Marielle Hayes Photography

About Me

I am a wedding photographer based in the San Francisco Bay Area. Available for travel worldwide.

I love my family, seasonal candy, high heels, Baroque Art, sequins, Classic Rock, nail polish, 30 Rock, traveling, art museums, bright colors, Dr.Pepper, action movies & getting to know people.

I am a mother, a Leo, a chatterbox, a sweet tooth, a photographer, married to the man of my dreams, a bargain shopper, a daughter of God & a horrible cook.

My name is Marielle Hayes & I am blessed to say that I’m obsessed with my job. I am so lucky to be able to do something I love because it brings me such happiness.

I am happiest when I am surrounded by the things I love. Lucky for me, I am surrounded by those things every.single.day.

Published Works

166

Weddings Shot

349

Satisfied Clients

425123

Pictures Taken

Recent Work

2016 Mini Sessions! Reno and Oakland

Sticky PostOn 08.24.2016

Okay, my friends! It’s that time of year again where the leaves are about to start changing color, the air has that crispy feeling AND it’s the only time of the year I offer mini sessions! I love the families I have been able to photograph during these mini sessions in the past & I can’t wait to meet new

Greg & Erica. Elk Grove Wedding.

Sticky PostOn 04.13.2016

Ohhhhhhh this wedding. A wedding where the late summer sun still illuminated everything with golden light. A wedding where the bride & groom cried together with their families, cried together with each other, laughed with their guests and sincerely loved every single person there. A wedding where the couple was simply just so in love. Basically, a perfect wedding. Erica

Eliana & Daniel. St. Ignatius San Francisco Wedding.

Sticky PostOn 03.21.2016

Eliana & Daniel are two people who are as sweet as pie & crazy in love! I adored photographing their special Autumn wedding last year. They were married at St.Ignatius in San Francisco and then their reception was held at a winery on Treasure Island. One thing that I've realized the more weddings I've photographed is that while decorations and

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Raves & Reviews

We picked our wedding date based on when Marielle was available. We knew we wanted her to shoot our wedding, and since we got married in Hawaii we knew we had to work ourselves into her schedule. We didn’t want a lot of the bells and whistles that often come with a wedding, but the one thing that did matter, that we were not willing to compromise on, were the photographs. That’s why we asked Marielle to be our photographer. Everyone at our wedding loved her and her phenomenal photos so much that they all plan on having her capture their weddings some day. If you want to have amazing photos to remember your special day Marielle is a decision you won’t regret.
Heather & Jordan
Thinking about how blessed my husband and I were to have Marielle as a part of our wedding brings tears to my eyes. Marielle made Casey and I feel like we were a part of her extended family and that our wedding was just as important to her as it was to us. She was calm, cooperative, respectful, and sincere to every guest at our wedding and wasn’t bothered by any last minute special requests. Marielle had boundless patience and energy and made sure to capture all the little details that we had designed for our special day. The memories that we now have are all due to Marielle’s unbelievable talent and we feel sincerely blessed to have had her as a part our wedding.
Melissa & Casey
Choosing a photographer for our wedding was one of the most important and stressful decisions during the course of planning. However, I am so thrilled that we decided to hire Marielle. Not only were our pictures absolutely beautiful, but Marielle was exceedingly professional, punctual, and responsive. Marielle seemed to understand how important it was to make us comfortable and pose us as naturally yet as beautifully as she did. Marielle was focused yet relaxed and guided us through wedding procedures that we hadn’t really thought about – including how to cut a wedding cake! I love every image that Marielle captured and I am so happy that I have such positive and nostalgic memories about our wedding that I can relive through Marielle’s photos. You can plan every detail of a wedding to a ‘T’, but unless you have a wonderful photographer like Marielle, those details might become lost or fade with time. Hiring Marielle was one of the best decisions we made while we planned our wedding and I love recommending her to couples planning their weddings.
Clarissa & John
Thankfully, because my sister introduced me to Marielle Hayes, I NEVER had to worry about photography. In fact, having Marielle shoot our wedding was the one thing I was most excited about throughout our engagement. Marielle is the kindest, most genuine person Luke and I have had the pleasure of meeting, and WE felt honored to have her with us to document our wedding day. She instantly made us feel important, and super comfortable! She definitely has one of the hardest jobs around, and she does it effortlessly and flawlessly! Marielle captured pictures that take us back to our wedding day vividly, and we are eternally grateful for that. Not only did we receive beyond amazing photographs, we also gained a friendship we will cherish for a lifetime. We love you, Marielle!!
Nicole & Luke

