East Coast–based Sarah Gormley of Sarah Gormley Photography has been an APW favorite for years and years, and it’s pretty easy to figure out why: Her work is incredible, her rates are affordable ($3,800 with free travel nationwide), and she’s one of the kindest human beings on the planet. (Ask us about that one time she ended up replanning an APW contributor’s let’s-make-it-legal DC elopement in the midst of a government shutdown.)

TL;DR Sarah Gormley loves APW, and APW loves her right back.

Sarah also has that intangible quality you should always look for in a wedding photographer: unconditional support. She will have your back while you navigate simultaneously prioritizing the people you love and standing by your values. No matter how many weddings she shoots (which is a lot!), she gets how the journey you’re on is yours alone, and should be captured as such:

Over the years, I’ve been so lucky to work with more and more couples who accept the wedding traditions that make sense to them and gracefully do away with those that don’t. I recognize how difficult this can be and I want to be a resource and a support for couples who chose to make their wedding day a reflection of who they are, and not what the wedding industry tells them it should be. I’ve noticed how some wedding professionals treat each wedding the same, using a set formula for how to get their job done, expecting that, for the most part, couples will all want the same thing. And while it’s great to be experienced and efficient, I’ve worked with enough beautifully unique and brave couples over the past few years to know that it’s so important to treat each wedding day like the new and unique and exciting thing that it is, to support each couple in their own choices and their own ideas about what their day will look like. It’s important to me that the photos I take are not just a gallery of traditional moments and celebratory acts, but a true reflection of the couple, and their choices and priorities and values. This means investing time in the couple, asking questions, and figuring out what’s important to them and what’s not, and this is something that means the world to me.

And did we mention her work is incredible? Sarah strives to capture not just the traditional photo moments like the first dance or the cutting of the cake, but also the many unique and touching moments that happen in between: the relationships, interactions, nerves, emotions, excitement, and joy. The results? Sarah regularly delivers photos that prove that wedding photography can be a beautiful, powerful, striking form of art:

Sarah Gormley splits her time between Washington, DC and Atlanta, is equally at home in New York, and basically will go wherever APW couples need her to. This year alone she’s shooting weddings up and down the East Coast, and across the country from North Carolina to Utah to California, as well as in Canada, Spain, and the US Virgin Islands.

Some photographers travel for the excitement, or for the prestige of being an international wedding photographer, but Sarah? Sarah would simply rather work with you guys over anyone else—no matter where you happen to be or what size wedding you happen to be having. (Elopements and backyard weddings are a specialty!)

She makes it dead simple—and affordable—to hire her, thanks to one flat rate of $3,800 (with no additional charges for travel) in the US, and $4,500 for international coverage. Really. We’ve been wondering for years when Sarah will finally raise her prices, but she always reminds us that APW readers have made her business possible, and she basically wants to do right by y’all, forever and ever.

Here’s how it breaks down:

The States = $3,800

• Up to 10 hours of coverage
• Anywhere in America
• Includes travel and accommodation

The Whole Wide World = $4,500

• Full-day wedding coverage
• Anywhere outside of America
• Includes travel and accommodation

Additional hours = $300/hour
Associate photographer (up to 10 hours) = $400

In our experience, working with Sarah Gormley can easily become a warm-and-fuzzy appreciation party. She thanks APW, we assure her she’s the rock star, and round and round it goes—so it doesn’t surprise us in the slightest that the same endless gratitude flows between her and her clients. Sarah has this to say about how you guys have given her a life and business she loves:

There are so many things that I absolutely love about what I do. My couples, most of whom come from APW, trust me to capture their wedding day in an artistic and journalistic way, something that is true to my educational background and my lifelong passion, so I find myself so creatively inspired and emotionally fulfilled by the photos I get to take and the experiences I’m able to have. My job allows me to travel to beautiful places all over the world, and spend time with people on a day that is so filled with joy and love and excitement. It’s an incredible energy to be around, and I am so grateful each and every time a couple invites me to be a part of that energy.

And here’s what her clients have to say about working with Sarah:

Choosing Sarah as our photographer was one of the best decisions we made. When I was looking for photographers, what I loved about her work was that none of the weddings or engagements she shoots look the same—everyone looks beautiful and happy, but also like themselves. That’s because Sarah captures the real people and real weddings that she shoots, rather than arranging them to fit a shot list or a script. And to top it all off, she’s just an absolutely lovely person to work with. Our engagement shoot a few months before our wedding felt less like a “photo shoot” than a sunset ramble around our neighborhood with a friend—and the relaxed, natural photos she captured reflected how comfortable we felt with her. At the wedding itself, Sarah was an incredibly calming presence through the flurry of pre-ceremony photos—and at the reception, I almost didn’t notice she was there, until she would materialize out of nowhere to snap a shot. She never posed or interrupted the action; she just captured it. We were beyond thrilled with the results: the photos are warm, intimate, and personal, and they perfectly captured how excited and giddy we were all day. What I love most is that they’re beautiful photos not just of “our wedding,” but of us. Sarah also has an incredible eye for visual storytelling, and caught some truly amazing, touching candids of our friends and family.

When you hire Sarah Gormley, you’re hiring a photographer who’s going to capture all the beauty and all the feels, no matter where in the world you are, all for $3,800. So go check out more of Sarah’s work, and get on her 2017 calendar before your date is gone. Because someone this good will be all booked up for another year before you know it.

SARAH GORMLEY Is booking now for 2017. WEDDINGS IN THE US ARE $3,800 WITH ALL TRAVEL FEES INCLUDED. CLICK HERE TO GET IN TOUCH WITH SARAH TODAY!