Since our 2 year wedding anniversary just passed, I thought it would be appropriate to revisit and update my review for Laarne. All of my previous sentiments and comments still ring so so true 2 years later! I reposted some of my favorite wedding photos on Facebook in celebration of our wedding and still received so many compliments about how beautiful the photos are. Not to brag, but we've been to many weddings since our own and seen the photos afterwards, and we still think Laarne is the best in the business! We have many displayed around our home and we really couldn't be any happier! Laarne gave us the gift of these amazing photos which we will cherish for a lifetime! Now, if only I could muster the energy to finally print them all out for our photo album, lol! read more

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Wow, what an amazing experience. When looking for a photographer for my wedding, I wanted someone who had the same style as my sister (also a photographer, but as she was a bridesmaid, we needed to hire another professional). I found Laarne on theknot.com (and looked to yelp for backup), showed her profile to my sister, and we both agreed she was the one! Her style is exactly what I wanted, and she appealed to my sister (the professional!) as well! In person, Laarne was so sweet and caring; I feel she truly cared about my wedding day. She was able to direct our bridal party easily, while keeping our carefree, fun attitudes that show through to the photos. She even encouraged/enabled our nerdy sides when we wanted to take some Harry Potter related photos with props I made ;) A few days after the wedding, I was finally able to get some Wifi in Costa Rica during our honeymoon, and we had an email from Laarne with about 20 sneak peek photos! So many people regret their photographer after their wedding day, but I can confidently say that we had the best there is. THANK YOU! read more

Ok seriously though? Can I just say how absolutely amazing Laarne Palec is? My husband and I valued photography very much, but were also on a tight budget. We needed to figure out where to allocate what funds, but I cried at the idea of having shitty Craigslist quality photography done of our wedding reception. I knew it was a once-in-a-lifetime (if you're lucky) event to photograph, but at the same time we couldn't fathom spending $8k+ on photography (with ONE shooter) then feeding our guests In N Out burgers (they had locally grown grass-fed steak named Betsy, MooMoo, and Lily. I hand picked them out to be brought out back.) If I can close my eyes and wish for a photographer with a customized perfect style/skill, a fair price, and well, a ridiculously fun personality, Laarne is it. I can't recommend them enough to any SoCal brides. She is SO talented, so funny, so sweet, and just. Well. I just spent an hour crying in my car looking through our photos. CRYING! I am now reliving moments that passed too quickly, and also experiencing details I never got to see because we were so busy! Laarne love, we adore you SO much. Thank you a MILLION. read more

Laarne - Event Photography Near Me

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Actual Artistry! She is arguably one of the most talented and fun photographers I've had the pleasure to work with. She is quirky, fun, creative and has a great deal of knowledge in her field. She was able to provide me with some fantastic photos for my stand up comedy and IG promo. I highway recommend her. read more

Laarne was an absolute pleasure to work with as a photographer at our wedding. I hate getting my picture taken.....Laarne made it really easy to relax in front of the camera and I am in AWE at how beautiful she made our event, and ME look! I have so few pics that I like of myself and Laarne came back with a portfolio where the next one looked better than the last. And I was 7 months pregnant! I chose Laarne because she shared how she made a career change to follow her passion. I really responded to her earnestness. Her demeanor at the wedding was perfectly laid back and accommodating. I just received the pics and am thrilled with how they turned out. Thank you Laarne! read more

I've messaged Laarne many times about my daughters quince pictures she photographed and she has yet to get back to me. It has been years. She never responded to my messages through Facebook and Instagram. She even took it to the extent of blocking my wife and I. All we wanted was a response even if she didn't have them or at the very minimal pay us back. Laarne is a sweet girl but could have handled this situation a lot better. Those pictures are memories to us that we can't get back because she refuses to get back to us. At the very least she could have messaged us back. I feel bad writing this review but I don't know what else to do but go to this extent so other people aren't scammed. I'd be happy to take this review down if she ever decides to get back to us. Cheers. read more

