Working With Rayleen and Julia

What's it like working with Meraki Photo, Inc.?

We become your fast friends! We make you feel extremely comfortable in photos and make the entire experience natural and easy-going. We are always striving for award-winning, legendary photos at every single photoshoot/wedding. We love creating different magic for each event. We make the entire process easy, fun and extraordinary! We're often mistaken as our client's longtime friends <3

Where do you photograph and what are your travel fees?

We photograph worldwide! We do not charge any travel fees for anywhere in New England and parts of New York. For destination weddings, reach out and we'll go over pricing. We offer extremely competitive and affordable destination wedding pricing! We live for adventure and love to travel the world!

What equipment do you use?

Our wedding photography kit consists of a pair of top of the line Nikon D5's, Z6, (working on obtaining the Z9) high end Nikon, Sigma, and Tamron lenses with both primes and zooms to get the most out of every situation. Our backup camera is a high-end Nikon D810. It's there but never used, the D5 and Z7s are workhorses and a tank that never fails which ensures nothing can go wrong. Photography has so much to do about lighting, it is behind almost every award winning shot we've taken, so along with this we bring 6 various wireless flashes with large or small modifiers that we can tuck in corners or throw on 15 foot light stands; additional to our on camera standalone flashes. Since there are always 2 professional photographers, Rayleen and Julia, (with any 2-photographer packages) any setup is a breeze and unnoticeable. Even with JUST Rayleen or JUST Julia for solo shooting intimate gatherings, we know how to rock the lighting efficiently. We know what is needed and when so everything is ready when it's needed. Of course rounding out the kit is a bag full of spare batteries, chargers, memory cards and other possibly needed items.

Do you have backup photographers?

We've never needed them but we have them if absolutely necessary! Our backups are comparable to us and also a part of prestigious award-winning photography groups. We love em but we don't use them unless the world is ending!

How much is it going to cost and what is your payment schedule?

We have different wedding pricing for each and every couple to fit their perfect day! We know it's not a one-size-fits-all. We go over your schedule and decide together what will fit your day best!

AS FEATURED IN

The Knot

Fearless Photographers

Hungry Girl Magazine

Fender Bender Magazine

Starbucks

Meet Your Photographers & New Fast Friends

Hola, amigo! I am Rayleen.

I am an award winning, published, New England wedding photographer originally from Wisconsin, now located in Farmington, Connecticut. I love LOVE, humor, true crime, red wine, breweries, romance, coffee, John Hughes movies, horror films, Halloween, adventure, travel, my little people (Jace and Isla) and my dog (Mosby the doodle bug). I'm also only 4 degrees from Kevin Bacon (so that officially makes you 5 if you book us!).

I'm the photographer that might climb a tree to get the perfect shot. I'm the photographer that might have to calm your mother-in-law down when the groomsmen pose naked with nothing but bridesmaids' bouquets in front of them. I'm the photographer that is going to go out of her way to capture the perfect moments, not just the posed ones.

I am going to capture the look of love in your eyes, the genuine giggle of a child and the raw emotion of a groom when he sees his bride for the first time. I'm not about copying another "jumping" bridal party photo. I'm not about making you pose in a cheesy formation. I'm about making you feel as comfortable as though your best friend was behind the camera taking your pictures. I'm about real. I'm about genuine. I'm about creativity, and I'm about art. I will capture your most celebrated moments with a piece of my artistry. I have a creative twist, a unique one and something canvas-worthy.

You will love what I do.

Love,

Rayleen

Glamorous portrait of woman in pink silk dress and red heels posing dramatically on stool.

Meet Julia!

Julia is a 24 (Leo T) year old, kick-ass hype girl that resides in Connecticut—born and raised! She grew up in Glastonbury and graduated from Simsbury High in 2018.

She has some fur babies (which we LOVE!): two cats and a dog—and yes, she's fully embraced her inner crazy cat lady. She never thought she’d be one, but then she met Bluey and fell in love. Then came Cheeto, and now she wants all the cats in all the colors. No shame. And then there’s Tank—a 45-pound, one-eyed Frenchie who looks intimidating but is actually the biggest cuddle bug.

Julia and her boyfriend Nick have been together for 3.5 years! They met online (no shame in the game) and have started traveling the world together. They recently explored Costa Rica, and their next big trip is already in the works for 2025!

Travel is Julia's biggest passion. She's been to five countries so far, and her goal is to visit at least one new country every year. She even solo traveled to Indonesia in January 2024, which completely changed her perspective on life. The world has so much to offer—beautiful cultures, amazing food, and breathtaking sights.

Julia's photography journey has been a whirlwind of epic prosperities. She's always loved photography, but she had no idea how to turn it into a career—until she met Rayleen. Rayleen took Julia and Nick's first-anniversary photos, and they instantly clicked! Julia later became Rayleen's nanny for her two adorable children, and after some time, Rayleen took a chance on Julia. Rayleen asked Julia to second-shoot a wedding in Vermont back in June of 2023. The rest is history! Julia has been second-shooting (and even some solo!) all of Meraki Photo Inc.’s weddings since, and she couldn’t be more grateful.

Julia is so excited for this journey, and she can’t thank you all enough for following along! She hopes to meet some of you along the way and capture your most precious moments. Let’s create some magic together!