Maria Villano Photography

rmal family photos after the ceremony. Multiple people have commented on the quality of our wedding photos - even comparing them to magazine editorials. We are truly obsessed with how they turned out! Maria also did our engagement shoot and was so good at putting us at ease. We're not used to taking a lot of photos, but she made us feel relaxed and comfortable right away. I think Maria was the best wedding vendor we had and I look forward to working with her again for holiday, maternity, and family photos!

We held our engagement photos at the beach with our two crazy dogs and she captured stunning moments. We had our wedding ceremony at San Francisco City Hall and from her photos you never would have known that there were other couples in the building. Will definitely work with Maria again in the future!

ances and making all of the guests feel at ease. She was SO great to work with. Although it was our first time with a professional photographer, and we felt awkward at first, Maria made us feel at ease immediately with her very calm and chill demeanor, and we got some amazing formal pictures as well! We recommend Maria for any and all of your photography needs.

o that moment for our own memories as well as for the multitude of friends and family who were not present.

aking with her over the phone only solidified my choice. The engagement shoot we had was so comfortable and fun! When we had to postpone our bigger wedding celebrations until 2022, but still wanted to do a smaller event this year, Maria was incredibly patient and understanding as we navigated through all the changes. On the day of, I could relax and enjoy our ceremony and portrait shoot because I knew she would capture every beautiful moment. On top of that, we received our photos within a couple weeks of our ceremony and I don't think I'll ever stop staring at them. While we have only booked her for our engagement and wedding sessions, we will definitely be calling Maria for all our future photography requests. Don't look any further for the most amazing photographer!

extremely easy to work and quickly helped us put together a plan for the day. On our wedding day, she knew exactly what to do, and helped put both us, our families, and our guests at ease—and we all had so much fun with her!

e and is so talented. I’ve received so many compliments on the pictures from the engagement and the wedding. I cannot recommend her enough, she has such an eye for photography. I am so thankful we found her because now we have these beautiful pictures to treasure forever, and our wonderful experience with her.

me constraints of a bride and groom running late, Maria wisely adjusted the photograph session to accommodate the wedding party. We all adored working with her; however, at the end of the day, it was the finished product that won the event!

a better idea of the type of photos we wanted. It may come as a surprise to some, but we have no modeling experience, and we quickly found photo shoots are awkward! But Maria made everything easy, light-hearted, and fun. Her photos for everything from the engagement shoot to the wedding are amazing. She has an incredible talent for capturing candid moments and making the staged photos look and feel natural. On the day of the wedding, Maria was calm and very organized. We were able to get all of the photos we wanted with the wedding party/family and barely missed any of our cocktail hour after the ceremony. She even sent us a link to a dozen or so photos the next morning! Her prices are incredibly fair and she worked quickly to release our photos. The only problem now is since all the photos are so great, choosing our favorites for prints is near impossible. Thank you for everything, Maria!

turn to each other, and say “Maria nailed it. She is the best.” After we got engaged, the very first vendor we researched was our photographer. We’re both camera-shy, but we wanted to ensure we had engagement and wedding photos to last a lifetime. We knew our photographer was going to be absolutely essential. We are so incredibly grateful we found Maria. She is a warm, kind, and fun person. From our first conversation, we all clicked. Not only do we love the quality of Maria’s work but we also loved spending time with her! When we met for our engagement session at a friend’s property in West Sonoma County, Maria was able to take in the space and talk with us about the areas we particularly we wanted to focus. She knew I loved oak trees and the sweet cows wandering the field. My two favorite pictures from the session are: 1) my husband and I in front of a huge, statuesque oak tree and 2) the two of us in front of a grove of oak trees with a mama cow and her calves wandering in the background. I could not have dreamt of better photographs. In the two hours that flew by (and weather that went from sunny to dark clouds during that time), Maria captured photos which we will always cherish. Beyond appreciating the quality of the photos and the moments she captured, we knew we had found the perfect person to photograph our wedding day. The weekend we got married was a bit of a whirlwind. In addition to the usual wedding shenanigans, we also had a power outage, the Kincade fire, and active evacuations. Maria was so calm (and in turn calming to be around). She even reached out to me days before the wedding to check in and see if I needed anyone to talk/vent to (see, so kind!). Maria has a very unique quality of helping you relax into the moment and providing helpful guidance while also fading into the background. She captures moments you’ll miss in the blur of the day. What has struck me most in the photos from our wedding day is the sheer joy and laughter she caught. Each photograph is so genuine, and we can’t stop looking at them to relive each moment. Maria has truly been a joy to work with, and we are very appreciative of her time and talent. We are so happy with the quality of her work and the time she spent with us. If we did it all over, we’d hire Maria again in a heartbeat. Knowing these photos will last a lifetime and we’ll be sharing them for years to come, we are so glad Maria came into our lives.