ed On 10/26/2017 Alexis A I don't even know where to begin with this review. It was totally fate that brought Laarne into our lives at the right moment. I came across her Instagram account because after my now wife and I got engaged, I noticed she kept liking our photos. Funny thing is, is that we had already met with two other photographers who were really awesome and had chose one from the two. Last minute, we decided to meet with Laarne just to check out what kind of vibe we got from her. Needless to say, we are so glad we did. After our first meeting with her, we couldn't help but feel like she was a close friend we had known for years. She made us feel so comfortable from the start and after looking at her work we knew we had to choose her. We booked her for both our engagement shoot and wedding and couldn't be happier. For the engagement shoot, I loved that she didn't have a time limit for our session. It didn't feel rushed and she took us to so many cool spots in Downtown Fullerton to take photos. We didn't feel awkward at all, and she made the whole experience fun. The day of our wedding, she captured so many beautiful and precious moments that we will never forget. She is SO so good and genuine at what she does. She doesn't just take a bunch of posed photos but really captures the emotions and details in a way I could have never imagined. She worked so well with the other vendors we used and even acted as a coordinator making sure everything ran smoothly. We truly feel that we have gained not only a great photographer but a wonderful friendship with this amazing soul and look forward to her capturing all the special moments to come in our future. We would definitely recommend Laarne to anyone and everyone for ANY special occasion. read more

Laarne - Perfect photo to end our special day - Event Photography Near Me

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I knew I wanted Laarne to be our wedding photographer within a minute of meeting her. Not only is her work amazing but her personality and big smile is absolutely infectious. In the months leading up to the wedding she checked in to see how we were doing and asked us what was something special she should really focus on come the wedding day. For us it was our dogs, since they wouldn't be in the actual wedding we really wanted some shots of them, as after all they are our family! Laarne totally listened. She showed up to the house the morning of the wedding with her amazing assistant full of smiles and commenced with a full blown photo shoot of me and al my unruly fur babies! She also took so many amazing details photos that I would never even thought of capturing as well as some stunning portraits of our bridal party. Our shoot at the venue was in the vines and pond area and Laarne was able to instruct our poses yet capture them in a way that wasn't posed at all.. All the pictures look like she had captured these perfect moments happening naturally which is exactly what we had wanted. All of our guests, friends and family absolutely adored Laarne and her sweet and playful nature, in fact two of my bridesmaids plan on hiring her for their weddings also. To sum it up, If you want a real artist and are anti cheesy wedding pictures then Laarne is the photographer for you! read more

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Laarne is nothing short of amazing! By far the easiest decision my husband and I made during our planning process. Laarne has a gift for photography that shines thought her photographs. Thank you Laarne for making our wedding day the best it could be. I will continue to recommend you to everyone I know planning an event or wedding. Keep chasing your passion Laarne, your the best!!!! Becky and Mario read more

We are so very grateful that Laarne was our photographer for our engagement and wedding day. Her charismatic personality and great sense of humor is infectious and just makes you feel at ease even when there's a camera pointing at you. She knew all the right angles to take and directed us well so that our photos really showed our genuine smiles and personalities. On the day of the wedding, she kept us on schedule, but made sure everyone had a great time and even joined us all on the dance floor! Multiple friends told us how great our photographer was! Her second photographer Jenny was also amazing! Thank you Laarne and your team! read more

Where do I start?? Laarne is one of those people who goes above and beyond for her clients. She makes them "friends," not just clients. Her prices are so affordable and she is so accommodating when it comes to helping you plan your wedding day. From an event planner's perspective, having a photographer who KNOWS the flow of a wedding day, and who is willing to jump over bushes and stand on top of chairs to get the shot makes the world of a difference. Why would you go anywhere else? Having hired Laarne for my OWN wedding was one of the first BIG decisions my fiance and I made, and we couldn't have been more happy. She captured our family session, which turned into a SURPRISE engagement session, just beautifully. I still cry when I look through the collection. Her intent is always genuine, she has a heart of GOLD, and she strives to provide the best to ALL of her clients on all occasions. WE LOVE HER! read more

Laarne is absolutely the BEST! To start off, we first met up and she drove 45 minutes to meet us for coffee, we hadn't even officially booked her yet and she was happy to drive out to us to chat! We booked a year in advance but what was really nice was that she would email us periodically to see how we were doing and to check in. We really appreciated that. We had Laarne do our rehearsal dinner and wedding day, and she was extremely professional but still encouraging and made us so feel so comfortable so we could be our goofy selves without feeling strange. She was very polite to my entire family and was more than willing to do whatever I asked when it came to photos. She was polite but was still able to arrange people and get everyone where they needed to be, which is very hard when you have big group shots! I loved her style when I was looking through her photos online and her style kept catching my eye. I just had this feeling that I really liked her and I hadn't even met her yet, and boy was my intuition right. She is truly a great person and makes you very comfortable. I can honestly say she was my favorite "vendor" that I used. Sure my DJ was alright, videographer was fine, but Laarne exceeded my expectations by far. I felt like one of my friends or family members was taking my photos. Our photos turned out even more beautiful and perfect than I could've ever imagined. We got the standard portraits that you need when it comes to a wedding but she also gave us the photos that showed the raw emotions we all felt that day, and that's hard to do with a photograph! The ONLY kinda sorta a little bad part is that we had to wait 8 weeks to get our photos. She quoted us 6-8 weeks and we got it at 8 so she didn't go over her quote, we were just impatient to see, but it was worth the wait! read more

