Shelley + Portugal

Shelley & Portugal captured our day perfectly. From our first meeting, they were such a joy to work with - professional, kind, organized, & so genuinely invested in making our day special. We are absolutely in love with our photos & they feel so completely “us.” We couldn’t have asked for better people to have captured our day! They are by far two of the most talented photographers I've ever seen & I highly recommend using them for your big day!

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I’ll start off this review by saying it’s taken me so long to write because the thought of capturing all the magic and warmth and talent and goodness that Shelley and Portugal infused into our wedding was an incredibly daunting task. How could I begin to describe how comfortable they made us feel? How they simultaneously brought the energy and life to the party but practically disappeared into the background so they could capture those special in-between moments? When you think of wedding photography, you think of the big, posed moments. But the reason why we hired Shelley and Portugal is because we also wanted to see all the moments in between. And man, they DELIVERED. As I click through my wedding album, it’s almost like I’m being transported back to the day. You can literally feel the joy, the memories, and the emotion jump off the page, and something like that can only happen when the creators are immensely talented, thoughtful, and devoted to their craft. Let’s talk about Shelley and Portugal themselves. Talk about a dream team. Shelley will walk you through your day with laughter and an arm around your shoulder. She is an expert at capturing those big, beautiful moments and making it feel so easy for you and your whole wedding party. She’s bright, energetic, and truly a joy to be around any day, but especially on such a crazy day as your wedding. Portugal is the other side of their wonderful coin. The number of times I would see him out of the corner of my eye capturing tiny moments or the movement and energy of the evening was countless. One of my favorites is when my husband and I were in our getaway car and Portugal popped in and took a few quick shots, which ended up being some of my favorites of the whole album! With the two of them, you get it all. Their services were by far some of the best money we spent on our wedding and I would do it a hundred times over. The photos and video they created for us are among my most treasured possessions! Their true superpower is storytelling — and who wouldn’t want expert storytellers documenting their love story? I’m so grateful our paths crossed and that they were the ones who captured ours.

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Hiring Shelley & Portugal as our photographers was the best (and easiest) decision we made in planning our wedding. First, they are both extremely talented. We fell in love with their portfolio when we were looking for possible wedding vendors and knew their style of photography and approach would mesh well with our wedding aesthetic. After seeing the photos, that was an understatement. They captured our wedding day so perfectly just just in the moments they captured but the actual feeling behind the pictures themselves. When looking for wedding photographers, we also wanted to make sure we were working with people who we felt comfortable with on a personal level, particularly since my husband and I *hate* being in front of a camera. Shelley & Portugal are such wonderful people; we loved getting to hang out with them on our wedding day and during our engagement photoshoot. We were able to be ourselves in front of them. Finally, it's worth noting how professional and "on top of things" Shelley & Portugal are. I never felt like I was in the dark at any point in our planning process. Honestly, Shelley helped me stay on track and helped me think about things related to our wedding that weren't at all on my radar. I also couldn't believe how quickly they were able to get us a sneak peak of our wedding photos (Monday, we got married on Saturday)! Shelley & Portugal also did our wedding album and wedding video which they did a beautiful job with as well. I know we'll be looking back on these two keepsakes for years and will be just as grateful for the work Shelley & Portugal put in to capturing our day as we are today.

Shelley and Portugal were our wedding photographers + videographers for our August 2019 wedding in Colorado. Not only are they creative and so so talented, but they are exceptional human beings. We were drawn their genuine and down to earth nature. Looking at their work, we loved how they captured real and raw moments. We had to book them! They went above and beyond to plan and coordinate our day — troubleshooting problems I wouldn’t have even thought of. They even came early for our destination wedding and spent time hiking with us and our friends, had lunch with our family, etc. By the time our wedding day came, they felt more like friends to us! We had a gap between our ceremony and reception which was great. My husband and I got to spend some time to take a deep breath and slow the day down, and Shelley and Portugal got some beautiful shots of us. We were worried about being in front of the camera, but they made us laugh and few so comfortable. We had a big reception in Kentucky after our wedding and they made sure to get us our video and photos the week before— even in their busiest season. I really can’t express how much I love the video they made. It makes all of the photos come to life and they really captured the essence of what we think was the greatest day ever. I cry pretty much every time I watch. They even picked songs based on our conversations about our favorite artists. And our photos are great too! They really captured priceless emotion from us and all of our guests. I’m blown away by their attention to detail and how they seemed to catch all of the little moments. Working with them was hands down the best decision we made when planning our wedding. Truly the best people and beyond talented! They also were the photographers/videographers for our friends wedding last month. It was so special to see them again and our friends are beyond happy with their work. Simply the best.

Honestly, Alex and I do not even know where to begin in expressing our gratitude for Shelley + Portugal. Not only are they quite possibly the most incredible humans on the entire planet, their passion for capturing quiet moments, love, and their service towards others is incomparable. In a business where people are not always put over profit, we can say confidently that you will not ever have to worry about coming second if you choose Shelley + Portugal as your wedding photographers and/or videographers. Alex and I originally fell in love with Shelley + Portugal's ability to capture the most personal, intimate moments of other folk's weddings, but we became head over heels for them in a myriad of other ways. Alex and I have come to find out that rain is just always going to be a part of our lives when it comes to major events. After having our engagement photos scheduled for what seemed like forever in advance, Mother Nature blessed us with a major storm, cancelling our session. If my memory serves me correctly, I was definitely being dramatic, but I for sure cried. But, when the storm passed sooner than expected and left us with some beautiful golden hour sunlight, Shelley came texting wanting to know if we still wanted to come out to catch the most gorgeous rays. She could have just moved on with her life and chalked it up to Fate, but instead, Shelley went above and beyond for us, giving us some of our most treasured photos and memories. Lo and behold, when it came it our wedding day, you can probably guess what happened. It rained and stormed, leaving us to scrap a year's worth of outdoor plans and move it indoor 24 hours before the ceremony. Again, I was being dramatic, but I definitely cried and unapologetically panic texted Shelley. Repeatedly. Like, I'm thinking, probably six texts in a row. And Shelley so kindly responded to all panic texts with kindness in the way only an Enneagram Type 1 can, words of affirmations, and promises that her and Portugal would take care of the rest. And, take care of the rest they did. I had not an absolute ounce of worry on the big day because they had it handled. How they are both photographers and certified meteorologists* (okay, not really, but they should be), is beyond me. The mud? Handled. My massive family portraits? HANDLED. Getting my husband and his groomsmen group to the venue site ON-TIME? Perfectly executed. I would considered having my money's worth with just those feats. But, instead, they were even more gracious and captured the most incredible wedding photos, including our split-second golden hour rays while we danced in the rain. Pretty full circle if you ask me. So, if you're still here- you need to book Shelley + Portugal for all your engagement/wedding needs. You won't regret it. Time will pass and it will be six months later and you'll still cry over your photos/videos. They might even come to Hilligan's with you post-BG wedding if you ask them. We love you and we like you, Shelley + Portugal. (Update: since our wedding photos, Shelley has been the only photographer we trust for family portraits. she gave us our final photos with our beloved dog, Johnny, before his passing and gave us our first few photos of our recent rescue, Gus. if my list for trusting people to capture my wedding was short, my list of people I trust to capture our dying dog for the last time is even fewer. they will be your photogs and friends for life. we still love you & like you, S & P.)