Essence Photo & Video

Amazing!! Our photographer was very professional and friendly. Half the time you barely knew he was there, which was important for my husband. We got an amazing proof book with about 1000 pictures. The proof book is what helped to sell us. There is no need to use a magnifying glass when looking at the pictures, they are each about the size of a wallet sized picture. They offered a wide variety of albums and services. The prices were based on the album selected. Even though the photographs took slightly longer to get after the wedding, it was well worth the wait!! Designing the album was easy, the only thing to remember is how many pages you get. We wanted many more pictures included, however, it was quite a bit more money to add pages and pictures to the album we chose. Depending on how much is spent on others ordering pictures after the wedding, you can own all your pictures right away, or like us, we had to wait a year. Not a big deal to us though, we have the CD with every picture and have not ever had a problem using the CD.

Could not have been any better! It was nice to have Essence exceed our expectations. We were impressed with their professionalism and style. Our photographer was phenominal and very artistic. We got tons of journalistic pics, the style we preferred, that were amazing. Our album was difficult to design only because we had a hard time reducing our pics down to under 140. We were very pleased with everything Essence did for us and would highly recommend them, as we have done to our friends.

Both my fiance and I loved working with Mike Belec, he was professional, fun, friendly, and knew how to take wonderful artistic/fun/elegant photos. We cannot wait to see the Highly recommended! Great time :)

You must go with the Essence and if you can...go with Dave as your photographer and Nick as your videographer. It was revealed to me that they were part of the elite team and they were excellent, especially paired together. I can't wait to see what the finishing products look like!

These people are the nicest and most helpful photographers. We had a beautiful wedding day and Tom & Shirley made it so pleasant and easy for us. They guided us through even the hectic times, they were so professional and yet felt like family. Our album and video are amazing, could not ask for anything more. We are lucky to have chosen them.

AWESOME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! LOVED ABBY SHE WAS PERFECT!!!!!!!!

My husband and I got married this past June 2011 and we used Essence Photography and Videography! We are the 3rd in our families to have used them and they did an exceptional job all 3 weddings. We couldn't have asked for a more friendly photographer. She got shots that we didn't even know were being taken and they turned out incredible. The videography was great as well. The wedding video was beautiful and it was just incredible how the whole night was put into that video so smoothly. ONE thing that was a little upsetting was the placement of the videographer during the ceremony when the wedding party was walking down the aisle. Half of the screen was on the guests in the pews, so when the couples were walking down the aisle the person to the far right got cut out after just a few steps because the camera was too far to the left. Other than that, we really enjoyed them, we payed them extra to stay another hour at the reception as well, and it was pretty cheap! :)

We had a fabulous experience with Essence. The original photographer I had picked out became unavailable a couple months before my date, but Karen quickly replaced him with another great photographer. Our photographer fit in so well with the part and even let one of my friends interested in photography shadow her throughout the day, talking to her and telling her how to get great shots. She was very friendly and had a lot of cute ideas! Would definitely use them again!

We could not have chosen a better company for our photography and videography. They were VERY responsive and VERY helpful. Both our videographer and photographer were very personable and really meshed in well with out wedding party. This was by far the best vendor we had for our special day. I would highly recommend Essence for anyone's photo/video needs. I thought we paid a fair price for the services we received.

Essence was fantastic! Our photographer was so much fun to work with! He was relaxed, natural, and made me feel comfortable right away. We was my go to guy to calm my nerves before the ceremony. We had a HUGE wedding party and he was so patient, but perfectly directive when he needed to be. He was so flexible when something came up we wanted captured. He got all the shots we wanted and more. His smiling face and great attitude help make our day. I would recommend Essence to any friend or family member getting married. Thank you Essence for being amazing and exceeding our expectations!

There cost was average but we did not mind spending the little bit more when after the wedding all that will be left are the photos!We loved our photographer she was a great match for us. We really liked how they got to know us at the beginning and matched us up with some one instead of just assigning some one to us.

Eric was our photographer at our wedding on 10/1/10 and we couldn't be happier with how everything went! He was so attentive to everything we wanted and we had so many people tell us what a great job he did catching every moment of the night! He made everything perfect! Thank you Essence, especially Eric!

