wedding photographer nyc | la | destination

Leila Brewster

destination | la | nyc wedding photographer

“Photography is a way of feeling, of touching, of loving. What you have caught on film is captured forever… It remembers little things, long after you have forgotten everything.”

— Aaron Siskind

Wedding & Elopement

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WEDDINGS + Elopements

I'm one part photojournalist, one part art director. I love to create one-of-a-kind wedding & elopement images, unique to your love story. I prefer bright and airy, but love to play with pockets of light & shadows to make timeless black & white photos. I love to keep things flowing, preferring movement over static poses. Your wedding photos will have that certain je ne sais quoi about them. I call it Moving Stills.

Custom packages include wedding day photography services, additional event coverage (welcome dinners and rehearsals, et al...), engagement photos, & final deliverables (albums, prints, usb..).

Your wedding photos become heirlooms, traveling with you through different chapters of your life. My hope is that your future you will look at your wedding day photos and remember the joy and the love that you felt in every moment.

"Here's the thing, many photographers are mostly focused on their portfolio. Leila is the opposite. She TRULY cares about her clients & their experience by providing a very artistic, yet comprehensive selection of photos. It's NOT ABOUT HER, it's about her clients. One thing I always tell our couples, Leila is one of the only photographers that we work with that really goes out of the way to prioritize the in-between moments just as much as the "scheduled events". These are the moments that couples value so much because they are un-anticipated. They are REAL. They are RAW. They are not manipulated or directed and they are so, so valuable. Speaking of directed, I would say that Leila is both a photojournalist & an editorial photographer, but in a natural way. She helps all of her clients look their best by standing the right way, etc... but done in a way where they would naturally, so it also FEELS natural."

"Leila is seriously a one-of-a-kind event photographer. TRUST ME... we know because we work with them all!"

Julie | Elysium Productions

"I wanted to tell you that I had a professional picture for my business done today. It was exhausting and somewhat unpleasant. The pictures are OK but the session further affirmed my very wonderful feeling about you, your work and the manner in which you work. Your way with all of us was so wonderful…respectful, gentle, not intrusive and of course gorgeous. I just wanted to share this as I recognize that you are a total cut above!! A heartfelt thanks to you again."

"She is a soulful human with great empathy created no doubt by seeing so many corners of the world and working with such a diverse group of clients and vendors. This background coupled with her genuinely creative eye to capture the moment, and let's not forget the details, is what makes her such a gifted photographer.

We absolutely love it when a client chooses Leila for photography! She captures our flowers just as effortlessly as she captures the couple.

And the BIG bonus is Leila gets so excited about your wedding images that we get teasers faster than anyone I have ever worked with!"

"Leila is not only a phenomenal photographer with an incredible eye to capture true joy, she is also a phenomenal human being."

Yumiko | Hana Floral

"I wanted to tell you that I had a professional picture for my business done today. It was exhausting and somewhat unpleasant. The pictures are OK but the session further affirmed my very wonderful feeling about you, your work and the manner in which you work. Your way with all of us was so wonderful…respectful, gentle, not intrusive and of course gorgeous. I just wanted to share this as I recognize that you are a total cut above!! A heartfelt thanks to you again."

a note

from my colleagues

UMMMMMM LOVE!

Leila these are INCREDIBLE. I feel like I just got to relive all my favorite moments of my life over and over again! It is so amazing to have hundreds of little gifts capturing our day perfectly. Thank you, thank you, thank youuuuu. You were the best photographer ever, and the best person on the day of team! I honestly couldn't have gotten through the day without you. I am so grateful to have met you and had a lot of fun having you there. Genuinely there are significant moments of that day you played a pivotal role.

Heather & Jordan

"It was exhausting and somewhat unpleasant. The pictures are OK but the session further affirmed my very wonderful feeling about you, your work and the manner in which you work. Your way with all of us was so wonderful…respectful, gentle, not intrusive and of course gorgeous. I just wanted to share this as I recognize that you are a total cut above!! A heartfelt thanks to you again."

"I wanted to tell you that I had a professional picture for my business done today."

Judy | Mother of the Bride

WE ARE LOSING IT OVER THESE!!!!!

Thank you SO much. We have no words for how much we love them.

Thank you, you talented, talented human!!!

Kylee & Ben

Sash and I finally sat down to relive everything through your work. We are totally stunned by the moments that you captured. You made the day come alive all over again. The love and joy comes through so beautifully in your photos.

Thank you so much for all of the work you put in.

Rachel & Sasha

THANK YOU SO MUCH! We spent two hours going through all the photos last night... We are in love with every single one!

Thank you again for capturing all of these magical moments!

Every image is absolutely gorgeous!

Susanna & Kit

I. Am. So. Obsessed. !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Thank you again for capturing all of these magical moments!

Well. there goes the rest of the week.

"I wanted to tell you that I had a professional picture for my business done today. It was exhausting and somewhat unpleasant. The pictures are OK but the session further affirmed my very wonderful feeling about you, your work and the manner in which you work. Your way with all of us was so wonderful…respectful, gentle, not intrusive and of course gorgeous. I just wanted to share this as I recognize that you are a total cut above!! A heartfelt thanks to you again."

Lily & Stephen

"You could not have done a more perfect job of capturing us, in all our quirkiness."

"Not to mention, I had known we would have tears, but I still thought our wedding would have been a dancing wedding. What it was, instead, was this intensely emotional and loving wedding with some dancing. So, to have a chance to revisit our day when I needed it so badly, was truly a gift today."

Caitlin & Michael

"Leila, your photos of our wedding were better than we could have ever dreamed."

"Not only was the final product amazing, but you have been such a pleasure to work with. Your professionalism, promptness and beautiful spirit made the entire process a breeze. We can't thank you enough."

Luna & Carlos

"She is more than a photographer to us, and as a stressed bride, she calmed many nerves leading up to our wedding, answering emails right away for questions that went outside the definition of photographer!"

My husband wasn't so keen on the whole engagement photo session idea, but once we hit the streets of NYC and she captured our love with the backdrop of the city in its truest form, he had a new found appreciation for her work and her down to earth, go-with-the-flow attitude. On my rainy wedding day, she stepped in to help in more ways than one as we tried to quickly figure out plan b for our first look photos, by calling venues and staying cool as a cucumber the whole day. Our photos look elegant, organic, ethereal and romantic. The way she develops them gives you a glow that any bride would appreciate. So many of our friends have asked for her info since seeing our photos and I can't recommend her enough!!

Tara & Ken

"Leila is a gifted artist. She captured the FEELING of our wedding. How do you even do that?"

"There was no posing, no hours spent shooting to get those perfect shots, yet we have hundreds of pictures that perfectly tell the story of our love and wedding day. I've been in A LOT of weddings, and the majority of the day is spent posing, waiting, posing. Not ours. We LIVED in the day rather than trying to just document it. Yet, we ended up with the most beautiful wedding photos I've ever seen.

Leila did both our engagement and wedding photos. She was our favorite vendor to work with, and we hope to continue to work with her in the future. Maybe for pictures of future little ones? :)"