Marielle Hayes Photography

My wife and I had our wedding back in September at city hall in SF. After searching through dozens of photographer’s portfolios and their reviews, we narrowed it down to three which had a similar style we both liked. After asking about price (the other two were over double what Marielle was asking) we decided to go with Marielle for her city hall package (2 hours I think?). The decision was sealed after speaking with her on the phone. She was pregnant at the time and due to give birth a few weeks after our wedding date. We were a little concerned about being left high and dry if something happened, but she reassured us she had emergency back-​up in place.
Not only did Marielle show up fully pregnant like a trooper, she added fun and pizazz to the whole affair. She put everyone at ease, especially my wife– which thrilled me. The way she navigates through a wedding crowd is something to watch I tell you– she is a true pro. It seemed she knew exactly when to make conversation, joke around a little, and direct us when there was any hesitation. We had an instant chemistry with her and she helped heighten the excitement shared between my wife and myself and our family and friends. She completely elevated our entire day.
Marielle went above and beyond what we paid her for. She took extra pictures, drove us to an extra sight in her own car (we had prevously planned to use Über-​town car service), and made us laugh continually.
And… the most important part– The pictures were exceptional. I showed my whole office at work our wedding photos and they were literally gawking. Four different people asked for her contact information just after seeing our photos (Hope they contacted you Marielle!). My only regret is that we didn’t also hire her to shoot our wedding dinner :-(
Thanks Marielle!

Her prices are very reasonable and she is an AMAZING photographer. My wedding photos looked like they were straight out of a magazine. Marielle and her assistant really captured who we were.
I’m chinese so traditionally they were expecting us to stand and take a picture with each set of guests which was not feasible due to the number of guests. Marielle and her assistant though were super accommodating in pausing the formal pictures and taking group shots with the guests that wanted their very own picture with us. They also happily accommodated my request to go to each table with me to at least try and get a picture with all my guests that way.
I would say for the reviewer who gave a bad review because Marielle did not take pictures of «important people» that she did contact me ahead of time to make sure she knew who needed formal pictures. And which were the major guests of honor to pay attention to throughout the day. Overall I think it was a good blend of people shots and shots of the overall setting, which I ended up liking because I did not get to really see the party that I put on and it was nice to have that captured for me.

Marielle was absolutely WONDERFUL! We had so much fun with her and we wished that we had hired her to cover our whole wedding day. She had the perfect personality to manage a large group, but she also made it fun! ALSO! Her pictures are beautiful, she is truly talented and I would recommend her to anyone! Family pictures, wedding, she would do great at anything and everything!

This is the very first Unilocal review I’ve ever written. I’ve never felt compelled to write an online review until now — which I hope speaks to how sincere the following comments are…
Simply put: Marielle Hayes is the best wedding photographer on the planet. Period.
Marielle photographed my best friend’s wedding in October 2009, and I was blown away by how amazing the photos turned out. From that moment on, I began following her exceptional work on her photography blog and social media sites. As the months and years passed, I continued to be more and more impressed at her extraordinary talent, with every posting she made.
When my husband and I got engaged in August 2012, there was ONE thing I was sure about as we embarked upon our wedding planning process: I absolutely had to have Marielle! We were married in September 2013, and having Marielle there to document our most special day was absolutely priceless. There are no words to adequately describe how much I love our engagement photos and wedding photos. We will cherish them every day for a lifetime!
The icing on the cake is that Marielle is honestly one of the sweetest, funniest, most genuine people you will ever meet. She immediately puts everyone at ease and you will leave your photo session with her feeling like you’ve gained a lovely new friend. My sister is getting married this July and has booked Marielle as her wedding photographer, as well!
My obsession with Marielle’s amazing work will live on… Brides, stop whatever you’re doing and book this woman right now! You’ll thank me later!

Marielle was the photographer for my daughter’s wedding in August 2013. We were so pleased with everything-​her professionalism in explaining what to expect before we signed the contract, her fun but not overwhelming presence at the wedding and reception, and, of course, the pictures.
She took great pictures of the wedding party and the reception but my absolute favorites are her photos of the bride and groom-​she blew those out of the water. They look like they should be in a magazine… I’m sure I’m not biased :)
I would, and have recommended her to friends.