Olivia was our photographer and she was so much fun. She was so helpful with posing us and suggesting different things. We haven't gotten our proofs yet and we can't wait to see them. I will make sure to update my review after we see our pictures

We are not completely done with Essence, but so far so good. We loved our photographer. She was very thoughtful and upbeat the entire day even though she was working very diligently. I cannot wait to see our photos. The few peeks I got were great. I can only imagine how the rest will look. I would recommend Essence to anyone. In fact, that is how I found Essence through a coworkek's recommendation.

Eric Lipe was a fantastic photographer! He was a delight to work with!

I really enjoyed working with Essence from the beginning. I thought that their process for choosing a photographer was great, and helped us narrow down what types of photography styles we liked. Our photographer, Robb, was amazing to work with. He was unobtrusive, but always there capturing the shots. He climbed on furniture, laid on the ground, threw the camera in the air, everything! He was flexible and had a ton of ideas about poses and locations for the pictures. He was funny and interacted well with our guests, who were very impressed with him. There are a couple of poses/shots that I know we didn't get, but I would probably say that even if all we had done that day was take pictures! I haven't seen our proofs yet, but just based on my personal interactions with Robb and Essence, I would recommend them for another wedding! Their package included everything we needed at a price we could meet, which was really important to us-who has an unlimited budget these days?! Overall, our experience was very positive-thank you Essence!

We are very happy with the service Essence provided. We havent received our pictures yet but Im sure they will be awesome. Ed was our photographer he was wonderful and handled everything and all of our "NY" bridal party very well. Nick was our videographer. He was awesome, and very professional! I highly recommend Essence to shoot your day !! Thank you Essence, Ed and Nick!!

Essence was awesome!!! Photography was #1 on my priority list and I am so happy I hired Essence!!! Everyone was very professional and very nice. They were patient and I changed my mind a million times. Very easy to work with.Our photographer was great, very nice and cool to work with. She blended with my family and friends so well!!! I didn't even notice she was there!! She helped me with anything I needed and if I wanted something she got it done. Very helpful with suggestions and our proofs came back in 3 weeks! Our pictures are beautiful!! If you choose Essence you won't be disappointed... One thing I wish I did was video, we just had my aunt videotape with her camcorder because I didn't think video was necessary... I was wrong :( The day goes by so fast it's like a dream, get video, it's worth it:)

Words can't describe on how our wedding pictures turned out. Eric was awesome and full of energy. I am not the type of bride who likes to be posed for pics and Eric did a wonderful job capturing the moment and these pictures tell the story of my wedding day in the moment and I love them. The hardest part was picking out the ones for my album. Essence did an amazing job and everything I hear someone is getting married I tell them to go to Essence they have the best value by far. Thanks Essence and Eric for making my wedding day a day I will remember forever.

Our photographer was amazing! He took such beautiful pictures. He kept telling me that he was on "bride time." This meant that I didn't need to feel rushed, and if I needed him, he would be there. He also offered to get us anything whenever we needed anything even if it was a drink! He was awesome! The company was so professional and I have already referred couples to them!

Beautiful photos. Easy to work with. We loved our photographer. He scouted the venue for beautiful backgrounds and unique and personal photos for us. They had a ton of options for every budget.

I was at a friend's wedding that used Essence and loved the photographer. We had Olivia at our wedding and she is great. The photos were beautiful and the pricing was very fair.

From the 1st meeting we were blown away. The photographer Eric was the nicest and funniest guy. He had us laughing and was so polite. I couldn't have asked for a nicer guy.

I wanted a picture everyone one in my family could remember. They made it happen here at Essence photo and video. I definitely recommend it to any who wants a memory to live forever.

We were so please with our photographer and Videographer. Everyone that saw the photos and video were amazed at how great they were. I received a lot of comments like, we have never seen so many great photos!, these are the best wedding photos we have seen.I would highly recommend!

Beautiful pictures! My photographer was very professional and helpful.

