The Knot Best of Wedding 2024 + WeddingWire Couples' Choice Awards 2024
Hall of Fame?! WHAT?!
This is such an incredibly huge honor. For winning The Knot's Best of Weddings and WeddingWire's Couples’ Choice Awards four times in a row, I'm being inducted into The Knot's Hall of Fame!!
Thank you to each of my couples who chose me to be a part of your proposals, engagement sessions, and wedding days in 2023. It's truly an honor each time a couple chooses us at JeLau Photography to document this special time in your lives. The excitement of a proposal and a new beginning, the laughs and beautiful connection during engagement sessions, and the symbolism and each meaningful detail of your wedding day...
As always, I have to say that I have the best couples! You guys really do make this job so much fun. From the awkwardness and shyness of when we first meet and you're super shy in front of the camera to the sassiness and goofiness you exude on your special day, you guys are all just so rad and it's an honor to get to work for you and call many of you friends long after your wedding day has come and gone and that means so much to me.
For me, weddings aren't about booking as many as you can, turning and burning them, then onto the next one all the while forgetting you even exist. I'm in it for the connection, the story, the journey, and to watch you grow and build a life together.
From Monterey to Big Sur to San Francisco to Boston to New York City...
2023 was filled with so much adventure, love, giggling, excitement, champagne spraying, ocean splashing, happy tears, boob taping, sweaty dance flooring...so many incredible memories. I'm honestly struggling to find the words right now to fully encapsulate what you all mean to me. But I guess they do say that a picture is worth a thousand words, so just look at this pic to the left.
My Favorite Part of Wedding Days is YOU
There's all of these sites out there and pressure from inspo boards that make so many couples feel like they have to have their wedding a certain way. Do it up big, spend a pretty penny to wow their guests, or try to wow people on the internet and go viral to mean something. I cannot express how much I love that all of you do exactly what you want to do.
You make your wedding day meaningful to YOU.
You don't do traditions for the sake of "tradition."
You prioritize your family, friends, and guests and care about their experience.
You care about your vendors and treat them like people (because we are).
You embrace your uniqueness and let yourself act silly, especially on the dance floor.
You being the full little spicy thing you are makes your wedding day so. much. more. fun. We are all unique. There is no one else who can be a better you than you. So why not embrace it? Each one of you does and it's my absolute favorite.
The Biggest, Most Heartfelt THANK YOU!
THANK YOU for choosing me and my team to be a part of this journey and a part of your lives.
THANK YOU for putting your trust in me to capture your memories in a way that reflects you, the wonderful, magnificent YOU.
THANK YOU for taking my advice, asking me for rad vendor recommendations, and genuinely listening to what I have to share based on my years of experience.
THANK YOU for embracing communication and being direct with me, even if that's something that doesn't come easy to you, because this helps me understand who you are so I can serve and support you accordingly.
THANK YOU for trusting my guiding hand and posing prompts, even when I know it feels awkward. You embrace it and give it your all and they turn out beautiful every single time.
THANK YOU for adventuring and laughing and crying with me throughout a process that can be so incredibly stressful. It means the world that you feel comfortable to share these moments with me.
THANK YOU for your insane kindness, thoughtfulness, love, and support you've poured out onto me.
And, as always...THANK YOU for being the dope ass genuine humans you are and being the best damn community a photographer could ask for. Looking forward to the 2024 season 😎
Read Some Kind Words From JeLau Photography Couples!
Jenn is amazing!!!
After we took our engagement photos with Jenn I knew it was a match made in heaven…. She was such a professional and made us both feel very at ease. We aren’t huge on posing for pictures for hours, but Jenn and her team made it super fun and relaxed! She gave us plenty of tips and direction on how to pose, but also allowed us to have some really genuine moments that were captured absolutely perfectly!! After working with her for our engagement session, I felt so at ease leading up to the wedding knowing she was going to capture everything I wanted (plus more!!). She truly made my wedding day run so smoothly, it wouldn’t have been nearly as relaxing and stress free if it weren’t for her. From helping with timelines, to making adjustments for a rainy morning…and stepping in literally wherever she was needed, I truly felt like she had my back! Jenn and her team (shout out JoJo and Leslie - y’all are the best!) are truly amazing and I would recommend them to anyone and everyone!!
