We booked Hannah because her images looked wonderful. Makes sense, right? I work as an actor and Amanda is a director at a contemporary art gallery in Los Angeles, so we were pretty picky about what we wanted (something with emotional depth and something that conveyed our idea of the ceremony–beautiful but also serious and important). Her images told us that’s how she saw the marriages she photographs. So we paid a few extra hundred dollars and flew her ass out to LA. We figured it was worth it. And, good God, was it worth it. We didn’t book engagement photos, so Hannah graciously gave us a couple hours at our rehearsal dinner instead, where her warmth and infectious humor made us feel like we were old friends. We’re a couple of nervous people with big and complicated families, but our photographer really put us into gear for a joyful weekend that evening. The next day is a blur of Hannah invisibly zipping to and fro at an outdoor wedding in the Hollywood Hills, with us always elated to catch her eye and her smile for just an instant. We love journalistic-style photos (not overly “Posey”, get it? Cool, will see myself out), and we let Hannah know about this beforehand, but we were so unprepared for how moved we would be by seeing our own ceremony. I still remember my new wife opening up the preview email from Hannah while we were out to dinner on our Honeymoon and immediately covering up her mouth from emotion. Then the tears came. Then I had to explain to the waiter that she was alright. Then I looked at the preview. Then my tears came. Pretty good memory. Our wedding book is sitting by my feet on our coffee table as I write this. We make everybody look at it when they come over, and at first they go, “oh, ok,” and then they go, “oh, wow.” Then the tears come. We frequently look through the pictures to relive that day–because they captured something beautiful but something serious. Or, rather, Hannah did. She was the best decision we made on a perfect day. Hire this consummate professional artist.
–Groom, Tobin