Of all the services for our wedding, photography was the most important to my husband and me. Essence was fantastic from start to finish. Their consultation was very informative and they answered all my questions, which I had a ton of! The planning process was very thorough and they helped us prepare for our wedding with many tips on scheduling times for photos. Our photographer was on time and got all the photos we let them know about in the planning process, plus many more photos that were very artistic, which I love! After the wedding, they designed an album for us and we were able to make as many changes as we wanted before ordering it. Everything went so smooth, we were very, very impressed with Essence!

She came on time, and took pictures of exactly what my daughter wanted. She was professional and very friendly with some great ideas.

Our photographer was easy to work with, had fun with us & my bridal party, and really nice. I received multiple compliments from my guests on how professional he was. He seemed to know how to get a smile out of us and gave us easily understood directions for beautiful, artistic pictures. I definitely recommend Essence!

The staff was very helpful in the pre planning stages and covered all pricing, packages and photograph information in a very professional and organized manner and fully informed you of your choices. They really listen to what you are looking for and match you to a photographer carefully. Our photgrapher was great and very flexible and friendly. The turn around time for getting our proofs back was less than 3 weeks!

"Talented and amazing" are a few of the words I would use to describe my photographer. He did such a great job at capturing the feel and style of our day. The 500 facial expressions he captured alone of my husband and me were amazing. Everyone loves our pictures and we will cherish them forever.Picking Essence was an excellent choice, thank you Essence. I recommend and can't say enough about them!

We are very happy we chose Essence for our wedding photography. Our photographer, Megan Sullivan, was fantastic! She was very friendly and easy to get along with, which is very important considering how much of our wedding day was spent with the photographer. She made it much easier for my husband and I to feel comfortable having our pictures taken. Her eye for photography is remarkable, and she had some wonderful ideas that have translated into stunning "wedding party" photographs of me and my husband in downtown Chicago. She was laid back and not at all intrusive, which is exactly what we were hoping for in a wedding photographer. Our families and friends thought she fit in perfectly at our wedding and was very easy to work with as well. Having just viewed our proofs, I must say that the quality of her work has exceeded the very high expectations that were set on our wedding day. We feel very lucky that she was available for our wedding, and we would very highly recommend her to anyone looking for a wedding photographer.

The pictures we received from Essence were beautiful. The planning process with the photographer was very good and our wedding day went just as planned. I have received many compliments on the pictures from my family.

Megan was my photographer and I highly recommend her. She gave us what we asked for, candid pictures and direction for artistic pictures. I have a proof book full of gorgeous pics.

Essence was very professional from start to finish. My photographer, Travis, was very personable and great at helping guide us with pics (and everything else). We selected many pictures to be shot of our family and bridal party, and he got all of them while having fun with us at the same time. I waited to make this review until I received my album, and I love it. I made a few changes to the first design they made, but they did it quickly and did what I asked for. They even photo shopped a few photos that needed to be tweaked. My photographer was awesome and my album is great. Everything I expected. I endorse Essence wholeheartedly.

We booked Dave Grelck, and he was great. Not only did he capture beautiful shots, but he blended in very well with the wedding party - especially when we all packed in a hot limo for photos around the city. In addition, he was with us for 12 hours (most other places have an 8 or 10 hour limit).

We loved the Essence! Our photographer was Melissa Emory and she was absolutely amazing! She had such great ideas and payed excellent attention to detail. I know our photos will be awesome. She worked so hard for like 12 hours and truly cared about capturing every moment of our wedding! I am so thankful for all of Melissa's work. She is a great photographer! The Essence provided great service and an excellent payment plan which makes it easy for my husband and I to get all the photos we want! I don't think there are any other photography companies like the Essence and I am so lucky I found them for my wedding.

I had two friends use Essence and I loved the pictures from both of their weddings. My wedding was the best ;-). My photographer worked her butt off all day. She was at my house at around noon and stayed to the end of the reception. I was very pleased with their pricing. Not the cheapest, but very reasonable. I was very happy with Essence overall.

Everything was fantastic with Essence! My photographer was so nice to work with and really helped guide us all day. She stayed until the end of the night and we are very pleased with how the pictures and the album turned out.I highly recommend!

