Melissa is extraordinary. We were blown away by the beauty of the photos she took of our wedding, and her ability to capture fleeting moments. She is calm, encouraging, and keen-eyed. Her professional and gentle style show up in how entirely themselves all our friends and family look in posed portraits -- no stiffness or self-consciousness, even among the shy -- as well as the abundant and fantastic candid shots. She's an absolute pleasure to work with, and I truly can't recommend her highly enough.
— MARGARET & RAPH
Melissa is one of the best photographers I’ve worked with. She is the perfect calming presence you need on your wedding day, never showing her cards. She is kind, endearing, and empathetic to all walks of life and truly makes you feel like you’re her best friend. Her photo style is candid, and gorgeous. I can’t recommend Melissa enough <3
— CHLOE SKELLY, Chloe Alise Events
We are so grateful to have worked with Melissa to document our February 2025 wedding in San Francisco and the weekend leading up to it, and also on our engagement shoot the previous fall. From our very first Zoom call with her and the first time we met in person (at our engagement shoot), we felt at ease, and that we were in good hands. Beyond the immediate connection we felt with her, we appreciated that she took the time to build a personal relationship with us, which made the wedding day feel so much more natural and comfortable.
Melissa has a real gift for focusing on what really matters in gatherings and celebrations, the people. Her style—candid, documentary, and in many ways cinematic—made her a perfect match for the wedding we wanted to have, one that felt mostly like a joyful winter evening surrounded by our community. Looking through the photos from our wedding, rehearsal dinner, and wedding-day preparations, we’re reminded not only of the big, dramatic events, but also the small, genuine interactions with our guests that made the day so special. She has this impressive ability to be fully present and yet never intrusive, blending seamlessly into the background to capture the most authentic emotions and moments right as they unfold.
At the same time, when direction was needed, Melissa guided us and our family/friends with professionalism and clarity. Her gentle instructions helped us feel relaxed and confident in front of the camera, which was especially important on such a significant day.
The end result is a collection of photos that truly reflect who we are and the joy we shared with our loved ones from all over the world. We truly cannot speak highly enough of Melissa, and recommend her unreservedly to anyone who wants their wedding photography experience to feel like you’re working with a thoughtful, warm, and talented friend.
— CHRISTINE & CHAN HOW
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.
I wouldn't look any further for the perfect wedding photographer.