Maybe my family just has higher standards of photography than many brides. but I found the work that was done for my sister’s wedding in May unacceptable, especially for the hefty price tag.
My sister hired Marielle because she thought that she would have experience photographing the Mormon temple where my sister was married. We had no way of knowing what we would end up with. The day of, Marielle was very kind and receptive to what we said we wanted.
Months later, my Mother told me that my sister had cried when she received the proofs of her photos — ouch. My parents a VERY generous amount for these services. Frankly, I think that I could have done just as good of a job with a nikon point and shoot. I don’t mean to be rude in my commentary– but for this cost our expectations were high.
There were photos of people eating, EATING, and of individual flowers, what? Is this instagram? There were also photos of important groups of people missing. Frankly, my family and my sister’s in-​laws are too kind and didn’t say anything.
My sister was so disappointed in her photos that she resisted ordering an album. I am glad to see that other clients have been happy with your work– it just wasn’t right for our particular wedding.

I have to say, the task of looking for a wedding photographer was a bit daunting, and after meeting with a few people, Marielle was suggested to me by a coworker. We met up in Berkeley and immediately loved her. She is very outgoing, friendly and knowledgeable (not to mention super pregnant aka superwoman). Her package included engagement photos which we hadn’t considered before, but are now SO glad we went for. Marielle did an amazing job and we couldn’t be happier. Before the wedding she called me to chat about logistics (having just had a baby, no big deal) and was genuinely excited for us. The day of, things went perfectly and she and her assistant managed to be everywhere at once. All of our guests and giant bridal party loved them, and we got lots of comments telling us how we were so lucky to have such an awesome photographer! She’s sent us a sneak peek of some of our photos so far, and we absolutely love them. I would definitely recommend Marielle!

Marielle’s photos of our engagement and wedding were absolutely beautiful! She is so easy to work with, and the photos turned out gorgeous. Marielle has a great eye and is very organized. She’s fun, patient, and she keeps the mood very positive.
Our wedding day was very hot, 100F+ heat, and she was still bright and cheery. She interacted really well with all of our guests, and she captured a lot of great moments throughout the wedding. As a bonus, she’s AMAZING with kids, and she captured really beautiful pictures of the many kids at our wedding!

My husband and I got engaged and all of a sudden had a wedding to plan! A co-​worker (actually, a couple of co-​workers) recommended Marielle. So, I checked out her website, loved her work, and sent her an email.
We booked her unlimited package which included an engagement (or bridal session), unlimited wedding coverage, high resolution disc of all engagement and wedding photos, and a coffee table book.
**Working with Marielle was a dream** She’s amazing to work with, fun, friendly, energetic, etc etc… To top it off, she takes AMAZING pictures. I feel so lucky to have gotten such a talented photographer to capture our wedding day. Thank you, Marielle!

Marielle Hayes (and her delightful assistant Flora) photographed our daughter’s recent wedding. We have just received the sneak preview, and she would have been worth the price even if this were all we had to remember the day. We can’t wait for the full album! Her enthusiastic and sunny personality kept us focused during the photo session, and by the end of the evening, we were all fast friends. Her ability to connect, combined with her obvious artistry make her a great choice for a wedding photographer. Thank you, Mariellle and Flora!