Everything with Essence went so perfect! The best part was my photographer, Mike Beleck. Essence did a great job matching us up with the right person. We all loved him and the pictures he took. Very journalistic, which is exactly what we requested. We highly endorse Mike and Essence!

All the people at Essence were really great to work with. Very passionate and professional. My pictures are fabulous!

My photographer was very artistic and great in giving my husband and I suggestions for our pictures. We were blown away by the pictures and it was hard to choose for our album. Our album turned out fantastic! They designed everything for me and even made a few changes that I requested for free. We are eternally grateful for the pictures we will treasure forever!

If I were to have my wedding all over again, Essence would be the first vendor I would hire. Sean was my photographer and he was all around great. His pictures were amazing with some very unique ideas. He was very helpful throught the day and very professional. My sister used Essence and I had a great experience too. Highly reccommend!!

Service was good.

We could not be happier with Essence! From the beginning, they were very helpful in showing us their photographer's work, to how great our photographer was on our wedding day, to getting all of our beautiful photos, to designing our album with their design group. We are all thrilled with the results!!

I loved, loved, loved my photographer! He was amazing and I am so excited to see my pictures in a few weeks! He came up with some many unique ideas for cute pictures and did all the traditional at the same time! I would suggest Essence, especially Eric Lipe to anyone!

I can't say enough about how great it was to have Essence. My best friend used them last year and when I saw her proofs I knew I had to have them. They definitely didn't disappoint at my wedding. True professionals and the pictures were stunning! Thank you!!

Our photographer made us feel very comfortable. I loved that Essence's photographer stay for 12 hours and got pictures all day and night. They creatively captured my wedding without being intrusive at all. He got great candid shots that I love and was very professional. He did an amazing job and I recommend Essence to anyone!

Just great! We loved our photographer and our pictures were absolutely wonderful!!! I highly recommend!!!!!

Essence was great! I have had countless compliments on our album. Our photographer was fun and upbeat the whole day. Great service!

Essence did an exceptional job at our wedding. I'd give them six stars if I could. Photographer was so positive and great to work with. Prices are reasonable, we spent about $2,400 for everything. It included the photographer for the day, proof book, large canvas, and the magazine style album with the upgraded cover.

Essence's pictures at my wedding were great! I've gotten nothing but compliments on the pics. I can't recommend them highly enough.

We had our wedding pictures done by Essence. Our photographer, Ed, was great to work with and did a wonderful job. He was so patient with our families and rowdy bridal party. He managed to not be intrusive, but also be everywhere. He gave us some very creative ideas for pictures. I could not have asked for better pictures. Their design group did all the work for me and made a beautiful album. I would definitely recommend Essence. They worked with us wonderfully every step of the way.

I'm not the most photogenic person and I don't like to be photographed, but my photographer made it so easy and fun. She made our pictures look so amazing and I was surprised that some of the pictures were of me! She made me look beautiful!! I can't imagine a better photographer for us.

From the first day we met until the time we received our album, it was an absolute pleasure dealing with Essence. We were impressed with how professional our initial meeting was compared to the other photographers we interviewed. The planning they did with us before the wedding made the wedding day go very smooth. Our photos are soooo beautiful and the album is unreal. They even gave us a new service of theirs, something scrapbook, for free. Even though it was not out yet when we signed our contract.

everything was fantastic! my photographer was very friendly and helpful with picture ideas. i received my proof book and was amazed at how many beautiful pictures she got. i would recommend essence to everyone.

Essence Photography is the best! We had nothing but great service from them and my photographer Mike Beleck was great. He took every shot that was asked of him and more. The service from the office personal was ans still is fabulous. The price for their service is right on and what you receive in their packages is well worth it. Mike was not in your face taking pictured he was around but not there., if you know what I mean. We are in the process of making our album and the layout Essence came up with for us was great and awaiting our next meeting. I can't wait to see how it all comes out. I can't say enough about Essence you should contact them now don't wait you won't find any better.

The quality of work they do compared to the prices they charge make it Essence a bargain. I've recommended them to all my friends. They did an amazing job!

