Marissa Kelly Photography

Best of Weddings (3x).

Illinois

About this vendor

If you’re trying to decide if I’m YOUR wedding photographer, here’s a primary checklist to run through: Do you care more about making memories on your wedding day than spending hours and hours taking posed photos? Is your goal to make your wedding day feel like YOU through all the little details of the day? Are you okay with me visiting the dessert table at least three times during your reception?? If you answered yes to these questions, then I might just be your girl!! Head on over to my website to learn more about my wedding day photography philosophy (or if you’re ready to chat now, shoot me a message and tell me all about your wedding day vision!!).

Details

Business Attributes

Woman-owned Business

Destination Weddings

Destination Wedding Packages

Photo Shoot Types

Bridal Portraits
Day After Session
Engagement

Photo & Video

Digital Files
Photo
Same-Day Edits
Second Shooter Available
Social Media Sharing
Wedding Albums

Photo & Video Styles

Artistic
Classic
Documentary
Lifestyle
Modern

Wedding Activities

Getting Engaged
Rehearsals & Parties
After Party
Wedding
After Party

Awards and Affiliations

3-Time 'Best of Weddings'

2024.2023.2021.

out of 5.0

30 reviews

Search reviews

Ymi L

All I can say is that you will not regret booking with Marissa! She was our wedding photographer in June 2024, and while some time has passed, she left such a lasting impression on...

us. As we've gone back through our gallery recently to choose photos for albums and frames, we've somehow become even more impressed with her work. Marissa is not only incredibly talented, but also so organized, intuitive, and easy to work with. Taking photos never felt awkward or forced. She has such a calming presence and made it feel like a friend was there celebrating alongside us. It was also such a pleasant surprise that we got previews the very next day and our full gallery in less than two months. The photos are beautiful, but what stands out the most is how they make us feel. Looking through them now takes us right back to our wedding day. She was so attentive to our requests — I mentioned that we don't have many family photos and asked for lots of candids, especially of our parents and siblings. She not only remembered every detail, but made sure those moments were beautifully captured. Getting to relive them has been so special. Nearly two years later, our photos are still one of our favorite things from our wedding day. She is literally the photographer of our dreams. We love her work, and we love her!

Hannah R

Marissa’s photos aren’t only beautiful, she is also so fun to work with! She was beyond organized and the photo itinerary for the day flowed so naturally. She captured our day bett...

er than I could have dreamed of and also had such a quick turnaround time. She is the absolute best!

Molly J

I used Marissa for my engagement photos, bodouir shoot, and wedding day so I have sufficient experience with her to say she is the BEST PHOTOGRAPHER EVER. Seriously, her artful eye...

and easy demeanor make her a joy to work with and the experience of posing for her comes so naturally. She also is just a fun, happy, person to be around, who LOVES love, which helps so much!!! She was able to perfectly execute on the happy, joyful vibes that I wanted for my pictures. She even was able to get my goofy dog and plethora of neices and nephews to pose for photos. Plus, she delivers sneak peeks SO fast and is as genuinely excited about your pictures as you are. Marissa is the best, definitely hire her if you are able!!!

Mikaila S

If you're reading this, congratulations (!!!!) because you have found your dream wedding photographer! Marissa has not only an extraordinary talent behind the camera, but in fro...

nt of it, too. As someone who has hired Marissa on a few different occasions for professional photos, the first time being in 2020 for mine and my now Husband’s Covid graduation photos, I actually knew after that first session that she is who I would be hiring for our future wedding (whenever that would be at the time). As soon as we got engaged, and decided on a destination wedding, Marissa was the first person I reached out too!! Marissa carries a magical warmth that allows people to feel instantly comfortable, at ease, and genuinely welcomed into her space. As someone who, at the time, was just getting started into wedding photography, it was something truly SO refreshing to be around and honestly inspired me to interact with my clients in the way she did - just effortlessly. Looking back on it now, I feel so lucky that I stumbled upon her Instagram page and sent her that first DM years ago, because I know for a fact our wedding would not have been the same without her! Marissa captured our wedding in Cancun, Mexico along with our night before Welcome Party (that she edited and delivered a large handful of photos to me the morning of my wedding)! She also photographed my Bachelorette party - which she was invited to as my friend, but decided to bring along her camera and to ~no surprise~ captured some of the most amazing photos of me and all of my girlfriends! Not to mention she edited and delivered me the gallery the next day (while she is also enjoying her vacation as well)!!! Truly above and beyond. On the wedding day itself, there were countless moments where I felt so lucky it was Marissa there in the room. She knows how to keep you grounded, encourages you to live in the present with your friends and family, all while capturing all of the must-have shots, the in-between moments, and the end result she delivers truly brings you back to all of the feelings. Her classic, artistic, and authentic style is something money can’t buy and I feel blessed beyond measure to have had the honor of experiencing her love of what she does shine through in our wedding photos. We love Marissa Kelly and will forever cherish not only all of the photos she captured for us on the best weekend of our lives, but also the memories made with her there as our dear friend.

