Merinda Allen Photography

enough as is - Merinda made it the (second) easiest part of the day (marrying my best friend was first!). We're using Merinda and Lisa again for our 'I Do' Redo and I know they'll do an incredible job again.

oughout the entire process. She does an amazing job and had all of our pictures to us in a very timely manner. Highly recommend!

ke sure we had a timeline down and all of the images we wanted captured listed. Merinda and her team were so friendly and really went the extra mile to capture all of the details of our special day. They used creative techniques to get amazing shots and worked with us to capture everything we wanted and more. We definitely recommend working with her, she made our day really special!

personable, and an incredible photographer. My husband and I felt comfortable with her from the moment we first spoke with her on the phone; like talking to a friend. We went with the 10-12 hour package with Merinda as our main photographer, and it was worth every penny. We did not feel rushed when taking our pictures (VERY important on a day that I anticipated to be stressful!), and we had a healthy mix of posed and candid photos. All of our photos came back after about a month, and they capture all of the emotions and highlights from our big day perfectly. We also paid for the videography services through A Sweet Focus, and it was SO well done. Watching our for the first time made us truly feel like we were reliving our special day. Our family and friends say it was like watching a movie. The video came out a couple weeks after the photos, and it was so worth the wait! I know we will treasure both our pictures and our video for years to come. I cannot recommend A Sweet Focus enough for both photography and videography. Merinda and her team are so talented at what they do!

with, and she was very friendly. She listened to what I wanted for photos and I felt like my wedding day ran more smoothly because she was there!

her photography and interactions with her clients. I would definitely recommend her to anyone looking for a photographer! Thank you Merinda!

hesitant... I thought there had to be a catch. Merinda held true to her word. She delivered beautiful pictures in a timely manner (with even a sneak peek that day), made my fiancé and I feel extremely comfortable, and was so easy to work with! I highly recommend A Sweet Focus!

nd a recommended timeline for photographs. This was SO helpful in planning what the day would like. About a month before the wedding, we had an hour long phone call where Merinda walked us through what to expect that day. She listened to what was important to us for pictures and gave great advice on how to make them happen. I was so worried that our timeline would work and that we would be able to get all our picture locations in. She did a great job calming me and ensuring me that the day would be perfect. The day of, Merinda was so attentive and went above and beyond to help capture the day! We really appreciate all she did and will cherish the photos forever.

book her for our wedding. Our photos look fabulous! It rained all day on our wedding but she knew just where to get the best photos and was prepared with umbrellas for the whole wedding party if we still wanted to take pictures outside. When we did, she and her second shooter braved the rain for us! I could not recommend Merinda enough and my husband and I will cherish our wedding photos forever.

ted and down-to-earth personality and her light and bright editing style. I was first drawn in on the website by the name of her business, A Sweet Focus, and the photos on her site. Then we fell in love with her sweet and cheerful disposition and the wedding photo examples she showed us when we met for an introductory coffee. She is clearly passionate about wedding photography as it is her sole focus. She is a sweetheart AND a super talented and professional photographer, too. A winning combo! She was willing to meet with us multiple times leading up to the wedding. She was so easy to work with and accommodating to our questions and requests. She even met up with my husband and me and our lead videographer to coordinate the flow of the day. Another time she met up with us at the wedding reception venue to plan out our photo locations since we knew going in that we'd have a tight timeline. She was just wonderful. Additionally, her online platform for sharing information and photos was super easy to use and helpful for viewing and downloading. On the day of, she was organized and made sure she got all the family and friends shots we requested. We were so glad we had the unlimited package too because she was with us every step of the way, and never once complained about the long day. If you're still questioning who to choose for your wedding photographer, give Merinda a chance and reach out for coffee! You won't be disappointed :)

