About this vendor
Sterling Expression is photography by Mariah Sterling Handlon.
Hello! I’m Mariah and I adore my job. I have been working in the wedding industry since I was 16 doing everything from catering, cooking, set up, clean up, planning, and more. I started seriously refining my photography skills in 2016 and opened Sterling Expression Photography. I photograph events, seniors, families, animals and more, but weddings are my favorite! My goal is to make your planning and wedding day as stress free as possible from helping you make planning decisions to being your go to on wedding days for anything you need all while capturing each special moment.
My second photographer and I will capture everything from getting ready to the reception with absolutely no time restrictions. Day of schedules are custom made for your day! Edited photos are returned quickly! Engagement shoots are also available and are all exclusive!
Details
Business Attributes
- Woman-owned Business
Destination Weddings
- Destination Wedding Packages
Photo Shoot Types
- Boudoir
- Bridal Portraits
Photo & Video
- Digital Files
- Second Shooter Available
- Wedding Albums
Photo & Video Styles
- Modern
Wedding Activities
- Getting Engaged
- Wedding
Awards and Affiliations
2-Time 'Best of Weddings'
2021.2020.
Best of Weddings
The Knot independently assesses vendors for this award—it’s never self-reported. We base it on firsthand experiences from real couples and guests, and they must have a 4.5-star average across 7+ reviews in the qualifying year.
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Reviews
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5
out of 5.036 reviews
Review photos
Showing slide number 1 out of 9
Mariah did our engagement photos and wedding photos. We felt so comfortable in front of her camera (and I'm camera shy!!). Incredibly talented and professional. Highly recommend.
Mariah was recommended by a friend when I was planning my proposal. We have continued to work with her for our engagement photos and our wedding and there’s no one else we’d rather...
have worked with. Mariah is professional but creative. She is easy to communicate with and makes posing for photos easy, fun, and quick. Our proposal, engagement, and wedding albums look incredible, especially for the price. She turned each one around seriously fast. We had a videographer the night of our wedding as well. Mariah not only was able to work well around the additional cameras but worked with them to stage some incredible shots. We also received teaser photos for each album during editing that kept us looking forward to the full thing. We highly recommend Sterling Expression for whatever kind of photo shoot you are looking for.
we absolutely loved working with mariah! she was an absolute dream to work with and loved all of her work. we highly recommend her and will definitely be reaching out with any futu...
re needs.
Mariah was so awesome to work with! We met her through our wedding venue and she made us feel comfortable and relaxed from the start. We were lucky in that she was familiar with th...
e venue space, and she used that knowledge to capture amazing shots!
She is flexible, especially when the schedule goes all out of sorts. We didn't have our flowers when expected and instead of just waiting, she jumped into action and had my husband and I create some other really fun shots I don't know we would have had otherwise! Cannot recommend her enough!
Mariah was amazing! She worked so efficiently on our wedding day to get all the pictures we wanted while still having time to enjoy our reception. They turned out perfectly and we ...
couldn’t be happier!
She was great at keeping everything organized and running on time, and she got all our photos to us in such a quick turnaround time. Would definitely recommend!
We used Sterling Expression for our engagement and wedding pictures, suggested by our amazing venue The Sanctuary on Penn. Mariah was amazing to work with as we navigated our weddi...
ng prep. She was very patient (even when I missed emails!).
She and her assistant had great energy and rapport the day of our wedding, and they had great suggestions for us as we took pictures. I would highly suggest Sterling Expressions, and will be using them for our photo needs.
Mariah is so easy to work with! She is open to suggestions but has endless ideas so that all you have to do is show up and follow her lead. She is super relaxed which makes the exp...
erience very enjoyable and stress-free. She also got our pictures back super fast and they are STUNNING! So happy we chose her for our wedding!
Mariah exceeded our expectations in every way. She was on time, responsive, accommodating and worked with us on our wedding day to make it a stress free, fun experience. All of our...
guests loved her as well. She captured all the moments on our Indian wedding and her attention detail is laudable. She delivered the photos on time and we loved every single one of them. Hiring Mariah was one of the best decisions we made in planning our wedding. Highly recommend!