Alexandra C

My husband Carlo and I had the pleasure of working with Marissa for our May 2024 wedding in Florence, Italy. We initially met her for an engagement photo session about two years ag...

o and she blew us away with her photos while also making us feel instantly comfortable-she’s just an awesome, down to earth, creative and fun person- exactly who you want on your team for your wedding day. We were lucky enough to be her first (but surely not last!) wedding in Italy—what an honor! I could have hired a local photographer but when the time came, I truly could not imagine our wedding without Marissa there. First of all, I knew she would take incredible, magical images at our venue— but mostly, she felt like an old friend even after just one meeting, and I knew she would just *fit in* with me, my husband and all our wedding guests. Leading up to our wedding, she was so detail oriented and organized—she was in frequent contact with me helping to craft a timeline for the day and ensure she understood what images and moments were most important to us. She and I were constantly sending pictures of the venue back and forth brainstorming photo ideas and I could tell that she was just as genuinely excited about our day as we were. After finding some beautiful shots of the venue from above, she assured me that we were going to get *THAT* shot no matter what and then taught her sweet husband Riley how to use a drone so that he could fly it during our ceremony. I’m definitely biased, but the resulting photos are some of the coolest drone shots I’ve ever seen! Just one example of how Marissa went above and beyond to make our vision come to life. Our wedding day turned out to be very rainy which definitely added stress on my husband and I as well as all of our vendors. However, you’d never know that Marissa was even slightly phased by this because she remained positive, energetic and confident that we could get all the shots we wanted and that the rain would make them even more magical. She navigated a large venue she had never been to before, worked seamlessly with my Italian wedding planner who she had just met that day, dealt with changing timelines and plans because of the weather, and somehow kept me from having a complete breakdown— truly, she is the utmost professional! Spending the day with her felt like just another one of my life long girlfriends was there taking photos. She was universally named the best photographer that any of my bridesmaids had worked with and one of them has been a bridesmaid nearly 20 times- the HIGHEST of praise. As if all that weren’t enough, Marissa sent us SO many stunning previews the day after our wedding. It was incredible to relive parts of the day right away and to share photos so soon. When we saw our photos for the first time, we believed what they say about rainy wedding days is all true—they are lucky. Or maybe we were just lucky to have Marissa behind the camera because the way she captured the clouds and mist and light and colors of our wedding day made it so clear that this was how it was meant to be all along. We had to laugh, because even in some of the rainiest moments, she somehow almost made it look sunny in the final images! Marissa, thank you is truly not enough to say how much we appreciate you and the beautiful gift you’ve given us. You’ll be in our memories of our wedding day forever, not just as our photographer, but as our friend. And you’re an #italyweddingphotographer forever now!!

Maeve S

Marissa was my absolute dream photographer. She was so genuinely interested in getting to know me and my husband prior to the wedding and made us feel so comfortable in front of th...

e camera during our engagement shoot. It made us so excited for the big day! We didn’t realize how important finding a person you feel comfortable taking pictures with was, and she was that person for us! She captured everything we could have wished for and more. She was patient, creative, and helpful with suggestions and ideas when we needed them-like debating between first looks and what must haves to capture. Marissa truly felt like she was just part of my wedding party and not there for work, I think that’s what made it so special. Her creative eye was unlike any other. The pictures she captured were absolutely stunning and we received a sneak peak right away and were absolutely obsessed! The quality was breath taking and the turnaround time was exactly as promised! We cannot wait to work with Marissa again for other big life events in the future. We 10/10 recommend her for your next wedding!