eography of our wedding really was the number one thing I focused on during my research as I knew I wanted photos/video that captured the best friend/love of my life feelings I have for my husband. I also knew I wanted vibrant and airy photographs and Merinda knows how to capture that light just right! When we signed the contract, which was actually pretty reasonable and not 10 pages long (thank you Merinda!) I was ecstatic. We met Merinda at the Botanical Gardens for our engagement session and I was a little nervous as I am terrible at posing for pictures. We walked around the garden and found the best fall trees, yellow bushes, and wooden brides that made me feel really comfortable and excited! Merinda chatted with us the whole time and she told us about her love for what she does and how dedicated she is to her work/art. She came back to our house for more photos as I had set up a cute hotdog date in our backyard, where we got engaged. Merinda met our dogs and we have a pitbull, which makes some people very anxious. Merinda could not have been more loving to our Sandy girl and I do not know how to express my gratitude for that. The engagement pictures turned out so well I am pretty sure I cried when I saw them. The fall colors, the feelings, the moments... all of it just overwhelmed me with joy. We did get three of the metal prints from Merinda's website and I highly recommend those! Okay so the wedding day... oh how to describe perfection... The moment Merinda entered the room I felt a sense of calm. I was able to write out some of my cards while she and Forrest captured all the details! They are truly remarkable in finding the perfect lighting and I felt so calm in their presence as my mom and sister were helping me put the dress on! The first look at Tower Grove was so much fun and I really enjoyed that her team took the time to find a place for Kevin and I to be alone and focus on each other. I also need to give a shoutout to Jessica who took on the task of bringing and taking our pitbull back to our house! This was unexpected and I am so grateful she was there to help. This meant the world to me! The Muny shots were awesome and Merinda and her team dealt very well with my friends who love to party! Merinda pulled Kevin and I aside to do portrait pictures and the scenery she chose was perfect. I cannot wait to see those moments! She could not have picked a better place that perfectly fits with our personalities. My family is also huge and she and Jessica did a fantastic job and getting those pictures done! It was a whirlwind but worth it! Even when I forgot to take the most important photos to me Merinda would stop and remind me and encourage me to do them. The wedding is a blur but I am confident all of those little details were captured. Merinda and her team marched down Wash Ave with Kevin and I to take pictures under the lights and the cardinals banner. That was one of the best moments! At the end of the night Merinda and Jessica were so tired but they both came back to the Magnolia with us to do one last picture. You both do not know how much that meant to me! I cannot tell you enough how wonderful this team is, seriously you will have no regrets! The entire day was a fairytale and it was because I didn't have to worry with Merinda by my side!

day. Very professional! First class. Love my pictures and video.

swered all of my questions. After hiring her, the contract was easy to read and deposit was all electronic. We chose the Pride & Prejudice package. For the next year, I got monthly tips though email and regular mail about being ready for the big day. We chose not to do an engagement shoot, so she photographer our rehearsal dinner instead. Merinda spent an hour on the phone with me a month before the wedding, and we went over a wedding timeline together that was broken in 20-30 minute increments, and I received a lot of positive feedback about specific shots I wanted. She helped manage expectations of how slow/fast a wedding party moves from one event to the other. Merinda is always prompt and on time, and very responsive to email. On the day of the wedding she brought a second photographer, Abby, with her and captured all the photos I wanted and more! Merinda helped keep us on schedule and my day went by flawlessly! She also worked very well with my videographer (who I hired separately). We received our photos about 5 weeks later, and they look stunning! I would recommend her to anyone.

around her and felt we were able to be ourselves which created some amazing images. She was very kind and very professional. The second photographer that she brought with her the day of our wedding was also so sweet and kind! Merinda made it very easy to get in touch with her if I had a quick question or concern which I feel is so valuable during the wedding planning process. She walked through our wedding day with me in advance to ensure I got all the photos taken that I wanted, provided great advice and suggestions while always letting me ultimately make the decision, and was just all around helpful. The photos that Merinda takes are GORGEOUS!! I love that they look so natural and not over edited. I will cherish these images forever. Merinda was very punctual and we received our photos way faster than I thought we would. She sent us a jump drive of our images and a shadow box with a few images she printed herself for us! We also had our ceremony recorded by her videographer, and it turned out better than I ever imagined! Merinda sent us a cute video book with our ceremony programmed into it!! Seriously so cool! All in all, I would hands down recommend A Sweet Focus for any special event you may have coming up! The work she does is amazing and she is the sweetest; she genuinely loves what she does and will make you feel so special!

