Melissa Cook Weddings

. She thoughtfully went above and beyond her contracted duties every time we interacted with her. The wedding was a few months ago, and I’ve tried unsuccessfully multiple times to adequately review Melissa without writing a novel. So if you don’t have time to read through the details below, then just book her now before some other lucky bride gets her first! A few specific details: We were a bit nervous for our engagement shoot at the National Gallery of Art. Sometimes our smiles can look stiff and forced, especially during a long photo shoot, but not with Melissa. She suggested many different poses and kept things moving quickly. We appreciated how she accepted our suggestions/ideas, but had hundreds of ideas of her own, taking into account our personalities. She has a gift for quickly getting to know her clients and making them feel comfortable. At the end, the groom commented, “That wasn’t bad at all!”, which is pretty much the highest praise you could get from him regarding a photo shoot. The pictures were phenomenal! They were moody, romantic and classy, and somehow Melissa found the perfect shots that made it look like we had rented the whole museum to ourselves. We expected quality work from her as we’d spent many weeks looking for the right photographer, but we were blown away by how quickly she got to editing our photos! By that evening, she’d already gotten 10-15 pictures back to us! This was such a gift to us. Our engagement shoot was less than 48 hours before the wedding, and as we neared the wedding hour, the weather forecast called for solid, heavy rain. We went to bed that night knowing that if the weather didn’t cooperate on our wedding day, we were completely satisfied with just the handful we’d already seen. This provided the peace of mind we desperately needed! Melissa continued to edit and send us photos throughout the next day. Every picture she added to the online album became our new favorite. We never dreamed that we’d get so many pictures that we truly loved. Wedding day: First, we appreciated how respectful Melissa was regarding our religious wedding ceremony. We appreciated that she researched our ceremony and communicated with us our expectations regarding the ceremony. And then she was willing to be flexible with timing, trying to maximize the dry parts of the day. In the end, it poured the entire day. Despite the cold rain, Melissa came early, trying to find the best spots to position us for photos, given the rain. And then she stood outside in the freezing rain, risking her cameras, efficiently directing us so we could get out of the rain as quickly as possible. We left the wedding ceremony and drove directly to the wedding dinner and somehow during the time that we spent driving, she managed to get small prints made of the wedding photos to alleviate our fears that the rain had ruined the photos! We couldn’t believe how thoughtful she was. The photos she got at the LDS temple were breathtaking, just like the art gallery photos! Melissa did such a great job capturing the contrast between the rainy, gray skies and the joyful love between bride and groom. Melissa showed up to the wedding dinner with printed and framed photos of the art gallery pictures to add to our sign-in table! Those consistent little touches really set Melissa apart from the rest! And then, Melissa managed to photograph the wedding dinner in a plain church gym and make it look magical and intimate. She is more than just a talented photographer – she’ll help with timing/scheduling so that you can get the most from your photography investment, and her thoughtfulness and talent really helped to put us at ease on this crazy day. We will be forever grateful to Melissa and will absolutely use her in the future!

ustry. We are grateful we chose her to capture such precious moments of our lives that we will cherish for years to come.

to you until you receive your final album, her excitement, professionalism, and experience shine through. Melissa is our photographer for life!

look like. The photographer and the planner really do keep the schedule moving! She and our day-of planner worked together to make sure we got the photos we wanted. It took so much anxiety off to have a schedule known way in advance. She is tech-savvy, responds super quickly and is open to different poses/looks. Our photos turned out beautifully and came back to us so fast!

graphy experience that makes you feel so special and cared for. 10/10 recommend!