Angelica C

The best decision we made for our wedding was having Marissa as our photographer. Our families could not stop talking about how great she was when shooting our rehearsal and weddin...

g. Marissa has a way of making anyone feel natural and comfortable in front of the camera and she does it effortlessly because it’s literally her character/personality. She will bring your vision to life! Now looking back at our wedding I realize how important it is to have a photographer that brings the most calming + structured + positive energy- they are with you the majority of the day. Marissa ensured that we stayed on schedule and even pivoted when we had issues with our trolley for pictures— she is the reason I wasn’t extremely stressed in that moment. I feel really lucky to have had Marissa as our photographer, she was easily the best/most important vendor choice we made.

Emily K

Marissa is amazing and talented! We were so thankful to have her as our wedding photographer. Working with her is super easy and impressive - she is communicative, organized, and k...

ind. She makes you feel comfortable while shooting and all of her pictures have a “wow factor” to them – they are gorgeous and perfectly capture us, our friends & family, and the occasion!

Kelsey L

Marissa was hands-down one of the best decisions we made for our wedding. We initially fell in love with her photography style after finding her on Instagram and set up a meeting. ...

Just five minutes into our Zoom call, Pat and I knew we HAD to hire her. She is incredibly talented and the most joyful person. She is the ultimate hype-woman yet also has the most calming presence. You know you’re in the hands of a professional and can just completely relax, assured that she’ll get the amazing shots we hoped for. It felt like working with a best friend rather than just any other vendor, exactly what you want in a wedding photographer. She shot our May 2023 wedding and our engagement shoot as well. Her turnaround was incredibly fast, sending us 20 beautifully edited photos less than an hour after our reception ended + a preview gallery of about 100 photos just two days later. We were sent our full gallery 6 weeks after the wedding. The photos are simply stunning, perfectly capturing the emotions and atmosphere of our wedding day. We will treasure them forever. We decided to go with the package that includes extra hours and an extra photographer as well, which worked out great! We were so happy knowing that we had extra coverage to shoot all of those candid in-between moments and the second shooter was fantastic. Marissa is the real deal. The best of the best! I truly can’t imagine there being a better wedding photographer and could not recommend her highly enough. Do yourself a favor and book her EARLY. She is worth every penny.

Erin O

I found Marissa on Instagram and started following her because I loved her work. I booked her for my engagement session and then wedding. I could not recommend Marissa enough. She ...

is professional, friendly and so talented. I loved working from her from start to finish and my pictures turned out amazing. Her turnaround time was also so fast which was awesome! BOOK MARISSA!!

Eileen C

There are not enough kind words to say about Marissa. She is such an incredible person, and somehow an even better photographer. She is warm, inviting, kind, and the sweetest perso...

n we could have had to photograph our wedding. She took both our engagement and wedding photos, and did an incredible job. We found her on Instagram and immediately fell in love with her photography style. As we started to get to know her, we just fell more in love. She immediately makes you feel at ease, and makes taking photos effortless yet fun. We feel so lucky to have found her, and plan on using her at every opportunity that we get. She is so quick to turn around photos to you, and she just shows you at every turn what a hard worker she is. We have so much respect for her and the incredible work that she does, and the day wouldn't have been the same without her. Our only regret is that she couldn't take her camera off and join us on the dance floor to bust a move. She is the absolute sweetest person, and is so talented and skilled at what she does. We would recommend her to absolutely everyone, she is truly the best of the best!

Kasey C

Marissa was an absolute JOY to work with! She took our engagement photos in November 2021 and made the process so much fun for us! Her positive energy is contagious! She captured o...

ur love perfectly and we are over the moon with the way everything turned out. She also went above and beyond when it came to editing and delivering our photos. Thank you, Marissa!

