Essence Weddings


Full wedding (ceremony and reception) pricing

Prices start at $1,399

Elopement pricing

Prices start at $1,299

Packages

Prices start at $1,299


About Essence Weddings

Essence Weddings

Wedding Services

We are a local, family-owned company, striving for excellence in our craft. Our mission is to create fresh and exciting imagery while detailing the warmth and joy of your wedding. Our top priority is building trust with our couple and their loved ones, ensuring a pleasant experience for all. When you work with our team, our level of dedication gives you the confidence and peace of mind that your wedding is in good hands. Services Offered: -Photo -Video -DJ -Photo Booth -Formalwear *Remember to ask about our bundle packages

Forget the hassle of running around from vendor to vendor trying to keep everything in order. Let ESSENCE make your wedding day seamless and worry free. We offer all the services you need under one roof, and our bundle package makes it affordable, efficient and organized. We understand how much effort goes into planning your big day, and we are here to help. With our Build A Bundle package, we take all your worries away and provide you with an entire TEAM to make sure your day runs smoothly.


Services

Services

  • Bride-only session
  • Engagement session
  • Extra hours
  • Image editing
  • Online proofing
  • Printing rights
  • Second photographer

Photo formats

  • Digital

Deliverables

  • Digital files
  • Digital rights
  • Online gallery
  • Printed enlargements
  • Video
  • Wedding album

Essence Weddings packages

Premiere

8 hours

Peak pricing $1,699-4,500

Off-peak pricing $1,299-3,599

Description

The package below is great for storytelling and candid photography. You can add more hours, but this may be all you need for great photography. * 8 hours of photography * Choose your photographer * Portal for communication with your photo team * Online Proofs & photo ordering * On-staff backup photographer * Rights to all digital images * Color correction * Unlimited locations (time permitting)

Build A Bundle

8 hours

Peak pricing $1,499-8,000

Off-peak pricing $1,299-8,000

Description

Build A Bundle Photo-video-Dj-Photo Booth- Formalwear Do your own Instant Quote at: https://www.essenceweddings.com/quote


Reviews

Write a review
Rating: 5.0

5.0 out of 5

5 reviews

  • CS

    Colette S.

    Rating: 5
    Jun 9, 2026

    Best decision

    We had an amazing experience working with Essence Weddings from start to finish. They were always responsive to our questions and got back to us quickly, which made the planning process so smooth. On our wedding day, they captured everything beautifully—from the formal wear details on the dresses to making sure the guys looked sharp in their suits. What really impressed us was how helpful they were throughout the whole process, offering guidance and support beyond just taking photos. They provided so many great services that went above and beyond what we expected. We'd highly recommend Essence Weddings to any couple looking for a photographer who is both professional and genuinely invested in making your day special. We had Amanda and Tommy and the photos were beautiful!

  • SK

    Sandra K.

    Rating: 5
    May 22, 2026

    Essence is INCREDIBLE! Can't recomend enough!!

    I can't express enough how amazing this company is! The amount of professionalism, kindness, and pure excitement we felt from the Essence team made our wedding feel so special. We booked photo, video, and formalwear with them. Every service was incredible! Our photographer Jolanta and our videographer Julian were INCREDIBLE! We got our photos and our video back early by several weeks, and they look incredible! I've included some of Jolanta's shots in the review, and she really shined with her candid shots, attention to detail, and finding beautiful little moments throughout the day. She and Julian were our ultimate hype team--they were genuinely celebrating with us! We felt like they truly cared about us, our day, and what we needed. We couldn't have asked for better people to take care of us. The package is really generous with discounts for booking multiple services together, no hidden fees or required album purchases, transparent pricing and a clear, easy to understand contract. We knew exactly what information was expected from us and when, with lots of reminders. Plus the communication was amazing! Any time we needed something, someone from Essence's team quickly could help us. Laurie and Peggy were incredible! It was also important to me that we booked a photographer with backup options in case the worst happened and our photographer couldn't attend. I had other vendors cancel in this process, and when Essence told us they hadn't missed a wedding in over a decade it made us feel so safe. We knew that they would take care of us and they truly did right by us at every step in the process. Also, because we booked another service with them, we got an amazing deal on formalwear. 5 suit rentals meant my husband got a suit to keep for free. Everyone looked incredible! It was easy to get the information to Gerry from the formalwear department, even with all of our groomsmen being from out of state. Gerry was so helpful in picking what we wanted, scheduling a suit try on for all the groomsmen before the wedding (including working with our schedule and 6 people flying in from out of state), and even helped another one of our friends make sure his suit fit correctly (and he wasn't even renting from Essence). Drop off for the rentals was also really simple after the wedding. We felt so taken care of and like Gerry made the process so simple, and it was so nice to have our photo, video, and formalwear all in one place.

  • KM

    Kathleen M.

    Rating: 5
    Jan 1, 2026

    Essence was AWESOME

    We used Essence for our photo/video and our DJ, which I was initially worried about, but the whole team couldn't have been any better to work with. Our DJ Ryan was AMAZING and he took great care in selecting a great range of music for our guests and kept everyone on the dance floor until we had to be dragged off. Our photographer, also named Ryan, did an amazing job with photos at a separate location as well as our venue. He kept the bridal party entertained during the long day, and the photos turned out so perfect. Could not recommend Essence enough- I think the idea of having multiple aspects covered by one company is a great for ease of communication and planning and I wish we had gone with them for more services for our wedding.

  • CS

    Cristina S.

    Rating: 5
    Oct 14, 2024

    Essence for the win!

    We could not have been happier with the services and product we received! We picked Nora as our photographer as it seemed like she was great at using natural lighting and did a good job with capturing photos that weren’t posed. We were not disappointed! Nora made the process as easy as humanly possible and very comfortable. She was able to read us easily and could tell when the group was getting restless and even could tell if I wanted certain photos without me saying. Nora was the only photographer but managed to capture all the photos we could have hoped for. The ceremony photos were beautiful but the reception photos perfectly captured the night. The quality of the photos when we got them was spectacular. Additionally, the entirety of the photos were sent to us within just over 4 weeks despite the fact that they had 8 weeks. Lastly, we booked the DJ through essence as well (spinning’ discs) and Nora and the dj worked together great which made it that much easier. If you’re considering essence, do it - you will not regret!

  • AC

    Aaron C.

    Rating: 5
    Sep 17, 2023

    Working with Essence was the best decision we made

    We went through Essence for our photographer, DJ, and photobooth. Booking was straightforward and easy, and Ron and Sheila were both very responsive. Our photographer Allison did an amazing job on pre-ceremony shots at the Garden of the Phoenix, and when an emergency came up, her boss Peggy stepped in and took over seamlessly handling both the ceremony and reception. Both Allison and Peggy really captured our best sides, despite neither of us being particularly photogenic. The photos turned out great, and the turn-around time was unbelievably fast!


Preferred vendors of Essence Weddings

Attire rentals
Essence Formalwear
Schaumburg, IL

Yes! And if you book our Videography package along with Photography, we give you a $200 discount off each package!
Our package includes unlimited pictures. On an 8-hr wedding, the average number of pictures is around 1100-1500 images.
Yes! We are fully insured. We can email our certificate of insurance to your venue upon request.
The great thing about booking with Essence, is that we are a company, not a single photographer. We pay one of our photographers to be on call the day of your wedding, just in case of an emergency. So you don't need to worry!