5 out of 5 stars and 26 reviews
5
(26)Based in Philadelphia and available for travel worldwide.
About this vendor
Colleen Stepanian is a wedding, portrait, and documentary photographer based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and available for travel.
We love working with couples who really make their wedding day unique for them. Whether it's through the decor, ceremony traditions (or no traditions), cultural food, dance, or bonfires after dark. We love seeing weddings that truly represent the couple. After all, there is no other couple like you, and no other love like yours. Why treat your wedding any differently? Break the mold! You are our inspiration and we are more than honored to be a part of celebrating the greatest thing in this world — connection and love.
Details
Business Attributes
- LGBTQ+-owned Business
- Woman-owned Business
Photo Shoot Types
- Engagement
Photo & Video
- Digital Files
- Online Proofing
- Photo
- Printed Enlargements
- Second Shooter Available
- Social Media Sharing
Photo & Video Styles
- Artistic
- Documentary
- Lifestyle
- Modern
Wedding Activities
- Getting Engaged
- Rehearsals & Parties
- After Party
- Wedding
- After Party
Awards and Affiliations
2-Time 'Best of Weddings'
2021.2019.
Best of Weddings
The Knot independently assesses vendors for this award—it’s never self-reported. We base it on firsthand experiences from real couples and guests, and they must have a 4.5-star average across 7+ reviews in the qualifying year.
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Reviews
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5
out of 5.026 reviews
Review photos
Showing slide number 1 out of 9
Colleen is a rare find as a person and photographer. She's authentic and made me feel at ease the first time we met. She's kind and funny, which made my initial nerves of taking ph...
otos fade quickly. I knew Colleen had a tremendous amount of skill from her Instagram account, but I did not expect the time spent with her to be so memorable. She gave us prompts and questions about how we felt about each other at certain moments to capture specific emotions. She even had us briefly play tag, which was unexpected but enjoyable. Colleen offered to join us as we toured the venue to check out the location, and we made a game-plan from there based on the lighting. Colleen's communication was transparent throughout the process. She respected our desire to minimize the amount of time taken away from the big day with organized photos and took many candids. She also worked beyond the original hours of the contract at our wedding to capture the entire evening. To anyone looking for a photographer, if Colleen is available she's the right choice.
Colleen is an amazing photographer! We wanted documentary style photos for our wedding and her work was fantastic. She also gave us the classic portraits we were looking for too. S...
he was friendly, easy to work with, and made us feel comfortable during our engagement shoot and on our wedding day. I highly recommend Colleen for your wedding!
We are very happy with Colleen. My wife and I wanted somewhat different things from our photographer. I wanted a documentary style to our photos, whereas she likes having more pose...
d shots. Colleen was able to handle both like a champ. You spend a lot of time with your photographer, so it's important to get one you both like. We had a lot of fun with Colleen. She was easy to work with and had a great attitude. We ended up with way more photos than we were expecting, which we really appreciated. She's good at capturing small moments, so it was also a fun experience to see all the details she caught. We highly recommend Colleen!
Colleen was absolutely amazing. I cannot say enough good things about her and recommend her to everyone I know. In fact, my husbands sister just hired Colleen for her own wedding! ...
Everything from start to finish was perfect. We hired Colleen for our engagement shoot and wedding. I was super nervous for our engagement shoot which happened mid-summer of 2020. Of course it was incredibly hot and humid that day and I was sweating like crazy. I was terrified of how the pictures would turn out. When we arrived despite the circumstances, Colleen instantly made us feel at ease. She was extremely professional, funny and sweet. She was able to capture so many amazing photos despite feeling like we were all melting.
Then of course came wedding planning. Initially, we set the date to get married in December and booked a local venue in February. Then of course covid hit and wedding planning got turned upside down. We were pulled in so many directions and almost ended up postponing and/or eloping. However, when things started to look up over the summer we got to brainstorming. Because we knew there was going to the covid boom and restrictions over the winter months, we actually ended up moving our wedding (30 people) up to October in an outdoor venue. Colleen was incredibly flexible and easy to work with. I think we changed our date three times and she was there for us each time. She was so pleasant with all the crazy rescheduling, it took so much stress off our shoulders.