Mariah was incredible! She was so quick and responsive, and all of our photos were amazing! Great mix of traditional shots, fun poses, and candids too - and you could really tell s...
he knew exactly what she was doing! Would recommend to any Indy bride
Mariah and her team were fantastic! She got every shot we asked for and then some. She was timely and a great price!
Highly recommend! Mariah was so down to earth and easy to work with. My wife and I both have large families and she directed everyone through family pictures so efficiently. I love...
how many varied shots she got of us, and how relaxed she helped us be instead of feeling like we were posing. I love looking back at the memories she captured, both before the wedding and the candids she got during the ceremony and reception.
During our first photoshoot Mariah did a great job of making us feel comfortable. Neither knew how to best pose or fit in with the scenery, but she gave great tips and paid attenti...
on to small (but important details.)
During our wedding she went above and beyond - handling things outside of photos for ourselves and guests.
For both sessions, photos were quick and high-quality.
Mariah was AMAZING to work with…5+ stars! She did our engagement photos back in August last year and will do our wedding day in May. She was so accommodating for our engagement pho...
tos and made the day really fun and enjoyable! She provided great tips & ideas for poses, was so nice and laid back, all while being very professional. For something that can seem awkward and forced, we never felt any of that. AND she managed to capture the best, most authentic photos of us. Her turnaround time was super quick too. We’ve only received positive feedback from others on our photos and we both will continue to HIGHLY recommend Mariah to others. Can’t wait to have her there on our wedding day – thanks Mariah!
Mariah is great! We loved working with her and our photos came out perfect! She was very helpful with scheduling, did a great job of setting up posed photos and taking candid shots...
, and got our photos back to us way quicker than we expected. Definitely recommend!
Mariah was incredible! She captured all the moments and poses I wanted and working with her was so enjoyable!
Hiring Mariah as our photographer was one of the best decisions we made for our wedding. Leading up to the wedding, Mariah helped me make a timeline and plan logistics for the phot...
os before and after the wedding ceremony and was impressively quick to respond to my questions and give me great ideas. I wanted pics with my 4-legged best friend but he couldn’t be at ceremony or reception and Mariah helped me figure out how to happen. She also gave me the idea of doing a father of the bride first look and the emotion she captured in those photos is something that I will cherish for the rest of my life.
On the day of the wedding Mariah helped to make everything run smoothly and was flexible/patient with me when I was ready too early and getting antsy. She and her 2nd photographer were so nice and went above and beyond to get great shots. Throughout the whole day - from getting ready to the end of the reception - they were constantly clicking away, but they were never annoying or in the way. They caught so many shots that truly captured our personalities and silliness. Also, the turnaround from our wedding day to getting our photos was impressive! I highly recommend Mariah!
I work and haved worked with Mariah on severel occasions and she is the consummate professional. She is with the bride and groom from the beginning of their day taking great and un...
ique pictures and settings. You will not be disappointed with Sterling Expression.
Don Masters
DJ Sanctuary
We are so thrilled with our wedding photos from Mariah! She made the day so smooth and was so accommodating - we were even able to recreate a photo shoot from early on in our relat...
ionship on our wedding day which was so meaningful to us. She didn’t hesitate at all when we asked for specific photos to be taken and they were able to capture the best parts of the day without us really noticing their presence! Highly recommended.
We cannot say enough positive things about Mariah and Sterling Expression! When we met Mariah we knew right away we had found our photographer for our engagement and wedding photos...
. She’s super easy to work with, comes up with some pretty great ideas, made us feel at ease the entire time and provided amazing photos for us. We are so in love with our photos and I tell everyone about her. We will definitely go to Mariah for all of our future photography needs!
We have used Mariah on four different occasions, including our engagement and wedding photos. She has really gotten to know us as a couple and knows exactly how to capture us (and ...
our son) in extraordinary shots. She takes the time to talk about what you are hoping to see as well as has the experience to take her artistic vision to perfectly capture your big day.
She will go waist deep in grass, water, whatever.. to get an amazing shot. She and Emci followed my husband and I through the getting ready process all the way through the reception to capture some amazing shots. Mariah kept the process flowing by working with our DJ adapting the schedule when the catering was delayed. She made the transitions a breeze and took care of any thing we didn't think of. So thankful we made the decision to work with Mariah back in February 2017 and we will definitely continue to use her in the future!