Karen was our event planner for this vendor and she was just a joy to work with. She was able to pick out a photographer that would be easy to work with mine and my husbands personality. Jason was our photographer and he was just great. I was in the church basement 2 1/2 hours before the wedding and he walked into the basement while my bridesmaid and MOH were there eating chicken nuggets, our first meal of the day. He just smiled, made sure that I was comfortable and anything if I needed it, he would go grab it. We told Jason from the beginning when he called us, to use his discretion, and that he's the artist we're paying to get great professional and candid shots throughout the wedding. This company will taylor to your wedding. We shopped at Edward Fox and Fred Fox studios and Essence was the winner. The made us feel comfortable in their store and didn't pressure us to sign a contract right then and there. In my opinion Edward Fox and Fred Fox are really uptight and just there for the buck. Essence didn't pressure us, and since my fiance couldn't come the first meeting, Karen was ready and willing to sit down with us again and present everything to my husband. They even gave us little business cards to put in our thank you cards so our guests could order pictures from the wedding online, instead of going through my husband and I. Essence only wanted $500 down and then another $700 AFTER the wedding. Everyone else wanted the full payment before the wedding, so Essence being so easy going, it helped a ton. I would recommend this to anyone who's having a birthday party or wedding!

I went to the Essence in Naperville (the newest location), and after researching dozens of photographers, I was floored with their professionalism and value! We got so much for just what our budget fell into. Liz was the kindest album planner and my photographer was very knowledgable of poses and angles. Thanks Essence!

Our photographer, Bill Dolsen was absolutely incredible. He arrived to our event earlier than I paid for, and stayed later and did not charge me. He took over 1000 pictures, all of which are beautiful!

Excellent value for the price! Great photojournalism. Hardly knew the photographer and videographer were there. Great job.

Our photographer was amazing, everything was perfect. I would (and have!) recommended these photographers to all of our friends!

OMG...they were awesome. Seemed like pricing was a little high, but our photographer, Rob, was unbelievable. Found out pricing was right in line with other vendors and I'm sooo happy we went with them.

Recommend! Kevin, our photographer, was awesome! He was flexible and happily took our suggestions throughout the day.

I haven't even seen the finished products yet, but based on the wedding day, they were AWESOME!!! I could not have asked for a more laid-back and creative photographer. LOVED working with her!

We worked with Megan S from Essence and she was absolutely wonderful! We had a big wedding party (8 bridesmaids/groomsmen, 2 ring bearers, and 2 ushers) and she was able to get everyone organized and in pictures very easily. Essence in general was great to work with. They were very informative and honest about how many photographers we needed. I can't wait to see the final pictures!

Photos came in this week and are more beautiful than I ever could have imagined. I would use Essence again in a second!

Choosing the photographer was our most stressful task when it came to picking vendors for our wedding reception. We missed out on one photographer in the beginning – one I thought would be a great match for us. We were planning from afar (we live in Houston, TX – got married near Chicago) so saw challenges as we couldn’t meet with anyone face to face before we chose. We had seen some wedding photography from other companies which were atrocious (photographer standing in front of guests in their row during the ceremony, getting in peoples faces and snapping shots repeatedly, etc) so we were quite nervous about picking the right person to shoot our special day. Once we found Essence and spoke with Karen, we felt more at peace. Once we saw our options of photographers, we knew from first look which one would match us best. Paola was absolutely amazing. She was better than I could have imagined. She interacted with us and our guests very well. She directed people without being pushy. She captured great action and candid shots without being intrusive. She was responsive to our ideas and helped form fun poses. The streets bordering our wedding/reception site were under construction as was the nearby park so there were additional challenges in finding the right place to take pictures. Paola arrived early to make sure she found those spots – and she did. I can’t wait to see the end result in a few weeks!

We really enjoyed working with essence - they were very professional and provided a great online planning tool. Our photographer was Megan S and she was SUPER - very fun, outgoing but professional and our photographs turned out great. Their prices were slightly higher than some other places we reviewed, but we felt that Essence's quality was slightly better. In addition, we really liked the fact that once our album was ordered and printed, the copyrights for the pictures became ours.

