R.E.M. Video and Photography

everal emails in the months leading up to our wedding day with reminders and requests for timing/location info for the big day; it was one less thing to worry about knowing that when the team arrived on the day of they would know exactly what to do and where to be. They were always super nice to talk to and quick about responding to emails and phone calls. Robert was great to work with at the studio and the photographer and videographer team was great. We were very happy with the photos that Izabela and her assistant took and can't wait to see the video and trailer that Gabriel is working on! (My friends used R.E.M. a few months ago for their wedding and the photos that Agnes took for them were also beautiful.) Truly zero complaints.

up shots. The DJ did a great job of timing the use of many different songs during the ceremony and the dinner and dance hour. We highly recommend REM Video and Photography.

There was a fee for travelling to a western suburb, but the overall cost was still much lower than any other photographer in the area. The quality for the cost is an amazing value. I would recommend them to everyone.

he service they provided on our wedding day! They all were professional but also very fun and easy to work with. They captured everything that we had asked them to and more! They had a lot of hopping around to do between the bridal parties (my husband and I didn’t want to see each other before the ceremony) and to different picture locations throughout the day. Some windy weather made us change photo locations at the last minute and everything was handled easily and calmly. Agnes is wonderful and has an eye for beautiful lighting. She grabbed our whole group and got us outside for some amazing sunset pictures at just the right time. Agnes also handled the chaos of our family pictures wonderfully and was so patient with everybody. Armen worked with the groom’s side a lot for pictures and I heard nothing but wonderful things about his work with them. Robert was fun and did a lot of neat shots for the wedding video. I can’t wait to see how everything turned out!! We are very happy with our experiences with everything and everybody at R.E.M., including Izabela and Robert Mazur, who did all of the work with our contracts, payments and all email correspondence leading up to the big day. Everybody at R.E.M. are truly kind and talented and very easy to work with. We highly recommend them!

his company's work speak for itself. And boy, do they shine? My wife and I had a special situation with our wedding, in that we performed and hence needed to cover 2 seperate, ethnic ceremonies and receptions in one day! We worked with 2 different photographers-Isabella Mazur and Megan Bearder (and her assistant, whose name we now forgot). They made us feel at ease and very comfortable. They collect all of the information beforehand and come fully prepared on the day of, which is very important. Not just that, photography being such a creative profession, their ideas and styles are fantastic. If you don't want to take my word dor it, browse their portfolio and meet with them. We've only seen a teaser of all the pictures to come but they look phenomenal! We cannot wait to get out entire album and relive our most special day all over again. I should additionally mention, both our photographers - Izabella and Megan was so accomodating of our schedules, on the day of. We were running late, but they kept the mood so light and didn't let us think or worry about it at all. In essence, this is as best as your money can buy, value wise and you'll not regret your choice, picking this company. In fact, you'll end up patting your back, after the event. Will absolutely recommend them to anyone looking for an amazing photographer/videographer to cover their wedding day.

heir wedding videographer. After watching their videos and seeing how beautiful they both turned out, I immediately called and booked an appointment. Meeting Robert was a very positive experience. Not only was he very professional, but he also had many great ideas, which helped me in my planning for the wedding. After hiring Robert, the communication was consistently quick, efficient, and helpful. The best part of working with Robert for my wedding video was not only the very professional experience, but also the family-like feel he gave us. He took such good care of everything and made my event feel special. On the day of our wedding, everything went smoothly and it honestly felt as if he was just another one of our guests that were invited to the wedding rather than just a videographer. His assistant was also very friendly and captured many special moments that day as well. Since the wedding, Robert has shared some clips of his footage and has made great recommendations for song selections for the highlights video. I can't wait to get my video! Thank you so much for the great experience!

mpliments all the time on our beautiful pictures. We will forever have flawless memories of our special day which was the best investment we could have made. The day goes by so fast! If you're looking for someone affordable and high quality to capture the memories, look no further!

ooh-ing and aaaah-ing after every shot. Communication leading up to and after the wedding was a breeze, and pricing is really fair. But best of all, our video is gorgeous, not tacky, perfectly edited with the music, capturing memories that will last a lifetime. Would recommend them in a heartbeat to anyone!

ewed it which Robert made immediately. I've watched my video a million times and I cry every single time. The quality level of the video is incomparable and the way it is edited together with music and speeches and special moments is incredible. My sister already hired REM for her wedding after seeing my experience. I think my wedding video is by far the best I have ever seen and I would advise to hire REM immediately!

