and flexible with last minute changes due to w...
eather. Our video is great and love all the features!
Reviewed On 2/13/2019 by Lana M
Our experience with Essence was GREAT! We hired them for photography, videography, and a photo booth. Our initial encounter was with Chris, who was very friendly and helpful. He listened to our needs and was able to offer us a great package at ...
a competitive price. Once hired, we gained access to the Portal, which helped making planning so easy. All you have to do is log on and enter the information. Any questions, just ask in the portal and Karen will get back to you with an answer in no time. In the days before our wedding, both the photographer and videographer reached out to us to confirm all the information, leaving us worry free. Our wedding video came out better than we could have imagined. the Wedding and Dance montages are the best and can be easily jumped to using the video's chapter menu. The chapter menu also helps you jump straight to the introductions, speeches, and dances so that you do not have to fast forward through the entire video when showing family and friends. Finally, Kathy did such an AWESOME job on our album. The pictures she recommended we use helped a great deal and the way she was able to make it flow was fantastic. Planning a wedding is stressful and Essence helped make everything a LOT easier!
Reviewed On 2/11/2019 by Katie S
My husband and I had a great experience with Essence! We used them for photography and videography. Our photographers were Sergio and Eleanor. They were AMAZING! They listened to our requests and we ended up with beautiful photos! They were ver...
y fun to work with and mixed well with our wedding party! Our videographer was TJ. He was also OUTSTANDING! He captured great moments throughout the day. We are so happy that we have such great photos and a great video to remind of us of how great our special day was. The office staff at Essence was also very helpful! Karen was great at planning the day out for us. Her assistance with timing and other details was very much appreciated! You will not be disappointed!
Reviewed On 2/10/2019 by Rachael R
We had an amazing experience working with Essence Photography. Before going into the first meeting (we booked online several weeks ahead of time), I didn't really know what to expect - my assumption was that we would receive a brief (15 minute...
s tops) session outlining services and costs and then we'd be on our way. It only took a few minutes meeting with Chris to realize he would completely exceed our initial expectations and then some. The first meeting lasted more than an hour - Chris was extremely thorough and helped us brainstorm the best ways to optimize our photography/videography while maintaining our budget, and all of this was before we even committed to Essence. The fact that he spent so much time working through options with us, and never once made us feel like we were taking up too much time, meant so much to us both personally and as customers. We would absolutely recommend Essence to anyone looking for professional photography, whether it's a wedding or something else - the quality is incredible, the cost is reasonable, and the staff/owners really care about their clients.
Reviewed On 2/02/2019 by Stephanie F
We got married on Aug 11, 2018 and Essence was everything I ever could have hoped for and more. Chris was phenomenal to work with, we met at his office and he sat down with us and showed us the different types of photographs, and even sample we...
dding videos! He answered all of our questions and was super responsive, we even got to look at samples of wedding books before ordering our own! He kept in contact with us the entire time and truly made sure that our wedding would be the wedding of our dreams! The wedding books were outstanding, I honestly couldn't have been happier with our album, we upgraded to the big coffee table album and everyone who comes over falls in love with it! Kathy was such a big help at answering our questions and she even picks photo suggestions for the album! She did such an amazing job with it. We did the Photo Booth for our wedding and it was a HUGE hit! They had real props and the Photo Booth was large enough to fit about 5-6 people in there. They made sure to put all of the photos on a flash drive for us so we can save the wonderful memories :). Our wedding video was also fantastic, Jennifer did an amazing job as our Videographer and made sure to capture all of those special moments! We were able to pick our own songs for the wedding video, we chose our first dance song for the sentimental parts and we chose an Avicii song for the part of the video that captured everyone dancing. It was so wonderful seeing everyone enjoying all of those moments with us out on the dance floor. The video included getting ready, the ceremony, the cocktail hour, the cake cutting, speeches, dancing etc. It was literally an entire recap of our wedding day! It's so fun to watch it and relive those moments. Karen is in charge of the online portal, all of our questions were answered on there and she was very prompt at getting back to us. The portal was SUPER easy to use and we were able to upload everything as far as samples of photo ideas we wanted, and enter in all of our information for the day of the wedding such as time, location, etc. The sample photo ideas I found on Pinterest were captured exactly as I wanted them. Our Photographer was John, and let me tell you he was phenomenal!! He fixed the train of my dress the ENTIRE time before taking a picture, he really cares about you getting the absolute best photos you deserve. He captured every single moment I would have wanted for my wedding day. We both gave some great suggestions and he always made sure everyone looked their best before taking a single photo! All of our family loved John and his amazing photo skills, even our family photos looked killer! ;) Everyone kept in contact with me up until the day of our wedding, and everyone called and went over the day of the wedding to make sure it was exactly what I wanted. I couldn't have been happier with this company and I highly recommend them to everyone! They are truly amazing people to work with. :)
Reviewed On 1/12/2019 by Dee P
We found essence photography at a wedding expo. When we went for the consultation we were very impressed. They said their photo style was "photojournalistic". My fiancé and I really liked this because we wanted natural, real, in the moment feel...
