Madi Ellis Photography

If we could give Madi 100/5 stars, we would! She came recommended by some friends and we could not be more grateful that we were given that recommendation! Madi is incredibly organized and detailed oriented and was the clear choice from the moment we talked to her. Not only does she have a stunning portfolio, but she had great insight on how to structure our wedding day, great vendor recommendations, and fantastic tips and tricks for the big day. Every time we talked to Madi, we knew we were in good hands and felt stress free about the planning process thanks to her. My husband and I are not used to taking posed photos and are not very into PDA but Madi made us feel so comfortable in front of the camera for our engagement shoot and really captured our love and silliness. We were so obsessed with how those photos turned out we could not stop sharing them with friends, family and coworkers! For the wedding itself, Madi truly went above and beyond though. She helped keep us to our timeline without feeling rushed and made sure that every moment we wanted was captured (and probably then some). She has such a keen eye for framing and finding memorable candid moments and captures them beautifully in the blink of an eye. Her second shooter, Jess, was also a dream to work with and was just as skilled and equally as lovely and kind. They also helped keep us calm and smiling when my husband and I were overwhelmed with emotion and love, which was much appreciated. Madi and Jess posed us and our wedding party so effortlessly and were able to capture our full bridal party in downtown Chicago by the super popular Wrigley building, making it look like truly no one else was there while in reality there were 5 other wedding parties taking pictures around us! Madi went above and beyond and even stayed a little bit longer to make sure all of our VIP friends and family photos were captured which was so appreciated and thoughtful. SOMEHOW literally 2 hours after her time ended with us at the wedding, Madi then shared some incredible shots from our wedding with us on Instagram! And then less than 48 hours after our wedding, already sent us a sneak peak album with 50 or more incredible photos! I don't know how she cranked those out so fast! To say we are OBSESSED with the sneak peak album is an understatement. Those shots alone turned out so stunning and makes us and our wedding party look like absolute models, I have absolutely no shame showing every person I pass these pictures and cannot stop looking at them and smiling remembering the day. I cannot wait to see the full album and will probably pass tf out with how incredible it will be. Madi Ellis is worth every single penny and should probably be paid royalties every time her works of art are shared because they're that good. She's INCREDIBLE and truly the best in the business!!!!

Madi is the best decision we made for our wedding!! The second most important aspect of our wedding to me (after venue) was the photographer. Madi was the first and only person we actually spoke to, and we knew immediately she was the perfect fit. Madi not only has a great eye, clear talent, and great editing skills, but she’s also so fun and relaxed. We felt comfortable immediately at our engagement session, and then truly felt like old pros with her coaching at our wedding. Plus, she helped keep us on the timeline and was a genius while navigating family photos with a group that had all kinds of quirky preferences. And, she delivered our photos SOOO quickly!! Even just the “sneak peek” was like 50 photos, and came a week after our wedding. Don’t just take it from me though - everyone in our family and wedding parties raved about Madi and her second shooter Alex. Seriously, for WEEKS after the wedding people kept telling us how amazing they were. We still feel so lucky to have hired her. I truly feel like Madi went above and beyond what a photographer could do for a wedding. We followed each other on Instagram and bonded in the months before my wedding over unhinged book theories and just seeing each others’ lives. She always answered my texts even when I was unsure if asking her wedding questions was beyond the scope of our contract. She even showed up to my wedding day and gave me a gift related to a book series we both like. Oh, and we LOVE our photos. They capture the day perfectly, and really tell a story. We’re so so grateful for these beautiful memories. Madi is, without a doubt, worth every penny and worthy of every amazing review on her page and more.

Hiring Madi was the absolute best thing we did during our entire wedding planning process. Having beautiful, authentic photos that accurately captured our day was one of top priority and Madi absolutely fit the mark. Her work is stunning. My favorite part about our wedding photos is how beautifully she captured our genuine emotions. Every time I’ve looked through the album, I can relive exactly how I felt in every moment. Even the posed photos convey that genuineness and authenticity that are the hallmarks of Madi’s style. Beyond creating beautiful work, Madi was fantastic to work with. She was incredibly responsive and helpful during the planning process, even working with me on our timeline to make sure that everything would go smoothly. I also appreciated the wedding guide that Madi had on her website, including recommended vendors. I did a lot of research before selecting Madi and hired the rest of our vendors exclusively off her list of suggestions - I know that if Madi vetted them, they’re the real deal. If you’re looking for a photographer who will make sure that their photos are a beautiful representation of your wedding, you can not do better than Madi.

My husband and I got the luck of the draw when we first found Madi Ellis back in December 2022 for our May 2024 wedding. I was on the hunt for a photographer that would capture two things: color and emotion. What we got with Madi was not just color and emotion in photography style, but a soundboard to get ideas off of, a great communicator, someone who was genuinely invested in our engagement and wedding day experience, and truly a wonderful human who is respectful of all backgrounds and identities. In the first intro call, Madi really showed an authentic yearn to get to know me and my husband's background and history together. We only had one call with a photography vendor and it was her we chose, it was really that easy. She was so excited when we told her our vision and that excitement was no less on our actual wedding day. Throughout the wedding planning, she was involved in our timeline process creation and really helped put the day's activities together. Madi and her assistant photographer for the day, Aaron, were so kind and checked in on myself and my closest family to make sure the day was going well. In terms of the actualy product, our photos, well they speak for themselves! I feel like I can remember every moment just by looking at our wedding gallery. It makes me emotional and so grateful that we picked her as our photographer. We highly recommend her to anyone looking for a photographer that is communicative, professional, and collaborative with all other vendors to make your day go by as smoothly as possible! Thank you Madi!!!

