We were married this past September at Timber Lake Camp and had the wedding (and weekend) of our…read moredreams thanks to Sandra O'Connell at Hudson Valley Ceremonies. If you don't get to the end of this review and only read one thing: Hiring Sandra was one of the best decisions we made for our wedding. She is beyond dedicated to giving you the wedding of your dreams, and her ability to execute and make it ALL happen is nothing short of extraordinary. Every wedding needs a Sandra! We had the pleasure of working with Sandra from the beginning of our wedding planning journey all the way through our 3 day wedding weekend. When we were stumped looking for venues that could accommodate our large guest list AND a weekend-long celebration. Sandra approached us with a "think outside the box" venue: Timber Lake Camp, a beautifully serene summer camp nestled in the Catskills. We were unsure about the idea of a summer camp wedding but trusted her instinct - and thankfully we did. The day we visited the camp we knew it was PERFECT. 500 gorgeous acres with plenty of room to accommodate ALL of our guests, that we could have all to ourselves for an entire weekend - camp cabins, facilities, staff, and all! It truly felt like she had pulled a rabbit out of a hat and that was only the start of Sandra's magic! Throughout the entire year and a half long planning process, Sandra lent us her ear and expertise: she listened to our wishes, concerns, thoughts; guided us through a million different decisions; provided alternative options/ideas to meet our budget; and found the perfect vendors to bring our vision to life. She sat in on our calls with the coordinator at the camp, and even made visits to the camp with us - including one visit during a snowstorm! She also managed our multitude of vendors (including 3 separate caterers!) from the initial inquiries all the way through to the end of packing up after the wedding. When the wedding weekend came around, Sandra stayed on site all 3 days and made every event run smoothly - we felt like she was somehow everywhere all at once! We had multiple events, including our rehearsal, a Welcome BBQ, Karaoke Night, late night bonfire, and activities throughout the camp. If there were any hiccups, we didn't know about them! The day of the wedding, between everything she was coordinating and the multiple vendors on-site, she somehow still found time to check in with us to make sure we were okay. But honestly we truly felt at ease with Sandra running the show. Her professionalism, calmness, and get-it-done attitude made every part of the weeknd run seamlessly! And on top of it all, she made our marriage official by signing our marriage license. :) A total bonus that she is ordained and a special memory to share with her as she was such a big part of our special day! Our guests are still talking about how magical the weekend was. Many specifically commented that even with so many events and activities going on, it was one the most well-coordinated and organized weddings they'd attended. It was definitely a huge effort to pull off a 3 day wedding weekend on a 500 acre camp, but teamwork truly made this dream work! We could not be more grateful to Sandra, her team, and all of our amazing vendors for giving us a wedding better than we could have ever imagined! We can't recommend Sandra and HVC enough.

I thoroughly enjoyed working with Sandra O'Connell or Hudson Valley Ceremonies. Not only did she…read morestreamline the bride's "to do" list by recommending musicians and florists, her excellent knowledge of wedding-day requirements helped ,  my Daughter in Law Amanda immensely, saving her lots of computer search time and false-starts.  Her help walking us through the rehearsal was vital, getting us organized the day of and "on our spots" at the right critical time. It's all such a whirlwind of activity. And the logistics at our farm were challenging, to say the least. I also greatly appreciated how, during the actual wedding and party afterward, Sandra and her assistant were there, in the background, keeping the caterer happy, moving tables, shuttling slightly inebriated guests to their cars, (thank you, especially for that. I think I would still find people walking the horse pasture fence, looking for their cars.) And for doing the behind-the-scenes things that rarely are noticed, unless they're not done. (For example, one of the porta potties malfunctioning). Sandra handled that with quiet speed. And mostly I appreciated how she took care of Amanda's mother's doilies, the family mementoes, tucking things away in the pool house for safe keeping. And for a good, general tidying up at the end of the night.

Caitlin went above and beyond from the hiring process, to the days leading up to the wedding, and…read moreto the big day itself! Her customer service was outstanding! We were first blown away when we saw how rich, vibrant, and creative her photos were compared to other photographers we saw online. We knew after speaking with her that she was the photographer of our dreams. She even sent us the most thoughtful gift that was personalized to us prior to the wedding. Every step of the way she was there for every question or any guidance we needed her for. We chose a blended style of photojournalistic and posed shots. Everyone raved about her as a photographer and some who had events coming up asked for her information. Seeing a few previews, we know fully that we will be blown away by the photographs. Both my now husband and I are terrible at taking photos and so goofy and uncomfortable taking photos. Caitlin and Lexi made us feel so comfortable and relaxed in front of the camera! I believe the day will be captured so well by them. I plan to cherish the photos that captured our day for the rest of our lives. Do not even second guess book Caitlin and her team and you will be in the right hands.