My fiancé and I worked w/​Marielle for our engagement photo shoot in mid-​August 2011. From checking out her website
, we both really like her style. After inquiring her rate, we found out she was very reasonable. Originally, we only booked her for two hours, which would allow us to do the photo shoot in only two locations in San Francisco (Legion of Honor, Baker Beach). We really wanted to add a third location – Palace of Fine Arts, and for a slightly higher price, Marielle kindly agreed to an additional hour.
On the actual day of the photo shoot, we found Marielle to be a highly professional and energetic photographer w/​a bubbly personality! We thought posing for the photo shoot would be a bit awkward, but Marielle’s easy working style & friendly instructions made it fun for us, and we absolutely love & adore our photos. We were also super lucky that the weather was very cooperative on the day of our photo shoot. Marielle was able to time it so perfectly so when we arrived at Crissy Field (near to Palace of Fine Arts), it was just within a few minutes of the sunset. We have some stunning & magnificent photos thanks to her artistic sense, her good timing, good weather, and luck!
The only regret my fiancé and I have is that we weren’t able to book her for our actual wedding day. Turned out one of her sisters got married on the same day as us! So… we ended up booking another photographer for our actual wedding day. Well… we’ll definitely keep Marielle in consideration for future photo shoots (family portrait, new babies, etc.)
Of course, everyone prefers a different style. Marielle’s style is very journalistic and colorful, which is the style preferred by my fiancé and me. We would highly recommend Marielle to anyone. Definitely shop around, but chances are you’ll find Marielle’s rate to be very reasonable for the style & quality of the service you’ll receive.

Marielle photographed our wedding this past Saturday and she and her assistant Flora were amazing. We felt totally comfortable and at ease with them both, they were patient, kind, and calm on such a stressful day for us, and most importantly recognized that we were capturing a very important day.
All of our bridal party loved her and we got so many comments about how active and involved she was without stepping on anyone’s feet. My husband sometimes feels uncomfortable having his picture taken but he mentioned that he really felt as though he could be himself and smile as though he normally does.
We were already able to see a couple photos and I am so happy about the few we have seen already — they are so beautiful and they are exactly how I wanted us to be captured on our wedding day.

Marielle is the best!
She shot our engagements and our wedding and she was so much fun to work with!
I absolutely love our engagement shots which she did in SF. They were made into a book which we had guests sign at the wedding. What a fun way for guests to see our photos and a great way to display it after the wedding.
Marielle did a fabulous job at our Tahoe wedding. She was able to wrangle our crazy groomsmen, corral our ringbearers and flower-​dog, and take beautiful shots of the wedding party near the Lake.
Thanks Marielle!

Marielle was the perfect wedding photographer. We have amazing wedding photos that I still sit and stare at to this day! On top of that she was great to work with, incredibly nice and down to earth. She really had the magic touch with our kind of fussy 2 and half year old flower girl as well. Can’t say how much I recommend her!
PS Those are me and my husband’s feet up there!

Marielle is the most talented, creative photographer I have ever seen. I’ve followed Marielle’s photography blog for a long time. When my younger sister got engaged in January, I immediately told her about Marielle. A few months later when I got engaged, Marielle was one of my first calls. I knew I wanted her to photograph my wedding, and I even moved the wedding date to a day she was available!
Marielle did both my sister’s and my engagement photos, and I cannot wait to have her photograph both of our weddings. She is so talented and creative and her work stands out from any other wedding photographer. Plus, she is so fun to work with. She had us laughing during our entire session.
I cannot wait to have her take my wedding photos! I highly recommend Marielle to anyone looking for a creative, talented and fun photographer.

Marielle was the perfect photographer for our wedding day. We couldn’t have asked for anyone better. Not only are her photos amazing but her take-​charge attitude really helped keep everyone organized on a such hectic day.
One thing we really appreciated is she was very easy to communicate with. Whenever we had questions, she got back to us right away.
We plan on using Marielle in the future and would recommend her to anyone that we know that needs an amazing photographer!

I selected Marielle to photograph my wedding (and engagements, and rehearsal dinner, and bridals…) after meeting with several different photogs. Not only did I love her portfolio, but I also wanted to find someone that I was interested in spending so much time with! (After all, during the wedding, the photographer is there practically the whole time, plus they may be watching you get dressed beforehand!) So not only did I end up with the greatest memories from my wedding, but I enjoyed having Marielle be a part of it. She is electric, totally fun to be with, and has the gusto to tell you what to do, where to stand, and how to smile in a tactful, sweet, but in-​charge sorta way. I would absolutely work with Marielle again!