About this vendor
My passion in photography lies in those two things. I love being able to capture the emotion of a moment and get excited about documenting not only the beautiful details on a wedding day, but also those little unscripted moments happening in between. My job is to capture those moments so you can relive your wedding day over and over again.
In the meantime, check out my blog for my most recent stories.
www.gretchenwakeman.com/blog
Wedding coverage begins at $3000.
Details
Photo Shoot Types
- Engagement
Photo & Video
- Same-Day Edits
- Second Shooter Available
- Social Media Sharing
Photo & Video Styles
- Artistic
- Classic
- Documentary
- Dramatic
- Lifestyle
- Modern
Wedding Activities
- Getting Engaged
- Rehearsals & Parties
- Wedding
Awards and Affiliations
2-Time 'Best of Weddings'
2018.2016.
Best of Weddings
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Reviews
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5
out of 5.036 reviews
We really enjoyed working with Gretchen for our wedding. Her photography style is exactly what we were looking for. Her photos are classic and beautiful. She is extremely organized...
creating a timeline for our wedding day photos. I was worried my husband would get tired of so many photos on our wedding day but she made it so much fun. She also shit our rehearsal dinner. She turned our photos around in a timely manner despite the overload of postponed weddings right now. I also really enjoyed creating our wedding album with her. Her books are high quality and she makes it so easy to put together and review and they shipped asap. There were so many amazing photos it was hard to choose. We had a destination wedding but would for sure want to try to use her again in the future!!
Gretchen captured moments from our wedding that completely exceeded our expectations. Her photography is amazing, but more importantly she’s a great person. It was effortless worki...
ng with her the day of our wedding. She made everyone feel comfortable (even those who don’t always like having their picture taken) and we could not be happier with our experience working with her. Our photos turned out AMAZING and we are so glad we have these memories to look back on for the rest of our lives. Thank you, Gretchen!
-Drew & Amber
From our first phone call to the last photo she shot on our big day, Gretchen was organized, candid, and thoughtful.
Before we booked her, she insisted that we meet or have a call...
. I was in the very beginning stages of planning my wedding and had no idea what my timeline would look like. Gretchen talked through a hypothetical timeline and gave me an idea what doing a "first look" vs. not doing one would look like. I can't overstate how crucial that call ended up being for me - I used her photography timeline to base everything else for my wedding on.
We booked Gretchen after the call, but she said we should meet in person before the wedding to get to talk through our expectations. Again, this ended up being great and made the wedding day that much more comfortable.
The day of the wedding I was very scattered and frankly, kind of an airhead. Gretchen and her assistant arrived on time and began shooting details before rounding us up for bridesmaid photos. (I have been in a few weddings and there have been times when the photographer shows up and the pressure is on! (Get the dress! Group photo! Go!) There was none of that. Once she arrived, Gretchen took her time to take photos of details - she had instructed me to have all of my personal items together before her arrival so that we didn't have to scramble, which was very helpful, and she kept things low key and calm.)
Because I was so nervous, I almost didn't care about anything that morning. My bridesmaids were anxious to change out of their robes into their dresses and asked me repeatedly if they could do so. I said "sure, whatever" not caring that I had wanted photos of them in the robes. Gretchen cared! She stopped everyone and asked that they stay in their robes for quick photos. I am SO HAPPY that she did. Those ended up being some of my favorite photos of the day.
In addition to keeping us all calm, Gretchen kept us ON TIME, which was hugely important to me. Once we needed to move to the next thing, she was on it. I honestly had no idea what time it was at any given moment, but I trusted Gretchen and she did not let me down.
Honestly, I'm pretty bad at having my picture taken. I'm very stiff, and usually end up with a fake smile, so I was sure that would be no different for my wedding. Through all of the photos, Gretchen kept us calm and let me know when I needed to relax or laugh so that I wouldn't look stiff or uncomfortable. She gave perfect explanations and instructions to have us look natural. If we weren't getting it, she explained it another way. If that still didn't work, she moved us into a new pose.
