tl;dr: Montclair Studio (Michael) is the most unprofessional vendor we have ever dealt with. The post-wedding experience was so bad that when we look at our photos, we get really upset. We chose Montclair Studio after a recommendation from a friend who hired them for his wedding. Big mistake! It's likely Michael will respond to this review defending himself without accepting that he messed up (see other reviews). We just want an apology and all of our wedding content. Michael refuses to accept any fault for his behavior. He does not return emails, texts, or phone calls (his email inbox and voicemail are also full). You will have such a bad aftertaste dealing with Michael post-wedding that you will feel bad when you look at your photos rather than be full of joy. At the wedding, things went relatively well; after the wedding is when things really got out of hand. He made it very difficult to get the wedding photo files, which was required to be able to choose photos for an album; he claimed he mailed them to us in San Francisco where we live, but he deceived us: USPS tracking # he gave us showed that he never actually sent them We called him out on that and they miraculously were sent. When we complained, he blamed USPS and said we should just pick it up in New Jersey...but we live in California! Finally, the USB of the wedding photos arrived to SF. The quality of the wedding photos were mediocre: he did not do a good job with outdoor photos or framing. He also had not sent us our Thursday afternoon Mehndi event photos. When we asked how to get those, he said to pick them up in NJ! My mother drove from Manhattan to Montclair (1+ hr driving one-way). Nobody was at the Studio when she arrived, even though she confirmed the time with him! The video was delivered AFTER the contract deadline; Michael demonstrated no remorse. My mom agreed again to drive to Montclair to pick up the Mehndi photos and the wedding videos, which he said would be ready; she arrived and while there was a USB left taped to the door (which someone could have stolen), the USB did not have any video on it! We eventually received the videos. The highlight video was very short; it almost exclusively showed highlights from our pre-wedding photoshoot and not the wedding. The full length video is missing my wife's vows as well as the Hora dance (an important highlight of any Jewish wedding). His contract stated we could receive the raw video footage if we sent him a hard drive. So we purchased a hard drive and mailed it to his studio. He was not there to receive it, so the post office mailed it back to my parents, who then mailed it to him one final time (we now had paid twice for shipping). Finally, the hard drive arrived to us in SF. We were so excited and thought this terrible saga was over. When we opened the hard drive, guess what? There was no video footage on it! My parents and my wife reached out to Michael, all to no avail. We waited months to write this because we were hoping to secure all of our wedding content first, in case he would hold it hostage due this poor review. At this point, we have given up. Any time we look at our photos, we get upset because it reminds us of this terrible experience with Montclair/Michael. Michael, if you read this, please give us our wedding raw video footage and an apology. Show some honor and accept responsibility for your mistakes. read more

I hired Montclair Studio as my wedding photographer one year ago and I never got the wedding album I paid for. They don't return phone calls or emails and seem to have completely disappeared. This business is a scam, do not use them. read more

Our wedding was in April. Part of our package was the photo booth. It was the only reason why I went with them. We were counting on the photos to be our favors. They didn't bring back up and they couldn't get it up and running until an hour before the wedding ended, and the printer didn't work so the few guests that did get to use it didn't receive photos. I contacted them for a refund for the photo booth to be refunded. They said they would issue a refund and never did. I've been trying to get a hold of them since May with no response to any of my emails. I called today, the voicemail boxes for both the office and cell are full so I can't even leave a message. I have not received status of my wedding photos. They basically took my money and ran. I don't even know that I'll ever get my pictures since I can't get a hold of anyone. read more

We had an engagement photo session in Central Park last Sunday with Mihai. I cannot say enough good things about him! He was professional, on time, and cracked a lot of jokes to make us feel comfortable (even though we had no idea what we were doing!) and produced some absolutely beautiful images. He gave us some great tips and captured some really natural shots. By Monday he had already uploaded the images onto the web. Talk about super efficient! Mihai is an amazing photographer. We had a really good time and we are so glad we did it! I am so excited now to show my friends and family all the wonderful photos. Thanks Mihai! read more

My husband and I are going to be married a year now! Michael's pictures are amazing. The album is well made. He made our simple wedding into a spectacular pictures. He is very professional. The only thing i am missing is the video. I recommend Montclair Studio to anyone who is looking for a professional credible company. They are honest and reasonable. I give me them the highest excellent review. I am hoping to get my video soon. I cannot wait. read more

My husband and I used Montclair Studio for our Wedding photos and cinematography in October 2017, and we were extremely happy with the results. Our package (which we got at a great price due to a Winter promotion) included engagement photos, wedding photos and a videography portion that included a short 4-minute highlight trailer, a condensed hour-long wedding video, and all of the raw footage from the day. We took our engagement photos outdoors on the coldest day of Winter, but Michael was extremely patient with us and never seemed to mind the cold (I'm talking 10 degrees with a windchill of close to zero!) Michael suggested the location and made everything feel very natural - we are thrilled with the photos and knew we made the right choice right then and there (these photos were ready about 1 week after our session). Fast forward 10 months - Michael and his team filmed us the day of our wedding at the hotel where we got ready, at the church where our ceremony was, and at the venue where we held our reception. The team had the PERFECT balance of capturing all of the special photos we wanted, without seeming overbearing in any way - half the time, we didn't even realize they were there! We truly got to enjoy our reception because of this. Our cinematography turned out amazing, especially our highlight trailer; the only downside was that we had to wait quite a while for it (our Wedding was in October and we didn't receive our videos until the following March). We did get married during the Fall, though, which is a busy time. However, I wish we could have gotten them sooner! Overall, our experience with Michael and Montclair Studio was fantastic and we would recommend them to anyone looking for amazing photos and video! They were always there to answer our (many!) questions and were extremely helpful throughout the entire process. read more