- Jessie + Will
Jenn is the BEST!!!
First of all, Jenn was the BEST investment we made out of every single thing we paid for in the wedding, hands down. She elevated our wedding experience in a way that no other vendor did, and during those inevitable everything-is-going-wrong wedding-planning moments, knowing that Jenn was our photographer was extremely comforting. We did the 8 hour package and engagement session with her and from start to finish, Jenn was incredibly clear, communicative, quick to respond, and super easy to work with. One of the most *priceless* qualities about Jenn is that she really knows how to pose people, which is SO hard to find in a photographer! My husband, who is a total introvert and typically doesn’t like to take photos, saw the engagement pics Jenn took of us and said “this is the first time I’ve ever liked how I looked in a photo.” If that doesn’t speak to Jenn’s talent and expertise, I don’t know what does!!! Additionally, Jenn was soooooo fast with getting us our final product, which just made the entire experience even better. The final photos were insanely beautiful and captured all of the emotions/vibes/moments I wanted to have captured. I truly cannot recommend Jenn enough!!!
- Caitlin + Braden
Highly Recommend
I booked a proposal session with Jenn. She was lightning in her responses throughout the process, hopped on a zoom call with me to plan out the proposal, and even gave me a video walkthrough of where I needed to be day of (which was super helpful given I live on the other side of the country). The proposal went perfect and Jenn captured that in her photos. HIGHLY RECOMMEND.
- Bernie + Katie
Jenn is truly the best of the best
We did both our engagement and wedding photos with Jenn. She made us feel so comfortable and at ease the whole time, and snapped some truly incredible pictures. We were nervous about getting professional pictures taken of us, but she made us feel and look so beautiful. As an LGBT couple, we felt so respected and at ease with Jenn, Leslie, and Katie. We had a major change in our wedding plans after booking Jenn, and she was so patient and flexible. We would 100/10 recommend!
- Bonnie + Rachel
Best photographer ever!
I honestly can not say enough amazing things about Jenn, and her team!
My husband and I booked Jenn for our 8 hour wedding and an engagment session was included. The engagement session was fun and made us feel comfortable with Jenn, and in front of the camera. This helped photos on the wedding day go much smoother. During the engagement session we were able to learn how to pose, and be relaxed and ourselves while taking nice photos! Jenn is extremely organized and clear with her communication, it is amazing! One of the best things about working with Jenn is that she wants you to get what you want, she is there to make sure that you get the pictures that you want, in the locations that you want and in the poses that you want. Never be afraid to say you want to take a photo again, or try a different pose. She will ALWAYS hype you up, and make sure you feel your most confident self! Our photos from both the engagement session and our wedding are amazing, we are so in love with them. She captured our day absolutely perfectly! I believe that your wedding day photographer is the most important decision, because these are the memories that you will have forever. Jenn was an easy choice for us, she is kind, supportive, a clear communicator, a hype woman, and she takes beautiful photos! P.S. Jenn always brings the most amazing team of people with her!
- Abbie + Caleb
Absolute BEST Wedding Photographer
Jenn was FANTASTIC. We could not have asked for a better photographer for our engagement shoot and wedding. We are not people who are super comfortable in front of a camera, and Jenn helped us figure out the right poses and gave us all the tips to help get good shots. She is also just a ton of fun, which made it so much easier to relax and not take ourselves too seriously. We had to reschedule our engagement shoot 3x because of rain storms and covid, and Jenn was super accommodating and flexible to make sure we got our engagement shoot in before our wedding. She is easy to communicate with and super organized which I really appreciated. She was also able to help talk us through a general timeline for our wedding before even the event coordinator did, which was incredibly helpful to start getting a picture of what the day would look like/some of the tradeoffs we had to consider not doing a first look, etc.
Day of our wedding, Jenn and her team were absolutely incredible. SO on top of it, and so professional, they helped make the day feel seamless. We had so many guests raving about how great (and fun!) Jenn and her team were at our wedding and of course how amazing the final photos are. We could not be happier with both our engagement and wedding photos and the entire experience of working with Jenn. I've been in quite a few bridal parties now and can confidently say that Jenn is the absolute best wedding photographer I've seen. If you're thinking about working with her, do it!
- Katy + Mike