Kerry & Ryan
Lilia is THE BEST! Lilia photographed my wedding in Berkeley, and shot an engagement session for my wife and me in the Mission.
I guess I should start with the photos, since that’s really what we’re after when it comes to a photographer. Lilia shots are both beautiful and personal. They’re really evocative of the tone and spirit of my wedding, which we planned as a non-traditional event. The amazing thing is, not only do the photos look great and capture the emotion of the event perfectly, they show moments of our special day that my wife and I were so caught up to not even notice as they were happening. Lilia did a great job of capturing all the important and traditional events and details throughout the wedding (e.g., dressing, flowers, portraits, service, toasts, first dance, cake cutting). But more importantly, they really show the perspective of time and place — there’s a point of view to most of the shots from the reception that really place the viewer in the thick of the action. This was extremely important to us when choosing a photographer, and Lilia really delivered!
But, almost as important as the product in our experience with Lilia was the interaction. Lilia really made us feel like she understood our needs and struck a nice balance of giving us what we asked for and guiding us towards the best possible way to execute. She was by far the most organized, attentive, and responsive vendor we hired during the long wedding-planning saga, and she always made us feel like she not only had the time for us, but that she actually enjoyed working with us and, if anything, would spend more time with us if we would let her! Lilia is super nice, warm, and enthusiastic, which are all important traits for a photographer. However, she’s also smart, thoughtful, and thorough, which are characteristics that are hard to find in any person, no less a wedding vendor.
To be absolutely honest, there wasn’t a single moment during our entire interaction with Lilia when we even had the shade of doubt or regret — she constantly built our trust and delivered with confidence. I would not hesitate for a second to recommend Lilia to any friend looking for top-notch event photography with a distinct point of view.
Ariel & Aron
Thank you so much for your amazing photography during our wedding. The whole bridal party had fun during our photo sessions before the wedding and enjoyed your amusing instructions. Also, you really made Aron and I feel comfortable and relaxed during the photo-taking. Aron and I got the album today! We looked through it and it’s awesome. We really like it. You did a fantastic job, and it will be an amazing memory of our big day forever. Thanks for being an amazing photographer!
Kristy & Patrick
Lilia is completely amazing. The photos are amazing. Lilia delivered them exactly when she said she would, with no prodding or reminders. She was willing to get down in the dirt and take photos to get the right ones–very into what she’s doing yet relaxed and friendly at the same time. My husband’s godmother (also a photographer) said quote, “However much you paid for them is worth it. They make my photos look like an amateur.”
I really can’t say enough about them, but her ratings on Yelp speak more than I ever could. I appreciated having a reliable vendor who was accommodating and friendly, who did their job amazingly, and made my day (at least as far as the photos were concerned) go off without a hitch.
Lisa Marie & Richard
It is a complete pleasure to recommend Lilia as a wedding photographer. From the very start, we were so pleased with everything she did to make it the best choice we made… I would not change a thing!
We never met her in person beforehand. But her gorgeous portfolio & initial phone conversation were enough to give us complete confidence in her personality, talent & vision. We got married at SF City Hall, just the two of us, and Lilia knows every in and out of the process. Her guidance, hard work, patience, creativity, time, thoughtfulness and open-mindedness were invaluable to us on that very special day. She went above and beyond as our witness, creative director and photographer.
She took extra time with us and adapted our locations based on weather and opportunity. We have the most amazing slideshow set to music and a stunning gallery of photos that make us look like a real celebrity wedding. Truly we were blown away by every last shot. The color, light, angles, and, what’s most, the emotion, captured in them just astounded us. We are beyond thrilled with them!!!!! Our main concern was that our photos would look like a lot of other couples’ photos. Not at all! They are 100% us and we are SO happy with every last one.
The day went so fast we are so happy to be able to relive it and notice all of the details we may have missed. Lilia’s photos are a treat for the senses! We are so grateful for the care and time she put in. They are utterly artistic and incredible. Overall the experience was so much more than we had even imagined. We knew Lilia was very creative & talented. She is also a wonderfully sincere person, VERY professional, and took our day seriously and with respect even while having a great time with her. I have at least 2 friends who made grave mistakes in their choice of wedding photographers and have lived to regret it as they can’t even stand to look at their photos. That lesson led us to choose someone as special as Lilia, and we will live a life with blissfully beautiful photos because of it. Every cent we paid was one of the wisest investments we will ever make…
Lilia, you have made our whole family so happy. They felt like they were there through your remarkable photos. Thank you, thank you again. We will be admiring them for days, weeks, years and that is the greatest wedding gift we could have.
Justine & Scott
Wow. Lilia was just amazing to work with from start to end. The photos we received were beyond all expectations and a dream come true! I knew I wanted to hire her as her photos were exactly to my taste and she has so many years of experience photographing SF City Hall.
Lilia is really great with setting up a phone appointment to chat and get to know you initially. She maintained great communication throughout my planning process and helped me plan a timeline. The day of, I felt like I knew her so well and we both felt completely relaxed with her. All the photos we took felt very natural and not awkward at all. I never felt rushed throughout the day, at all, but we did great with time. She was able to herd us all through City Hall and beat other groups to the prime locations! She was also so gracious in staying later than we arranged for since the ceremony ran late in order to get all the outdoor shots done.
Do not hesitate to hire her! We loved working with her and we are so happy she is our sole witness on our wedding certificate! Also we’re so flattered to be on her Instagram!