great at his job. He makes you feel comfortable even though he's following you around with a camera. Sometimes, you don't even know he's there. There are so many moments on our video that I didn't see that day, but Robert was there to capture it all so we could remember it forever. The highlight video is my favorite. It shows the most exciting parts of the day in just about 8 minutes with music and clips of speeches. It's the perfect way to reminisce when you don't have some 45 minutes to watch the full video. He uses artistic effects at just the right times to emphasize certain moments. It's so much more than a video, it's like artwork that you can watch over and over again. I definitely recommend R.E.M. for video. Robert got along so well with the whole wedding party and the photographer even though he was from another company. Very professional, incredibly nice, and artistically brilliant. I couldn't be more happy with our video.

s we hadn't considered (ie. staggering photography times for bride and groom preparation since guys require/desire far less photos), he helped us choose the best (not most expensive) package for our bridal party needs. In addition to the wedding, Robert filmed our entire rehearsal dinner from welcome to speeches. He even stayed an extra hour and a half (free of charge) because he wanted to capture all the speeches for us to remember. We were touched to say the least. And then the wedding... I can't say enough about his lead photographer, Izabela. Although she was with my wife for a majority of the day up until the ceremony, once she merged with the groomsman, she displayed the perfect balance of patience (organizing an increasingly rowdy crowd), creativity (suggesting alternative photo ops - the rain was unexpected) and leadership (fast, efficient and somehow always smiling). And then there are the photographs. Over 1000 and if we only had a fraction of them we'd be over the moon. It's truly an embarrassment of riches. One we couldn't be happier with. As a TV producer, I work with professional editors daily, so the idea of a wedding video was something that concerned me since I'm hypercritical of everything I watch. And this was our special day. When we received the video (it takes a couple months from ceremony to edit to your doorstep) I'll be honest, I was skeptical to say the least. Having watched it over a dozen times now, i can say this-- not only does Robert have an incredibly keen eye for tender moments as well as the important players (family members and key people in our lives were focused on), he has the ability to make a wedding with 150 guest feel totally intimate at moments and royally grand at others. He asked for our musical choices (Sam Cooke's "Bring it Home to me" was our first dance song) and used them perfectly. Picture, audio, editing transitions - everything is top notch - as good as anything I've been a part of in Hollywood, if not better (though I am biased towards the subjects involved) Overall, top notch service and quality across the board.

was as if a Hollywood movie director filmed our wedding. I watch it over and over!! Thank You R.E.M. for giving me a memory that will last a lifetime!

eo fulfill my high expectations, but I was COMPLETELY blown away by the photos we received. The photography captured the city of Chicago so well, which was a large part of our focus for the wedding. They not only captured essential moments perfects, but also the candid ones that end meaning more. The video really told our story well. I am so grateful to have it so I can relive the day again through it. The videographers were perfectly behind the scenes through out the day, never intrusive. The service blew me away as well. From day one, they were eager and always willing to answer my many questions. After the wedding was complete, I was so appreciative of the willingness from Robert on notes/edits to the short video. I can't thank him enough because in the end it was simply perfect! I HIGHLY recommend using REM for your wedding. They were priced reasonably. Much more digestible than those big/ads everywhere photographers located directly in the city and potentially overpriced. REM is the complete package you're looking for! You won't regret it.

ptured every moment we would want captured, and THEN some. We had a big wedding party, and a big wedding, and Robert was nothing but patient, helpful, fun, and professional! My groom and I have watched our footage over and over again, and it will never get old to us. It is creative, high quality, artistic, and captures every great memory we had from our big day. We absolutely recommend R.E.M. Video to any future bride or groom. If we had to do it all over again, we would...and we would DEFINITELY choose R.E.M.! Thanks again, Robert!

M for videography. I was also very pleased with my video. Couldn't be happier. Would highly recommend to anyone!

ding day. Watching the video for the first time made us both so happy and we continue to watch it! My favorite memory was showing our parents - it literally brought my Dad to tears. REM is creative and captures the true sense of what a wedding video should look and feel like. We were even able to choose our songs for the video. I am a fan and would recommend them to anyone and everyone!

grapher. Our video made my Dad cry. It was worth every penny!

