Amazing value, amazing photos, amazing photographer
My husband and I wanted a small, budget friendly wedding. However, the one area we wanted to make a big investment in was our photographer because they would capture all of the memories that would be remembered for a lifetime. I am extremely picky about the way photos look, and wanted someone who could capture the beautiful PNW outdoors & awesome portraits, and also do it in a way that was timeless. Enter Christine, the owner of Oly Photography! We hired her in January for a May wedding, and she was extremely prompt in replying and getting things all booked up. We had a phone conversation to make sure she was “the one” and it was abundantly clear just from that one conversation that she was going to be perfect for our wedding.
I will start by saying husband & I are incredibly awkward nerds, so I was feeling some anxiety over how we’d look and whether our poses would be really weird. Christine directed us into poses that looked great and also took a lot of candids; I was shocked at how good we looked in like 99% of photos (the other 1% are us being weirdos which I loved anyway). Christine is also extremely nice and was able to put us at ease with her jokes and super sweet demeanor.
The engagement session was at Rattlesnake Lake, in February, on a windy day, and it was extremely, extremely cold. We ran around getting photos in the woods and Christine was a trooper despite her hands being completely frozen. When we got our engagement photos back after about 2 weeks, I cried because they were so perfect. They captured the love my husband and I have for each other, without anything looking fake or forced.
As an added bonus, leading up to the wedding, Christine was a huge help with getting our wedding day timeline sorted out. She explained all of the important things that needed to happen, and when. We went back and forth with some hour-by-hour schedules, and were able to come up with a timeline that would ensure we could capture everything we wanted!
Christine arrived on time on the big day and got right to work, snapping detail photos and starting to coordinate things. She actually helped keep everyone on track since she knew our schedule and I was locked away in a room trying to hide from my groom, lol. We had her for 6 hours, which I think was enough time to get the basics down, but if I could do it again I probably would have sprung for a couple more hours of coverage, to get some of the more relaxed/fun moments after the reception dinner was over. Within 6 hours Christine did detail shots, getting ready shots for bride & groom, father’s first look, family photos with aunts/uncles/parents, the ceremony, certificate signing, bride & groom portraits, and then the reception dinner & cake cutting. The photos themselves came out absolutely incredible, I have no idea how to pick which ones to put on the walls because I love every single one. I felt that she was almost invisible during the big day and was surprised to see some of the things she captured, because I never noticed her there, lol!
As far as turnaround time goes, we got some sneak peek photos a few days after the wedding, and the rest of them (approx. 800) about a month after the wedding. Christine went above and beyond my expectations and I am blown away how good the photos are. I was a crying mess for most of the day and she still managed to make the photos look beautiful!!
Finally, price – Christine is an absolute steal, she offers a top tier level of quality and professionalism for an amazing price. Other Seattle-area photographers significantly more than she does, and then tack on high travel fees or make you pay for the engagement session, photo hosting, access to photos, etc. on top of that. I was in complete shock when I saw her prices, I just assumed she was going to be charging way more than she did. She never charged us a penny extra over what we agreed to and there were no unexpected charges/costs that came up. So, thank you for being amazing, honest, & affordable Christine!!
I highly recommend entrusting your wedding day to Christine, she will do an amazing job. We plan on going back to her for any photos we may need in the future!! –Freda