We love Melissa so much! She was our wedding photographer less than a month ago and took our engagement photos before that. She seriously is the best. My husband Josh is a photographer too and he was ultra picky during our search, but once we saw Melissa's portfolio online, we knew she was the one. We were immediately drawn to her style. Prior to our wedding, we had an awesome engagement session with her around our favorite spots in San Francisco. She was super warm and made us feel so at ease. She was super communicative leading up to our wedding, too - making sure we had all our priority shots down. Her beautiful, quiet energy was also such a blessing on our wedding day! I was a pretty nervous bride but she is such a calming force and so easy to be around. We took some of the standard family and portrait shots because we wanted those, but she also captured really neat scenes in between - she's a master at finding and capturing those fleeting moments that might get lost in the blur of the day. We cried just looking at our sneak peeks, so we know the full gallery is going to be awesome. Melissa is the greatest! We can't wait to work with her again and we highly recommend her for anyone looking for a magical wedding or life photographer. read more

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Without a doubt, Marble Rye photography is one of the best photographers in California. Melissa is the real deal. Book her fast, book her now! While this review is long overdue the moments and the emotions that she captures speak volumes long after she snaps the shutter. Melissa is genuinely there to capture the story of your life, your moment. An observer with a camera, a documentarian articling your piece of history and a force to be reckoned with on the dance floor. Melissa dives in whole heartedly and feels like a fast friend. She becomes a part of your story. She becomes someone you plan to invite to all of your big occasions and you may even make up excuses for her to just stop by. Of all the vendors we hired for our wedding the most important for us was our photographer and with Melissa there was no comparison. She became the best and easiest vendor we dealt with. If I could hire her tomorrow, I would! read more

Marble Rye Photography - Event Photography Near Me

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We could not be more grateful to of had Melissa as our wedding photographer. Not only is she PHENOMENALLY talented, but she is also a joy to work with. She was the perfect balance of professionalism and warmth, organization and calmness; and best of all, she will make your special day run as smoothly as possible. Melissa came highly recommended by another talented photographer, though her packages were much more affordable than all the other providers we had researched. From the 1st conversation we had with her, it was clear that she was going to be wonderful to work with. In addition to being quickly responsive, her services are well-organized. The booking process was very easy. When you work with Melissa, you can tell she is genuinely invested in you. Even before the wedding, she asked to tour the venue with us to get a better sense of our vision (free of charge, of course). She was also thorough in making sure any details we wanted captured were noted ahead of time and made sure we had a timeline set for the day of. We learned how invaluable all her preparations were when the big day arrived. I could not believe how demanding her role was. Not only did she keep us on schedule, but she had a great attitude when it came to herding our boisterous wedding party ;) She had a lot to do in a small time frame, but kept her calm, kind composure the entire day. When we got the photos back, we were floored at how beautiful they were. Everything from the composure to the quality to the editing was spot on. She was able to capture everything we wanted and even surprise us with several behind-the-scenes photos. I can't recommend Melissa highly enough, which is a lot considering what a critical role your photographer plays on your wedding day. When we look at our wedding photos, it feels really good knowing that we also highly respect and admire the person behind the lens. read more

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Melissa is the absolute BEST, and I can't imagine having a better experience working with anyone else. Her calm, warm, and professional manner made both myself and my partner feel at ease and completely trusting of how amazing our photos would turn out (AND THEY DID). Weddings (the planning, the day of) can be stressful, but choosing Melissa took so much off our plates and allowed us to truly enjoy our day. From the first conversation we had with Melissa, we were both struck by how easy it was to talk to her. During that conversation and throughout working with her she took the time to explain her processes and give us options, which was hugely helpful. When we took engagement photos with her I was immediately impressed by her clear directions and confident eye. I also appreciated how flexible and responsive she was with us. I'm pretty shy about taking photos, so me feeling comfortable is kinna a big deal ;) The day before our wedding Melissa spent time scouting out the best locations for our photos. I loved that she knew exactly where and when to take what types of photos. She was the picture of calm professionalism during our entire wedding day; she dealt with unexpected rain, both us and other members of the wedding party showing up late, and other general hiccups without breaking a sweat. And again, her warm, lovely personality made it a genuine pleasure to have her there. I really can't recommend Melissa highly enough, and am so glad she was there for our wedding day! read more

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We were seriously blessed to have Melissa photograph our SF City Hall wedding back in October. Her calm and warm personality was a pleasure to have by our sides. From the very first phone call I felt exceptionally confident in her organization and abilities. Not only did she take gorgeous photos of our day, she helped guide us through all the stages of meeting people and getting the paperwork signed. My husband and I are both goons in front of the camera but she managed to make us feel comfortable and got some beautiful shots. She even managed to sneak some photos I had no idea she was taking. If we needed to do it all again I would hire her in a heartbeat! read more