If you are looking for the best wedding photographer in Chicago and possibly the world, then look no further. Madi was the first and only photographer we talked to, because we knew from the moment, we spoke to her that she was the right fit for us. Madi has an almost infectiously calm and fun personality, which is wonderful for high-strung types like myself and we wanted someone who could make us both feel at ease as we are both not usually centers of attention. The photographer, aside from your wedding planner and your soon-to-be is probably the one person you will spend the most time with on the big day. That was what made choosing Madi the easiest decision we made the entire wedding planning process. Madi was not only extremely professional, but she was also compassionate, calm, intuitive, and funny. This all has shown through in the photos she expertly captured, she has an eye for the details and moments that were close to our hearts as if she was a mind reader. I truly don't know how we could have had a better photographer. Madi is one of a kind, both as a person and as a professional. Thank you so much for capturing the most meaningful moments of our lives Madi, you are the best and anyone would be lucky to have you as their photographer! :)

We are so happy to have worked with Madi to photograph our wedding. Not only did she take absolutely stunning photos, but she was just generally indispensable in keeping our wedding day running smoothly. She knew exactly what she needed to get the best photos for us, and she always communicated it clearly. On the day, she was charming, efficient, and so fun!And most importantly, the photos were just astounding. If you work with Madi, you will not be disappointed one bit.

If you have any doubts in your mind about booking Madi to photograph your wedding…don’t. Hire her, you will not regret it. Having Madi as our photographer was one of the best decisions we made for our wedding. From the moment we had our first call with her, I knew we had to work with her - Madi is such a warm, fun, and genuine presence. During our engagement shoot, she completely matched our silly vibes and assuaged our fears about not knowing how to pose in photos; she tells you exactly how and you might feel weird doing it in the moment but she absolutely knows what she’s doing, and the proof is in the INCREDIBLE photos. She is professional, organized, and makes everybody - especially the wedding couple - feel comfortable. She can take control of a room easily for family photos (and if you knew my husband’s family, you would know that is not an easy feat). She was incredibly helpful leading up to the wedding: she was available to answer any questions we had, worked with our planners to understand the wedding day timeline, brought donuts to our final walkthrough (!!) and made recommendations that would help the day go smoothly. She even helped us pick our napkin fold based on what would photograph the best. She went above and beyond on our wedding day: handled lighting changes like a pro when the sun set and lighting changed during our ceremony, made sure we got every single photo we wanted, and others we didn’t even know we wanted. The way that she captured all the little moments and emotions of the day is flawless; we will never be able to thank her enough for the gallery of memories we’ll be able to look back on forever, especially since the day truly went by so fast and it was impossible to be present for everything. So many family members and friends have commented on how beautiful the photos are and how they can’t stop looking at our gallery because Madi captured our day and us so perfectly. And perhaps most importantly, it’s clear Madi truly cares about every single one of her clients; we felt like she was always on our team, and her excitement on our wedding day was palpable. That care seeps into her work and it shows. And we got our full gallery not even a month after our wedding. If you want to feel like your most organized and artistic friend is photographing your wedding, then hire Madi!!

My husband and I could write pages and pages about how beautiful the photos that Madi takes are. Her eye for detail, soft direction on the best angles and poses, and knack for capturing pure emotion are unmet, and come across beautifully in her photos. The photos below are a small taste of the amazing work that Madi creates - we still can’t stop staring at our engagement and wedding photos! Madi’s STUNNING work is reason enough to hire her for your wedding, but her personality and professionalism make Madi a MUST for your wedding day! From our first meeting on Zoom, we meshed so well with Madi’s humor and kindness, and appreciated her organization and dedication to her craft. At our engagement photo session she made us feel at ease in front of the camera, and that absolutely shone through in the pictures. Throughout the planning process, Madi was quick to answer all of our questions, and was such a help using her experience in planning our schedule for the day. On the wedding day, we had numerous guests and family members compliment how well Madi directed our guests for group photos, and how she took the most beautiful shots. We had so much FUN with Madi on our wedding day, we were sad when she (and her wonderful second shooter, Courtney) had to leave! That easiness and lightness shone through on our wedding photos, all thanks to the wonderful and talented Madi Ellis!

Madi is a wonderful photographer who understood my vision and made me feel so at ease. I'd been a huge fan of her work and decided to hire her for branding photography. I am definitely a self-conscious/awkward person in front of the camera but since Madi made me feel so comfortable working with her, the photos reflected that and in turn make me feel like I looked like star. I adore the work she created and will be excitedly using the photos for years to come. 10/10 highly recommend!!

TL;DR: If you're on the fence, hire Madi!! She's an incredible photographer and an invaluable wedding vendor who truly, deeply cares about her work as an artist and as an industry professional. As the first of our friends to get married, Madi was a total lifeline. For our very small wedding party (just me and my husband) she basically was a baby day-of coordinator and planner: she helped us wrangle timeline and kept my DIY impulses reasonable. Via email, phone, and on the day of, she was always there to bounce ideas off of and offer solutions. I also think she did a great job of keeping track of any details we mentioned in our questionnaire as well as adjusting day-of; she added in shots that we forgot (solo pics with my own freakin' parents 🤦🏽‍♀️) but never, ever stepped on toes. I get the sense she wouldn't have done it if we weren't totally comfortable — which, thanks to her sweet, goofy personality, we totally were! Maybe the best thing about Madi is the fact that she is, at her core, a total industry expert and professional. We danced to Beyoncé in my getting ready suite and she cried with us during our vows, but she's equally in her element when arranging family photos or making sure people are on time, and as a DIY bride I really appreciated that. It always felt like she was on "team us," and I felt total trust in her recommendations and opinions. And I think because of all of that her work is imbued with a real sense of curiosity, fun, and quality. I mean, her work speaks for itself. I can't tell you how many people have said "those photos totally captured who you and your husband are" in pretty much those exact words. We opted for the package with included engagement photos which I think is definitely worth the consideration if you too are a little camera shy. Madi is such a warm presence that I'm sure even if you met the day of the wedding you'd have just as wonderful of a time, but I think the engagement shoot ahead of time removes one more barrier to feeling awkward. (And gives you even more photos!) Madi came very highly recommended to us, and I absolutely can see why. From overall value to end result, my husband and I couldn't be happier. We're so lucky to have been able to snag her, and recommend her whole-heartedly to anyone!

she was great, really captured the best moments!