R.E.M. Video and Photography, who came to us by way of another vendor’s recommendations, proved to be reachable and excellent communicators. We could have not asked for a better photographer (John) and videographer (Robert). Not only are they genuine, honest and reliable people, but they truly love their work and bring a high level of positive energy to all their encounters. The vibrancy of their pictures and video come magically alive, transporting you back in time, warming your heart and touching your very soul. Their ability to capture the subtle nuances of the ceremony and reception while being unobtrusive was more than we had we had envisioned. Two weeks after our wedding, we received our video, I watched it over 35 times in one day! It is truly a work of art. We could hardly contain ourselves with excitement waiting for our pictures to arrive. Izabela is a photographic master. We could not be happier with our R.E.M. Video and Photography experience and the quality of their work. – Lauren + Sam

nal and listened to my vision and the end product was better than I imagined. Truly a great team and I recommend REM to all future brides, you won't be disappointed!

omfortable, and I never felt like I was in front of paparazzi. Working with REM was so effortless, and I would recommend them to any bride. Thank you so much!

were beautiful! Moreover the pictures were ready in less then a month after the wedding so we didn't even have to wait. Overall great experience, thank you!

cture that was taken and am so excited to see my video once complete!! When looking for vendors, I loved the picture style and video footage I saw and knew this was the perfect fit for us!

ly open to learning about the customs and traditions that we wanted to capture on our big day. Robert personally shot our wedding day and we couldn't be happier with both the highlight reel and the finished video! His talent and vision for the final product were exactly what I wanted. This area was one of the most important details of my wedding day and I'm glad I spent the time searching for R.E.M! (I vetted about 8 other videography companies...) Thank you, Robert, for capturing such an important day. I'll be recommending you to any one that will listen!

services offered. Robert was great to work with from our first meeting through the entire process. His quick responses to calls and emails was always appreciated (especially by me, a Type-A planner). On our wedding day, our main photographer (Maria) and videographer (Garland) were personable and fun while still being efficient (wrangling 20+ people for a family photo is not easy!). I know they captured the overall fun feeling of our wedding. We received many compliments on the photography and videography team and how they were able to capture shots without being obtrusive- a huge thing for us! We also used REM for our engagement photos and I can say we were THRILLED with the amazing work from Maria. We expect the same quality for our wedding photos when we receive them soon! :)

my wedding beautifully!! The photographer was an absolute pleasure to work with. She was so very sweet and kept everyone smiling and laughing which made for wonderful pictures. I couldn't of asked for a nicer photographer!! And of course the videographer was just as nice!! I was expecting both my photos and video to take longer than they did. So they surprised me with the quick but amazing work!! After the wedding they were very accommodating. I live pretty far from their studio so they made getting the pictures really easy for me. Robert and Izabela were very very kind answering all my questions and helping me along the way. They helped guide me to choose the perfect songs for my video. I really loved the fact that I never had to wait more than a day to get an email response from them!! I cannot recommend them enough!! The memories of the day (photo and video) were the most important part for me and I am very glad I put my trust into R.E.M. Photo & Video!! They captured everything perfectly and I will have great photos and video to look back on always, which is everything I wanted. Thank you R.E.M.!! I highly recommend this company for both photos and videos.

an abundance of photographers available in the Chicagoland area, but we were coordinating our wedding in Chicago all the way from Phoenix (where we lived at the time) & REM was exactly the type of service we needed & the work they did ended up being phenomenal! In short, they were: 1) Very quick to reply via email/phone (this was important for me) 2) They offered a variety of affordable options/packages that you could choose from (we were on a budget so this definitely helped) 3) They weren't afraid to go into our crazy Latino wedding with over 300 guests, and I actually received praise from a few of our guests about the likability of our photographers (we had 2) & their eagerness to get on the floor or any other compromising pose to get the perfect shot 4) We chose to get our pictures in a thumb-drive and of course me being the reckless person I am, ruined it (be careful not to corrupt your USB's by ejecting it incorrectly) to which REM was quick to find a workable solution. 5) The final product was simply stunning, they captured my wedding beautifully (especially considering we had a traditional Mexican wedding, so it was a little out of the "norm" but we hashed this out on a pre-wedding questionnaire which they actually followed to a T) You can't go wrong if you choose REM!

ted to receive the video...and this is were the disappointment came. We were promised a 40 minute edited video of our wedding and received 22 minutes which had NOT included some very important aspects of the wedding. We had funny entrance blurbs for each member of the wedding party which wasn't in the video. In addition, my Fathers Speech (a VERY important part of the wedding I'd say) wasn't in the video either! I sent Robert an email expressing these complaints in a very professional way figuring it was just a mistake, I'd get an apologetic response and a new video...well I thought wrong. He wrote back and stated, "We would never omit such important moments from the documentary section. Did you watch that part?" (as though I was lying and just trying to get something for free?) I responded back saying, "well, maybe I made a mistake, let me check again". It wasn't in the video, I watched it 4 times. He eventually wrote back and said, "I have great news"..."I'm not sure why the toast didn't transfer to the DVD" . He sent a new copy. I was absolutely appalled by his lack of responsibility and poor customer service. It was unfortunate, because the videos themselves were beautifully done but clearly not reviewed and rechecked for all elements in the video. It makes me feel that because I didn't spend a great deal of money, my video was not worth his time. I hope other brides who choose REM don't have to go through.