Molly S

When my husband and I sat down to discuss what mattered most to us for our special day, photography was at the very top of our list. This led to a research deep dive, we reviewed ...

approximately 45 Chicago area photographer portfolios. We were immediately drawn to Marissa’s work. We loved the way she captured emotions you could feel. The vibrancy of the color. And how comfortable couples looked in every shot she shared. We knew we wanted Marissa to be our photographer from her portfolio alone, but the moment we got on the phone with Marissa we knew she was THE ONE WE HAD TO HAVE. Her portfolio and talent is clear, what you must know about Marissa is what an incredible human being she is. Marissa is professional, so responsive and she worked closely with us to ensure our vision would come to life. From helping us nail down the perfect spots for our engagement photos, to sweating every detail of our wedding day timeline, to ensuring we captured all the family photos we wanted. But even moreso, Marissa is the best hype woman in the world. The energy that she brings to your wedding day or your engagement photos is unbelievable. She felt more like part of our wedding party than a vendor. She made me feel so special and understood. She makes you feel seen, celebrated and you can tell that Marissa is GENUINELY happy to be part of your celebration. Marissa and her team captured our wedding from beginning to end on 10/15/22 at the Sculpture Garden at Bridgeport Art Center perfectly. She found us a beautiful spot in Grant Park to have our first look and the perfect range of settings for our wedding party - from the lakefront to the most gorgeous fall scenery. But what I love most about our photo gallery is the emotion Marissa captured. We have an opportunity to live our favorite day again and again through these photos. We get to feel the love, the happiness, the tears, the joy and everything in between. This is the greatest gift Marissa could’ve given us. Hire Marissa immediately. We’ve already decided she will be our photographer for all our favorite moments for life! Love, Molly & Justin

Celia N

I could not recommend a better photographer in Chicago. Marissa took my engagement photos over the summer and they are photos we will cherish forever. She captured the skyline beau...

tifully. This was totally out of my fiances comfort zone, but Marissa’s bubbly, warm personality put him at ease instantly and we felt so comfortable just being ourselves throughout the shoot. Marissa sent us a sneak preview of our shoot within days of our shoot and we received our whole gallery soon after! We have already printed many of these photos to hang around our home. I am looking forward to whatever life events comes next so I can hire Marissa again, she’s that awesome<3

Donna C

There are not enough stars in the sky to give to Marissa! First, lets talk about Marissa as a person because WOW. Her response to my inquiry message was so warm and joy filled. I k...

new immediately from her first message that she was the one for me! From there, Marissa was nothing but helpful, approachable, and kind. She helped me plan my entire wedding day timeline down to the very minutes of the day. As someone who did not hire a wedding coordinator or planner, this was so so so helpful and saved me a lot of stress and headaches! She drafted various timelines for me - never complaining about the minor tweaks I kept asking her to make. When my husband and I met her for the first time at our engagement session, we fell in love with her! She made us feel so comfortable in front of the camera with her fun and energetic personality. After our engagement session with her, I texted with Marissa all the time - bugging her with random wedding questions since she had all the knowledge and experience when it came to wedding dos and donts! Again, she was always so happy to answer my questions and never complained about me bothering her at all times of the day and/or night! On our wedding day, Marissa was my LIFE SAVER. As all weddings go, we had a few hiccups during our day (e.g., missing items, people not sticking to the timeline, unwelcomed rainy weather, etc.). During all of those hiccups, Marissa was there to calm me, reassure me, and offer me alternative suggestions. She was also the ULTIMATE HYPE WOMAN! She kept telling us how amazing the pictures were turning out, how good we all looked, and gave Jake and I little sneak peeks here and there on her camera throughout the day. Seeing how good the pictures were turning out during the day really gave us the energy to keep smiling for the camera! Now, let me tell you about how incredible she is as a professional. She is truly the BEST PHOTOGRAPHER EVER. Her turnaround rate is insanely fast! Marissa got our engagement pictures back to us the NEXT DAY. She got us a handful of wedding preview pictures the NIGHT OF our wedding and got us a whole entire preview gallery filled with hundreds of photos within TWO DAYS. Although our contract stated that Marissa would get us our entire wedding gallery within two months, she provided us with all of our edited photos (over 1,400 photos!) way earlier than the deadline! Not only did she give us pictures fast, she gave us pictures that were amazing! Marissa's editing is everything I could ask for me and much much more! Her pictures are vibrant but not overwhelming, lively but not aggressive. Marissa really knows the best angles and made me feel so beautiful in every picture she took! I struggle to find the words to explain it but Marissa does such an excellent job of "capturing the moment". When my husband and I sat down to look at our wedding gallery, there were so many moments where we teared up or had the biggest belly laughs because all the feelings and emotions from our wedding day came pouring out in the photos she captured. I don't know how she does it, but her pictures have a way of telling a story and touching your heart. I will forever recommend Marissa to everyone! The words I have left here in this review are only a small glimpse into the outstanding photographer that Marissa is. You have to experience it yourself to truly understand where I am coming from. You cannot go wrong with her - Marissa is "the one"!