When we told our venue vendor that we were working with Madi Ellis, her response was, "the queen." She was 100% right. I can't say enough good things about Madi. Working with her on our engagement and wedding photos was an absolute dream. Madi was super engaged and responsive from the jump, and she went above and beyond to help us integrate our photo plans with our wedding day schedule, making sure we didn't miss out on opportunities to capture the night. During our engagement shoot, Madi's warmth helped us to loosen up in front of the camera and her sense of humor kept us laughing from start to finish. On our wedding day, Madi was prompt, prepared, and ready with a contingency plan when downtown traffic threatened to throw off our shoot schedule. Throughout the night she helped our coordinator keep things rolling smoothly and was ready to take advantage of candid moments and set up group shots on the fly. And the PHOTOS! The photos are all stunning and captured us so well. I was so pleasantly surprised to find a gallery of sneak peeks in my email the day after our reception, just another example of how Madi really goes the extra mile for her clients. Book Madi - you won't regret it.

Madi was awesome! The photos she took are so amazing and perfectly capture us! We were really impressed with her attitude - she was able to perfectly command our crowd for group photos, and was an expert at navigating busy spots where we wanted to take photos (the river front, Michigan Ave). We were so impressed at how she was able to commandeer a spot for us on the river front and make it look like not a soul was around in the photos. We also really appreciated her enthusiasm. We both were concerned we’d feel really awkward during our photos, but Madi was an awesome hype-person and made us feel natural and at ease. She also did a great job at navigating our changing timeline on the day of. We are so impressed and highly recommend her!!!

The advice we would have for anyone on their wedding day: hire Madi! She is a true expert that creates the most comfortable atmosphere for EVERYONE involved in the wedding process. She was always available to talk through things with us and was a huge support for us during our wedding day. Both our engagement and wedding photos are the perfect reminders of our love for each other and the insane amount of fun that we had on our special day. Madi is an amazing human and an incredible photographer - we would recommend her a million times over for your photos! Best decision ever. <3

I'm telling you right now - you need to hire Madi! She was so easy to work with - from planning everything, to her communication, to how comfortable she made us feel in front of the camera. She is so knowledgeable about all things wedding and was so helpful to us in more ways than just photography. BUT THEN THE PHOTOGRAPHY!! Her photos were absolutely stunning - she captured our goofiness in such a beautiful way, caught all of the little moments between us and guests, nailed all of the little detail shots. She was so amazing to work with and we loved our experience with her.

Madi is amazing!!! Her photos are absolutely incredible and she managed to capture every single moment of our special day perfectly! Madi works hard to make the day enjoyable and effortless. She talked us through our timeline (as offered in one of her packages) literally by the half hour and ensured that we all were on the same page. She was able to direct our very large wedding party with ease throughout our group photos, and even managed to get my very shy flower girl to stick her tongue out at the camera!! Madi is professional, accountable, fun, and brings the best energy to your day.

Madi was a joy to work with! We had our wedding in August and have been sitting with our photos for about a month. The photos are lovely - so natural. We especially love her ability to capture both candid shots and dancefloor shots. More than just the photos she was by far the most reliable vendor - we never had to question if she was going to respond or show up on time or get all the details. Also would strongly recommend getting the package with the second photographer! We think it really made a huge difference!

Madi is quite literally one of the most talented, capable, and fun event photographers in the game. We did our engagement photos with her in Chicago and were so blown away that we asked her to photograph our wedding in Virginia. I believe her services are something else compared to other photographers, especially in the wedding industry. She works closely with you and your partner to tailor your experience based on your needs and preferences, and her institutional knowledge and experience of the wedding industry, best practices, and event flow (and building out the right event flow to support documentation needs) - her work is bar none. She has a warm personality that managed to calm my nerves and instill confidence. She even shows up on the day of the wedding with an "emergency kit" for anything that could go wrong! She's a star and thinks of it all - an excellent vendor to have in your corner. If you're on the fence, here's your sign to book Madi ASAP.

Madi is the best of the best. Professional, kind, charismatic, and incredible at what she does. Our wedding day was perfectly documented, and the photos are stunning. We have laughed and cried our way through the album. Every memory we have now has a matching photo. Our family and friends raved about Madi on the day of, and continue to as they look through her work. Highly, highly, highly recommend Madi for your wedding.

Hire Madi as your wedding photographer right now, you will be so happy you did. She is an incredibly talented artist and we are absolutely in love with her photographs. And maybe just as importantly, she is such a warm and kind person who immediately put everyone in the wedding at ease. In addition, she works incredibly quickly, meaning we had the full virtual album less than one month after the wedding!! Are you worried about being photographed for hours and made the center of attention? Hire Madi; she will make what could be an awkward encounter feel second nature. Are you worried that your venue has weird lighting or a lot of different locations? Hire Madi; from getting ready to the ceremony to the dance floor, every photo perfectly captures the emotion of the day. Are you stressed about logistics? Hire Madi; she was super-human levels of communicative leading up to the wedding and helped us plan and navigate various logistics without even batting an eye. Planning a wedding involves a lot of difficult decisions, but this one is easy.