rganized and being in charge. The last thing I wanted on my wedding day was to have to coordinate the what, where, when, and who of photos. She took care of all that. Not to mention, when our reception was running behind, she stayed late to make sure I didn't miss out on any photos. On top of that, she sent my pictures over earlier than expected and they were absolutely amazing. My one year anniversary is coming up and I can't wait to look over all the pictures again with my hubby. When I was down to my final three photographers and had to start narrowing down who to ultimately choose, Merinda's personality just stood out above the rest. I just knew that she would be the best person to take my wedding photos. I was more than happy with her before the day, on the day, and after the day.

xtremely comfortable in front of the camera but doing the engagement session a year before the wedding really helped us to relax and learn her style before our big day. On the wedding day, she made us feel ourselves and the photos she was able to accomplish that day are absolutely gorgeous!! I had a few special requests for photos I saw on Pinterest or other photographer sites and she wrote them down to remember and make sure we checked them off the list. I loved this! We bought the package with full day of coverage plus a video so she brought an assistant photographer plus 2 videographers which seems like a big team but was much needed. I also felt like she turned around our album and video super fast compared to what I've heard from other friend's experiences. I would certainly recommend Merinda to anyone!! She was awesome to work with and I love love her sweet personality!! Thank you again, Merinda!!

a good job directing the crowd and pulling us away at necessary times for great photo opportunities. She has such a great vision and she makes it happen! She brought an assistant day of l, which was super helpful since we had a pretty large wedding party. I cannot wait to see all of our photos!

I had some crazy ideas for our engagement photos (a pillow fight), and she rolled with it and was on board with the crazy idea - and the pictures turned out so cute. For our wedding, she showed up early with her 2nd for the day (Jessica), and they did an amazing job. Jessica was super friendly in organizing family members and helping to get the perfect shots, and Merinda was on point the whole time. Honestly, they were both so unobtrusive throughout the entire day that I worried they were missing things. I never saw them at all, so I kept thinking they were missing things... until we got our photos back and they captured *everything *- they were just not in my face the entire time! We had a church ceremony that was fairly religious in theme, so I was worried about having photographers bounce around up and down the aisle in everyone's way, but Merinda and Jessica were AMAZING and captured all of the shots without me ever once noticing them. Same with the reception - so many awesome shots that I never even realized they were getting. Merinda is such a kind person and I even texted her a week before the wedding with a picture of me with a spray tan to ask for her advice on whether or not to get one for the wedding, haha. She is kind and caring and so friendly. She did an amazing job with our photos (we received them 5 weeks after our wedding), and I can't wait to look back at them for years to come. As someone that's super self conscious and with low self esteem, I was worried that I'd hate the way I looked in all of my photos. The verdict? There isn't a single photo of me that I dislike from our wedding day. Merinda captured the emotions and the beauty of the day, which shines through to the photos, and I never even noticed that my arm didn't look perfect or I had a double chin in one of the shots. Instead, I focused on how much emotion and beauty radiate from the photos - and I never once thought about anything else! Thank you, Merinda, for everything! I can't recommend A Sweet Focus enough!