Frankie S

Miranda Priestly style (Devil Wears Prada), "If you don't hire her, you're an idiot." AKA, let this be the only review you need to stop wavering and hire Marissa! A bold statemen...

t but a true one, there's no one better than Marissa. I could go on and on about her photography skills and how almost everyone who attended my wedding complimented me on the beautiful photos when I shared them, but Marissa is the best because of the relationships she creates not only with her couples, but with their families on the day of, too (the attached photo was taken the first time we met after we finished with engagement photos!). Marissa instantly brings this calming vibe to the craziness of wedding morning from the moment she arrives! You can tell it's not her first rodeo, the girl knows what she's doing and the best way to do it. Whether it's keeping you on timeline, the right pose to strike, to fixing your veil to make sure it's not folded weirdly or wrinkled. Marissa got previews to us THE NEXT DAY, and more later that week. She delivered so many I thought it was the full gallery! When she was leaving the wedding, I think we hugged on the dance floor for 5 whole minutes because we didn't want her to leave. She brings so much fun with her on wedding day, it's so clear she truly loves what she does and has a passion for capturing moments. I could write a novel but I think I've gotten my point across!! Marissa is the kind of photographer where you'll look at a photo from your wedding day and while admiring you and your new spouse, you thank Marissa in your head for capturing it because she's the one who made it perfect.

Chelsea A

I literally cannot write enough good things about Marissa and her INCREDIBLE photography. I was engaged for about 3 years (thanks Covid) and during that time started following Mari...

ssa on Instagram because I loved one of her photos and wanted to see how consistent her work is. As an amateur photographer myself, I am extremely particular about my photography and I have to tell you that all of her work was absolutely phenomenal, consistent across the board, never abused the exposure or contrast, and even her photos taken at night during the reception were clear and full color (not crazy bright from the flash, which was one of my main fears!). From a photography standpoint alone, you will not be disappointed. Now on to Marissa as a person: she's a gem!! Everyone at my wedding felt so comfortable being photographed by her because she melded into the wedding party so incredibly well. She's awesome to be around, fun, chats when you engage with her, never has an awkward moment, and makes you feel totally fine about your own. So many people came up to me at the wedding to say how awesome she was and I couldn't agree with them more. Now for the logistics: Marissa scores top marks here too. She was my favorite vendor to work with, stayed up to date with me on the timeline of the photography on wedding day, never made me feel like a nuisance or like I was bothering her, went over my shot list with me in detail, and gave me her professional advice on how to make the most of the day from a timeline perspective. She was in lock step with my coordinator and got to our rehearsal dinner (we hired her to shoot an hour of the dinner) and ceremony site early so she could scope out the best places to take photographs, which she then cleared with me before she actually started taking pictures. She gave great direction, was always open to my ideas, and knew where to give me the professional heads up where needed. She's also incredibly chill, so there's no unnecessary stress. And, she sent me a few pictures via text after the wedding before we received the final shots, just so I had a few samples for myself and my family. <3 Most important note: When my husband and I first got engaged, I told him the photography was the #1 most important thing to me. We ended up going over budget on photography for what we had allotted for the wedding and let me tell you, it was WORTH. EVERY. PENNY. Seriously, I would do it again and literally EVERYONE I spoke to say, whatever you paid, if it was the moon, it was worth it. No one will remember how the food tasted, the music will become a fuzzy memory, and the day has already become a bit of a blur. A few of my friends had bad experiences with their photographer and now need to live with the photos forever (because you just can't redo your wedding day). But Marissa was able to capture the day exactly as it felt: colorful, vibrant, special, and wondrous, and my husband, family, and I will can treasure these photos forever. If you are on the fence about hiring Marissa, get off the fence and message her now before someone else books her, because I can promise you she is so good you will be kicking herself if you miss your chance. Marissa - thank you for the incredible photographs! We are so appreciative and will treasure them forever!!