I am completely obsessed with Madi Ellis! We hired Madi for our wedding, but she was so much more than a photographer. It was clear from our first conversation that Madi was going to be a key piece in making our celebration as joyous as we hoped. To begin the process, Madi schedules a 30 minute "get to know you" phone call to discuss ideas, vendor support, etc. After we chatted on the phone for TWO hours, Madi quickly became my favorite person. She eased my anxieties and we could not wait to schedule our engagement pics with her. The day of the engagement pics are a highlight of wedding planning. Madi is hysterical and knows how to make you feel comfortable in front of the camera. She gives direct and clear instruction and can envision shots that are breathtaking. On the day of our wedding, Madi was second in command with our planner. She kept us on track, was clear in her timelines and captured the most beautiful photos that still make me cry. I felt so at ease knowing that Madi, and her awesome assistants Kate and Grace were shooting our wedding. They were so much fun to be around. Overall - there are not enough words to describe how talented, wonderful, and incredible Madi is. She was by far the best vendor we used in our wedding and we could not recommend her enough!

Madi checks every single box for what you're looking for in a photographer before you even know all the boxes that can exist! Prior to getting married, neither my husband nor I had ever worked with a professional photographer, but upon seeing Madi's gorgeous, documentary style photography, we knew we had to reach out to her for our wedding. We were worried about feeling awkward in front of the camera due to our lack of experience, but Madi is absolutely amazing at capturing breathtaking candid moments while also helping to pose you in a natural feeling way. Her responses to inquiries are lightning quick, and she is unparalleled in her organization and time/event coordination skills. Coordinating with multiple vendors, you will find prompt responses are an absolute god send! She provides you with a survey once you are booked, inquiring as to the details of your event along with the names of important people who are must haves in photos. I felt relieved knowing I could give her this info in advance, and not worry the day of that we would get photos with all the most important people in our lives. Madi also helped develop the timeline for our wedding day, taking lighting into consideration due to it being a late fall wedding, and it was an immense help in coordinating with all our other vendors. She has a great working knowledge of picturesque locations, especially in the city of Chicago, as well, which was amazing when we were originally trying to figure out where we wanted to host our ceremony and take photos before the reception. Finally, Madi came to our rescue a month before our wedding. We lost our reception venue 28 days before our wedding, and Madi was able to use professional connections to help us secure a new and even better location. Truly... if it weren't for her going FAR above and beyond her job description, we very well might not have gotten married after almost two years of planning. There is no amount of words I could use to over exaggerate Madi's professionalism, talent and dedication to her craft and to her clients. Madi immortalized our wedding day into artwork we will cherish our entire lives. Out of all my vendors, working with Madi felt like we were working with a close friend. A friend who is fiercely loyal, supportive, and has the most magnetic energy that just draws you in. She goes above and beyond in everything she does and was the hero of our wedding day. We will never be able to thank her enough for everything she did for us, but we have decided to at least try by singing her praises to anyone who will listen.

Cannot say enough good things about Madi!!! We hired Madi for our engagement photos in Chicago, but unfortunately she was already booked on our wedding date. I honestly considered changing our wedding date because she's THAT GOOD. She made us feel very relaxed and natural, and the photos reflected that. Madi was an amazing communicator, so much fun and gave us not only the most beautiful photographs, but also wonderful memories.

MADI WAS INCREDIBLE!!!! She is SOOOO talented and I'm still speechless with AAALLL the incredible shots she captured of our special day. She went above and beyond in capturing the moment and all the special little things and people that were a part of our day. Not only that, but due to some personal family matters she expedited us getting our photos back in record speed. Could not recommend her enough. Best decision we made. She was truly the MVP of our special day.

I don't even know where to start when talking about how amazing Madi is. Even among our list of incredible vendors, Madi stood out for her attention to detail, communication, and all around thoughtfulness she put into our event. Madi was the first vendor we hired and was so amazing to work with in the 18 months leading to our wedding. She recommended other amazing vendors (like our kickass band), agreed to a two location engagement shoot so that our cats could be included, and was someone to talk through some of our logistical pieces leading up to the day. From early on in the planning process, Madi made sure we were thinking about the different kinds of photos we wanted to see from our wedding. In addition to having a comprehensive form to fill out with all our formal family photos, Madi checked in with us multiple times before the event to make sure she knew any other shots we'd be hoping for (candids with certain friends, group shots with work colleagues, etc). She was able to move us along efficiently through the wedding party shots (especially impressive as it was in a public park) and found the most gorgeous places to take pictures in. Her experience as a live music photographer allowed her to capture some absolutely bonkers shots on the dance floor that we will treasure forever. It’s so much fun to see the photo evidence of the rager on our dance floor! She was thoughtful throughout, making sure we were enjoying the day, even sharing her snacks when the bride realized she was getting a little bit hangry. The care she takes when getting to know a couple before the wedding itself made us that much more comfortable with her in the room, throughout the day, and led to some fantastic candids through the event. We were amazed with the speed with which she sent us photos, and were so excited to have sneak peeks before the full gallery was ready. We loved that she included some silly shots along with more formal ones, as we loved seeing our personalities come out in the photos! We have left this process feeling that Madi was an integral part of our wedding and are so happy to have her in our memories of the day. Our friends have all commented on how fantastic the photos have turned out, how great both Madi and her second shooter were to work with, and multiple have even taken her information for when they eventually get married. We hope that works out so we can see Madi in action again :)

I will preface this by saying 5 stars is not even close to enough! Give her 100! Madi Ellis is a truly incredible and gifted photographer, entrepreneur and person - book her and you can thank me later! I am a wedding & events planner and part of my career is to work with numerous different vendors for my couple’s weddings/events. When I tell you how incredible the experience was working closely with Madi on a friend’s wedding I mean it - and I have very high expectations! Madi and I understood each other from the start and our communication leading up to the wedding was phenomenal. She was extremely responsive, organized and thorough. Wedding day was a breath of fresh air with her and her team ensuring we were aligned on time and place of all the events happening throughout the day. Not to mention on top of Madi being highly organized, talented, friendly, a team player and thoughtful, she has a way of putting everyone at ease and it’s apparent in her skill of capturing organic moments in the most beautiful way. I honestly can’t wait to work with Madi again and I will with out a doubt be referring her to my clients!! HIRE MADI STAT!