Mariah was so easy to work with! Our engagement shoot was so easy and stress-free, and she was very accommodating about locations and outfit changes. We love how our pictures came ...
out, and she got them to us just a few days after our session! Highly recommend!
Mariah was amazing and she made our wedding memories stress free . She was there early in the day and stayed until late night. She never missed a shot. What’s so great, we came hom...
e and looked at the photos and cannot believe she got all our moments that we would never have wanted to miss. We have also had her take pictures at a 50th birthday party. Well some of thoughts photos we will just have to keep to ourselves. Lol. Thank you for all your hard work.
Mariah is a wonderful photographer!! It’s not every day that you find someone who is as passionate about her profession as she is. She takes care into each shoot to capture the ess...
ence of the bride and groom, creating an everlasting memory that you will look back on for forever.
As well as her prices being absolutely wonderful, you stress a little less knowing that you have this wonderful woman in charge of pictures you’ll have for a lifetime.
Mariah was a pleasure to work with. Very nice, always giving directions in the politest fashion to inform us of how to take the best pictures. She has a great personality and even ...
in heated moments knew how to make us smile and laugh. Absolute wonder to work with, and her second photographer (I forget their name) was a pleasure as well 10/10
The first photoshoot Mariah and I had together was in 2016 when she did my senior photos for me. After seeing how phenomenal her work is, I simply had to get in on the action! Sinc...
e then, we have captured lots of wedding together (with me as her occasional second photographer), and I can honestly say this girl is a DREAM to work with!
Mariah was amazing the day of our wedding. She was there early in the day and stayed until late night. Plus she had a second photographer to make sure sure every moment was captur...
ed. We got our pictures back quickly and we love them! Highly recommend!
Miriah is easily one the best photographers around. Her work is fantastic and her prices are great.
Mariah was our wedding photographer. She did an incredible job, and we are so thankful for her excellent work!
Wow! The best photographer I have ever worked with. So helpful. So speedy. Such a great price. I can't imagine working with anyone else.
Mariah is awesome! She took our wedding photos October of 2018. They turned out beautifully and my husband still says, to this day, that the “photo session” was one of his favorite...
things about our wedding day. Mariah and her cohort were around all day, took artsy pictures, and incorporated our vision into the day as well. They were relaxed, making us calm, and made sure we got the day captured as we wanted it! Thanks Mariah!
Mariah traveled to Tennessee to take photos for my husband and I while we were on our honeymoon! We loved every single image and the creativity she puts into each shot is incredibl...
e. It was rainy and gross out, but she managed to work right through it like it was a breeze.
She has also done my boudoir photos! I am incredibly shy and self conscious so I was absolutely terrified going into this. During the session, she didn’t push me to do anything that wasn’t “me” or that I felt uncomfortable doing. I left the session feeling more confident than ever!
Mariah and Sterling Expressions made our day!! She had lots of energy and took all kinds of pictures for us. It was amazing. She really made the day and tried traditional and non t...
raditional picture ideas. We recieved our final, edited pictures quickly and on time. Sterling Expressions is my go to photography studio for everything now!! Thanks Mariah!
Mariah did an outstanding job. My fiancé and I absolutely loved her for our engagement shoot and can not wait to have her at our wedding. She’s very creative, and despite weather r...
uining our plans, she was quick to come up with a new plan for us. Would recommend her to anyone
Mariah took my wedding photos on 9-7-2019 and they turned out absolutely amazing. She was very good with telling us how to stand and what to do. She was very funny and made my str...
essful/amazing day even better!
Mariah did our engagement session and wedding in May 2019 and she is INCREDIBLE to work with. She is funny and creative and great with instruction, which really helped us loosen up...
as we were quite nervous at first. It all resulted in incredible photos from our engagement shoot and we can't wait to see our wedding day pics! She and her assistant, Swails, were so great on our wedding day- professional and kind and always there, capturing every moment. We couldn't recommend Mariah more and absolutely plan to book her for any future photo needs!
She made our big day amazing! Gorgeous photos and you were super flexible accommodating our schedule! Thanks for your creative eye and we look forward to sharing all the moments ...
you captured with our friends and family for years to come! What an amazing experience - will highly recommend you to everyone!
Contact
Indianapolis, IN, Indianapolis, IN | Worldwide!
Sterling Expression's photos