Finally the day of the wedding her and her team were perfect!! They followed our wishes to a T and were there for every big moment. I love each and every photograph. If there is one thing you do for your wedding - Book Colleen!! ❤️
There are so many positive things to write about Colleen, I don't even know where to begin.
Colleen is an exceptional photographer and the epitome of a photojournalist. She disappe...
ars into the background and artfully captures small and big moments beautifully.
On top of her talent, Colleen was also extremely well-organized, detail-oriented, personable and very flexible with the planning leading up to our wedding day (which came and went due to COVID, but came back again for a safe, socially-distanced micro wedding a few months down the line).
When we finally were able to get married, Colleen was there, calm & relaxed while magnificently documenting our day.
From start to finish she was absolutely fantastic and we look forward to our next big life event (or maybe even small!) for her to capture.
Honestly, 5 stars is not enough. Colleen (and her photographs) were one of the highlights of our wedding. Right from the beginning Colleen was professional, kind, quick to respond ...
and more than understanding of all of our changing plans due to covid. When we received our photos back, it was impossible to hold back tears; they were stunning. She beautifully captured the joy of our day in a way that exceeded both of our expectations.
Her wonderfully candid style allows us to relive our day every time we look at our photos. I can't say enough nice things about her and how talented she is. 11 out of 10 stars!!!
Okay, so classic me I am just getting around to writing this 2.5 years later.. haha! Let me tell you that you don't need to look any further!! Colleen is a godsend. She made everyt...
hing so comfortable from the start. I wish I could give her more stars. She is amazing and talented and soo soo kind. Our engagement pictures and wedding pictures are soo beautiful and many of our friends have asked for her information so they could have the same outcome. THE BEST!!
We'll be hiring her to photograph our kids and any other important events in the future. What a personality she has. We didn't see her once throughout the wedding night, yet she ca...
ptured everything flawlessly! She followed us around our unplanned engagement photo session, through a new jersey boardwalk and even the boardwalk's clown-filled fun house! Nearly impossible to shoot in there (with the low light and 1000 mirrors), yet those photos turned out incredibly. She is the sweetest and we couldn't recommend her more.
Colleen was a dream to work with! She understood our vision and really listened to what we did and didn't want from photos. She was incredibly well organized and worked on a very t...
ight schedule for group photos. During the ceremony, cocktail hour, and reception, she did an amazing job of capturing so many moments while not being intrusive. The photos she delivered to us were amazing: warm, personal, and dynamic.
I would hire her again in a HEARTBEAT.
GIVE HER ALL YOUR MONEY. She's worth every cent. Colleen and her team work tirelessly, and yet surround you all day with this chill, calm vibe--never forcing a posed scene. If you ...
are looking for an easy-going photographer, she is your girl. We were going for candid, fun, happy vibes and she absolutely nailed it. My aunt asked if we even had a photographer, at which point I sent her 10+ pictures of herself! Colleen is totally non-intrusive, unpretentious, and really flexible--not to mention funny and fun. I can't say enough good things. Run don't walk.
I don't think a review can sum up how much we loved having Colleen photograph our wedding. We were nervous about so many photos, since my husband and I both tend to be on the camer...
a shy side, but from the first phone call to the day of, Colleen made everything not just painless but fun, and it felt like having a friend there all day. Every single detail, every "I hope someone caught that!" moment was captured beautifully, and everyone I show the photos to just gushes about them. I cry when I look at them, and can't say enough good things!!
Colleen is by far the best photographer I have ever worked with. I have been in 9 weddings to date and have interacted with multiple photographers for other family portraits and no...
one has captured photos like Colleen. I tend to dread seeing photos of myself because they look awkward and forced and I'm visibly uncomfortable but that is not the case with Colleen. She captures you in the most genuine moments with little direction and somehow captures more emotion than even a video could. She is equally friendly, professional and organized to say the least. I could go on and on but I don't want the length of this review to deter anyone from reading about how AMAZING she is!