I didn't use Doug personally, but he shot my cousin's wedding. He was quite nice and had good ideas…read morefor how to frame shots. He kept everyone comfortable and relaxed. At times it was like he wasn't even there. She just got her wedding photos back (in an online gallery) and they came out GREAT! It was a lot of fun to go through all of them and see things that I didn't get to see personally on the day of her wedding. He got some fun candid pictures that I didn't know he was taking, also. The best part, from my perspective, is that it's only been 3 weeks since her wedding! Talk about fast processing! This guy is a true professional. :)

Doug is a fantastic photographer. Beautiful images. Every time. Highly recommend for any occasion.read more

I recommend JioArts Photography wholeheartedly!! Sam is amazing, polite and very respective of my…read moretime. They are very responsive when I call, email or text message him. JioArts Photography produces beautiful wedding photography. He is very flexible and open to listening to what his clients want with the style of photos. In the New York area there are no other photographers I would use.

You can tell Sam is passionate in what he does through his pictures. Our pictures turned out…read morebeautiful and we couldn't be more thrilled with them! Both my husband and I are very awkward when it comes to taking pictures but Sam guided us throughout the way and made us feel very comfortable. We highly recommend Sam to be your photographer for your special event! He is adorable and makes it a point to get to know you and captures that in a photograph. Thank you again for our beautiful pictures!

We hired D.J. Sounds Unlimited (Dieter Jenich) for my daughter's 10th birthday party and I cannot…read morerecommend him enough. The party was truly popping because of him. From the moment the music started, Dieter had the kids engaged the entire time -- not just playing music in the background, but actively reading the room, hyping them up, and keeping the energy high. He played the perfect songs (clean, age-appropriate, but still fun and current), and somehow managed to keep a big group of kids dancing and excited the whole party. We also had a Photo Booth, and he coordinated the vibe so well -- everything flowed smoothly, and the kids were having an absolute blast. I had multiple parents comment on how great the DJ was and how fun the party felt. If you want an event to feel fun, seamless, and high-energy (without any awkward lulls), book Dieter. He absolutely made our party.

DJ Sounds Unlimited was an incredible choice for my daughter's Sweet 16! Dieter was amazing--so…read moreeasy to work with, professional, and truly knew how to keep the party going with a great mix of music that had everyone dancing all night. His wife ran the photo booth, and she was just as delightful--friendly, organized, and she made sure all the kids had a blast capturing memories. Together, they were the perfect team. I can't recommend DJ Sounds Unlimited enough! Thank you for helping make the night so special!

Tried to hire her for photos and we agreed on a date, I asked if she needed a deposit or contract…read moreor anything and she didn't say. Then a few days before our photos, I reached back out because I hadn't heard from her, and she said she never booked it because we "didn't have a deposit or contract," which I had asked about! And when you run a business, you would think that you would send a contract out right away. I luckily found someone professional at the last minute who did a wonderful job. From now on, I will go with hiring real photography companies and not just a random person with a camera.

Chelsea is super sweet and amazing to work with. She has a great eye which shows through in her…read morephotos! I look forward to booking another session with her.

Janette is a brilliant, extremely talented and highly intuitive master photographer. Her innate…read moreability to seize the moment, the spirit, the radiance of her subject, is her gift; Her skillset and expertise, bring all her photographs ALIVE, capturing the beauty, the message and essence of the moment. Janette has photographed, my daughter and I at various stages of our lives; our portraits reflect such wonderous timeless moments that Janette was able to bring to Life, I will be forever grateful that I chose Janette to take our magnificent photos; she's charming, delightfully engaging; has tremendous patience, a keen sense of timing, color, lighting, styling abilities. I highly recommend Janette for any and all occasions. I'm booking her to photograph my grandson's 2nd birthday!

5 stars just isn't enough! Janette is AMAZING, sweet, gentle, kind, patient, very caring & fun to…read morework with. Having Janette take my photos during my pregnancy was one of the best decisions I ever made. Once my daughter was born we had a newborn session & a year later a 1 year old session. From all 3 of our sessions the final products are beyond stunning that to this day I look at them hung around the house with such beauty.

Mary Ann Glass took photos for a recent event at our home with about 50 guests. As it was a family…read moregathering, I requested certain groups be included, including parents and kids, siblings, etc. Mary Ann was prompt, professional, funny and discrete. We got great photographs and had a good time getting them (not easy in my family.) Digital and print photos arrived promptly and hang in my home now. They are artful, beautiful and memorable.

My (now) husband and I hired Mary Ann Glass to photograph our wedding because her portfolio looked…read moreprofessional and her photography style was that we preferred. She was prompt and did her job as she said she would in terms of showing up for a meeting, being at the wedding on time and then getting us the cd of the wedding. However, the quality of the photos she took was mediocre and to a large measure unprofessional and once we made our selections for prints it took her 5 months to get us the photos. We patiently waiting and emailed (infrequently) to find out the status and she offered no explanation of any kind--just asking us to continue to be patient. When we finally received the photos they were of a quality that was worse than what my husband had printed out from the cd on our home printer. She did not even send one extra print to thank us for our patience and the quality was so poor that we will not use them for anything. With all the choices out there, I recommend trusting your important day to someone else.