for the pictures. Unfortunately, the free engagement pictures were not with the photographer that would be taking pictures for the wedding. The pictures were fine, but not in a "photo journalistic" sense that they claimed to be. Almost every picture was posed and awkward. And instead of capturing moments as they happened the photographer mentioned "oh that was really cute we need to get a picture of that later" For the wedding, our photographer was really friendly and very helpful in many things besides just the photography. This felt like such a relief the wedding day because she helped ease the stress. The next day, after the wedding, I had messaged the photographer about getting 1-2 pictures for sharing purposes but never received a message back. We did not receive pictures until 6-8 weeks after the wedding, as we were told. But I had expected to get at least receive 1-2 pictures so that I could have pictures to share of our wonderful day. As a reminder, you will not be able to download the digital pictures until after you pay for your album. So I would do that ahead of time. When we finally received our pictures, we were not floored by them. For the amount we payed we expected a little bit more. The pictures were beautiful, but again most were posed, not in the moment or "photo journalistic". The more I looked at them, the more I liked them, but they were not artistically breath taking. We would give the photos a 3.5/5... We did have a photo booth through Essence and enjoyed it a lot. We got digital downloads right after the wedding through a flash drive. The attendant did a fantastic job running the booth and there were plenty of props and options for guests. It is not a traditional booth, but because of that it could fit a lot of people! Guests could also get as many copies of the pictures as they wanted. We would give the photo booth a 5/5.... Lastly, is the wedding video. We were not impressed with the video quality. We ordered blue-ray, but the video was very grainy. I am obviously no video expert, but the move from one shot to another was not very smooth and looked choppy in the video. In many moments, throughout the ceremony the photographer was visible, as if they had not communicated about how it would be done. The videographer was very helpful and friendly. Overall the video wasn't horrible, but not the quality I expected for what I paid. My husband and I did really like the wedding highlights that were made for the video. It took the best shots and blended them together. Overall, the photographer and videographer were very nice helpful people, but because it was my wedding day I had expected a little bit more.
Reviewed On 1/07/2019 by Devyn D
Very happy with Chris as our photographer, Jennifer as our Videographer and Marty as our photobooth attendant! They were all so much fun, and also professional.
Reviewed On 1/06/2019 by Kori C
Overall, we were pleased with the photographs that we got from our wedding. They were easy to communicate with throughout our planning process. The only drawbacks were that we missed out on some wedding photos that we would have liked to get. W...
e completed the portal information with all of the photographs that we wanted but our photographer didn’t seem to keep track of that on our wedding day. I wish I had a printed list with me to have someone check that everything we wanted was taken. Also, they only allow you to chose 40 photos out of 1300+ for the album. Each addiditional photo costs $9. I wish that we could have included more pictures within the album that we chose. The album itself looks great. It was well designed and high quality.
Reviewed On 12/30/2018 by Lisa S
We met with Chris to talk about photo and video options for our wedding and had such a positive experience. He thoroughly explained all of the options and the packages that would work best for us. He was friendly, knowledgeable, and really seem...
ed interested about learning about my fiance and I. We were unimpressed with the two consultations we had with other photography companies prior to meeting with Chris so we were not necessarily looking forward to our meeting. However, meeting with him was exactly what we were hoping for. We are very much looking forward to our big day and look forward to working with Essence!
Reviewed On 12/19/2018 by Kenny J
Essence photo was very easy to work with and helped us at every step of the way. They were flexible with payments and responded to our questions in a timely manner. The day of our wedding all of our friends and relatives were amazed at how well...
our photographer Eric was! He is so personable and just goes with the flow. He is a great guy to work with and took some amazing pictures of my husband and I. If you decide to book with essence photo request for Eric as your main photographer! He is just that great!