Gosh, where to begin?! We loved working with Madi! We hired her for our engagement and wedding photos. Our day would not have gone as smoothly had Madi not been involved. My husband and I are both relatively camera-shy. Throughout our engagement and wedding photos, Madi knew what to do (and say) to make us feel comfortable. She never missed a beat, recommending poses and providing prompts and exercises to keep us relaxed in our photos. Madi was(is) a stellar communicator. She connected with us at the perfect times during the wedding planning process to ensure that she understood how the day would flow and what key moments and people we wanted to capture. Honestly, Madi could have very well been not just our photographer but our wedding planner. She was so organized and knowledgeable; we felt like we were in such good hands the entire day. Her incredible organization and preparation for our day allowed us to be a little more flexible with what photos she took. Madi could easily add extra shots that we hadn't thought to include. She even captured some impromptu Christmas card photos for our family friends. Not only was Madi a joy to work with on our actual wedding day, but holy smokes, she then delivered our wedding album to us in RECORD time. And it was terrific! I could go on and on; there were too many good photos to count. The icing on the cake is how easy it was to use Madi's photography platform to pick out favorite shots, share photos with friends and family, and buy prints. Madi's technology was the most user-friendly and seamless of all the vendors we hired. Even my 82-year-old grandmother could easily buy prints without having to reach out for assistance!! In addition to the platform to view and purchase prints, Madi utilizes a client portal that sends timely reminders for payments, makes payment easy and efficient (no sending of physical checks, which many vendors had us do), and allows her clients to easily submit all details Madi needs to know for the day. I can't stress the vast difference this makes in the vendor process. It was shocking how many vendors used outdated technology. Madi is not one of those vendors- she gets it. She is truly a master of her craft and business. We were so lucky to work with her and would recommend her in a heartbeat!!

Madi review Overall, the photos and experience I had with Madi was spectacular. She was rock solid, exceptionally ON it for months leading up to the event at planning meetings- and when basically half our wedding fell apart for various reasons, Madi was there and our most solid advocate that day along with our amazing wedding planner! She even called us an Uber to leave our own wedding after our original plans bailed on us when we were one minute late!! Seriously the most solid photographer you could ask for. Thank you, Madi, thank you!! The photos themselves made us cry, laugh, giggle, and overall have so much love! My family has bought prints already and I’m planning to purchase a ton more. They’re stunning! Truly captured the magic we felt that day. Leading up to the event, though, I had a lot of difficulties with a bridal party member. In short, Madi tried her best to protect me from that toxic person but it still ended up backfiring and causing the friendship to be severed shortly after the wedding. Despite this, Madi did her job brilliantly and smoothed over so if you have any difficult people in your life Madi will work her magic. I’m not sure if that difficult person led to Madi not liking the photos (this is all purely conjecture from here on out and not verified so grain of salt), but I was a bit disappointed that Madi never included our photos in her Instagram feed or portfolio. I thought her work was worthy of her feed or portfolio, but instead it was forgotten about. Though, two pictures went on her story, one that was gorgeous and featured my bridesmaids. Sooo many people loved that one, especially me! I hold that picture in high regard. The other one was an embarrassing picture from when I Iost my footing during our shaky first dance and I made a weird face. I know she probably meant it in jest and was lighthearted but it sort of hurt my feelings. I’m super self-conscious and not confident about dancing at all so it was a bit of a bummer to be reminded of how not graceful I can be sometimes. I’m a heavy set tattooed woman so I guess grace was always lacking for me, but I just didn’t want to be reminded of that fact after my wedding day by someone I consider a friend. So, all in all, my mixed feelings about personal issues associated with the photos are probably coming through in this review. I knew Madi for several years before she transitioned to wedding photography and made me feel like a client she cared about and was always going above and beyond for. Thank you for getting beautiful, natural, candid pictures of our wedding! I just wish I had gotten a candid photo with my brother- the family shot list was quickly done one after another. An essential for a busy wedding day FOR SURE. However, hindsight being 20/20 I wish there had been a bit more flexibility because I had forgotten to write it on the sheet when I was writing it, and that translated to no picture with my brother on my wedding day. Again, this was my fault because it wasn’t explicitly written down, but i can’t help but think the rigidity around the shot list contributed to this photo that now feels like a missing void. Again, hindsight is 20/20 so take it for what you will. I have a lot of gratitude for these photos as I know my family and I will treasure them for years to come.