s we wish we could change, relatives we wished we didn't invite... but above all else, we are over the moon to have had the privilege of sharing our day with Maria. From our very first intro phone call, Maria was everything we were looking for in a photographer. She was friendly, direct, professional, and had an amazing sense of humor that made us feel comfortable immediately. She had wonderful way of sharing her ideas and thoughts without pushing a specific style or direction on to us that made us feel confident in our decisions. I recall during the conversation that she had been the only vendor to have asked Rob what he envisioned for our big day, what he wanted, how we met, and how he would describe our style. Though small, that really stood out to us and during the call, Rob and I looked at each other and with a collective 'yeah, let's do this' and booked her immediately. We never though an engagement session would be in the cards for us, but Maria took us out of our comfort zone and gave us a day in Point Reyes we will never forget. I look at our engagement photos basically on a weekly basis and think about how far Rob and I have come from that day, but to also remember what an awesome day that was getting to know Maria and feeling comfortable in front of her camera. If you're like me and feel like an engagement session is too extragravant or not a must-have, I urge you to reconsider. It was a wonderful opportunity to get to know Maria, feeling good with our poses, learning our angles (trying to, at least), and honestly, is a really fun thing to do together amongst all the planning. As our wedding was in Sonoma in October, there was threats of power outages (thankfully, we were all clear) and Maria had texted me a few days prior to share encouragement and let me know it was all going to be okay. I was so moved by that and it meant so much to have her looking out for us. On the day of our wedding, Maria was everything and we could not imagine that day without her there. She made us both calm and grounded amidst the chaos and nerves of the day, never losing sight at how big of a moment this was and made us, our families, and friends all feel so beautiful. This woman, though, does not stop. Shortly after our wedding, Sonoma was once again under the threat of more power outages (insert expletive about PG&E here). As Maria lives near the area, her family had to evacuate. Before I could even reach out, she let me know that the evacuation would not delay her process and had all of our photos everything backed on to a hard drive. I mean! I can't even. Our photos came out stunning, from our pre-ceremony shots, to dancing photos and everything in between. Our pre-ceremony portrait session was honestly such a highlight from the day and I am so glad she suggested doing a first look (seriously, DO IT!) because the lighting was magic and it was a blessing to have the time to do it all before the reception began. These photos are memories we will cherish forever and ones I can't wait to show our future family (I'm not normally this sappy, but this is seriously how talented Maria is). Since the wedding, Rob and I have loved every minute looking back on it all but more than once we've asked - Can we hang out with Maria again? Thank you for everything!

sweaty goodbye at the end of the wedding night, Maria has always felt like a friend who we just knew our whole lives and just happened to be capturing these special moments for us. Her ability to put us at ease, make us laugh, and appreciate OUR terrible jokes, all of it made her able to create and photograph all the moments that we will so appreciate years from now.  Just a couple days after the wedding, she provided a hefty sneak peek of over 30 photos, all of which are perfection. My friends were shocked at how quick the turnaround was...it's not typical to get photos so quickly. Maria has always been quick in her work, and always so caring and responsive.  I can't stress this enough- if you want phenomenal photos of your special day (wedding, engagement, party, etc), you will not be let down by Maria. She is talented, fun, and a genuine badass who has a forever place in our hearts.  Thank you, Maria.  Allison and Travis

made it fun and beautiful despite the mud. She was flexible and such a trooper. And the photos are AMAZING. Couldn't have asked for more.