Laarne is amazing! She is so full of energy and fun. As soon as I met her, we clicked and I knew I wanted her to be part of our special day. We used her for our engagement session and we were nervous about being in front of a camera, but she made the day so fun and comfortable, that we felt like it was just a fun date that she captured. She knows when to step in and when to be in the background. I felt like I was in good hands - and I was! Our pictures for both our engagement session and our wedding were perfect. I give Laarne my highest recommendation. read more

Laarne was a dream come true as a photographer. She went above and beyond for us at every step-- including standing in the pouring rain on our wedding day to get the perfect shots. She's professional, kind, and takes amazing photos. We would recommend her to anyone. read more

LAARNE was amazing as our photographer for our destination engagement session to the mountains and our small home wedding!! She went, always, above and beyond to be helpful during the whole process from helping set up my actual wedding to even giving me a hand with my makeup on my big day! Taking a photo with her is a wonderful and easy experience as well! She will make you feel calm and comfortable now matter how you feel! Believe me feelings pretty on day 2 of a camping engagement photo shoot is not super easy! But I felt gorgeous! I felt important and special and that was all thanks to her!! I could go on and go gushing about this woman and the quality of her work!! Lovely. Just simply lovely! read more

When looking for a professional to capture any event, you need to think about what you want out of the photos that are taken. Are you looking for a photographer to just snap some shots like a stenographer or are you looking an artist who is a photographer. Laarne is a true artist. It's been six months since I got married and every day I look at the photos that she took of us and I am transported back in time to one of the most important days of my life. Laarne's artistry captured perfectly what my wife and I were looking for in our photographs. In both our engagement session and on our wedding day Laarne was such a joy to be around, so it made it extremely easy for me and my wife to just enjoy ourselves and be natural. Her photography captures gorgeous, raw moments without forcing the shot. Her use of light is perfection and the photos are not overly processed. I am extremely happy with the way our photos came out for both shoots. Laarne's composition is both natural and profound and I can't wait for her to capture more important moments in my family's life. read more

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Laarne is amazing! I couldn't be more appreciative that she made us feel so comfortable from the beginning. Its not easy finding someone that you get along with so well and also takes great pictures! This was all so new to me and i looked to her for guidance, she was so helpful with locations, posses, what to wear and everything in between. If i could give her more stars i would! I love love Laarne and the pictures she took. We will cherish these forever! read more

Laarne and her team are amazing! They took both our engagement and wedding photos and we couldn't be happier with their work. While neither my husband nor I are that comfortable with being in the spotlight, Laarne made us feel at ease with her funny and energetic personality. On our wedding day Laarne was so excited; she was truly so happy to be celebrating with us. Where will you find a photographer who is that invested in your special day? We were even a bit behind schedule and Laarne and her team graciously stayed past their contracted time in order to get shots of us on the dance floor. Laarne is professional, but not cold, easy-going, but not a push-over, and energetic, but not over the top. She was able to manage our families (not an easy task) to ensure that family photos were done in an efficient manner. We received several compliments on Laarne and her team's fun-loving attitudes! My husband and I are grateful to not only have been able to work with a talented photographer, but to have gained a new friend! read more

We LOVE Laarne and her team! We hired Laarne Photography for our engagement shoot and wedding. Laarne is so sweet and fun to be around. She is a wonderful human being who appreciates these special milestones in life and truly captures the beauty, love and joy of it all! Her energy is contagious and her positive presence calms even the most nervous couples who find modeling and being the center of attention rather awkward and uncomfortable. It's obvious she enjoys what she does, she is talented at what she does, she gives great direction, and she provides the upmost care and hospitality to her clients. It's those intangibles that cannot be quantified in price. She runs an exceptional business and conducts herself with class and professionalism. Thank you, Laarne! read more

It has taken too long to get to a point where we aren't running around with a new house, college, wedding, honeymoon, and job changes, but we are here and want to whole-heartedly thank Laarne for her amazing job. The pictures are us, fun, and beautiful! More importantly, we did not know how we'd handle a "photoshoot", but Laarne is such a relaxed, loving, smiling, and giving person it made everything so easy. Thank you for the fabulous memories! Best Always! read more