My wife and I just received gorgeous, stunning photos from Madi (only THREE WEEKS after our wedding), and are so over the moon. I would jump at the opportunity to peer into her brain, because Madi just *sees* the love and the joy. Oh my gosh, both those things are just dripping out of our photographs. I usually don't love photos of myself, so it feels strangely self-centered to just be ogling all these works of art, but that's really what they are - art. She's made us love our wedding and each other even more than we already do. Also, there were a couple moments from the day where I thought the photos would look completely bonkers, and somehow those photos are some of the most amazing ones. Aside from her beautiful work, Madi is such a genuine and delightful person to spend your wedding day with. She handled our memories with such care. She's enthusiastic, but in an organized way, which is exactly what we needed. She made us feel comfortable. On top of just doing her job brilliantly, she helped keep us on schedule, she helped us figure out a new location to shoot bridal party photos at the literal last second, and she photoshopped out the microphone stand on one of our photos to make an already beautiful moment even more beautiful. Alex Maldonado, her second shooter, was also amazing - they worked together so seamlessly, and it was so cool to see them hype up each other's creative ideas. I am not a take-it-as-it-comes type of person, so it was difficult for me to just trust that everything would come together on the day, but Madi was the one part of this wedding that I never stressed out about. Hire her for gorgeous photos and an equally wonderful personality!

There are no words to describe the genuine energy that Madi emits. From our initial encounter meeting, we knew we had found the BEST photographer. She captured such special moments in our photos. We opted for a second photographer and on the day of our wedding, we met Kate. She complimented Madi perfectly and we couldn’t have been happier with our choice. Madi is an amazing human being and we are grateful to have stumbled upon her. Hire her. You will NOT be dissatisfied. I literally wish we were best friends. :)

From the first call we had with Madi, we knew we were in good hands. Madi helped us plan out our wedding day hour by hour, and promptly answered our questions leading up to the big day. She was the glue that held the whole day together, even going as far as providing bandaids to my bridesmaids and giving me her sunglasses when the sun was too bright! All of that is not even related to her photography - which was INCREDIBLE. She made us feel comfortable in front of the camera and made us laugh throughout the day. Even as she was taking the photos, we knew they were going to be amazing. When we received the full gallery of photos, we could not have been happier. She captured the joy and excitement of the day along with all of the small details that made the day complete. We could go on and on about how grateful we are to have worked with Madi and for all of her amazing work. The comment we received the most about our wedding was how amazing our photographer was, and we could not agree more. Not only is she an amazing wedding photographer, but she is also just a great person. We could not recommend Madi enough!!

Madi took great photos of the wedding. The group photos were so lovely and we loved the way she captured the happy emotions of the day!

The most important piece of our wedding was making sure we found the perfect photographer to capture our day, and Madi was it! From our initial meeting and our winter engagement photo session to our outdoor (super humid!) summer wedding, Madi was the absolute best. When you have multiple wedding guests and family members saying multiple times during--and after--the wedding that "Your wedding photographer is so good. Can she take all my photos?!" you know you lucked out. Madi knows how to put everyone at ease in front of a camera; she corrals wayward folks; she makes everyone feel like a star; and she is an extra set of hands/eyes/ears to rely on to get through the most insane whirlwind of a day. Oh, and she also creates insanely drop-dead gorgeous photos (seriously, they're all so stunning and dreamy!). Thank you, Madi, for sharing your talent with us and capturing our day so beautifully!

If you are looking for someone to capture your special day, please look no further. My husband and I were lucky to have Madi capture our commitment ceremony and celebration on such short notice, and I cannot rave enough about how talented she is as an artist and as a photographer. Our wedding and celebration photos are absolutely stunning. My husband and I wanted our ceremony and day to feel as intimate and natural to our relationship as possible, and Madi captured the essence of it all. She did a fantastic job in making us feel comfortable and at ease the entire time, and the photos she captured are ones that we will cherish for the rest of our lives. Our commitment ceremony was fairly last minute, and we were lucky that Madi was available to photograph our day with just a few weeks notice. If you have more time than we did to plan your special day, please do yourself a favor and book with her - you will be happy and grateful that you did!

Madi is an exceptional human being and her photos reflect the amazing talent that she is. Run to her - she is positively AMAZING!!!!!!!!

First things first, we did A LOT of research on wedding photographers... that being said, we could not have picked a better one than Madi Ellis. Madi is more than just a "vendor" in our eyes. She was the whole package. Not only did she take our photos, but she also helped us with timeline, thinking through bridal party colors, where to take photos, and so much more. Additionally, Madi genuinely cared about us and our wedding day. That was so clear from the first meeting through delivery of our wedding photos. The photos themselves are SPECTACULAR. Madi is an expert in our venue space (Revolution Brewing) and was able to capture it beautifully. She asked us what was most important to us on our wedding day multiple times to ensure she was capturing what was most important to us. Madi is so communicative and helpful throughout the process, and honestly, that puts her in her own category of amazing wedding vendors. We would hire Madi 1000 times over and highly recommend that you consider her for your big day. Thank you, Madi!

HIRE HER FOR EVERYTHING I don’t know how to say it emphatically enough so….just trust me and hire her. Hire her for your wedding, engagement shoot, hell if you just want some nice photos of you and your dog. Madi photographed my fiance and I for an engagement shoot throughout Chicago and and when I say it was the most fun hour and a half we’ve had ever…and when I saw the photos the amount of gasping we did. To think someone could capture the love we feel so viscerally and beautifully, I was in shock. She is a genius and so easy to work with and you will not regret it.

We recommend Madi & Co. enthusiastically and unreservedly! Neither of us are particularly comfortable with a lot of attention, so we went into this a bit skittish and camera-shy. Madi and Aaron did a fantastic job putting us at ease, making sure that we got all of the pictures that we wanted without a lot of fuss, and getting many photos that we did not know that we wanted until we saw them! They both listened and adjusted to us. Before the wedding, our meetings were productive, and clearly demonstrated Madi's confidence, expertise, and thoughtfulness. She and her associates were never anything but consummate professionals. We've just received our photos and love them! If you go with Madi, you're in good hands.