Reviewed On 12/16/2018 by Tangie J
Looking for a photographer has been exhausting. Finally I found a company on The knot (Essence Photo & Video) with great reviews as well great photos. I met with Mike and we clicked immediately, he was very professional and personable. Mike not...
only ask questions regarding what was important for my husband and I, but also asked about what was important to our parents. He was very interested into getting to know our family dynamic and that really made my heart smile considering my family is a big part of my wedding. Mike explained every step that would take place and insured me that my day would be my day and that his company would do anything to make my day nothing short of amazing. Mike explained his online portal and how it sets everything up for the day of the wedding and how a timeline for the day of the wedding is set. Mike was very friendly and personable, he wasn’t trying to up-sale me or pressure me into buying anything that I didn’t needed. Any company that does this is not only amazing, but are also trustworthy and has great morals. Meeting Mike I knew I didn’t have to look no further and that I had found my photographer for my wedding. Not only does his personality rock, but the photos are AMAZING!
Reviewed On 11/06/2018 by Jenny K
We had an amazing experience with essence photo and video!!! Eric the photographer and Kegan the videographer went above and beyond to document our special day! They were so courteous, professional and friendly to each and every one of our gues...
ts. We would recommend them in a heart beat!! Thank you for the wonderful experience essence!!! We cannot wait to see our photos!!!
Reviewed On 10/18/2018 by Alison J
We had the best experience with Eric from Essence! We couldn't be happier with the way the day went and how many pictures we took. We had a first look and bridal party pictures before the wedding. Both photographers were very professional, u...
nderstanding and energetic. They both showed up on time to start pictures and kept the day moving as needed. During the ceremony and reception, they took amazing pictures, but also did not get in the way. They weren't stopping myself or my husband while mingling to take posed pictures, which we loved. We even stopped traffic in downtown Chicago for a few pictures and they managed it wonderfully!
Reviewed On 10/16/2018 by Evan C
Essence Photo and Video was just a wonderful experience! Chris worked with my wife and I a lot on our package and pricing to get us everything we wanted and needed and within our budget. We will definitely be using them again in the future for ...
other events and HIGHLY recommend for anybody getting married or needs for any other types of events.
Reviewed On 10/13/2018 by Tara L
Great photographer for the day! Tough group with the guys and we managed to have alot of fun! It was 100 degrees outside for the girls pictures and my photographer was very patient and talked me through some of my favorite pictures. Video on th...
e other hand could have been better in the end- kind of confused where my cocktail hour was just not even in my wedding video. Thank goodness the videographer called me 2 days before because somehow Essence gave him all the wrong info and times.
Reviewed On 10/09/2018 by Andrea T
Our experience with Chris was awesome! He was the only vendor to take the time to call me immediately after inquiring info and met with us right away. During our meeting, Chris was very transparent and did an excellent job at answering all of ...
our questions. He was not overwhelming and did not make us feel pressured into making our decision right then and there. We are very impressed with their services and their price for the quality that they provide. - We are excited to work with Essence Photo & Video and would highly recommend them to our friends and family!
Reviewed On 10/08/2018 by Angelena D
I recently attended a consultation with a friend. I was amazed with the pricing and service! Chris was fantastic! He was very transparent with the pricing and process. He wasn’t pushy or made her feel like she needed to book with them right awa...
y. I got married two years ago and paid twice as much as what was offered here. Amazing photos and video with a great price! I recommend them for your special day!
Reviewed On 10/06/2018 by Rachel S
If you're not sure where to start with photo/video for your wedding, go with Essence- they know what they are doing. Chris is extremely easy to work with. He did a very good job of putting together a great package for us that was customized to ...
our needs. It was a quick, sit down haggle-free, transparent experience. Plus, you get to pick out your photographer and upload types of pictures you like to the online portal. Price is good too for the quality! We are VERY happy we have chose Essence photography and video. The photos we have seen are beautiful, high quality, and the videography they provide is top notch!
Reviewed On 9/19/2018 by Sarah F
Essence was great!!! We had nothing but a great experience from our very first meeting all the way until the end of our wedding night. Penelope was our main photographer and she was amazing!!!! So talented, patient and professional. She was eff...
icient, yet made sure she got all the shots we wanted/needed. We felt like we had known Penelope as a good friend, and that took away all the awkwardness of being photographers a millions times by a stranger! It felt like Penelope was a friend we had known our entire life! I would highly recommend Essence and Penelope! We can’t wait to see our photos!!
Reviewed On 9/16/2018 by Marie A
Our photographer, Eric, was amazing. He was so nice to work with and made our day fun! He was a perfect match with our personalities and we could not have chosen a better photographer. He helped make the day less stressful with his enthusiasm. ...
Throughout the night everyone kept coming up to me saying how wonderful he was and how much they enjoyed everything he has done. We can not wait to see the pictures!
Reviewed On 9/15/2018 by Sylwia S
I’m pretty sure I’ve written a review already even before our wedding day because their service was amazing from the day we walked into the office.