We used Essence for both photography and videography. Eric was our photographer and was amazing!! He was so nice and did such a wonderful job. Nick was our videographer and the same goes with him. Karen, the sales rep was so nice and answered all of our questions when we first signed the contract. I highly reccommend them!!

My husband and I were referred to Essence by 2 different couples who used their services for their weddings. My husband and I were in one of the weddings for one of the couples who referred us so we were able to see their photographer and videographer in action. I was impressed by the picture quality and creativity that Essence provides. I was extremely happy with our photographer Mike and our videographer Josh. Mike and Josh worked very well together. They were very easy to get a long with and they understood what my husband and I were looking for with pictures and videos. They got along with our entire bridal party and our families. My husband and I haven't seen our proofs yet, however, we have received our Blu Ray wedding video already and we were very pleased with how it turned out. We have no doubt in our mind that our proofs will be just as good!

We were very pleased with how our pictures turned out. Our photographer was friendly and easy to work with.

Our photographer fulfilled every detail we could ever think of and more in our wedding photos. We are very grateful for how she was before our wedding, on our wedding day, and in receiving our photos. Communication was excellent and she was flexible. Very reasonable cost especially for everything that we got in the package. You will be very satisfied by choosing them!

Essence was wonderful to work with for our big day! In preparing they were great at really putting me at ease and the director even responded to my emails with the million questions that I had leading up to the wedding! Our photographer was really nice to work with. She was flexible with whatever we wanted to do regarding pictures, and also had some great ideas of her own. They were recommended to us by a friend, and we would definitely recommend this company to others. We were really pleased with it all!

Pleasure to work with over the phone and in person. Captured the beauty of the day. Creative, fun, and unique photo positions. Nice variety of songs to play throughout video. Ability to design your photo album with neat computer program and have fun with it. Tip: Spend more more money on photo/video than details of the wedding since these contribute to the lasting memories you'll have forever.

Have not gotten album yet, but Essence was a great pick. Proofs, a little hard to see if you have a larger wedding party, but great pictures overall. They could host the proofs a little longer than 60 days online though. Value is great as the bride and groom, but if you want to buy separate pictures they are expensive. If you're not in a hurry and can wait a year, Essence does release everything to the bride and groom, and you can print your own pics, which is great! Have no knowledge on how the video turned out yet. Price below included photographer, wedding album, proof book, online hosting, release of all (1018) pictures within a year, videographer, wedding video, and copies.

Sean was GREAT! So patience and fun! Had some great picture ideas. I really liked how you do not have to pay until after you see your pictures. Everyone that I talked to was quick about responding back and so friendly. I have recommended them to several friends who are also using them. Great company!!

Photographer had great personality and ideas for pictures. He came dressed professionally on time and even brought a fresh change of clothes for the reception. He was there for every shot. He stayed until the very end. It really made me feel like I had my own personal photographer for the day. I can't wait to get out pictures!

Great photography and service. Just make sure they cover EVERYBODY at the wedding, we had several missing relatives we wanted in the photographs.

While we haven't seen the proofs yet, we loved our photographer, Eric Lipe, for our big day. He was so complimentary and made everyone feel relaxed. At the reception, he was always easy to find when we wanted a quick picture of a certain group of people. He fit right into the party, and looked like he was having as much fun as our guests. I could not have been more happy with him! I can't wait to see the pictures!!!

Ed was our photographer. He showed up in a suit and ready for the day. He acted as a pseudo wedding coordinator as we got ready for the event. He stayed out of the way but still got the shots he needed, and interfaced with me only as needed. My husband isn't much of a smiler, so in-the-moment shots were a must and that camera was clicking all day long. I can't wait for the proofs in a couple of weeks, updates to come!

We enjoyed the personality of our photographer. However, she failed to research the venue for our reception before the day of our wedding. When we arrived at the reception site after our ceremony, she asked US where the best places were to take photographs! We felt she was very unprepared. The proofs looked pretty good but we have yet to receive our album so are can't really comment on the quality of their pictures just yet.