I seriously never thought I could look so relaxed, natural, happy and beautiful in a photo - and she gave me hundreds like that.
After the ceremony, we ran into a few issues with the venue. Gretchen offered to handle it and talk to someone for us. What photographer does that?! You could tell she cared just as much about our wedding as we did, and didn't want us to compromise. She even took some shots for us to have proof of the venue's blunders, which we didn't even ask her to do!
In a nutshell, the best decision I made for my wedding was hiring Gretchen Wakeman, and that is not an overstatement. I am so grateful to her, not only for the incredible photos she took and edited beautifully, but mainly for the way she impacted one of the biggest days of my life. Thank you, Gretchen! You are amazing.
We loved Gretchen and she made us feel extremely comfortable despite neither me or my husband being used to someone in our face taking so many pictures. She took our engagement pic...
tures too which turned out great! The day of the wedding she did seem to get a bit stressed out due to some issues with running a few minutes behind so some of the bridal party pictures and family pictures felt a little rushed but she did her best to keep us running on time.
As the Father of the Bride, Gretchen was simply amazing. Tireless work ethic and “can do” attitude made our weekend extra special.
Gretchen was everything we could have asked for and more in a photographer. She was kind, calm, and patient throughout the weekend and did a great job of giving direction and orga...
nization when needed throughout the family and bridal party photos and of blending in during the ceremony, reception and other events. Outstanding in all aspects. We can't wait to see how the photos turn out, though given her eye for picking location and lighting, we know they'll be great!
Gretchen is incredible to work with! She has a very warm and calming presence, and will provide her professional opinion without trumping your decision at all. She made me (the bri...
de) feel very at ease and comfortable with all of our family and bridal party photos. My parents and my groom's parents also really enjoyed her personality, which was a huge win. Truly amazing experience!
My husband and I are photographers and filmmakers, so when it came time to figure out who would be shooting our wedding, we spent a lot of time browsing through portfolios and comp...
aring. Gretchen was hands down the best choice we could have made. We’re not so comfortable in front of the camera, but by the end of our engagement session, we could have been models! She’s so detail-oriented and does a good job of balancing that with being friendly with everyone she’s photographing. She made sure we had EPIC engagement and wedding pictures, and even though we haven’t seen all of them yet, the sneak peek we got is so outstanding. We can’t wait to see the rest of them, and could not more highly recommend her as a professional and high-quality photographer.
We LOVED Gretchen! She is so easy to get along with and her work is stunning! We couldn't be happier! We were concerned about the timing of the day and she walked us through the en...
tire timeline. The day of, she made the most of every minute and captured some impromptu moments that ended up being some of my favorite photos. Overall, Gretchen really helped the day run more smoothly. We felt extremely confident having her as our photographer. Our family and friends continue to rave about how beautiful the photos turned out. I have nothing but positive comments about Gretchen and HIGHLY recommend her for any important event you want to capture! Seriously, THE BEST!
Gretchen was a pleasure to work with from beginning to end. The quality and elegance of her work has given us great memories and pictures to talk about for years to come! Gretche...
n is a true professional and we couldn't be happier with our decision on our big day!
Gretchen was one of the best decisions we made when booking vendors for our wedding. My family can get a little crazy, and Gretchen took charge and kept us on time. Despite being...
in a walking cast, Gretchen was literally in the weeds to get the best shot. If you're still looking for a photographer or on the fence, go with Gretchen. I promise she will not disappoint.
Our engagement & wedding photos turned out beautifully! I definitely recommend Gretchen.
GRETCHEN IS AMAZING!! We got married this past summer and wanted our special day captured perfectly. Gretchen went over and beyond to make sure our photos were exactly the way we w...
anted. She was able to effortlessly portray the atmosphere of our stunning location and the tremendous love between us and our families. Gretchen exceeds as a professional and we would recommend her for any occasion.