I could tell she was the perfect person to capture the importance and beauty of our day. She listened to everything I wanted out of both our engagement session and our wedding photos. She even took time out of her busy wedding season on a Friday night to talk me off a ledge after I was skeptical about choosing a make up artist. Our photos are all so spectacular my parents cry every time they look at them! She made my husband and me feel like models, which is exactly how you should feel on your special day! If you are looking for someone who is laid back, organized, and knows how to capture the perfect shot then book with Merinda! She was the best thing I did in planning our wedding besides actually marry my husband!

o our wedding photos she always found beautiful locations and scenery that was different from what you see everyday. Not only is she an amazing photographer but she also helped our day run smoothly by keeping us on a schedule which was difficult because of the large wedding party. Her assistant also went above and beyond from taking photos to fixing my veil and holding my bouquet when needed. Hands down she was the right choice for me and she would be for you too!

to the wedding day. I was simply trusting in her portfolio work and our phone conversations. Nonetheless, Merinda was the sweetest and fit in seamlessly on our day. She never said no, and was down for suggestions, photo ideas, etc. My photos turned out phenomenal- better than I even expected! And the biggest surprise was how many shots she got. I got to view thousands of photos and choose my favorites. If you haven't hired a photographer yet- hire Merinda/A Sweet Focus. You won't regret it!

ere amazing! They made us all laugh and made taking pictures in the cold a great time. We also rented her photo mirror booth which we highly recommend! Our guests absolutely LOVED it!!!

ement session and photos. She was able to capture a wide range of backgrounds and scenes. If we had any questions, Merinda was quick to answer them. On our wedding day, she showed up hours early to set up, capture getting ready moments, and any small details of my dress/jewelry/etc. Her second photographer was also friendly and knowledgeable! We were sent a sneak peak less than a day after our wedding and they were beautiful. We cannot wait to see the rest.

and created photo memories that will last a lifetime!! Merinda was pleasant and polite to work with from our first meeting at Bread Company up to the BIG day!! She got in contact with me a few weeks before the wedding to go over the entire timeline of the day, and she answered EVERY question I had!! I was not sure of the exact places to take wedding day pictures, but she was full of ideas and willing to call places even to try and reserve spots for photos. I was vague with my ideas and descriptions of spots to go for photos, and she helped make my ideas reality!! Merinda and her second shooter were both professional and punctual that morning when they began. They were patient, positive, and polite throughout the whole day. We even asked them to stay an extra 1.5 hours at the reception than what we had planned, and they were willing to work with us to stay. Last night, we received the link to our organized wedding gallery and loved the photos!! Even though it will be SO DIFFICULT to choose which photos from the MANY that we love to print for our album and hang in our home, we cannot wait to get them printed!! Thank you, A Sweet Focus for partaking in our special day!! : )

tiful pictures! Several weeks before my wedding, Merinda gave me a call to go over the wedding schedule in detail to make sure she knew the timeline in order to take all of the shots I wanted. I really appreciated her professionalism, organization, and attention to detail that contributed greatly to making my wedding day flawless. Merinda’s incredible talent and her enthusiastic, pleasant personality sets her apart from other photographers. Throughout my wedding day I never stressed about pictures, because I knew that Merinda and her team would get the perfect shots--and they did. All of the photos were stunning, despite the fact that it was 95 degrees outside. Each picture captured our happiness and emotions throughout the day so perfectly. My husband and I will treasure our wedding photos for the rest of our lives, and we are so grateful that we chose Merinda to capture these unforgettable memories.

imagined my engagement photos to be, and Merinda delivered. She really took the time to make sure she knew what I wanted to capture in our engagement photos. She understood the importance of our photos of just my fiance and I, but also having our two dogs with us. She made us feel very comfortable during our session and was very helpful with all the questions that we had. I cannot wait for Merinda to capture our wedding day as well!