Unfortunately, our scheduled photographer was in an accident the weekend before, so we had to go with a different photographer (Sally), but she definitely disappoint. She was so friendly, laid back and great to work with. She directed us to get as many shots as possible. She got all of my must have shots. There are a ton of pictures and they turned out great. The proofs were ready exactly four weeks after the wedding and were immediately available online for everyone to look at. I haven't seen the video yet, but the vidographer was very nice and unobtrusive.

Essence...good service for a good price.

Essence Photo and Video were wonderful when it came to my photos and videos. They worked very closely with me in regards to what I wanted and what I did not want. The photographer, Mark Russell, was very concerned with getting all the pictures I wanted and he didn't waste any time on shots that I had no interest in. They were kind and courteous and very easy to get along with. Essence as a company is very organized and well run. Their prices are steep but I was willing to pay more for the service. Mark Russell was great and I would recommend him to anyone.

This vendor had wonderful video and photography professionals. We got to custom pick our own person based off their portfolio and our desired type of capture of our special day.They had a great energy and brought a lot of fun and excitement for our wedding day. However, the photos were okay, but very plain in style, but our DVD was amazing.

Great place to hire. ask for Travis to take the pictures and Lorelei to create your album! ours turned out great!

Very good

Mike was our photographer and he absolutely ROCKED! He was easy to work with as well as fun!

I was very hesitant about booking with Essence since you meet with a salesperson first, they decide what photographer would fit with you and then based on a video of their work you have to decide if you want them or not. Just because the salesperson is good at his job doesnt mean that the photographer is going to click with us so when I asked to speak with the photographer and he told me "we don't work that way" I was pretty put off. So, after about a month or so of looking and still not finding work that we liked.......and could afford, I decided to take a leap of faith and booked Eric Lipe. Boy did we get lucky because, Eric was fantastic! From the moment he called several days before the wedding I knew I had made a good decision. Eric was full of energy, he showed up early to the hotel where we were getting ready and from that point on this guy worked his butt off at our wedding! I made sure to put him close by us for dinner so we sat him at a family table right in front of us and if there was something we wanted him to get all I had to do was look in his direction and he was on it. Plus, after the wedding several people commented about how hard worked, that he was all over the place taking pictures and about how nice he was. Our proof book arrived yesterday and I picked it up today (7/20). The book is pretty huge and there are 1000 photos to choose from. Essence throws in a lot of extras that many other studios make you pay for (digital prints for free 6 months after the wedding, a printed proof book, a gallery canvas, 12 hours of photography and a album included in the price!). So, for the money this was definitely the right way to go for us.

Essence Photo did a wonderful job with my wedding video and pictures. I was very pleased with them. You have to stay on them to get dates on when you get your proofs, video, etc. but all in all they were great!

Our photographer, Amy Aiello, is no longer with the company, but she was absolutely wonderful to work with. She did a phenomenal job with our photos and we could not have been happier. So far, our experience with the company has been satisfactory. They have always been quick to respond when we contacted them. Our album turned out beautifully, but we had to take more of an active role in designing it than we would have liked. Also, we did not receive the custom slip cover when we went to pick it up, so we had to wait an extra couple of weeks for it. It was an inconvenience, but not the end of the world. They shipped it to us free of charge as soon as it was finished. Our videographer, Justin, was also great. We were very pleased with how our wedding video turned out. Overall, we got a pretty good bang for our buck. We have to wait until September for our digital files to be released. We anxiously await the final piece of our package.

Essence was great. Loved our photographer, and I felt at ease that we got to meet him months in advance. The portal made communicating a breeze. We only ordered the digital negatives, we had those < 10 days after the wedding, which impressed everyone in our family! I wish I could hire them for family portraits but I think they only specialize in weddings...

Bill was just wonderful. He was early, organized, and just a pleasure to be around. He took charge and got the pictures that we had wanted. Could not have imagined a more flexible and courteous photographer! Thank you Bill!

Great photography for a reasonable price. The photographer was great and professional, but the lady who put together our album was a nightmare!! They had to reprint our album 3 times, but it eventually turned out great and we got some freebies because of it.

