THE ESSLINGERS

About The Esslingers

BEAUTIFUL WEDDINGS FOR COUPLES WHO REALLY, really LOVE EACH OTHER 

Marriage has been one of the greatest gifts of our lives, so getting to celebrate the beginning of yours means so much to us.

About us

After more than a decade of photographing weddings, we know how to keep family photos moving, make portraits feel comfortable, and notice the good stuff happening everywhere else. So you can get the photos you dreamed about and still make it to cocktail hour with everyone you love.

"DURING THE CEREMONY THEY CAPTURED not just THE TRADITIONAL PICTURES, BUT FUN, SPECIAL, TENDER LITTLE moments THAT WE didn't even see HAPPENING."

— Abby & Timothy, 2026 Couple

MEET LUKE & KAYLA

We're Luke and Kayla, husband and wife, best friends, parents to four incredible boys, and photographers who still genuinely love getting to do this together after more than a decade.

xo,Luke & Kayla

Our work has taken us from California to Charleston, New England to Florida, and into some truly beautiful celebrations along the way. We love weddings overflowing with flowers, incredible fashion, long dinners, packed dance floors, and thoughtful details that make the people in the room feel known. But the couples we'll talk about for years are always the ones who were completely wrapped up in each other and the people they love, rather than making their day a staged photoshoot.

We're pretty much the same people at a wedding that we are at home. Luke can find someone to talk sports with in any room, Kayla has a way of making people feel like they’ve known her much longer than they have, and we both like our coffee sweet enough that actual coffee people would probably judge us. We love a really good restaurant, an appropriately timed Office quote, laughing with our boys, and being married to each other.

WHAT WE BELIEVE:

01

MARRIAGE is WORTH CELEBRATING

02

THE BEST MEALS are WORTH THE DRIVE

03

SPORTS FACTS are LUKE'S LOVE LANGUAGE

04

KAYLA WILL ALWAYS WANT one MORE PHOTO

05

THE OFFICE has A QUOTE FOR THIS

06

THE BEST DAYS END on THE DANCE FLOOR

LIFE outside
THE WEDDING DAY

Life with four boys, Sundays at church, game nights with friends, really good food, coffee sweeter than it has any business being, and dreaming up where we want to go next.

11 years together <3

our sweet family!

film photography

summers on the Cape

Charleston

What We Do & Why

THE PHOTOS

We want you to have the portrait you’ll frame and the smile across the room you never knew we caught. We shoot both film and digital, and care just as much about how your photos feel as how beautiful they are.

THE WEDDING

We love a wedding that goes all in. Flowers everywhere, incredible fashion, a packed dance floor, and thoughtful details your guests will remember. Because the best weddings are beautiful to look at and even better to be a part of.

THE PEOPLE

Our favorite couples are best friends who are genuinely excited to be married. They care about creating a beautiful day, trust the people they hired, and want to spend as much of it as possible with everyone they love.

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