! Thanks REM!!

we could have made! Once I saw the photos and the video, emotions came back and I began to relive every moment of our dream wedding. From bridal preparations, to the ceremony, photo shoot, and reception, they captured every single moment in a beautiful and artistic way. I would recommend them to any bride.

ice, friendly and professional. I used them for all three days of my wedding weekend and everything turned out amazing. I even received my photos and video within 4-6 weeks after the wedding (which is outstanding given that the industry standard is almost 6 months!). The photos were absolutely stunning and the video still makes me cry everytime. For the day of my wedding, Robert and his crew showed up right on time and got right to work! My main photographer, John, was completely on point. He was great at working with our large crowd of guests and we got a picture with each and every one of our family members and guests. He was able to take traditional shots along with many photojournalistic ones too. My second photographer, Izabela, Robert's wife, was so sweet and willing to work with all of my crazy bride requests. Robert was my videographer for the day and the work was beautiful. I can honestly say that R.E.M. was the best vendor I chose during my wedding planning process and I would recommend the services to any and every bride!

no one else we wanted to capture such a milestone event as our twins' 1st birthday. He is not only extremely professional, polite, and easy to work with, but he is a true visionary. As others have mentioned in their reviews, he listens to the client's desires, offers his professional suggestions, and ultimately creates a masterpiece that meets the client's needs. Having worked with him now on multiple occasions, I can see from his work, he films with a plan in mind. He has captured my wedding festivities (traditional Indian) and children's party so beautifully my family watches our videos over and over! He is very patient, organized and tries to accomodate the client's requests to his utmost. His photographers are excellent and true artists. I don't know all that goes into post-production but there isn't one image out of 2000+ from my wedding or from my children's party that isn't amazing. I receive compliments all the time on the images captured by R.E.M. REM is a pleasure to work with, highly artistic and adaptable to whatever your event may be and whatever your individual needs are as the client.

ave really enjoyed working with them. we have already referred them to several of our friends and will continue to do so.

dding memories. I was introduced to R.E.M. though my sister who hired him 5 year ago for her wedding. Robert and his staff did a fantastic job for my sister and since then I've alway referred him to all my friends getting married and they all loved him and his work. If you are looking for someone who is extremely professional, artistic and extremely creative than R.E.M is it. I could honestly say Robert and his staff love their job and it truly shows through their work. I've received many compliments on my wedding DVD and how R.E.M pieced moments together. Every bride should hire R.E.M and I can't emphasis enough how great R.E.M really is.

hotographers who work with him. That night, we decided to book R.E.M. two years in advance for our wedding day. When the date started to arrive, Robert got in contact with me and sent me a checklist of all the types of pictures that we wanted our photographer to take. The options were numerous and gave us even more ideas than we initially had in mind for our wedding pictures. The communication regarding this company was absolutely wonderful. Emails were responded to immediately, and we were able to converse with our photographer a few weeks before the wedding (something big photography companies don’t do!). One of the things my husband and I loved about John LaVere, our assigned photographer, was that he showed up at the exact time we agreed upon at the venue and dressed professionally. John was in charge the entire time--it was great! We had a very large wedding party (16 people), so when people were still floating in late, John was able to work with what he had for shots. He was firm, but very kind and approachable, and I could genuinely smile with him taking my picture and it showed in every shot. Another great thing about R.E.M. is that they charged by the hour, not by the number of photographs. About 500 pictures were taken in 7 hours and a vast majority of the pictures were artful and showed the decorative work that was put into the wedding. We really appreciated that. Shortly after the wedding, the pictures John took were touched up by Robert’s wife, Izabela (Yes! A real husband and wife team!), and put on a website, so I could send invites to people who wanted to view and order any pictures. Note to the bride: when you get excited to see the pictures online, make sure you read and respond to the entire email regarding whether you want your photos on a CD or a flash drive. I was so excited to see the pictures that I did not realize that I hadn't responded to R.E.M.'s question which delayed the shipment of my pictures. This was entirely my fault--their communication is pretty much perfect! The flash drive arrived and we immediately backed up all of the images to our external hard drives, just in case. R.E.M. provides digital rights, so you can copy and print out your pictures on your own time, but they also back up your pictures as well. This is important because if you want to contact R.E.M. in the future about ordering one of their gorgeous professional albums, you have the opportunity to do so. This provides a real sense of security for us. The photographs are the only things that last after that crazy expensive day is finished, and seriously, you want to have stunning pictures to remember your wedding. If you choose R.E.M. Video and Photography, I promise that you will be patting yourself on the back for years to come because it was the best wedding decision you made.