Gretchen was absolutely AMAZING!! From start to finish she will listen to your needs and spends so much time on attention to detail. She kept us calm and felt very comfortable in f...
ront of the camera. She was very sensitive to any family dynamics and special requests. She also does a great job of keeping everyone on track and a timely agenda. Our photos turned out even better than we could've imagined! I would recommend Gretchen to anyone looking for a wedding photographer a million times over. You won't be disappointed!!
Gretchen is absolutely incredible! She was such a joy to work with - keeping us calm and laughing and encouraged us throughout the engagement session and kept the momentum going du...
ring the entire wedding day! Our whole wedding party was very impressed. We received so many photos from the wedding day and we love them ALL! Our friends and family can't stop talking about how gorgeous the photos are! Gretchen was the first vendor we booked for our wedding, and was the best investment we made! She perfectly captured the happiest day in our lives!
Gretchen is AMAZING! Our wedding photos are beyond anything I could've imagined -- we've had multiple people tell us that our photos should be in magazines. Aside from her talent f...
or capturing beautiful images, Gretchen is easy to work with, responsive and reliable. I would highly recommend her to capture your perfect day.
Amazing! Everyone looked stunning in the photos, Gretchen is a joy to work with and she is the best at capturing the most important emotional moments!
We loved working with Gretchen! From start to finish she made everything easy and flawless. Gretchen made us feel comfortable in front of the camera and truly has an eye for captur...
ing all the right moments. Every single one of our photos are beyond gorgeous! We could not imagine our wedding day without her and can't wait to have her photograph other milestones in our future!
I would highly recommend Gretchen as a wedding photographer. We are from Alberta, Canada and got married in Phoenix so our only form of communication was email - she was very promp...
t in responding to my emails which made things a lot easier when it came to planning. Gretchen met up with us for an engagement session when we went down there and she immediatley made us a feel comfortable around her, super friendly and helped us with poses as we are both camera shy. The photos from that session were stunning so I knew we made the right choice for the wedding. We haven't seen the results from the photos yet from the wedding as we just got married last weekend but I am 100% confident I will love her work as I have seen it before and she was being very creative when it came to shots. All in all an amazing photographer and you would be silly not to pick her :)
Gretchen was absolutely incredible photographer! Her attention to detail, ability to capture emotion and beauty is unparalleled! She is an absolute gem. She went beyond just weddin...
g photographer, helping to keep us organized and did not miss a beat of our wedding. Amazing! I scoured the ends of the universe to find the best of Arizona and I found her! :) :) :)
Gretchen was an amazing photographer to have at our wedding. We got so many amazing candid shots that we like even better than the posed ones. She was also very organized and helpf...
ul in assisting us in creating our timeline. I recommend her to the moon and back!
SERIOUSLY THE BEST DECISION we made when booking our wedding! Gretchen made our event so personal and truly got to know my (now) husband and me. My husband and I were married last ...
month and we were completely lost when it came to booking photography. We found ourselves trolling endlessly through yelp reviews and ratings to help us decide who to call.
When we came across Gretchen, what really caught our eye was that she does SO MUCH MORE than the posed portrait shot. For example, on our wedding day, we were running about 45 minutes behind schedule and she took advantage of every moment. (She even helped me time manage the event)! At one point in time, our wedding party was walking across the street from taking photos and she instructed all of us to run across it. She captured the COOLEST photo over of our entire wedding party running (my husband and I laughing mid-step while I smiled at the camera) and holding hands. Gretchen will truly capture the best memories of your life and help you create moments that you will want to re-live through your photos forever. My husband I will absolutely book Gretchen again! HIGHLY RECOMMEND! Thank you again, Gretchen!
Words cannot express how grateful we are to Gretchen for making our wedding day such a memorable one. There are many aspects that while in the moment you forget, but having a profe...
ssional photographer like Gretchen reminds us everytime we look at our photos that one of the best decisions we could have made was hiring her to capture our most special memories.
