“My husband, Rob, and I have been married for a little over a month now and since then, we've reflected on everything from our Sonoma wedding -- all the parts we loved about, things we wish we could change, relatives we wished we didn't invite... but above all else, we are over the moon to have had the privilege of sharing our day with Maria. From our very first intro phone call, Maria was everything we were looking for in a photographer. She was friendly, direct, professional, and had an amazing sense of humor that made us feel comfortable immediately. She had wonderful way of sharing her ideas and thoughts without pushing a specific style or direction on to us that made us feel confident in our decisions. I recall during the conversation that she had been the only vendor to have asked Rob what he envisioned for our big day, what he wanted, how we met, and how he would describe our style. Though small, that really stood out to us and during the call, Rob and I looked at each other and with a collective 'yeah, let's do this' and booked her immediately. We never though an engagement session would be in the cards for us, but Maria took us out of our comfort zone and gave us a day in Point Reyes we will never forget. I look at our engagement photos basically on a weekly basis and think about how far Rob and I have come from that day, but to also remember what an awesome day that was getting to know Maria and feeling comfortable in front of her camera. If you're like me and feel like an engagement session is too extragravant or not a must-have, I urge you to reconsider. It was a wonderful opportunity to get to know Maria, feeling good with our poses, learning our angles (trying to, at least), and honestly, is a really fun thing to do together amongst all the planning. As our wedding was in Sonoma in October, there was threats of power outages (thankfully, we were all clear) and Maria had texted me a few days prior to share encouragement and let me know it was all going to be okay. I was so moved by that and it meant so much to have her looking out for us. On the day of our wedding, Maria was everything and we could not imagine that day without her there. She made us both calm and grounded amidst the chaos and nerves of the day, never losing sight at how big of a moment this was and made us, our families, and friends all feel so beautiful. This woman, though, does not stop. Shortly after our wedding, Sonoma was once again under the threat of more power outages (insert expletive about PG&E here). As Maria lives near the area, her family had to evacuate. Before I could even reach out, she let me know that the evacuation would not delay her process and had all of our photos everything backed on to a hard drive. I mean! I can't even. Our photos came out stunning, from our pre-ceremony shots, to dancing photos and everything in between. Our pre-ceremony portrait session was honestly such a highlight from the day and I am so glad she suggested doing a first look (seriously, DO IT!) because the lighting was magic and it was a blessing to have the time to do it all before the reception began. These photos are memories we will cherish forever and ones I can't wait to show our future family (I'm not normally this sappy, but this is seriously how talented Maria is). Since the wedding, Rob and I have loved every minute looking back on it all but more than once we've asked - Can we hang out with Maria again? Thank you for everything :)”