Choosing Laarne as our photographer was hands-down one of the best wedding decisions I made. First of all, she's really fun to hang out with. This is a definite plus since your photographer will be with you throughout your entire wedding day. Second, the photos she took were AMAZING. They far exceeded my expectations, and I used to be a professional photographer myself. I know how tough the job can be. She rocked it. Third, we got our pictures back in three weeks! That's super fast for peak-season wedding photography. So basically, Laarne is awesome and you should book her immediately :) read more

If we could I would give Laarne more than 5 stars!!! As soon as we got engaged we knew that we wanted a great photographer, a photographer that would capture our love and the moments that we might have missed in our special day. Laarne did just that and much much more! When we found Laarne we were really excited, we saw her work on Facebook and fell in love. Her work was amazing and exactly what we were looking for. When we first met it seemed as if we have known each other for years. We loved her enthusiasm and passion towards photography and life, especially weddings! After seeing our engagement pictures we were so excited for our wedding and could not imagine how great our wedding pictures were going to be. When we received the first pictures of our wedding we loved loved loved them! All of our family and friends commented on how great our photographer was. Everyone loved Laarne's energy and enthusiasm. We love how we can relive every emotion felt that day with just looking at the pictures. Thank you so much Laarne!!! read more

Laarne was a joy to work with! She made us feel very comfortable during our engagement and wedding photos. She took her time and made sure everything was perfect. She even climbed a waterfall with us to a spot that was near and dear to our hearts. She truly went the extra mile to give us pictures we will cherish forever! Thank you Laarne! read more

Laarne and her team were absolutely amazing in capturing our special day. From the moment they arrived, they worked effortlessly to capture every moment yet somehow moved stealthy in the background. A quick look at her photos and Laarne's incredible talent in photography is readily apparent. This talent allowed her to find creative photo opportunities in settings we wouldn't think twice about. Beyond the beautiful posed photos, they also captured candid photos that truly demonstrated the joy and love we shared with our family and friends. On top of it, her turnaround time was also unbelievable; before we knew it, we were gushing over our photos. Most special was the connection we felt with Laarne; she made us feel at ease and made our needs a priority. She truly went above and beyond. Thank you Laarne, for providing us with our amazing photos that we will treasure for the rest of our lives. read more

We couldn't have asked for a better wedding photographer! Laarne came highly recommended by our wedding coordinator and, after our initial face-to-face meeting, I knew immediately that I was pointed in the right direction. Laarne has an infectious, bubbly personality that immediately put us at ease. She went above and beyond to accommodate our vision. Our engagement shoot and wedding both took place in Downtown Los Angeles. The day of our engagement shoot, several of the sites we wanted to use were closed and it was over 100 degrees outside. At the last minute, Laarne graciously agreed to accommodate our request to shoot on another day that we hoped would be cooler and allow us to shoot at the locations that were important to us. On the day of our wedding, Laarne's positive energy put us at ease. Our venue was a loft space, and there were lots of moving parts in the execution of our ceremony and reception. Laarne didn't miss a beat, and she gave us a wonderful portfolio that captured the day perfectly. I would highly recommend hiring Laarne and her team to capture any special events in your life. read more

Laarne is one of the most gifted, talented, kind hearted, giving, amazing woman I know! I was very fortunate to meet Laarne through a friend, and I can't believe we got so lucky! From our very first meeting, she was always available to us! She scouted us the perfect locations for our engagement shoot and she was our rock at the wedding. Her photos offer a glimpse into the happiest day of our life and I couldn't imagine using anyone else! read more

Laarne exceeded all of our expectations in many ways! Firstly, our wedding pictures turned out absolutely beautiful. She truly captured all the most meaningful moments and was very good at knowing all the right spots and light. But beyond that, she was so helpful, calm, patient and kind. We had quite a few snafus leading up to our wedding, and the day of. Laarne was so helpful and sweet in helping us with these stressful situations. We are more than pleased with her work and her as a person. She's wonderful. read more

I get this ridiculously huge smile on my face when I think about the amazing photos Laarne took for our engagement session & wedding day. First of all, Laarne is such an amazing and happy person that you can't help but feel comfortable and joyful being around her. She is also incredibly talented at preserving all the special moments & turning them into a beautiful memories that you can cherish forever. Her style of photography is something l that I always knew I wanted, but didn't truly know how much I appreciated until I saw our photos. It is amazing to get to relive the joy of my wedding day over and over again. Every time I look back at our photos I am so thankful that we chose Laarne and would do it 1,000 times over! read more