We have received so many compliments from family and friends regarding the beauty and quality of the photos.
Gretchen will make you feel comfortable and at ease. She is easy to work with and very accommodating. We give her 10/10 STARS!!!!
Gretchen is amazing... She helped calm me down when I was stressing that we weren't on time (which is a big deal to me). I was also concerned about the rain and having to move ever...
ything inside, she reassured me that it will all me alright and the pictures will turn out even better. I got married on the 17th of October and I received all of my pictures about a week and a half after, Gretchen is speedy quick and I am in love with all 900 pictures. We will continue to use her for our family portraits when the time comes. Thanks Gretchen for capturing our big day just right!
Gretchen was absolutely amazing. She was so helpful and patient through the entire process. My day would not have gone so smooth if it hadn't been for her. She made myself and m...
y family feel so comfortable in front of the camera on such a big day! She listened and gave great advice when asked. I wouldn't recommend anyone else but her when capturing any moments from life you want to cherish forever.
Gretchen was amazing! We are in LOVE with our photos. Being a photographer myself, the FIRST question everyone asked me was WHO is doing YOUR photos?! So we knew we had to find the...
perfect person. Gretchen greatly exceeded our expectations and captured US so perfectly. I would highly recommend her :)
The first time I talked to Gretchen on the phone I was convinced she would be a perfect fit to capture our wedding day! My fiancé, now husband and I were living in upstate New York...
, about 2500 miles away from Phoenix, our soon to be wedding destination. Communication was a big factor in considering any of our vendors. Gretchen was the first person to get back to me, not only via email, but by picking up the phone and actually speaking with me, which meant a lot!
I was able to keep in touch with Gretchen via the client portal to communicate photo arrangements, the timeline and any other ideas that came to me. Again, communication was a big concern for us, and because of Gretchen’s organization and reliable correspondence we were able to communicate frequently and with ease.
Neither my fiancé nor I are experienced in getting your photos taken professionally. Because of this, Gretchen suggested we meet her before the wedding to get to know her and feel comfortable with her commands as she photographed us. I really appreciate her suggestion because it made a world of difference on the wedding day. We felt comfortable with her (which is extremely easy regardless of meeting her prior to the wedding), and she knew what actions we needed to work on before the wedding day. For example we aren’t very natural when it comes to walking and getting our photo taken…But Gretchen guided us kindly and repositioned us gently to make us feel comfortable.
We are adventurous people and love to hike. Not only did Gretchen work her magic to get my not so photogenic fiancé to smile and act natural, but she hiked up the foot hills of Squaw Peak with all of her camera gear. Now that is dedication! We received our engagement photos in a timely manner, which were extremely easy to access and share with our family using the PASS gallery and app.
I was so excited to see Gretchen the day of the wedding. She arrived early and snuck around to take pictures of the venue as the vendors were setting up. She captured everything from our rings, the invitation, to getting ready and every moment possible on our special day. She even stayed a little past our anticipated time frame to capture our sparkler send off. Which ended up being quite hilarious as we had a bit of a sparkler explosions…oops.
I highly, highly suggest you choose Gretchen as your photographer. She is so kind and thoughtful. Her passion is evident in the photographs she produces. When she is taking your photos she tells you from time to time “oh I just love this shot”, and will show you her camera for a sneak peek. She is humble about her work and often I think she surprises herself at how good she is! My husband who wanted to just have our friends take photos on their iPhones was thoroughly impressed as well! Spending the money on a wedding photographer is well worth it, especially someone like Gretchen. Once you meet her, you will understand!
We recently moved to Colorado and are thrilled we will be that much closer to Gretchen so she can capture our lives as our family grows!