Marble Rye Photography - Event Photography Near Me

Everyone tells you that picking your photographer is the most important part of planning your wedding. I don't do well with that kind of pressure - I was terrified to get it wrong. I got quotes from about 30 photographers, but they all faded into a blur of high prices. I talked to Melissa and really liked her/her photos. Slowly, I started to feel the anxiety melt away - like, if I hired her, she would make me feel comfortable and relaxed, and surely that would translate into good photos. I don't know much about photography, but I'd seen enough of her work to know that I really liked her style. So we went with Melissa and waited for our engagement shoot to roll around. When I first met Melissa in person for the engagement shoot, it was like meeting an old friend who I was already comfortable with. Like most non-model/actor people, my husband and I had never taken pro photos beyond school pictures, and we were nervous about how a 90-minute photo shoot would go - we actually started at a bar to take the edge off. But any nerves went away after the first few minutes and we ended up having fun traipsing around downtown Los Angeles for a couple of hours, taking amazingly cute and awesome photos, and feeling comfortable with the camera. The wedding went great, and she and her second shooter were like a fly on the wall. We did have the standard "formal portraits" with each other, the wedding party, and our families - but we also have a million wonderful natural photos of ourselves and our guests. One of the things I really liked about Melissa is that she takes plenty of pictures of guests, which was really important to me - a wedding is about the community. There are so many pictures that I treasure and know I'll look at for years to come - my mom holding her own wedding picture from 36 years ago while standing next to her maid of honor, my grandma holding my wedding band in her hands, so many friends and family members. Melissa's knack for capturing the small, intimate moments was very evident - there were a lot of pictures of things that escaped my attention day-of, and I was so grateful she'd been there to capture it. She made the wedding look like how it felt and looked day-of. Beautifully staged pictures of the room, the small details, the shoes/rings/flowers/whatever - she captured this expertly. I wondered why the food photos looked so good (trust me, it's hard to make a chafing dish of mac and cheese look elegant) and then remembered she's also a food photographer! So you know she has an eye for details. I could go on, but I'll just say that if you're nervous about picking the right photographer, or nervous about how you'll look/act in front of the camera, you really couldn't do better than picking Melissa for her calm energy, professionalism, and creative eye. It was everything I could have asked for and the pictures turned out better than I could have hoped. read more

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Melissa is an amazing, intuitive photographer! She'll be at our wedding in October, but we took engagement photos a few months ago. Melissa has been flexible, genuine, and reasonable. About an hour before our engagement session, we were unable to meet at the original location. Melissa happily reworked her day and flexibly gave us recommendations on backup spots! From the start she understood our vision and desire to want to capture the important parts of our wedding, and I cannot wait for the photos! read more

I'm so sorry this review is super late, but Melissa and her photos still amaze us even so long after the wedding! Having our wedding photos and engagement session done by Melissa was so much fun! She helped us plan a route to get all of the locations we wanted done while still staying within a reasonable time frame, and she was still hard at work even after the sun was mostly set. (And those pictures still turned out great!) She is an awesome photographer with a gorgeous creative vision and an energetic can-do attitude to her craft. She's great to hang out with and super charming and friendly. We've never met a photographer who put us both immediately at ease as soon as we met. We were really impressed by how she interpreted our vision for the engagement session and the wedding, and her patience and care in planning to get the right setup for each shot. And trust me, we were suuuper picky about specific shots and angles and events to be captured. Having her eating with the guests at dinner instead of away with the other vendors was a great idea, and she was right there to capture all those amazing moments without missing a beat! She worked super closely with us on the day of and personally helped make all kinds of things about the wedding go smoother. She even drove me and my mother to the ceremony site since we'd forgotten to arrange other transportation there. (Whoops!) The second photographer, Nicole, was also a joy to work with and we were super happy with the coverage that the two of them got of the event. We loved having Melissa at our wedding and we are super glad we hired her. Definitely going to come back to her for many more of life's milestones! (Photos to be uploaded soon!) read more