Ashley M

If you are looking for your sign to book Marissa as your photographer, this is it! I initially found Marissa through Instagram. I came across a picture from one of her engagement s...

hoots on North Avenue Beach and knew immediately that her work was unlike anything I had ever seen before. I immediately reached out, and booked her for our engagement shoot! She is incredibly kind and helped so much with how to prepare for the shoot - giving location ideas, what to wear, etc. Two days before our shoot, Marissa reached out and told us that it was scheduled to rain the day we had booked. We only had a small window of time that my fiancé was in town, so we didn't think we would be able to postpone to a later date. Marissa was so kind and understanding and told us she would bring umbrellas for the shoot and we would make it work. However, as fate would have it - she suddenly had an opening the day before our scheduled shoot. She reached out to me the morning of and asked if we would be able to do the photoshoot that night! It was a clear night in Chicago, so we took that as our sign to take it! We are so happy we did, because our photos turned out amazing! But not only that, it was such a memorable experience because we had so much fun with her! She put us at ease, directed us on how to pose, and made us genuinely laugh the whole time. She is such a light, and so talented, and we are so lucky we had her to capture this special time in our lives.

Gabbie B

Before even being engaged, I already knew that I wanted to have Marissa photograph our wedding after looking through her amazing work on Instagram and her website! I contacted her ...

and booked with her as soon as we got engaged. She sent us the cutest care package consisting of her very own wedding guide (filled with handy advice and tips), a disposable camera, the cutest cutting board, and the sweetest hand-written note! While wedding planning, I would regularly contact her via email, Instagram, texts, or her website messaging system with questions and concerns. I was literally contacting her everywhere, and she ALWAYS got back to me super quickly!! In addition, she checked on me frequently to ask how I was doing and if I had any questions. Which was very kind and much appreciated. A few months before the wedding, she sent me a document to answer a few questions and details about the wedding day. Then, she made a timeline based on it. This was incredibly thoughtful and very organized for her to make, so things could run more smoothly on the wedding day. On the day of the wedding, Marissa was super positive, creative with the different ways to pose (because Collin and I don't know what we're doing), and she kept hyping us up!! She was super attentive to little details to make the pictures look better and considered our opinion and input. Also, during our golden hour pictures, she brought out a little speaker so we could dance and take some candid photos while listening to our favorite music. How cool is that?! Marissa is super passionate about photography and her clients. She is extremely hard-working. She even stayed longer than she was supposed to, just to take some fun extra shots of everyone dancing. My husband hates getting his pictures taken. However, he even said he had so much fun with Marissa - she just makes you feel so comfortable and relaxed! She is so unbelievably talented, kind, organized, professional, and hard-working. By the following day, Marissa already had the previews to show us! The day after that, she had more! We received our full gallery exceptionally fast, and they were the most magical and incredible pictures I have ever seen! Thanks to Marissa, our day and personalities were captured SO perfectly!! I HIGHLY recommend her, you will not be disappointed, and we will be booking with her again in the future!!

Katherine K

Where do I START! Marissa is one of the most incredible photographers and human beings that I have ever met. We had to postpone our July 2020 wedding to June 2021 and Marissa was ...

so incredibly easy to work with during all of the shifting we had to make. This also gave us some extra time to get to know her! We weren't originally planning to do engagement photos - but after seeing the amazing work Marissa does, we signed up for a holiday mini session with her. Marissa makes you feel so comfortable and relaxed when she is taking your picture - so much so, that she captures the most incredible candid moments. The pictures from that holiday session were the first pictures we hung up in our new condo! For our wedding - Marissa was such a joy to be around all day. From walking me to the first look with a fan (it was a hot day!), to bringing a speaker to play music during the wedding party photos, Marissa made the day SO much fun. One of my favorite parts about our wedding day was Marissa making sure we had time to stop at a bar to grab a drink before the ceremony - resulting in some of my favorite photos of the entire day. Marissa will capture your love and joy in the most magical way - and you'll make a new friend out of it as well. I cannot recommend her enough!

Morgan F

Marissa is the sweetest person ever!! She makes pictures easy, enjoyable and genuine. She shot our engagement photos and I’m genuinely laughing in a lot of the pictures - which I l...

ove because they aren’t the typical stiff posed pictures. She has the most laid back personality and is so easy to get along with. For our engagement pictures, I really wanted fall pictures out on my parents and grandparents land for sentimental value. She listened and delivered EXACTLY what I was hoping for and so much more. She has an incredible eye and I just absolutely LOVE her photos and how she edits them. She will be my go to photographer in the future! I love her and would HIGHLY recommend Marissa Kelly Photography to anyone!! She’s EXCELLENT!