Marielle Hayes was positively delightful to work with! She made taking pictures a happy experience and I usually can’t stand pictures after 20 minutes have gone by! Her cheerful demeanor and efficiency made the time fly by. All the important moments were captured in pictures, as well as details throughout the night. We have been told a number of times already that our pictures are beautiful and have had several requests for the name of our photographer. We LOVE our wedding pictures and I have never had a more pleasant experience than with Marielle! Thank you!!
Paige & David

We found Marielle online by doing a search for local photographers and her work really stood out amongst the rest. When we first met with her, the thing that really made us want to hire her was her enthusiasm–she seemed as excited as we were about the details of the wedding. This is something that really shines through in her photos from the big day. I especially love how she not only captured details of the wedding but also the beauty of the venue, it makes me feel like the whole wedding was a piece of art! Marielle was professional in her dress and manner, but also personable and fun to have around. I think this makes a big difference because we felt very comfortable with her which means we were more relaxed and our smiles were all genuine. I would (and do frequently) recommend Marielle to friends and plan to use her services in the future when we start our family. Thank you Marielle!
Melanie & Sam

The pictures from my wedding were the best wedding photographs I’ve seen (and I’m not just saying that because it was my own wedding!) After admiring a few wedding and engagement photos out for holiday parties at our parent’s homes, parent’s friends (who don’t even know my husband or I) have excitedly inquired who did our photo’s so they can find Marielle for thier own daughter’s wedding. I typically am not a picture person and was nervous to even look at all the photos for fear I wouldn’t like them. I loved every single one! Not staged and stuffy, Marielle captured the actual spirit of our wedding and she was a BLAST to work with. I would recommend, no insist, on hiring Marielle to take photographs for your wedding or any special occasion. (She even got some GREAT shots of our dog, one of which is hanging over our fireplace!)
Sophie & Zack

Marielle was an absolute dream to work with for our engagement session and our wedding. She’s accommodating, professional, and TALENTED! She really knows what she is doing, and is great at putting people at ease because she is so very capable and also so very kind and funny. Her photography totally reflected this for our wedding – she was able to preserve the joy of our wedding day through her photos, because she helped us feel more comfortable in front of the camera and just act like ourselves. She was able to capture all the special moments we wanted her to capture, and even the ones we didn’t anticipate. Her photographs – as you know if you are looking at her website – are gorgeous! We usually hate photos of ourselves, and we actually love the ones she took of us, and that’s really saying something. Her posed and her candid shots of us and our friends and family turned out beautifully and reflected the moods and feelings of those moments. We really can’t say enough good things about Marielle – we are so glad that she was the one to photograph our happy, perfect day. Any couple would be lucky to have her as their photographer!
Gar & Lane

Marielle Hayes: our wedding photographer extraordinaire! Neil and I cannot be happier with this amazing woman. Not only is Marielle’s eye for detail remarkable but her charm and warm demeanor are just plain awesome. Your wedding day is a unique time filled with lots of emotion (and unfortunately a little stress too). So having a person like Marielle snapping shots of you that you can not only rely on for amazing pictures that will last forever but to share this important day alongside a truly awesome person is so important. She makes you feel at ease and allows you to truly enjoy getting your picture taken. Marielle is easygoing yet focused; she is warm, hilarious and a total doll. Our friends and family still talk about how much they love our photos and Marielle herself! Marielle is a breath of fresh air and was definitely an uplifting spirit on our big day. Best wedding photographer. Hands. Down.
Vanessa & Neil