We had 2 videographers and they did a wonderful job capturing our entire wedding and they blended in seamlessly with everyone else; we could not even tell they were there! We just received our first cut of our video and it brought back so many wonderful memories. I have a brother who is very talented in film and I knew once I had his approval I was good to go. Highly recommended and extremely professional.

work with. I live in Oregon and had my wedding in Illinois. I was able to contact Robert via email and phone. Robert is extremely creative and provides his input, but gives the bride/groom the opportunity to take lead. Choose this company! You will not regret it! The finished product takes about 4 months and the wait is worth it!! Thank you R.E.M!

and somehow found a discrete way to capture every moment. Once we saw the final product we were speechless. He was able to turn our emotionally-charged, somewhat chaotic wedding day into an artistic masterpiece. We highly recommend this vendor, their services are worth every penny and more.

's still very accomodating with our editing requests =) Very professional, flexible, very talented and their sample work on VIMEO are just remarkable. My husband and I, and our wedding party (even our family, relatives and friends!) really enjoyed his company as he made us all comfortable while taking video shots of us during th reception. We had to wait months before we received the first draft of our wedding video... but that's with any high quality videographers and actually, Robert is more of a Cinematographer and let me tell you - the wait was worth it! =) We have watched our video so many times already, especially the wedding highights with family and friends (best part of the video! the timing was perfect with all the music, as if we're watching a music video of ourselves - highly recommended!!) and each time, they applaud in the end! =) Thank you Robert for everything!!

accommodated us with the style of photographs we wanted and paired us with a photographer to match our needs. And, let me tell you, they did this PERFECTLY! From the moment Monika walked in she was energetic, fun, and just generally awesome. She did a great job coordinating everyone for pictures and making sure everyone was having a good time. Our guests are still (a month later) asking us where we found such an amazing photographer! The pictures turned out great as well. We had a few of the traditional pictures along with lots of fun artistic shots that are amazing. We would recommend REM and Monika for any event (even if you just invite her as a guest!).

y penny. We have over 2,200 photos and the truly captured every moment, and then some! Our wedding and reception were held in the Aon building's Mid-America Club, so we took pictures around downtown and Millennium Park. The angle and attention to detail in the photos is beautiful. And the post-production work of enhancing the colors, enhancing the light source, etc., really brought out our best features. I couldn't believe it was us in the pictures, that's how *amazing* we look! Our main photographer was Megan Beader and she did a wonderful job. She was enthusiastic and extremely interested in getting all of the best shots, which was fantastic because she really wanted my husband and I to truly be captured in the best light. Our main videographer was Ben Strong. Ben was kind and was very interested in meeting all of my expectations. He continued to ask me leading up to the wedding and throughout the night about what I wanted to capture. He did a great job of checking in to make sure he was making our dream wedding video. We can't say enough great things about R.E.M. and we would highly recommend them to any engaged couple. Their photos are breathtaking!

e beautiful. I only had two parts of the experience that I was not thrilled with. First, Megan stayed an extra 45 minutes and did not tell me she was doing so. I wasn't wearing a watch, so I expected she would be paying attention to the time and leave when she needed to. So when I was billed for the extra 45 minutes it was a bit of a surprise. However, it was well worth it for the awesome pictures she got! The second piece was that the owner of the company was supposed to be our videographer. He called me the DAY Before the wedding to ask if he could send someone else, without any explanation of why. That irked me a bit, but it ended up ok. We haven't seen our video yet, but I am excited to see it when we get it!

etitive. Ken Carl was our photographer on the day of our wedding and we really could not have been happier. Ken was very personable and his energy really set the tone for the rest of the night. He made the entire group feel comfortable and we really had a blast working with him. He had a great eye for shots and suggested places that we did not even think of or consider for the photo shoot. Ken really understood what we wanted and was in tune with our "style". He remembered all the little details of everything we had discussed the week before the event and made sure we got all of the shots we wanted during the ceremony and reception. His photojournalistic style helped capture the event from beginning to end and his artistic eye and energy truly enhanced an unforgettable day. When we received the photos, they came out great and Robert and Izabela are super responsive and timely with everything that they had promised. Our only regret is not also getting video along with photography! We would highly recommend R.E.M. to anyone seeking photography services.

prices were very reasonable. We are really looking forward to seeing the final product.

edding, so there were 2 videographers that we did not know prior. It was...interesting.