Melissa from Marble Rye Photography photographed our wedding on 12-13-14 in Palm Springs, California. I can honestly say that having Melissa as our wedding photographer was one of the best things about getting married. Her temperament, aptitude, professionalism and incredible spirit (I can't think of how else to put it!) added a very special ingredient to our nuptials that I will never forget, and I will never stop being grateful for her hard work to make our day so special. First, let me talk about her skills as a photographer. The way she composed our formal post-ceremony portraits resulted in gorgeous images that mean so much to us. I'm talking really amazing formal portraits that she snapped in a matter of minutes, yet they look like they might have taken hours to compose. We have a large blended family and many family members traveled more than 300 miles to be at our wedding. That means that many of the people photographed together did not know each other prior to the ceremony. But you can't tell that from looking at our wedding portraits! Melissa has a gift for working quickly and putting everyone at ease (more on that later). One of the most wonderful thing about receiving our beautifully-edited wedding package from Melissa was looking at the amazing candids she took during the course of the day!!! These are some of my favorite images from the wedding. Melissa told us that she would be like a "fly on the wall" during the night, and she wasn't kidding. We ended up with dozens and dozens of beautiful images of family members laughing (family members we don't usually get to see so relaxed and happy in photos), my little nephew dancing up a storm, and other indelible images that we now have framed on our gallery wall. If you need one more reason to hire Marble Rye for your wedding or special event, there's this: Melissa is incredibly talented - AND she is also sweet, nice and easy to work with. Trust me, you want someone like this at your wedding!!! We had a small, low-key wedding, but even then there were still nerves and confusion swirling around in the air. Melissa has such a winning personality - she will calm everyone down just with her presence. She is wonderful with young children. I can't tell you how many people commented on her work after the wedding. "Your photographer was great!" was one of the resounding themes of the night. Please don't hesitate to send me a message if you have any questions about Melissa and Marble Rye Photography. I'll be happy to share any images or answer questions. If you're looking for soulful images that will capture the beauty and laughter of your event (and who doesn't want the very best, right?), you want Marble Rye Photography. read more

Melissa photographed our wedding in Maui in August of 2014. She was instantly loved by both of our families and our whole group of friends. She was a calm and supportive spirit, even teaching our 4 year old niece how to hold the camera and be a mini photographer (there's photo of this that is one of my favorites from that day). Her photos are clean and beautiful. If anyone has ever looked into local Hawaiian photographers you can quickly see why we were panicked when we started looking, until we met Melissa. We asked if she would be willing to fly out to Maui and she said "Yes!", without blinking and eye. We have the most amazing photos from our wedding day and our rehearsal dinner. If you are debating-BOOK HER!! I've heard horror stories about wedding photographers losing photos, being rude, etc. You won't be disappointed :) read more

We hired Melissa for our May 2019 wedding in Ojai. We just got our full gallery of photos and my parents called me to say that hiring her as a photographer was the smartest wedding decision we made. My husband and I both agree and were in (happy) tears looking through all of the images. We were referred to Marble Rye though our wedding planner and were immediately attracted to the documentary style photos. Although the rate was higher than our initial photography budget allowed, our planner suggested we spend the extra money in this category and cut back elsewhere- she was right! Melissa does a fantastic job of capturing the feel of the event itself, not just posed photos. This was something that was really important to us since we didn't hire a videographer and she delivered beyond what we expected. From the moment we met over coffee a few months before the wedding, we both felt like we could trust her and she understood what we were looking for. Aside from taking wonderful photos, Melissa is extremely thoughtful and a joy to be around. She handled our families with ease and was a calming presence in the morning when I was getting ready. We wholeheartedly recommend Melissa as a wedding photographer and are grateful for the memories she captured. read more

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Weddings are made of moments like these: the bride and her mother laughing like spitting images of each other, hands hitched to their hips and heads thrown back; the mothers of the couple share a quiet, knowing look; a dad puts on a pair of polished shoes brought from a strange country--this one--that he left over 30 years ago; the ones who crossed Oceans to be here are looking jetlagged and tired, but eager and smiling; a friend gingerly cuts a cake that she took months in the making; another is nervous, about to spring a surprise performance that she isn't sure will go as she intends; best friends finally meeting each other for the first time, but apparently not for the last time; he looks at her on the stairs like there's no one else in the world; strangers pass by in good cheer; the night deepens amidst the glow of good food and company. Melissa doesn't know all these stories (how could she?) but she has the keen eyes -- and the heart -- for moments like these. Our marriage will be between the two of us; we will be as perfect to each other in the years to come as we were that day. But the wedding is also for everyone else. Melissa will tell the story of your wedding through her photos as lovingly as you will ever hope to remember. read more

Marble Rye Photography - Event Photography Near Me

Melissa is an absolute dream to work with. She's laid back, responsive, creative, and so, so kind. If you're going to have someone hovering around you on your oh-so-personal wedding day, I couldn't recommend her more. In fact, I keep trying to think of more ways to be in her photos.... read more