Wedding planning can be stressful! There are big decisions to be made, and the choice of a wedding photographer is a big one! Its financial and emotional. The person you choose will be with you and your partner during some of the most intimate moments of your wedding and you are trusting this person to capture it all! Choosing Marielle Hayes is one of the best decisions I made on our big day! Most importantly her photographs are amazing. She is so talented and has a eye for seeing the beauty in the smallest of moments. But Marielle goes beyond just being a talented wedding photographer. The moment I met with Marielle I felt at ease and eager to work with her. She is open, friendly, and exudes positivity. From the initial consultation to the big day Marielle was there for us; with a big smile, words of encourage and the support you would think would come from a sister or best friend. A savvy bride shops around, and I did my homework ladies and gentlemen. One thing that sets Marielle apart from the rest is she offers an affordable package that let’s you OWN all of the images that are shot during the day. This is huge! You want to be able to keep all of those amazing pics from your big day. Not only that, Marielle has options in her packages which makes hiring your dream wedding photographer possible, even for the most budget conscious weddings. Another thing I would highly recommend to couples is to do the engagement photo shoot. Your really get to know Marielle, and she gets to know your style and comfort zone with photography! Marielle is a joy to work with and you’ll so glad you hired her!
Jen & Alan

From start to finish, our experience with Marielle was outstanding! Marielle shot both our engagement photos and our wedding photos. Our wedding was a destination wedding, so we found Marielle on Yelp. Leading up to our engagement shoot, my (now) husband and I were nervous about looking awkward, staged, and completely like deer in the headlights in our engagement pics…Marielle put all our worries to rest! Marielle is so genuinely sweet and incredibly easy to get along with, and her work is simply breath-taking. Throughout the wedding planning process, she returned emails promptly and arrived on time for our engagement shoot and the day of the wedding. We absolutely love the moments she captured at our wedding…every single one! Marielle- We cannot thank you enough for the gorgeous photos we have- they truly capture all the love, joy, and excitement on our big day, and we will forever cherish them!
Taylor & Jeremy
When Crystal and I first started looking for a wedding photographer, I put a note out on Facebook asking all of my friends asking for recommendations. When two different friends (who live hundreds of miles apart and don’t know each other) both referred Marielle Hayes, I had a feeling we had found someone amazing. It took about two minutes on her blog to confirm that feeling. The photography was amazing, from a technical standpoint (lighting, framing, exposure, etc) as well as an artistic view, but to be totally honest, it wasn’t the photography that most impressed me. What most impressed me when I first viewed Marielle’s blog, and what has continued to impress me about her ever since is the way she seems to know every person she works with. By the time we sat down with her to review her portfolio and sign a contract, she knew our story, how we met, how we fell in love, what was most important to us. When it came time for our engagement session – it felt like we were meeting up with an old friend. Marielle knew where to go and how to make us look great. Then came the day of our wedding – certainly one of the most hectic (and of course wonderful) days of our lives. Marielle found unique shooting angles and locations at a venue that has been home to thousands of weddings. Ultimately, Marielle was the perfect photographer for our wedding. She captured the essence of us from the first time we met, and her photography captures the essence of each and every event she shoots. I have no reservations in wholeheartedly recommending Marielle Hayes Photography as the consummate photographer for your next event or portrait setting. With Marielle, you hire a photographer, but you gain a friend.
Crystal & Nathan