ia is gracious, professional but also so real. She made us feel comfortable so we could be ourselves for the photos. She was also pretty stealthy and went along really well with the flow of our wedding day. Flexible, professional and a complete joy to work with. Maria gave us our sneak previews within the week and we received our total set a few weeks after. You won't be disappointed with Maria's work ethic. I wish more wedding and event vendors were like Maria.

oduced some of my very favorite wedding photographs and all in a torrential downpour. She put on her raincoat and she never once complained. Maria and I grew a close relationship and she has since done my newborn photos of my daughter and her one year photos. Maria is always punctual, easy going, great at helping us relax and ease up for the most perfect photos (I am nothing close to a model), plus she is quick to get photos out! You can tell she truly loves what she does and it is displayed in each photograph. I highly recommend Maria for engagement and wedding photography. You will fall in love with her and want to keep her around as your designated “life photographer”!

rking as your wedding team!

he not only took astounding photos for us that we treasure to this day (& will for a lifetime), she was on time, reliable and handled our family drama with tact and humor! Thank you, Maria!

st a wonderful person to be around, she made a huge impact on us and we think about her often. She is professional, incredibly engaging and warm, and has the ability to put you at ease immediately and feel confident that she will capture all the feels. She is responsive, flexible, and has excellent attention to detail. Our engagement and wedding photos made us cry, her work is absolutely fabulous and no element or emotion from our wedding was missed, we could never have imagined how much joy her photos could bring us. She builds connections in a very special way, letting you feel no burden of cameras and forced poses, allowing us to just enjoy and be in love. To receive a few sneak peeks right after the wedding was also such a treat. We are thrilled to have experienced the magic of Maria, and more thrilled to be leaving this review for her in hopes that others will also make the best decision like we did and partner with this special talent.

st a wonderful person to be around, she made a huge impact on us and we think about her often. She is professional, incredibly engaging and warm, and has the ability to put you at ease immediately and feel confident that she will capture all the feels. She is responsive, flexible, and has excellent attention to detail. Our engagement and wedding photos made us cry, her work is absolutely fabulous and no element or emotion from our wedding was missed, we could never have imagined how much joy her photos could bring us. She builds connections in a very special way, letting you feel no burden of cameras and forced poses, allowing us to just enjoy and be in love. To receive a few sneak peeks right after the wedding was also such a treat. We are thrilled to have experienced the magic of Maria, and more thrilled to be leaving this review for her in hopes that others will also make the best decision like we did and partner with this special talent.

n engagement session about 11 months before the wedding and I was so impressed with the great shots she got, we had no idea we could look so good! lol Fast forward to the wedding day...couldn't have done it without her. She was on point and on schedule. She knew what it took to herd crazy family and friends just like a boss! We were so comfortable with her and trusted her eye. We got the pictures before promised and they were better than I could have ever imagined. Maria nailed my vision and then some. My husband even agrees, she was well worth the money. After all, the pictures are all that you have after your most important day. Maria will always have a special place in my heart. Anyone would be lucky to have her as their photographer.

r photos to capture the natural beauty and lighthearted spirit of our wedding. Maria picked up on our vibe from the first phone call, and delivered absolutely stunning photos filled with light, color, and nature. She kept us relaxed, laughing, and totally engaged with each other by encouraging us to be ourselves, talk to each other, and move comfortably. As a result, the photos are perfectly "us" -- she captured the subtle gestures and expressions that we love in each other. She also handled our "free-spirited" wedding like a pro; although we didn't have a wedding planner or a strict timeline, she managed to anticipate all the most important moments and reactions and was somehow in all the right places without us ever noticing. She handled all our family's big personalities with grace (even adapting easily when an uncle disappeared during family photo time and light was quickly fading) and we were so thankful to have her subtle presence and patience! As for me, the bride -- I have never felt more stunning, feminine, real, and myself than seeing myself through Maria's lens. Her photos are the way you'll want to remember your wedding for your whole life.