Madi is great at what she does. She took the photographs for my best friend's wedding, so I didn't even hire her, but I can say that she is fabulous, talented, funny, and will put you at ease. If I ever get married I'll give her a call.

Madi was an absolute JOY to work with for our May wedding! Our photos truly captured the different moments from the day and reflected the energy and emotion of us and our guests. Our wedding party absolutely raved about Madi (thank you for breaking out the snacks) and we felt truly comfortable and confident with Madi by our side. We learned that your wedding photographer should be someone who not only takes amazing photos, but also someone you want to hang out with all day - we couldn’t be happier!

From the moment I met with Madi I knew she would be a great fit for myself and my fiancé. We are both a bit camera shy, and also knew that with nerves on a wedding day it would be important for us to find a photographer that made us feel comfortable. Madi did just that. She has a presence that is comforting and calming despite how stressful her job can be. She helped my husband and I to naturally show our love and affection without it feeling forced or uncomfortable. Our engagement photos and wedding photos are seriously amazing. After receiving our wedding photos, I couldn't resist the urge to keep signing into the account and viewing them time and time again. If you are looking for the perfect wedding photographer, look no further than Madi. She is truly gifted and a phenomenal person to have on your team!

Beyond happy with our photos. Madi is the best!!

Madi Ellis deserves every word of praise ever received multiplied a hundred fold. She got every single shot I hoped to capture and many, many more I didn’t know I needed in my life. She is punctual and extraordinarily organized, keeping us on track even though my hair and makeup took an extra 45 minutes to complete. We had a rather large wedding party: six bridesmaids and six groomsmen. Plus a few dogs. Madi had every single one of our friends laughing and singing her praises as she directed us en masse to hold poses or move freely and candidly, all while cracking jokes with the ladies and gents. “This woman knows what’s up! What a professional!” they chimed, as she whipped out her second camera and kept shooting away like a veritable photography ninja. The first look photos were truly enchanted, straight out of a fairytale. The group pics were fun and bursting with love and vibrant color. The dance floor shots are full of life and movement, grins and smiles and laughter in every frame. She even coached me and my husband to get the perfect champagne popping shots, fizzy bubbles in the foreground, happy bubbling faces in the mid-ground, and epic, snow-covered mountains in the distant background. We are obsessed with every picture she has shared with us and recommend her to everyone seeking a photographer for their special day. She makes everyone who works with her feel comfortable and happy, and will work with you to capture your vision, perhaps even more perfectly than your imagination could create. Madi is a fantastic photographer. Hire her.

We can say without a moment's hesitation that hiring Madi to photograph our rehearsal dinner and wedding was one of the best decisions we made when planning for our big day. From our very first consultation, Madi showed that she would be a collaborative partner. Her responses to our questions were always timely and very thorough. In the days leading up to the wedding, she walked through our timeline with us and helped us resolve final timing details. Madi's all in attitude allowed us to enjoy the special moments on our big day without having to worry about schedule and travel logistics details. The support throughout the planning process was just the icing on the cake. Madi's photographs are absolutely amazing! Neither of us enjoy being the center of attention yet Madi made us feel so, so comfortable. The photographs that capture the candid moments from our ceremony and reception have truly helped us relive all of the emotions of the day. Madi has a special talent for not only capturing the special moments that her couples share but also all of the joy and energy that their guests bring to the occasion. We've loved sharing our dance floor photos with our family and friends! Madi's energy and presence enhanced our entire wedding experience, and we would absolutely recommend her to anyone looking for their wedding photographer!

I cannot sing Madi's praises enough. She's shot our proposal and engagement photos so far, and I cannot WAIT for her to shoot our wedding. She responds lightning-fast, and always answers every question you have with tons of useful details. She has gone above and beyond in so many ways, agreeing to come scope out the weird lighting situation at our venue, expertly handling our (skittish) dog in our engagement photos, and even sending a truly lovely and unexpected little gift. But beyond all that, and perhaps most critically important, she takes AMAZING photos. My partner and I knew we wanted vivid, true to form colors and naturalistic posing (we didn't like the look of washed-out overexposed or muddy sepia tones so common in wedding photography). And beyond question, Madi delivers on exactly that. Madi has a true talent for 'clicking' with people, and her excited, goofy energy is exactly what we needed to feel comfortable, loosen up, and get laughing. Once she gets you moving and laughing, she strikes with her camera to capture thoughtfully framed shots full of movement and joy. We've already gotten SO many compliments on the photos she's taken so far, and cannot wait to see how she captures our wedding. Book Madi immediately!

Madi was amazing. She made our day feel so special, easy and stress free. She caught such special moments and was super flexible to our needs and wants. I would highly recommend her for your special day!!

We chose Madi Ellis for the toughest decision we had to make for our wedding. My husband and I are wedding photographers ourselves, and the research and time spent looking for the perfect wedding photographer is about as much as you can imagine. A lot! In short, Madi is incredible, a bundle of energy, so artful in her shots and composition... She is just so great to work with and was easily the MVP of the wedding, she might be family at this point! After we received our photos, we were just amazed and so happy that she had caught everything. ... Can't recommend her enough. Madi and her second shooter are courteous, professional, hard working, funny and a joy to be around. My wedding party loved Madi. Having her on my big day was just awesome. She helped keep us on time. She went above and beyond with the photos. She captured moments we'll remember forever. We're so thankful for Madi!

Our experience with Madi was perfect from the start. She worked with us on every aspect of the wedding photography. She was so flexible and accommodating to make sure we would be happy and relaxed during the preparation and the day of. She was so engaged in what our desire for how we wanted the photos to turn out and executed to perfection. She was an absolute joy to work with and honestly made our day better with her upbeat energy and charisma. Nothing was forced and it led to such great pictures of us and our guests. I cannot speak highly enough of Madi and her work and would absolutely recommend her to anyone looking for a photographer.