Melissa photographed our June wedding and was amazing. So professional, so easy to work with... made my husband and I feel completely comfortable in front of the camera. Her photos are beautiful-- she has a way of sliding in at the exact perfect moment and capturing the natural spirit of people who don't even realize she's there. I hired her after being at four different weddings where she was the photographer, and if I was doing it again tomorrow, i would hire her again. She's incredibly special- the very best. read more

As a wedding planner, all I have to say is the Melissa is a dream to work with! Not only will she create amazing images for you, she is flexible, she goes with the flow, she's down to earth, and she's downright fun! Hire her... Now! read more

This is a long overdue review for Melissa and Marble Rye Photography. Let me start by saying how lovely Melissa is as a person-- she has an easy, approachable, warm demeanor and is so down to earth. We met her at a wine bar prior to our wedding to discuss the wedding details and we wanted to stay and keep chatting with her!! She has a wide breadth of interests and past experiences, including doing photographic work in Africa. I think she truly "gets" people and that's why her photographs radiate so much beauty. The day of the wedding she was a rock. It was a great day all around, but the highlight was actually having some quiet time with her and my husband. Her strategies to get us photographed not only resulted in beautiful, candid shots, but they also helped us connect after the intensity of the wedding ceremony. That time together was tender and beautiful and I will remember it forever. The end result- the many beautiful photographs- are so beyond what we would have expected. She did a fantastic job capturing the day all by herself- no need for a second shooter! Her style is more photojournalistic than highly edited, which is what we love-- they're timeless shots that will be just as beautiful 50 years from now as they are today! I can't say enough good things about Marble Rye- five stars plus!! read more

We could not be happier with our wedding photos. Our wedding day was the happiest, most fun and love-filled day... and it was perfectly captured by the most genuine, sweetest and talented photographer we could have hoped for. She captured the best of everyone in real time. Every time we go through the photos we have a smile on our face and we relive the day! We could not recommend her more. It felt like we were being photographed by a friend, and in the process we made a friend :) read more

As a long-time Yelp review reader who has never bothered to write a review himself until now, I will preface this by noting that I created a Yelp account solely in order to leave this review -- that's how much I believe in it! Other reviewers have already used up all of the superlatives, so I'll just reiterate that Melissa is incredible. It has to be a dizzyingly challenging job to stand out from a sea of folks offering very similar services using very similar equipment, to come off as both extremely professional and also very likely to be a close friend if you happened to meet under different circumstances, and to radiate confidence and calm while still being nimble and responsive in order to adapt to any unexpected changes (in lighting or emotions!) on what is often a very stressful day for the folks who have retained your services. Melissa excels on all fronts. And I haven't even mentioned her actual photography, which is evocative, sensitive, and does a better job of capturing human emotion than any other wedding photographer that my wife and I researched. Some folks want a photographer who will get them the photos they want to see afterward. Others want someone who will document their wedding as it was, to help them relive the memory and to see it from even more perspectives. Many photographers will satisfy the first priority and produce excellent staged photos, but from my experience as a wedding attendee, not many can fulfill both criteria without being painfully obvious or in the way of the wedding itself. Melissa especially impressed us with the strength of her wonderful candid photos and her eye for capturing the entire event, not just the parts surrounding the wedding couple (though of course those images were exquisite as well). And she was able to do this all without a second shooter, without changing any part of the flow of the event, and with me hardly noticing that she was there most of the time. Melissa has now relocated to Northern California, but if she's willing to travel to your area then I wouldn't look any further for the perfect wedding photographer. read more

Melissa is a brilliant photographer and a pleasure to work with. She captured the most precious moments from my wedding. Will absolutely hire her again for my next wedding jkjkjk. But srsly she's incredible. HIGHLY RECOMMEND. read more

Choosing Melissa to photograph our wedding was one of the first decisions we made in our planning process and proved to be one of the best. She is a delight, very laid back and lovely, a prompt and collaborative communicator, has a spectacular eye and creative sense and is someone you will absolutely want to be around on your wedding day. She was calming but kept things on task, she was totally unobtrusive but still managed to capture the most intimate moments of the day beautifully. We had a couple snags in our planning process, the big one being that we had to change venues (to another city altogether) 6 months before the wedding. Melissa didn't bat an eye and could not have been more accommodating or positive about something that had us totally overwhelmed- which was so comforting during a very stressful time. The pictures are spectacular, so many amazing shots of us and our guests. She takes photos that will actually allow you to relive the experience, which is truly a gift that will keep on giving for years and years. She's an awesome person and an amazing photographer and I really believe she is the absolute best person we could have hired to fill this role. read more