Every bride has a priority list for what she values most on her special day, my priority was a great photographer. Since my wedding was a destination wedding, I had to choose a pho...
tographer without actually meeting him or her in person. From the day I called her, Gretchen eased my discomfort with the whole process and was extremely accommodating. On the day of our wedding she very organized and was able to control my large family and wedding party and get us the shots we wanted. I was worried about a photographer who would coach us too much and make us pose the way she wanted us to, but Gretchen was very laid back and gave minor directing in order to get the great shots we ended up with. I could not be happier with the results and would highly recommend her to anyone, Gretchen made our day phenomenal and memorable.
Gretchen was fabulous to work with. She came recommended from my venue and I looked at a few of her portfolio books at the site. We communicated completely over email, and she pu...
t me totally at ease. She even worked with me on customizing a package to work for our very small wedding party and desired photos. She was great at giving my husband and I direction during the photos, to make our shots come out perfect and was laughing along with us on our day. Photos came back to us in just a week, and they had me tearing up all over again. My family loved her work and everyone in our party has given great feedback on working with her and on our photographs. Highly recommend Gretchen!!
We loved our wedding photos so much! Gretchen did an amazing job with our photos and made our wedding day run so smoothly. I am an awkward photo taker and she put me at ease an...
d worked so well with our diverse group of wedding day participants. I couldn't recommend her more highly. Thanks Gretchen!
Gretchen was truly a dream to work with, from the very beginning. She kindly came to meet me on a lunch break and went over all of my options, prices, and brought her portfolio. ...
I felt comfortable with her right away. The day of - she was amazing. Very professional in handling our friends and relatives and posed us all quickly but made she sure she got the best shot. She spent a lot of time making me and my husband comfortable in front of the camera and got some really amazing shots. She made our wedding look like a fairytale! One of the main reasons I hired her because I loved her use of natural, soft light (not over-edited either), no cheesy or unnatural poses, and is great at capturing candid moments throughout the day and night. She definitely did not disappoint. She also does *not* overcharge and for all her talent, is actually a steal. Cannot recommend her enough!!
Gretchen is amazing! She is extremely creative, professional, and detail-oriented. She made our wedding party and guests all feel very comfortable in front of her camera, captured ...
the beautiful setting of our ceremony and celebration, and composed an album that artfully tells the story of our unique and special day. We absolutely loved working with Gretchen throughout the entire process and our photos are even more incredible than we could ever have imagined. We highly recommend her!
WE LOVED OUR WEDDING PHOTOS!! Gretchen did a wonderful job capturing our wedding day! She was very flexible, easy to work with, had an eye for the best shots, passionate about he...
r work, and is a very kind & honest person. Her pricing was reasonable and there was less than a week turnaround for all of our photos. I would strongly recommend her to anyone needing a photographer for a wedding or any other occasion!
Gretchen is amazing! My pictures were incredible and Gretchen made the day fun and relaxing. It didn't feel like we were pressured to take the pictures. The moments she captured ...
were amazing! I have have so many compliments on her work. I will definetly use her for all of our photography needs in the future! I highly, highly, highly recommend her!
Gretchen is amazing!! She has such a great eye for light and poses and scenery! Her pictures are beautiful. Our wedding pictures went so smoothly thanks to her, she was so efficien...
t at getting the necessary pictures but then also taking time to get the perfect shots of me and the groom. When I was looking for a wedding photographer, I looked at a LOT of people to find the right kind of creativity that fit within my budget. Her portfolio really stood out to me, since I wanted beautiful pictures that were kind of outside the stereotypical wedding "box", if that makes sense. Speaking of budget, she has a lot of options that make her work possible for those who need to be mindful of overall spending, which is great! The package we chose also included an engagement session, so we were able to get acquainted prior to the wedding. Finally, the turnaround time getting us our pictures back after the wedding was so quick despite it being in the middle of a busy holiday season. I will recommend her to anyone!!
Gretchen is amazing! She is very professional and has a great personality. Her pricing is very resonable too!
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