Hi, i'm Taliya Michelle!
Certified Wedding & Event Planner
& Wedding Photographer
I am a storyteller; I write, film, photograph, and plan them. Weddings are love stories I get to experience in real time. I capture and plan the moment that two lavishly dressed people come together in front of their friends and family to commit to their lifelong love story. Two people who care for each other deeply and want to build a life together. What is more romantic and beautiful than that? The best part about weddings is that no two are the same. Even if you don't write your own vows, stick to traditions, or even wear the same dress as someone else, your wedding day is a unique experience for you and your partner. It's a new season, a new chapter of your lives, and you get to make those memories with each other. Let's tell your story together.
MAKE YOUR DAY UNFORGETTABLE
I am a Certified Wedding Planner from the QC Event School and I am a member of the International Live Events Association (ILEA). I have been trained in Wedding and Event Planning as well as Event Decor, and I am training to complete more certifications in the wedding planning industry.
Certified Planner
TM Grey Photo & TM Grey Events is a place for everyone. We welcome people of all races, gender identities and expressions, ethnicities, religious beliefs, ages, and sexualities. Hate and discrimination have no place in my business. I'm here to service two best friends in love.
ForEward
As I mentioned, I am a storyteller. Part of my Integrative Arts degree was creative writing. I love writing short fiction stories and hope to be a novelist and screenwriter someday. I'm currently working on a fiction story. Keep up with the progress on my author page under my pen name, Liya Grey.
My story includes being adopted and discovering my biological family through a 23andme DNA test. I also learned that I am English, Nigerian, French, and many other ethnicities.
Beneath the surface, I am a massive geek. I love superheroes on the screen, Doctor Who, writing song lyrics that will never see the light of day, and watching too many cartoons, crime dramas, and comedies.
Visual art has always been an interest of mine. From how I learn to my creative outlets, vivid imagery is a significant part of my identity. My parents were a big inspiration from an earlier age because they owned their own photography studio from the 1970s to the 1990s. I’ve had a camera in my hand since I could walk.
Jack of all trades is inherent in my personality. I enjoy knowing a little bit of everything. I double-majored in college at Penn State (2015) with a bachelor’s degree in Telecommunications and another in Integrative Arts.
My Autobiography
After 9 years in the industry, I have become a certified event and wedding planner, too. I know what an amazing wedding should look like and I want that for all my clients. After all, I've been helping plan timelines for my clients for many years already. I just wanted to make it official. Check out TM Grey Events on my planning page for more.
When I’m not doing any of that, I enjoy relaxing in my New Jersey apartment with my partner and Mr. Lionel, my kitty cat.
In 2019, I finally planned a party for someone else. My roomie and one of my closest friends graduated from Penn State (WE ARE!) and she hates planning. Like did not want to have anything to do with figuring anything out.
I volunteered my services as a planner and a lover of parties. She already had the venue picked out, so together we figured out a budget and I planned it out for her. Since it was at a friend's home, I went with backyard BBQ garden party. I figured out the catering, decor, verified it with her and set it up.
On her big day, I picked it all up and set it up myself while she was walking to accept her diploma, and had it all ready for her friends and family to celebrate. Everyone had a great time, and they said as much.
You could say that I started party planning at an early age. I'm lucky and my birthday is in the middle of the summer (hello fellow Leos!) so when my special day came around, I got to plan it every time. I also threw a yearly Christmas Party at my house.
I would decorate with streamers, set out the cups and bowls, beg my mom to get matching stuff from Party city, and, of course, set up my karaoke. None of my parties were complete without karaoke. Who else played SingStar on the PS2?
forever a planner
It's not just parties, though. Being a wedding photographer since 2015, I have been a part of the industry long enough to know what should and shouldn't happen during a wedding. I get to live my 27 Dresses dream of being with couples to take away their stress and make their wedding day flawless.
Plus, for all my couples, I do a fair share of wedding planning and day-of coordination, anyway. I go through the timeline and help arrange it to maximize all the important moments throughout the day. When there is no coordinator, I help corral the guests and the couple to keep everything moving in a timely fashion.
video games, reading, painting
I also love
write fiction
For fun I
at the beach
my perfect day will be
Telecommunications & Integrative Arts
I HAVE 2 bachelor degrees
beanie babies
I collect
Television
I can't live without
the fun facts
My partner and I started dating
My cat's name is
(Mr.) Lionel
April 10, 2016
the fun facts
My new favorite tool for culling, editing, and blogging! I love using Narrative Select and Narrative Edit. It speeds up my workflow. I've tried so many other products but Narrative takes the cake.
I’ve been using HoneyBook to help book clients more efficiently and stay organized, and I thought you might like it too. Get HoneyBook for 25% off for one year with my referral link.
You get complete creative control over your website's appearance with a proper drag-and-drop interface. Showit has a Powerful integration with WordPress and a FREE blog migration. Use the link to get a free month of Showit.
I am NEVER, and I mean, NEVER without my Loop Earplugs. Capturing weddings means party music, but that also means protecting my ears.
I use CloudSpot for my client galleries and image delivery. Click the link above to try it free with 10GB of storage. Using my link also gets you 20% off your first 12 months on any monthly or annual plan whenever you decide to upgrade!
You HAVE to try out Plann. Seriously, from their powerful content creation tools to their auto-posting, this tool has changed my life and my business! Try it for yourself with their free 7-day trial (and get $10 off when you sign up!).
Whether I am recording some demos or personal videos for clients and vendors, Loom is my go-to for screen recording. The audio is clear, the picture quality is amazing, and it's so easy to use.
Basic invite is my go-to for all stationery, from business cards to thank-you notes. Customize your stationery with more than 180 colors and hundreds of designs. Use code TMGREY to get 30% off your total. Use it as many times as you'd like with no minimum purchase.
Mailer Lite has everything you need for email marketing. They do automation, have customizable campaigns, and so much more. When you use the link to sign up for their free account, you get a $20 credit towards an upgraded plan.
So, I actually own the three big Kamrette bags. I love them so much. But I go nowhere without my Lyra Backpack. It carries two bodies, four lenses, a flash, MagMod modifier, and all my necessities like memory cards, batteries, and business cards.
Lyra Backpack
Kamrette Bag
Every session, wedding, or event I photograph or plan is not complete without my Apple Watch. It's the modern day PDA.
Apple Watch 42mm
Apple Watch
Once a Nikon girl, always a Nikon girl. I love my colors and I absolutely love my mirrorless baby. So much that I actually have two.
Cameras
This is my beast of a bag for every wedding. I can carry pretty much everything including two light stands!
Camera Bag
These are the lenses I always carry on me to capture those smiles.
Lenses
These are the go-to memory card for professional photographers. I am never without a million of these.
Memory Cards
Some of my favorite products
Here are a few of my favorite items that I cannot run my business without.
The Latest at TM Grey Photo & Events
All the latest TM Grey, including blogs on recent sessions and engagement and wedding planning, as well as updates, sales, discounts, behind-the-scenes with Taliya, and special model call sessions.