Currently booking 2025 with limited spots available.
Get in touch for wedding collection details or for a custom quote. Collection pricing starts at $2500 for a petite City Hall size day, and the
average package spending for a full size wedding event is around $8500.
How It Works
1) letβs chat
Connect with me and letβs talk about your big day! We schedule a phone, video call, or in-person consultation (in-person consults are pending due to Covid). We discuss your wedding location and details, and answer any questions you may have about what I do and how we might be a good fit. Then, you receive a wedding contract with package details to review, sign, and submit a retainer fee to secure your date.
2) smooth planning
We get going on that engagement session - makes for a great way to warm up together as well as makes for great wedding day prints and sign-in album! I make myself available for calls, texts. or emails as much as needed prior to your wedding date, to make sure your wedding vendor team are all on the same page, and that your wedding day itinerary works the best for you. You fill out a questionnaire for me, which helps me to be as prepared as I can be prior to our time together and I give you all the tips you may need for day of wedding success.
3) the big day
My team and I are fully prepared to take on your unforgettable day, capturing it as it naturally unfolds. We follow you and your partner around, making beautiful imagery of everything wedding dayβ¦without making ourselves seen. We participate in communications with other vendors throughout the day to make sure all goes according to the plan. And by the end of the night, we feel like weβve known each other for our whole lives.
4) cherish
Your wedding collection will be presented to you, in an online gallery, within 12 weeks after your wedding date, along with the first draft of your custom album. You review your images and album draft, and we make any album revisions before getting that beauty ordered. You will then receive your wedding collection on a USB drive and wedding album delivered to your doorstep. You get to order prints from the studio lab that will paint your walls with love and make great thank you gifts to your guests!
Investment
-
γ»4 hours of wedding day coverage with Joy
γ»200+ high resolution digital edited image collection
γ»online gallery, live for a year, for viewing and sharing
γ»access to the studio printing lab from the online gallery -
γ»8 hours of wedding day coverage by Joy + an associate
γ»500+ high resolution digital edited image collection
γ»online gallery, live for a year, for viewing and sharing
γ»access to the studio printing lab from the online gallery
γ»$100 print credit to the studio lab -
γ»9 hours of wedding day coverage by Joy + an associate
γ»600+ high resolution digital edited image collection
γ»online gallery, live for a year, for viewing and sharing
γ»access to the studio printing lab from the online gallery
γ»10x10 custom designed heirloom album
γ»$150 print credit to the studio lab -
γ»2 hour engagement session with Joy (100+ images)
γ»guest sign in album
γ»10 hours of wedding day coverage by Joy + an associate
γ»700+ high resolution digital edited image collection
γ»online gallery, live for a year, for viewing and sharing
γ»access to the studio printing lab from the online gallery
γ»10x10 custom designed heirloom album
γ»$200 print credit to the studio lab
β΄οΈ Payment plans available upon request β΄οΈ
wedding day
With each and every special occasion, I believe the most important thing to focus on is capturing the day in its most natural, and non-disruptive, way. Between composition, emotion, and timeliness, the day is best covered in an editorial, candid, and lifestyle manner. Itβs a photographic dance between the candid exchanges between parent and bride or groom, to finding the perfect place to capture the dress right before it is worn down the aisle, to getting all the best angles of the vows and dancing, and all the perfect moments in between. As a visual artist, photographing one of the most important days of love and life is exhilarating and inspiring. I work very closely with each couple to insure that I, and my associate photographers and team, are prepared to capture their day in the best possible way that is closest to the vision of their dream wedding.
Prior to the wedding day, I make myself available to call, text, and email as much as needed to help you through the process the best I can. Anything from itinerary, to framed prints, engagement session, to a sign-in albumβ¦I am there. To get involved with the artistic direction that my couples have, as we get to know each other a bit more through that process, helps me put my brain into the vision of the day.
Thenβ¦the big day arrives! My team and I arrive a bit before our scheduled start time to get loaded in to where we need to be. We sync up our cameras and communication devices. We meet up with our pre-arranged partner at their location, and we get started capturing the getting ready process and details. We all come together at the ceremony, where my team is capturing together. And then we are also tag-teaming the ceremony. The entire day will have been perfectly covered from multiple angles.
We will give direction as needed throughout the day, but our priority is to stick to a lifestyle and candid approach as much as possible. The direction comes in during the arranged family group shots that your parents and extended family enjoy (itβs a 1-2-3-smile type photo really). It also comes in during the bridal portraits and bridal party portraits. This is the time that most couples fear, with no prior modeling experience. And I donβt blame them. But!β¦we make it casual. We have our couples just spend time with each other, interacting how they normally would - on a casual walk, a hug, maybe leaning against a fence holding hands, or enjoying a laugh together. We might suggest to repeat something our couple just did - but in better light or at a different angle.
