About The Esslingers
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
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
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.
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.
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.