Thanks so much for making our day extra perfect!
Lena & Reza
Lilia was absolutely amazing! She captured our intimate City Hall wedding perfectly. From the start Lilia was professional and organized. Her communication was great, as she set up check in calls during the months leading up to the wedding to ensure we were all on the same page — I highly appreciated that.
When we arrived to City Hall, Lilia wasted no time. She was efficient and focused. We booked the 1.5 hour session with her and she made sure we utilized every minute (without feeling rushed). She also got along well with my family and made us feel comfortable in the spotlight.
I trusted her vision and her work exceeded all my expectations. Lastly, she sent us a large set of gorgeous preview photos the very next day! Thank you, Lilia, for being our wonderful photographer!
Pamela & Shane
My husband and I got married on June 2018 at San Francisco City Hall and we hired Lilia to be our photographer. Let me just say she is more than a photographer. The photos she took were pure art and told a story. She not only took amazing photos that we look at all the time but she was also our guide, coordinator, hair and wardrobe assistant. She was by far the best photographer we have ever hired. The whole experience was amazing! Her personality was contagious and she was so much fun. We laughed so much that day and honestly she brought the best out of my husband and I in the photos. She was very punctual in her emails to us and getting the photos back to us in a timely manner. I absolutely love that she gave us some sample pictures the day of and we fell in love. We had a very long day that day because we went to City Hall, Stow lake and Crissy field, a total of 4 hours. Even though it was a long day she didn’t lose her momentum. Every place we went, she had the same enthusiasm and passion. My husband and I got married on our 10 year anniversary and she made that day so magical for us. I highly recommend Lilia for your wedding you wont regret it!
Christin & Dan
I can’t stop looking at my wedding photographs. They are just so breathtaking. Lilia captured so many delightful moments – some I knew about and many I didn’t – and I love that I get to geek out looking at them over and over.
When I got engaged, I took a poll of my friends who’d had weddings and had similar values. I asked them what did they spend money on that they are so glad they did, and what wasn’t as useful. I got all kinds of great ideas in return, but the number one response from all of them was to get a good photographer, someone you can rely on, and someone who can document all those moments that will so quickly fade in memory. My friends are really smart. I took their advice and found Lilia through the refreshingly creative, super inclusive and delightful website, Offbeat Bride. She met my fiancé and I in person originally, and I knew I liked her right away. Just the right mix of responsible, caring, funny, and not too serious, while also having a proven body of work and an openness to the unusual. Case in point: there were zombies next door to our wedding. And it was awesome. I had told Lilia how much I hoped members of the Walker Stalker conference taking place next door to our Fort Mason Firehouse venue would oblige us with some photobombing. And she helped make sure that happened, creating some of the most incredible shots EVER.
These beautiful photographs document so much love and warmth and good wishes and delight, and I’m so grateful to have them. And I’m so glad we got to work with someone as easy-going and talented as Lilia.
Danita & Stephen
From the beginning, Lilia was welcoming, friendly, thoughtful, and professional. In the middle of our first meeting, my now husband got a call with some terrible news. Lilia handled the situation with perfect poise and grace, insisting we finish our conversation at another time if we wished. Her concern and understanding were definitely greatly appreciated! And it was from that first meeting that we knew Lilia needed to be our photographer.
Her work, too, is simply amazing–my husband and I look through our engagement and wedding photos all the time. There is a beautiful simplicity and stunning elegance about each of her shots; the compositions are spectacular and capture such great emotions. (She also doesn’t artificially craft her photos by “punishing the pixels,” as my husband would say.) Her photojournalistic approach to documenting our event was everything we could have asked for!
We really appreciated, too, how communicative Lilia was throughout the process. She made sure we were okay with any potential decision she had to make and explained her own thought process on the matter. We never felt “out of the loop” or misguided.
Perhaps the most amazing thing about Lilia is her devotion to her clients. Our package included a one-hour engagement photo session at the location of our choice. We planned an ambitious agenda for SF–McCovey Cove, the Embarcadero, and the Palace of Fine Arts–and needless to say, our session lasted much longer than an hour. Every step throughout the day, though, Lilia was extremely pleasant. It took us forever (read: hours) to find parking around the Palace of Fine Arts, and she was so nice to wait for us! The photos turned out wonderfully, too.
On the July wedding day, the girls and I were running late getting from the salon to the venue (we arrived ~45 mins before the ceremony). I apologized profusely, since it was the hottest summer day in the area and Lilia had been waiting for about an hour. Lilia told me not to worry about it, complete with a smile, camera, and an organized sequence of photography. She captured all the details while my bridesmaids and I got into our dresses. She was on point throughout the night and never let us worry about a thing! And even after the event was over, Lilia stayed to take our beautiful “happily ever after” photos–just the two of us with the remnants of our wonderful night. Those are some of my personal favorites.
When the parents set their eyes on Lilia’s photos, they couldn’t help but smile. We get so many compliments on how perfect our wedding album is. We cannot thank Lilia enough for everything. She is absolutely amazing!
Jane & Joey
Look no further, Lilia is the perfect photographer for your event. Specifically, she helped capture our City Hall wedding and it was an absolute dream. She helps point us in the right direction around timing, positioning, and even flow of the afternoon wedding. It was a breeze working with her. She’s a great communicator and uses modern services such as Dropbox to deliver the proofs and final photos.
I couldn’t recommend her more highly. She’s also got a fun personality as well so you’ll be at ease on your big day!
