I have known Xavier Bailey for several years. I perform with a gypsy rock belly dance band and he…read morehas captured hundreds of amazing photos at several of our shows, including our big CD release party in 2014. In addition to that, once my wife Elizabeth and I started dating he made a point to do a little mini photo session with us every time we encountered him at an event. At one of these shows he captured what quickly became our favorite photo of the two of us together. We were both very dressed up and he wanted to make the most of the opportunity. He coached us quite a bit on where to stand, how to interact with each other, how to tilt our heads, and how high to raise our chins. His instructions ended up being perfect and we captured a great shot. So when the time came to select a photographer for our April 7, 2018 wedding the choice was obvious We could not even imagine going with anyone other than the man who had taken our favorite photo.
Our wedding was to be at The Don Room in the El Cortez in downtown San Diego. But before that day we first had to choose a location for our engagement photo shoot. My wife is a PICU nurse, and I am a musician and guitar teacher. In addition to belly dance music, I play everything from blues, to classical, and heavy-metal. Liz and I both love going to concerts, eating exotic food, and touring palaces, castles, and town squares in Europe. Knowing that we wanted our engagement photos to be mystical, and in a natural setting, he suggested we do our shoot at Lake Cuyamaca. After he scouted the location and showed us several photos we enthusiastically agreed that it was a great idea.
All of expertise he had so effortlessly displayed before was in abundance for the several hours we spent at the lake. We took photos in the forest, on bridges, near the lake, and in a stone labyrinth. In addition to taking many photos where he captured the sunlight filtering through the trees, we also did some photos after nightfall using various lights he had. He even shot several minutes of video footage of us using his drone camera. He then edited the photos and footage together into avideo montage. The results were stunning. We were very happy with the results and eager to display them on our wedding website. The response we got from all of our family and friends was great. Everyone thought he had really captured our "essence".
On the day of the wedding Xavier and his team were a whirlwind of activity. In addition to capturing all the normal events like getting dressed, walking to the ceremony, the vows, the kiss, our grand entrance, our first dance, the toasts, the cake cutting, the bouquet toss and the garter toss... Xavier and his team also somehow managed to capture a bagpiper, a wizard, a contortionist and sword swallower, a circus aerialist, and five belly dancers! Covering our wedding must have felt like running a marathon. But Xavier and his team were going full steam all day and night.
When we saw all the photos we were completely overwhelmed once again. Hundreds of photos of everything from our private moments to our many enthusiastic and emotional wedding guests. The collection is a wonderful photo essay that seems to tell the entire story of our special day. Going through the photos one by one makes us feel like the day has been frozen in time and we are able to stroll through the event and witness hundreds of little moments that we otherwise would never see. We feel so blessed.
We cannot possibly more highly recommend Xavier Bailey Photography. If you would like someone who will patiently listen to your ideas, and lend his experience and imagination to help you achieve your vision, we encourage you to set up a meeting with Xavier. Take it from the babysitter playing wizard - He is Magic!
Greg Vaughan
Liz And The Wiz