I had Montclair Studio Photograph and Video my wedding. My husband and I even added on the photo booth option to the package. When I first contacted the studio my first question was if they had ever worked with my venue and their answer was yes. They were able to show me a few (and I mean A FEW) photos that were taken, unfortunately not ever couple will release their photos for sharing. Well the day of my wedding I hear the photographer and videographer say that they had never been to my venue....This worried me but I thought, hey they are professionals. They do this all the time and I am sure they have done their research on the venue. Well I was wrong. I will say now that my photos came out ok. Nothing completely amazing that I had never seen before but I expected more. Way more. After hearing that none had even seen my venue my next impression was of the photographer not having a timeline planned out. I had informed the studio that I did want to photograph a first look with my husband. This was not done. They left me and my family waiting in a room while they had my husband outside and waiting for me. Nothing was ever mentioned to me and after about 20 min this made the ceremony start late. This then caused for the photographer and the maitre'd to argue.... After my ceremony the first words spoken to me were "WE HAVE A BIG PROBLEM!" by my photographer. Apparently neither her or the videographer were set up at the start of the ceremony so not only were my husband and his groomsman entrance not photographed or filmed but neither was mine as I walked down the aisle. This in my opinion is completely unprofessional especially when the blame was being pointed in every different direction. In addition to this neither my husband or the officiant were mic'ed and half way through my ceremony the videographer informed someone in my wedding party to put a mic on my husband. This was not our responsibility and should have been taken care of before the ceremony started. When I finally received the video of my ceremony you can't hear anyone speaking, but I can hear the videographer sniffling and/or clearing his throat. Finally you wouldn't think there was a way to mess up a photo booth, but we were receiving a copy of all photos that were taken from our wedding by or guests. 90% of these photos were just thrown in the book. Not glued down to a page, no effort to possibly have guests write my their photos. I am EXTREMELY disappointed in this company! If there was a way to get my money back believe me I would. I am only happy that I didn't order my wedding albums from them because to get upcharged on an album would have been the icing on the cake. (Oh and I can somewhat agree to what Ellen E said in her review. I have had emails both responded and not responded to. I also had an appointment canceled because they decided to book a wedding after the fact. They do not try and reschedule they just send you to their website to try and make another appointment. When we finally did make it to the appointment we had to wait for someone to get there and only 1 person in the studio knows how to accept a payment.) read more

BUYER BEWARE - Do not sign their contract without reading it. They will tell you that it's just a standard contract that their attorney wrote but that's not the case. By signing their contact you relinquish huge protections you should have as a client and a consumer. read more

My sister had her wedding photos done by them and they did an exceptional job. We are originally from Montclair so we wanted to use someone local. They were a decent price but they included two photographers. Originally we didn't actually want the second we didn't think we'd need two. But the second got some of the greatest photos while the first focused on the big picture stuff like the bride and groom. This allowed the second to get all the smaller details like my mom smiling and our grandma tearing up. There were also some fabulous action dancing shots. I swear their photos were Pinterest material. I almost think the location should use those photos as a way to advertise the space. The photos were just so moving. We can still really feel the emotion that was there at the time a year later, now. read more

Good luck making an appointment and having them keep it. I had an appointment scheduled with them to hear about their wedding photography packages. When I arrived, the studio was CLOSED. I tried calling, leaving a note, and writing an email. The next day, I did not even get a response back. Finally I called to see what happened and was told, "I'm sorry, that was my fault. I had to run out and forgot I had an appointment, so how can I help you?" It honestly did not seem like they cared AT ALL that they FORGOT my appointment. Also, they never even offered to reschedule. Very unprofessional and I would use caution when booking them. Hopefully, they won't FORGET your event. read more

Amazing! Michael and staff were wonderful to work with and made the day run so smoothly. Words cannot express our gratitude for helping to make our wedding amazing. Thank you! read more

This past Monday I was lucky enough to schedule a photo shoot with Mihai of Mg photography. He was right on time and wonderful with my two young daughters. I couldn't have been more pleased with the amount of time he spent with us and his patience. Just a few days later my pictures were ready to view and one is more beautiful then the next. I will certainly be using MG again very soon!!! read more

I cannot say enough good words about Monica and the crew at Montclair Studio. We got married this May and she was wonderful to work with . Chris was our videographer and he was very unobtrusive. When we got our pictures and video back , all our friends and family have been complimenting us non stop about them . We recommend Montclair Studio to everyone looking for a great wedding day experience, amazing video and photos. Thank you ! read more