Hailey F

In the hunt for the perfect photographer for whatever life event you want captured, look no further. Marissa is a star. She's enthusiastic, professional, super cool to be around, a...

nd absolutely incredible at what she does. Marissa recently photographed my wedding and I couldn't have asked for more. She got all *the shots* while also capturing the feel of the day. My husband and I are backstage people and are usually kinda awkward in front of the camera, but Marissa is absurdly talented at directing you so you feel comfortable. She knows how to make you and all your loved ones look your best in every photo. She does the best job of being present with you, making sure you're all good and are getting everything you need, while also blending in to the event to snap all the details you worked so hard on and moments you might have missed. She also got us preview photos the morning after which was such a gift, because everyone you love is still around and you all get to cry again looking at them while eating left over cake. I cannot express enough how impressed I am with Marissa and the photos she delivered to us. I cry every time I look at the beautiful images she gave us. My entire family loves her to the point where my parents ask me tell her they say hi when she messages me about the photos. My husband's brothers hadn't even seen any of the photos when they told me they wanted her at their weddings too. She has a great energy and delivers an amazing product. I don't know what good juju helped us find her in the vast expanse of the internet to capture the best day of my life, but I'm so thankful we found her. She's simply the best.

Sandra G

I highly highly recommend Marissa! Her photos are BREATHTAKING and cannot be compared to any other photographers’. Once we saw our photos, not only were they beautiful but we (and ...

everybody else who saw them) said “OH MY GOSH 😍” from how stunning they are. It is rare to come across photos that give such an impression and emotions but all of Marissa’s photos do that! We booked her for our engagement session and wedding. She made us feel so comfortable during our entire engagement session (by being the best hype woman ever) and it really showed in the photos. The poses did not seem forced and she captured real emotions in every single shot. Not only does she leave her magic in her photos but she is also an amazing human being with a heart of gold. She is extremely professional and gives a high level of detailed attention, from the first correspondence all the way to finished product. She was also super flexible and understanding during the pandemic. There are not enough kind words to describe Marissa and her work. We will probably have to reschedule our wedding because of the pandemic but we will definitely reschedule around Marissa’s availability. Don’t waste your time researching other photographers, invest in Marissa Kelly Photography. Her work is worth every penny and I know her success will only continue to grow. Thank you, Marissa! <3

Kathryn R

Words absolutely Can NOT express how much we LOVE Marissa with all of our hearts. 100% hands down the most wonderful person to work with. We didn't get to meet Marissa until we sho...

wed up for Engagement Pictures and I was SO Nervous, Marissa hopped out of her car SO excited and all of our fears melted away. We left the engagement session and the first thing Eric and I said to each other was that it felt like we just became best friends with someone in an hour and we were SO Excited to have her be our wedding photographer. Marissa had our gallery back to us within 24 hours of the engagement session!! Marissa was so communicative through the entire process, I would send her messages about the venue and lighting and she responded to all of them and eased my worries. The wedding day came and she again completely melted all our fears away. She handled 6 rowdy Groomsman, Way too much wind, and Our Families like a walk in the park. One of my top 5 moments of my wedding day was sitting up on the balcony talking to Marissa for a few minutes while the reception was going on below us (she was trying to eat so most of it was me talking 😂) and getting to take in all of the people down below and appreciate the day that had been created so perfectly. If you want a Built in Best Friend as your photographer- Pick Marissa. (Even though I really don't want to share her-- I'll allow it because she is simply amazing) Our wedding pictures turned out so perfect and I can't wait for Marissa to take pictures for all of our other milestones in life.