Madi was absolutely incredible to work with. She instantly made us feel comfortable from the initial meeting. The lighting in our venue can be tricky and we immediately felt at ease knowing her experience. It was really important for us to have authentic photos and she absolutely nailed it. She took the time to really understand us and our wedding so she could best express it. She captured people's personalities in a way I couldn't even imagine. The photos of our guests are so special and something we will truly cherish! She made us feel at ease the whole day, checking in on us and bringing the best energy! Our photos turned out incredible. She captured so many moments that take us back to the day in the best way. Can't say enough positive things about our experience working with Madi!

If you’re reading this your answer is yes! You want Madi! TL;DR 100/10 stars! I have never worked with a photographer and I almost didn’t book one for my wedding but fortunately Madi was referred to me. I was initially skeptical because I hate obviously staged couple photos, weak smiles, and overused poses that everyone does over and over again but when I looked at Madi’s work I knew there was hope! After talking to her briefly (and mentioning these concerns) I knew she needed to be a part of my wedding day. Working with Madi was amazing from start to finish and our shoot was so much fun. She not only took phenomenal photos but even got my fiancé to crack a real smile (which has never happened in a photo). At our tiny wedding we barely knew she was there during the ceremony and everyone loved interacting with her for family photos. I’m so grateful she was a part of our day. I would contact Madi in a heartbeat for any other professional pictures I need and would recommend her to everyone I know. Best. Photographer. Ever.

Madi was extremely personable, with an artistic eye. She even had us go to where my husband and I had our first date so she could capture where it all began. We had a lot of fun during the shoot, and have amazing pictures to last a lifetime.

I honestly don’t know where to begin. Hiring Madi to shoot our 23 guest wedding was by far one of the best decisions we made through the wedding planning process. Madi is warm, kind professional and so personable. From our initial inquiry over the phone I knew Madi wasn’t just a wedding photographer. She was someone who from the beginning showed genuine excitement and passion when it came to preserving the memories of such a special day. She was incredibly helpful when it came to finding a venue. She reached out to vendors she knows and gave us suggestions as well. We decided to go with The Lincoln Park Conservatory which was just incredible. The day of Madi did a fantastic job at easing and pre wedding jitters. She brought a perfect amount of humor to the day. She made being photographed not only easy, but super fun as well. She was an incredible hype woman. From individual portraits, to the first look, to wedding party and ceremony, she captured every single moment that we want to remember for the rest of our lives. The photographs she took not only captured the beauty and nature around us, but she somehow perfectly captured our personalities. I am forever grateful that she captured all of the moments from endearing and emotional to goofy and silly. Madi exceeded all expectations. She truly knows what she is doing and you can tell that she genuinely loves doing it. 5 starts simply is not enough.

Madi is a fantastic photographer and an even more amazing human! She was so incredibly positive and upbeat when she shot our little elopement ceremony by Lake Michigan. She not only was great at providing instruction to us, but she was great at getting us out of our heads and encouraging us to bask in our happiness and love! She has such an amazing eye for detail and personal touches. Beyond that, I really appreciated how down-to-earth she is as a person - we connected instantly on a really comfortable level when we initially spoke on the phone with each other. We would one thousand percent use her services again and recommend her to anyone who needs a photographer to capture special and timeless memories!

Madi was so amazing to work with. Her and her assistant were so down to earth, organized, and so much fun to be around. Madi froze beautiful memories for us that we will have for a lifetime. If I had to do it all over again, I would choose Madi every single time!

Madi was absolutely amazing! Not only is she extremely talented and super passionate about making sure your wedding day is documented in the most beautiful way but she is extremely supportive to the bride, groom, wedding party, family members and VIPs. I highly, highly recommend her!

Madi is INCREDIBLE. She brings impeccable professionalism along with positive energy, great communication, and flexibility. Our day went sideways with east-coast-style rain for our Colorado mountain wedding and Madi ran with it. She came prepared with ponchos and umbrellas and an amazing attitude. It helped save the day even as we all got soaked. Plus, rain pictures are actually gorgeous, so it ended up being a great day! Thanks Madi!!!

Madi was so wonderful! We decided to get married in a park last minute and we lucked out because she had a cancellation. Honestly, I can’t imagine our wedding day without her! We hadn’t thought out all of the details and she made us feel so comfortable by making suggestions on where we could do the photos within the park. Wasn’t afraid to nicely ask patrons to move just for a couple minutes so we could get a good shot. She was friendly & our families loved her(& of course we loved her) - this is important because it was just us and our parents and it was very intimate. Finally, she took beautiful photos, which she turned over in record time. She really read the preference sheet and was responsive to what we wanted. She edited beautifully as well. Highly recommend!

We had Madi take our wedding photos. She made us feel so relaxed and had us laughing while taking photos. The whole experience was so seamless and enjoyable! Photos turned out absolutely gorgeous. Thank you Madi for making our special day even more special!

Maddie took some of the most amazing pictures of our wedding. She has the ability to make you feel comfortable and gets incredible natural shots. Can’t recommend her enough!

Madi was incredible from day one of setting our wedding date. She was communicative, highly organized and amazing throughout the entire process all the way through the big day. We are amazed at how well our wedding photos turned out and have received so many compliments from our family and friends. Planning a wedding can be stressful, but working with Madi was so easy and one of the most enjoyable parts of the entire process. I would recommend her in a heartbeat to anyone looking for a hard-working and professional Chicago photographer.