e poses, and captures all the moments of your ceremony and reception without being obtrusive. She's fantastic at finding good light and is wonderful to work with. We can't say enough good things about her!

ous! She did a wonderful job at capturing the day while seeming to blend in with the guests. I love looking at our photos, they bring back such wonderful memories! We hired Maria again after my son was born for a newborn shoot. Maria even travelled about two hours to us, so she could photograph us in his nursery! I highly recommend Maria, she does excellent work!

and one of our top priorities was to get the best photographer. We wanted classic timeless photos that played on lighting and searched for a photographer who could capture the emotion and atmosphere of our special day. Thankfully Maria just happened to be available on that date. Maria and I hit it right off from our very first phone conversation and by the time we actually met it felt like we’d known each other for years. She promptly returned phone calls/emails and was available to discuss our expectations or answer any questions/concerns we may have had every step of the way. Having a wedding in your own backyard is a lot of work so to alleviate wedding day stress Maria suggested we use our romantic session to take wedding photos prior to our wedding date - that was the best idea! We were worried we would be nervous and awkward during the romantic session but she put us right at ease and it was easy, fun, and romantic. On our wedding day Maria arrived well prepared and the day transitioned seamlessly; we barely even knew she was there, she blended in so well with our guests! We recently received our wedding photos and we absolutely love them! They capture the day in ways we never could have imagined. Every image is beautiful and full of emotion; they give us a chance to relive our special day. Maria is authentic, professional, and works magic with lighting! We highly recommend finding a reason to work with her and we hope we have an opportunity to do so again in the future!

we bought a photo book from her as our guest book and fell in love all over again! We loved her so much that we booked for her our wedding! We know our photos are going to turn out incredible!

for light, color, and texture; her relaxed demeanor and vibe made her the perfect choice. In many ways your photographer spends the most time with you on your wedding day and it always felt like she was also a friend attending. And in other ways she fell seamlessly into the background when we were caught up in celebration with our loved ones, and never pushed us out of the moment. We hope to work with her in the future to capture more special moments in our life.

sly offered suggestions for venues, vendors and places to stay. She willingly met with me before the wedding date to go over photo opportunities and locations. On our wedding day, we had a blast cruising around with Maria to get several different settings for our photos. My husband and I highly recommend Maria for a wedding of any size. If it weren't for her, I don't know if we would have been able to pull it all off the way we did. We are very happy with the way our photos (and our big day) turned out!

s responsive to all of our questions and issues, and was so easy going and helpful throughout the process. Maria was in touch with us numerous times before our big day and effectuated our intent on our wedding date. She knew what kind of shots we did and didn't want and was able to create a playful and fun atmosphere. Two days after our wedding she provided us with a great shot of the two of us and we cannot wait to see the rest of the final product. Maria is the best, and I urge you to hire her, you will not be disappointed.

ia is very chill and down to earth so we knew she'd be able to handle our crazy friends and family. When Maria did our engagement/maternity photo shoot I was super nervous and not sure how to act natural in front of the camera. Maria made me feel very comfortable and helped me to loosen up. Having a newborn and planning for a wedding was a little more stressful than I had anticipated. Maria was very organized and answered all of our questions in a timely manner. She met with us a month before the wedding to go over all of the details, time line, style as well as what specific shots we wanted to capture. On the day of the wedding it couldn't have gone any smoother even after being a half hour late to the church. Our wedding was everything I had imagined and then some. Maria worked well with our coordinator and we also had a last minute change in location for our bridal party and intimate wedding shots. Very pleased with how our pictures turned out. I will be using her in the future for family portraits, etc. Thank you, Mr. & Mrs. Perez

photo ninja...we couldn't see but she managed to take beautiful photos that captured the feel of the day perfectly. I love the pictures she took and the photo album she made for us is absolutely incredible. I would definitely recommend her to anyone looking for a chill photographer that captures the feelings of your special day in beautiful portraits and candid shots! Love her!