Lauren G

If you found Marissa and happen to be reading this review, I hope you realize one thing: you are the luckiest human on earth. Marissa is the most amazing photographer and person I ...

have ever met. She is salt of the earth, genuine, professional, top-tier, incredibly talented, and unbelievably kind. Marissa is one of the first vendors I booked, and she has been the best decision I have made throughout my entire wedding journey. I know that she will be a part of our lives forever because we will be hiring her to photograph every special moment of our lives. Her beautiful pictures speak for themselves—classy, unique, stunning, creative, and full of love, laughter, and REAL people. Marissa has a talent for finding the beauty in everyone she meets and showcasing that beauty for everyone to see. She makes you feel comfortable, loved, celebrated, calm, and important. We already loved Marissa after she flew to NYC to capture our engagement photos, but we had no idea how much we would need her on our wedding day. In addition to her flawless photography, she unexpectedly rose into the role of coordinator as she often knew AND acted on many things before anyone else. She was flexible and supportive of last-minute changes, she saved my dads speech from going up in flames, she showed and sent me pictures DAY OF, she made sure to get all the shots we wanted and more, and she stayed to celebrate us long after she was contracted. Marissa truly goes above and beyond. She was born to do this. I also wanted to include a text I sent her at 9:00AM the day after our wedding because I think it is the raw truth: “Seriously you were everything I could have every dreamed of and you made everything that went wrong on our day be no big deal because you are the best ever and had the most fun chill vibe. I trust no one (mainly because I think I always do things best 🙃🥴😉) but I trusted/trust you and shell yeah you delivered beyond belief, you are the best ever and forever in my eyes a bff I will always stalk you for life so I apologize in advance but basically your fault for being so amazing/flawless and for making me fall in love with you.” We couldn’t have done it with without you, Marissa! Hire this rockstar now because she’ll be famous someday very soon and you’ll regret passing her up.

Jackie O

I can't say enough about Marissa. She is an amazing photo artist. She is flexible, kind, caring, and such a joy to work with. Our photos are absolutely unbelievably beautiful. My f...

amily and friends loved having her at our wedding. She was like another guest. My husband was unsure about having a professional photographer, but when he saw the photos, he agreed that they were priceless. If you want quality, professionalism, and a lovely person to capture your special day, go to Marissa Kelly. She is so wonderful.

Alexis T

Marissa is the absolute best! She did our engagement photos and we couldn’t be more happy with them! We did not even think we were capable of taking such pictures! Marissa was very...

responsive and even assisted me in my indecisive outfit choices! She made us feel so comfortable and made sure to incorporate special things to us in our photos. She even played our wedding song during our shoot :) She really has amazing talent and you can tell Marissa truly loves what she does! Our original shoot date had to get cut early due to weather and Marissa was able to continue our shoot two days later! We are sooo happy we found her and wouldn’t haven’t wanted anyone else to take our pics! We will definitely be using her for future family photos!

Julie B

I cannot say enough amazing things about our experience with Marissa. We both live out of town due to being active duty military and Marissa went above and beyond to accommodate a ...

time and location that would work best for us. She even sent me suggestions for outfits for our elopement session as well as provided a guide on what to wear for the best photos. During the session, she made us feel at ease and SO comfortable and even played music to set the mood. She has so much personality and spunk and had us cracking up the whole time which made our photos turn out AMAZINGLY. She even sent me edited previews THE SAME NIGHT she took our photos!! Marissa’s passion for photography is so evident... her attention to detail and creativity is second to none! I really could go on and on about what a joy she was to work with. Thank you so much for such an amazing experience Marissa! We will definitely be using her for our wedding photos!

constantinou h

We Loved working with Marissa! We used Marissa for our engagement and wedding photography. Working with Marissa felt like we were working with a good friend. We felt comfortable as...

king her for recommendations, revisions and requests, we also felt confident we were in great hands on our special day. We really love her style of photography. Everyone looks so happy and effortless in the photos we got. We highly recommend booking Marissa for your special occasion or photo session, you will not be disappointed!

Allie D

EVERYONE drop what your doing and schedule Marissa Kelly for your photographer! I just recently did engagement photos with her and am so ecstatic! Not only did the pictures turn ou...

t better than I imagined, the experience was the best part! I was very nervous going into this, having never really taking professional photos before (besides senior pictures 6 years ago!) like what do I do with my hands... Marissa was awesome and made my fiancé and I feel so comfortable! I walked away feeling like I had known her forever. She had such great ideas for posing, would capture candid moments while walking to the next photo site, and was able to reflect our silly and fun side in the photos! I never felt like anything was forced. She even made a playlist of our fave songs and played that during the session. I can’t stress enough how great this experience was! She took care of everything and made it stress free. I am so happy and thankful for the memories she created for us!

Contact

Illinois

Marissa Kelly Photography's photos

Marissa Kelly Photography

Wedding vendors in Chicago