Overall, Essence showed great professionalism, responsiveness, and flexibility. The thing that bothered me, though, is that our photographer did not step up and offer creative photo shots. He did take the shots that I had requested him to, but I would have liked to see him use his expertise in showing us more creative and fun poses, and perhaps take more advantage of the nice outdoor scenery where our ceremony was held. There were photo shots that I wished he had taken of me and my groom after the ceremony, but because of time, we didn't get to do those shots I wanted. Also, the detailed shots of the banquet room, center pieces, favors, and place card table was NOT delivered well. Our photographer only took one poor shot of each. There was no variety in his shots (he didn't even take a shot of my favors). Although, we did get many good shots during the pre-ceremony, ceremony, formal pictures, and reception. I am pleased with the album designs that was made for us.

We LOVED our photographer (we had Karen, but she is no longer taking pictures, I think she still works there doing planning)! We came out of this with a lot of beautiful pictures, which made it hard to choose which to put in our album. As part of our package we received our proofs, and we sold enough pictures to get our digital negatives as well.Our only snag was the album specialist we got (Lorelei), didn't seem to know what she was doing, as it ended up taking almost a year to do our album. When they finally switched us, they made up for it with the design and quality (and they threw in a few pages in the album at no extra cost)!

Our photographer got sick the week of our wedding so they sent a photographer that did the same type of photography as she did plus an additional photographer to take additional pictures. We ended up with more pictures than we had expected to choose from and they were all excellent!

Our photographer (Mike Beleck) was very relaxed and fun which helped us relax and get better shots. He stayed in the background and never got in the way or became intrusive like so many other photographers. Also, he took many, many candid shots which really helped tell our story.

Essence has been great to work with. The photography process starts well before the wedding, end extends long after. We had a lot of ideas about what we wanted, and Essence understood. Our photographer, Jeffrey, was by far the best part of our experience. We selected him based on viewing a few portfolios, and it was the best decision for us and our special day. Their representatives always return my calls in a timely manner, and they are willing to help with any concern or problem!

Essence photographers Travis and Lorelei were fun people to work with! They made us feel very comfortable and stayed out of the way for the most part. The company itself has been fine to work with too, they are not very flexible on their packages and seem overpriced on some things. But overall we are very happy with the services they've provided.

My husband and I absolutely LOVED our photographer. She was amazing! Our family and friends can not believe how beautiful and unique our wedding album is. I have nothing but wonderful things to say about Essence! Thank you!

Zeke and Criselda Carrera - 10.4.08

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Our photographer was the best! He could not have been any nicer or more accommodating. He was very friendly to my spouse and I, our families, and our entire wedding party. Thank you very much for everything!

Ashley and Bob Hansen - 1.3.09

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We absolutely loved our photographer! He had a great personality, he was very friendly, and took into account our special circumstances. He did a great job with our pictures and we have enjoyed looking at them over and over again! We would HIGHLY recommend him and your company to anyone who is getting married.

John and Jesse Bodel - 12.27.08

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We absolutely LOVED our photographer!!! He was awesome, very easy going, but knew exactly what he was doing. He was so easy to get along with!!! Our families and friends raved about him and his assistant. I would recommend him to everyone!

Ryan and Bella Hitzke - 1.31.09

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Our photographer was very easy to work with and made both of us and our families feel quite relaxed on a very stressful day.

Alan and Jessica Wu - 2.28.09

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Our photographer was absolutely excellent! I have recommended him to my friends getting married. He was very professional and detail oriented. Thanks!!!

Jerry and Jill Drabik - 2.28.09

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Essence Photography has been at The Arboretum Club often and the photographers always do a great job. They are creative, polite, professional and very easy to work with. Essence really cares about their clients and makes sure their clients are happy and comfortable. I would highly recommend Essence to any Bride and Groom!

I have worked with Essence Photo & Video for a long time. When Essence is working with my clients I am at ease knowing that they are being well taken care of and their photographs and video will be nothing short of spectacular. Essence Photo & Video are very professional and take great pride and care in training their photographers. I highly recommend this company for any event you do.