Amanda Adams Photographer | Reviews

*Please note, it is difficult for me to write this, but Amanda has not returned my calls/emails/social media messages since December 2024. My wedding was Sept 2024. I am in contact with others who have had the same experience fr om 2019-2024, showing it is a recurring issue. Her page shows other weddings from 2025, so I hope other brides are not having the same experience. Please read in entirety and check other sites to form your own opinion. *

I wish I had chosen someone else for my wedding pictures.  Our initial call was friendly and she seemed like a hard worker going through a rough patch (which I truly have tried to be sympathetic). Communication issues began before our engagement shoot. She got a new phone number, but did not contact me to let me know or confirm time/location for the engagement shoot. After no response to calls, I emailed her 20 minutes after we were supposed to meet to check if she was still coming. She showed and we got our engagement photo gallery within 48 hours. I figured it was a one-off thing.

In Aug 2024, she sent me a lengthy questionnaire about my wedding that took about 2 hours to complete. 2 weeks before the wedding, she emails me her timeline, which did not match the details in my answers. I called her to discuss and left voicemails, which were not returned. I emailed her business email twice with no response. I tagged her business in an Instagram post, which she promptly commented on, but still did not return my calls or emails. She finally answered the phone 2 days before my wedding day and I conveyed the timeline issues. One concern was that the second shooter (another photographer I had included as an add-on in my contract to cover the guys getting ready), would be riding in the same vehicle as her. I reiterated the times that both the bride and groom sides would be getting ready, and noted that the locations were far apart. She promised me a new timeline the following day (the day of my rehearsal dinner) with those details worked out so that photography services could start on time.

By 9pm the next day (the day before my wedding), I had still not gotten an updated timeline from Amanda. Because the day was built around a timeline with other vendors, we had to continue on the timeline I had communicated to Amanda the day prior (which she said she could make work). On the morning of the wedding, my mother in law texts that the photographers arrived to the boys location. The second shooter (who in the contract was meant to be another professional photographer) was her boyfriend, Jon Czerniawski. Amanda showed him how to use the camera, then left for my location. Jon told my husband "I don't know why I am here." Needless to say, no photos taken by Jon were included in our final gallery and we were shocked at the lack of professionalism.

Amanda arrived at my location an hour late, causing a significant delay in our ceremony start and reception for our other vendors. She focused on "detail shots" while we waited for her to be done. We then had to shorten our first look because I knew guests had been waiting at the ceremony location for 45 minutes already and we still had to drive to the ceremony location, which was at a mountain overlook near Charlottesville. We started our ceremony an hour and a half late. Because of the delay, my husband and I had only 10 minutes before the sun went down for any bride and groom photos with the mountains (which was the whole purpose we chose that location for our wedding). We then had to rush to the reception, which was shortened by 2 hours. As you can imagine, this was incredibly frustrating and upsetting to us and our guests, but I tried to get through the day focusing on the positive aspects.

Our contract stated we'd receive photos in 8 weeks. At 10 weeks with no word, I contacted her. I thought it odd I was reaching out to her first as opposed to her contacting me with a reason for the delay. She promised the photos in a few days, which I received in early December (delayed, but received). Unfortunately there were no photos from Jon's perspective of the day (meaning no photos from the boys getting ready or other angles from the ceremony/reception), and many of our group shots had closed eyes, rendering the photos unusable. We also never received the physical album we paid for. Amanda said it would be shipped by Christmas, but since Dec 2024 she has stopped communicating with me. I reached out to Jon on Facebook Messenger with no answer. I also reached out to a photographer friend of hers on Instagram with no answer. Amanda had told me she had been going through a divorce during this time, which I know is incredibly difficult, especially with kids involved. Although I have tried to be as sympathetic as possible, I am incredibly disappointed to see she is still working with other brides while myself and other clients have had this experience with her and have not received our products. If the divorce was this taxing, I don't understand why she is still booking clients and taking money when she cannot keep up with her current load. Furthermore, she was the most expensive part of our wedding (even with the reception venue, food, and alcohol package combined). At this point I know I will not get my money back, and I cannot undo the frustration surrounding the day, but I would like the products that I paid for.

Take your time and your money to someone who will respect you and your day. Amanda is talented, but I would advise against her services until she is at a place wh ere she can dedicate the time, communication, and her resources appropriately. Amanda, I just want my album and to put this behind us.

I want to start off this review by stating that I have yet to leave an online review where I gave a business less than 5/5 stars, or equivalent 100% rating, until now.  I try to support small businesses every chance I get, and as opposed to leaving a negative review if the business is not exceptional, I will just omit the review instead of lowering their ratings.  I also want to preface by stating that my wife did all the attempted communication & coordination with Amanda Adams, and that I was just a firsthand witness.  Having said that, the way that Amanda Adams operates her business is absurd.    

We had our engagement photo shoot with Amanda in July of 2024, and initial communication with Amanda was off to a shaky, but manageable start.  All in all, we got our engagement photos done and received them in what we believe was a timely manner.  In preparation for our wedding later in September of that same year, Amanda Adams sent my wife a questionnaire to fill out about details involving wedding photos.  I’m not exactly sure what the questionnaire entailed as that was not my role in the wedding planning, but I watched my wife spend hours working on it, to try and give Amanda Adams the clearest and most succinct vision and objectives that she had for wedding photographs.  That questionnaire that my wife submitted was clearly ignored and was one of the most disrespectful things I have observed in recent years.

Amanda and her other photographer (her boyfriend John) arrived to my wife’s location approximately an hour late, which caused us to have to delay the wedding ceremony by an hour and a half (late arrival + travel time to marriage location).  John, while a nice guy, did not appear to be the additional “professional photographer” that was provided to us per the contract that Amanda Adams provided and that my wife signed.  I don’t believe any of the photos that John took of me and my side of the family getting ready before the ceremony made it to the final gallery.  Or maybe they have, but we wouldn’t know because there has been no communication from Amanda Adams for months.  Amanda Adams being late and seemingly oblivious to the plan that my wife laid out extremely clearly for her approximately a month before in her questionnaire spiraled the wedding timeline and pushed the reception dinner to approximately two hours late.  Thankfully the venue was exceptional and was extremely flexible with our fluid timeline due to this.

In addition to the cost for the wedding photos, my wife ordered a wedding album from Amanda Adams with some photographs included that she was going to surprise me with for Christmas of 2024, just under 3 months from the wedding day (Sept 28 2024 – Dec 25 2024).  Amanda Adams assured my wife that she would definitely have the wedding album completed by Christmas of 2024.  It is now August 10, 2025, and we still do not have a wedding album.      

Our experience does not seem like an aberration.  If you dive deep into some of the lower reviews on different websites, you will unfortunately see people with experiences that are VERY similar to ours.  I cannot recommend Amanda Adams to anyone in good conscience.  The ridiculous lack of communication I witnessed, stress and frustration this experience caused my wife, and unprofessionalism is not worth it.  People pay a small fortune for wedding photographers, and going approximately 8 months without any communication whatsoever with deliverables still hanging in the ether is unacceptable.

I absolutely loved having Amanda photograph us for our wedding. She is so kind and down to earth so it made taking pictures feel natural. She made sure to ask us if there was anything specific we wanted photographed so that she didn't miss anything. She also uploaded a little sneak peek for us during the wedding and I can not wait to see the whole album! She is truly talented and a master of navigating a hectic but beautiful wedding day. You will absolutely be happy if you hire her for your photographer needs.