Truly, we let the wedding day guide us by the natural light, the location, the vision set in place for the day, and the true essence of the couple.
engagement sessions
Engagement sessions are ohhhhh so fun! There are so many fun reasons to love these. The flirtatious romance, the wedding plans, the hopes, the energy. This is such a sweet moment in life. And itβs such a smart way to warm up with your wedding photographer and grab some beautiful imagery that you can use for wedding invitations, display prints for the day of the wedding, guest sign-in album, gifts for family, and thank you cards.
My approach to an engagement session is just like my portrait sessions, but engagement sessions are closer to 1.5 - 2 hours, leaving room for outfit and locations changes. Once location(s) are set, I encourage my couples to decide on 2-3 wardrobe changes that are fitting for those locations. Something dressy (think high heels and a tie), something a bit casual (someones go-to look), and maybe something a bit fun and quirky or personal to the couple. We also make a plan for hair and makeup if that is a service that is desired.
Then, we spend up to two hours making magic together. We explore your location and we run through a very casual and fun time together - letting you two be yourselves - gently directing as needed. We keep things moving and capture a wide range of looks and compositions that give you flexibility in how you might frame and use your images.
You will receive your online gallery of beautifully edited engagement images within 2 - 3 weeks after your session. You gallery will be online and live for as long as your wedding gallery will be. You will have the ability to download your entire engagement collection directly from your online gallery and have access to order professional prints and gifts from the studio printing lab. We will also talk about a sign-in album, or engagement portrait heirloom album.
F. A. Q.s
Who is the associate photographer?
My associate photographer that I assign to each wedding is from a short list of professional photographers, like myself, who have a style much like my own. I choose associates who are warm and friendly and who take pride in and have passion about the work that they do.
Are you insured?
Yes for sure! I am a licensed business that also carries liability insurance. We are able to provide insurance certificates to any venues that may require proof.
How long have you been shooting weddings?
I have been capturing weddings for over 11 years now. It has never been the only photography that I do, though. I choose to book less weddings per year to give more of my attention, detail, and energy to.
How will we know what to do in front of the camera?
Please do not worry. As a person who is completely camera shy, I get it! Thatβs why I try to make it as comfortable and natural as possible. My belief is that your engagement and wedding moments are best captured as it naturally happens. But even then, I will be there to guide you through it. Sometimes itβs nice for me to have you switch it up for better composition or just for a different look. Or I might ask you to replay that beautiful moment but 5 steps in one direction for better light. I feel I am a pretty good read of people and also am sensitive to making sure these intimate moments are mellow and not awkward. It is important to me that my couples enjoy the experience. And I can promise you, you will.
How long will it take to get our wedding photos back?
Just a few days after your wedding, I like to whip up just a few images to send your way for you to enjoy and share with others. Helps give you a taste for whatβs to come. Then, within 12 weeks you will receive your online gallery of your entire wedding collection. That gallery will be online for a year for you to enjoy, share with others, and order any prints and gifts from the lab. And soon after, you will receive your wedding collection on a USB drive straight to your doorstep.
How is the wedding album designed?
Your wedding album will be initially drafted by me. That means, with my years of design eye, I put together the first draft with images and layouts that I have chosen. You then received a link to an online proofing system where you get to review the layouts. You get to tell me any changes, additions, and subtractions you would like done and then bam!β¦we hit order. Itβs a very easy process.
Do you shoot LGBTTQQIAAP weddings?
Of course I do!! Love is love, and it makes me giddy no matter who you are. Everyone is welcome at Joy Coakley Studio and you will often find me showing up for all the BIPOC and LGBTTQQIAAP movements.
Will you be our photographer?
Yes, absolutely. Yes, I always photograph all of my weddings. When a package is purchased that includes a 2nd photographer, I bring an associate who will also be photographing. But I will always be there.
Do you do video as well?
No, I do not do video. If you have the budget for video as well as still photography, I highly suggest booking a videographer, and I can definitely recommend a videographer to you. But I do not offer videography.
Can I see a full wedding collection you have shot?
Absolutely! My website portfolio is only highlights from weddings over the years. When we schedule our consultation, just ask me, and I will gladly share a comprehensive gallery.
Nuptials in the
California redwoods
Is there any place thatβs better to be at then the glorious redwoods of California?!
Donβt hesitate to ask to see a comprehensive wedding collection to get an idea of what a full coverage looks like.