We picked our wedding date based on when Marielle was available. We knew we wanted her to shoot our wedding, and since we got married in Hawaii we knew we had to work ourselves into her schedule. We didn’t want a lot of the bells and whistles that often come with a wedding, but the one thing that did matter, that we were not willing to compromise on, were the photographs. That’s why we asked Marielle to be our photographer. Everyone at our wedding loved her and her phenomenal photos so much that they all plan on having her capture their weddings some day. If you want to have amazing photos to remember your special day Marielle is a decision you won’t regret.
Heather & Jordan
Thinking about how blessed my husband and I were to have Marielle as a part of our wedding brings tears to my eyes. Marielle made Casey and I feel like we were a part of her extended family and that our wedding was just as important to her as it was to us. She was calm, cooperative, respectful, and sincere to every guest at our wedding and wasn’t bothered by any last minute special requests. Marielle had boundless patience and energy and made sure to capture all the little details that we had designed for our special day. The memories that we now have are all due to Marielle’s unbelievable talent and we feel sincerely blessed to have had her as a part our wedding.
Melissa & Casey
Choosing a photographer for our wedding was one of the most important and stressful decisions during the course of planning. However, I am so thrilled that we decided to hire Marielle. Not only were our pictures absolutely beautiful, but Marielle was exceedingly professional, punctual, and responsive. Marielle seemed to understand how important it was to make us comfortable and pose us as naturally yet as beautifully as she did. Marielle was focused yet relaxed and guided us through wedding procedures that we hadn’t really thought about – including how to cut a wedding cake! I love every image that Marielle captured and I am so happy that I have such positive and nostalgic memories about our wedding that I can relive through Marielle’s photos. You can plan every detail of a wedding to a ‘T’, but unless you have a wonderful photographer like Marielle, those details might become lost or fade with time. Hiring Marielle was one of the best decisions we made while we planned our wedding and I love recommending her to couples planning their weddings.
Clarissa & John
Thankfully, because my sister introduced me to Marielle Hayes, I NEVER had to worry about photography. In fact, having Marielle shoot our wedding was the one thing I was most excited about throughout our engagement. Marielle is the kindest, most genuine person Luke and I have had the pleasure of meeting, and WE felt honored to have her with us to document our wedding day. She instantly made us feel important, and super comfortable! She definitely has one of the hardest jobs around, and she does it effortlessly and flawlessly! Marielle captured pictures that take us back to our wedding day vividly, and we are eternally grateful for that. Not only did we receive beyond amazing photographs, we also gained a friendship we will cherish for a lifetime. We love you, Marielle!!
Nicole & Luke

Marielle Hayes was positively delightful to work with! She made taking pictures a happy experience and I usually can’t stand pictures after 20 minutes have gone by! Her cheerful demeanor and efficiency made the time fly by. All the important moments were captured in pictures, as well as details throughout the night. We have been told a number of times already that our pictures are beautiful and have had several requests for the name of our photographer. We LOVE our wedding pictures and I have never had a more pleasant experience than with Marielle! Thank you!!
Paige & David

We found Marielle online by doing a search for local photographers and her work really stood out amongst the rest. When we first met with her, the thing that really made us want to hire her was her enthusiasm–she seemed as excited as we were about the details of the wedding. This is something that really shines through in her photos from the big day. I especially love how she not only captured details of the wedding but also the beauty of the venue, it makes me feel like the whole wedding was a piece of art! Marielle was professional in her dress and manner, but also personable and fun to have around. I think this makes a big difference because we felt very comfortable with her which means we were more relaxed and our smiles were all genuine. I would (and do frequently) recommend Marielle to friends and plan to use her services in the future when we start our family. Thank you Marielle!
Melanie & Sam

The pictures from my wedding were the best wedding photographs I’ve seen (and I’m not just saying that because it was my own wedding!) After admiring a few wedding and engagement photos out for holiday parties at our parent’s homes, parent’s friends (who don’t even know my husband or I) have excitedly inquired who did our photo’s so they can find Marielle for thier own daughter’s wedding. I typically am not a picture person and was nervous to even look at all the photos for fear I wouldn’t like them. I loved every single one! Not staged and stuffy, Marielle captured the actual spirit of our wedding and she was a BLAST to work with. I would recommend, no insist, on hiring Marielle to take photographs for your wedding or any special occasion. (She even got some GREAT shots of our dog, one of which is hanging over our fireplace!)
Sophie & Zack

Marielle was an absolute dream to work with for our engagement session and our wedding. She’s accommodating, professional, and TALENTED! She really knows what she is doing, and is great at putting people at ease because she is so very capable and also so very kind and funny. Her photography totally reflected this for our wedding – she was able to preserve the joy of our wedding day through her photos, because she helped us feel more comfortable in front of the camera and just act like ourselves. She was able to capture all the special moments we wanted her to capture, and even the ones we didn’t anticipate. Her photographs – as you know if you are looking at her website – are gorgeous! We usually hate photos of ourselves, and we actually love the ones she took of us, and that’s really saying something. Her posed and her candid shots of us and our friends and family turned out beautifully and reflected the moods and feelings of those moments. We really can’t say enough good things about Marielle – we are so glad that she was the one to photograph our happy, perfect day. Any couple would be lucky to have her as their photographer!
Gar & Lane