now or have any personal connection to local photographers. We relied on the knot "awards" to narrow our search. Then looked at the sample pictures on several photographers websites. Merinda's website was beautifully done. We emailed 3 potential photographers, and she got back to me literally within minutes. Because we were 5+ hours away, we did a facetime call with her (her suggestion) and I immediately felt a connection and loved the way she talked about her approach to shooting. I didn't met Merinda until about 3 hours before my wedding, but she was phenomenal and we instantly felt comfortable with her, and our second shooter too. She made a mention that often the groom gets "left out" in before ceremony photos, and some of our favorite pics are the ones of my husband with his twin and their parents taken before the ceremony. Merinda was very communicative, nailed the two specific photo requests I had - and delivered quality photos. The more I look at our pictures, the more favorites I find. I whole heartedly recommend A Sweet Focus to other couples looking to have quality, lasting photos to remember their best day ever!

ither is my husband. We are just not aware of our best angles, or even what we look for in a picture. Merinda, our lovely photographer was able to lead us and capture moments that look so natural. She made us feel comfortable, and the effortless aura translates into her work. As far as pricing goes, most wedding websites and budget checklists state that you should spend about 10-12% of your wedding budget on photography, and A Sweet Focus was able to make that budget work. Plus the wedding was a destination wedding, and Merinda was able to accommodate that as well. The only thing I would have done differently was I would have used Merinda's advice to have a second photographer there. Our wedding had 75 guests, which isn't too large of a wedding but having that extra photographer would have allowed us to catch even more moments of that day. Thank You from the bottom of our hearts to A Sweet Focus and Merinda. You have given us pictures to adore for the rest of our lives. Give me a few years, I hope you are ready for maternity pics!

obtrusive she is - which beforehand I never even thought about being a potential problem. She was taking pictures with flash on during our ceremony (which she had to negotiate with our officiant for) but did so without seeming to be in the way or distracting to us or our guests. I'm so thankful she fought for that too because the pictures from the ceremony (and the entire day) are absolutely beautiful! Additionally, she's not afraid to get down into the weeds to get an amazing shot - she went to some pretty extreme lengths to get some of the best pictures for both our engagement shoot and wedding.

the pictures were so beautiful because of it. She has an amazing eye for photography and does such an exceptional job. She had a very quick turn around on getting pictures back to us, and she is very very responsive. She always replies to emails quickly and is very thorough. I cannot wait for our wedding pictures and to work with her again. I highly recommend her!!! She is amazing!!!

etails of our day in the most beautiful way. Also, we opted to have two shooters for our day, and her second shooter, Abbie, was also fantastic! I can't thank them both enough.

ordable and lasting beautiful memories!

our wedding date. Thanks again for everything Merinda!

turnaround) and I love them! She has a great eye and provides a good balance of offering suggestions/opinions and delivering on what the customer wants. I couldn't be happier, I completely trust Merinda, and I am really looking forward to having her be our wedding photographer!

and she put us both at ease. It was so nice to receive our image and have them reflect our personalities. The wedding went smoothly, largely in party to A Sweet Focus. Her team is so fun and personable! She advised me in the months before the wedding about the timeline to insure that we had the right amount of time for our portraits. We are overjoyed at our wedding gallery. Our family was crying while looking at these beautiful perfect images. Our portraits looked like they belong in a magazine!! Hire this photographer now!! She is amazing!!

easy to work with throughout the planning process and especially on the day of our wedding. Her number one priority was the make sure we got exactly what we wanted with our photos. She is so talented and knew exactly how to pose us and found the most beautiful spots for our photos. It's difficult to pick our favorites of the day because they're all so perfect! Thank you so much Merinda for the beautiful memories!!!

t. They all made my day go so smoothly! Thank you Merinda for being an amazing Photographer! I will forever cherish these photos!

u for taking the time out to come to our Destination Wedding and for being so kind and patient with my Family. Any bride would be so lucky to have you capture there day.

nd stunning, and she’s able to captured the most intimidate moments beautifully. She’s professional, kind, and fantastic at what she does. I highly recommend working with A Sweet Focus if you get the opportunity!

mmend!

ng photographer to capture our perfect day. 100% recommend using Merinda for your wedding!

ommend!