Marielle Hayes: our wedding photographer extraordinaire! Neil and I cannot be happier with this amazing woman. Not only is Marielle’s eye for detail remarkable but her charm and warm demeanor are just plain awesome. Your wedding day is a unique time filled with lots of emotion (and unfortunately a little stress too). So having a person like Marielle snapping shots of you that you can not only rely on for amazing pictures that will last forever but to share this important day alongside a truly awesome person is so important. She makes you feel at ease and allows you to truly enjoy getting your picture taken. Marielle is easygoing yet focused; she is warm, hilarious and a total doll. Our friends and family still talk about how much they love our photos and Marielle herself! Marielle is a breath of fresh air and was definitely an uplifting spirit on our big day. Best wedding photographer. Hands. Down.
Vanessa & Neil

Wedding planning can be stressful! There are big decisions to be made, and the choice of a wedding photographer is a big one! Its financial and emotional. The person you choose will be with you and your partner during some of the most intimate moments of your wedding and you are trusting this person to capture it all! Choosing Marielle Hayes is one of the best decisions I made on our big day! Most importantly her photographs are amazing. She is so talented and has a eye for seeing the beauty in the smallest of moments. But Marielle goes beyond just being a talented wedding photographer. The moment I met with Marielle I felt at ease and eager to work with her. She is open, friendly, and exudes positivity. From the initial consultation to the big day Marielle was there for us; with a big smile, words of encourage and the support you would think would come from a sister or best friend. A savvy bride shops around, and I did my homework ladies and gentlemen. One thing that sets Marielle apart from the rest is she offers an affordable package that let’s you OWN all of the images that are shot during the day. This is huge! You want to be able to keep all of those amazing pics from your big day. Not only that, Marielle has options in her packages which makes hiring your dream wedding photographer possible, even for the most budget conscious weddings. Another thing I would highly recommend to couples is to do the engagement photo shoot. Your really get to know Marielle, and she gets to know your style and comfort zone with photography! Marielle is a joy to work with and you’ll so glad you hired her!
Jen & Alan

From start to finish, our experience with Marielle was outstanding! Marielle shot both our engagement photos and our wedding photos. Our wedding was a destination wedding, so we found Marielle on Yelp. Leading up to our engagement shoot, my (now) husband and I were nervous about looking awkward, staged, and completely like deer in the headlights in our engagement pics…Marielle put all our worries to rest! Marielle is so genuinely sweet and incredibly easy to get along with, and her work is simply breath-taking. Throughout the wedding planning process, she returned emails promptly and arrived on time for our engagement shoot and the day of the wedding. We absolutely love the moments she captured at our wedding…every single one! Marielle- We cannot thank you enough for the gorgeous photos we have- they truly capture all the love, joy, and excitement on our big day, and we will forever cherish them!
Taylor & Jeremy
When Crystal and I first started looking for a wedding photographer, I put a note out on Facebook asking all of my friends asking for recommendations. When two different friends (who live hundreds of miles apart and don’t know each other) both referred Marielle Hayes, I had a feeling we had found someone amazing. It took about two minutes on her blog to confirm that feeling. The photography was amazing, from a technical standpoint (lighting, framing, exposure, etc) as well as an artistic view, but to be totally honest, it wasn’t the photography that most impressed me. What most impressed me when I first viewed Marielle’s blog, and what has continued to impress me about her ever since is the way she seems to know every person she works with. By the time we sat down with her to review her portfolio and sign a contract, she knew our story, how we met, how we fell in love, what was most important to us. When it came time for our engagement session – it felt like we were meeting up with an old friend. Marielle knew where to go and how to make us look great. Then came the day of our wedding – certainly one of the most hectic (and of course wonderful) days of our lives. Marielle found unique shooting angles and locations at a venue that has been home to thousands of weddings. Ultimately, Marielle was the perfect photographer for our wedding. She captured the essence of us from the first time we met, and her photography captures the essence of each and every event she shoots. I have no reservations in wholeheartedly recommending Marielle Hayes Photography as the consummate photographer for your next event or portrait setting. With Marielle, you hire a photographer, but you gain a friend.
Crystal & Nathan