Colleen is fantastic! She made us feel so comfortable and really captured the essence of what makes us, us! She is extremely talented and a pleasure to work with, too. Our engageme...
nt shoot was so fun, and I laugh and cry every time I look at our wedding photos. She really caught all the details that we missed, and I absolutely love reliving the day through her photos.
Colleen is a top-notch photographer whose empathetic, thoughtful, focused nature shaped her excellent photographs of our wedding and accompanying events. From our first email excha...
nges, phone calls, and in-person meetings, Colleen ensured that our needs could be meet with kindness and professionalism. We recommend Colleen wholeheartedly with no reservations. The cost of her services are worth it given the exceptional quality given to planning the shoots, her ability to dissolve invisibly into events and groups and emerge with rewarding images, and her dedication to the minutae of post-processing. Her images achieved our ambition of capturing the aliveness of ourselves and our community in our decisive moments, especially of our elder family members and friends who had not seen each other in, at times, many decades. Though we planned our wedding weekend and decorations extensively, our frugal budget and non-wedding oriented venue (a summer camp / retreat center) would not have lent themselves easily to a mediocre photographer. Amidt a flash thunderstorm, in buildings with camp kid decor (not as in a Wes Anderson film), with a cafeteria for our reception, Colleen made good. Should you need to choose between Colleen versus purchasing over-precious decorations, we recommend choosing Colleen ten times out of ten.
Colleen is an amazing person & photographer, and we had an incredible experience working with her for our engagement shoot and wedding day. From the moment I spoke to her I knew sh...
e was the right fit for us! She went above and beyond to get the perfect shots, and we are still receiving compliments on our beautiful photos.
Thank you Colleen!!!
Colleen is an amazing photographer. She shot our wedding and will be using her for all events going forward. Colleen was very planned out, detailed, arrived early, stayed late an...
d captured every shot. She was able to manage all the different personalities with comfort and ease. The final product was amazing, and we couldn't be happier! You can tell that Colleen is really passionate about her clients and her work and we highly recommend her for all types of events and photo shoots
Colleen was a true gem! From the moment that we met her we knew she was the perfect fit for us as our wedding photographer. She was super friendly, easy to communicate with, very ...
professional, down to earth, and fun! She went above and beyond with every service she provided. From helping us scout out a location for engagement photos, to scheduling a walk-through at our venue, to staying late the night of our wedding to capture all the magic (and shenanigans) we couldn't have asked for anything more. Within two weeks Colleen provided us with a sneak-peak slideshow of over 400+ photos, and within five weeks we had our entire wedding album! Her work is absolutely stunning, as she truly captured the essence of every moment of our wedding. My husband and I could not be more pleased and we will cherish her photos forever!
Colleen did a fantastic job for our engagement and wedding pictures! Her style and approach to these life events allowed for a calmness and confidence on our part, in turn we real...
ly enjoyed working with her and she exceeded our expectations. We highly recommend Colleen for your photography needs, she will capture your day or days as you hope, allowing the beautiful moments to live on.
Colleen was great to work with. We really like her photo journalistic style--she was able to capture a lot of wonderful candid moments. She was very easy to work with and even went...
to the venue ahead of time to scout the place so she knew exactly what she was dealing with.
She had a great balance of getting all the portrait photos we wanted without it taking hours. Our bridal party and family were happy about this too!
We already have the photos back and are so happy with them! I highly recommend choosing her as your photographer.
As we all quickly learn in the wedding prep process, a wedding photographer that is reliable, kind-hearted, flexible, and extremely talented is hard to come by. Therefore, it becam...
e an easy choice after seeing Colleen photograph one of my sister's wedding. Colleen is such a wonderful person and is creative in customizing your photographs to what is important to you on your special day! Colleen was willing to travel for our engagement photos in Washington, DC and our wedding in NJ, which was such a blessing for us to share those memories in places that we consider our home. Prior to the wedding day, Colleen walked through the venue to make sure all the locations and moments of the day were to be captured how we wanted them. She is an amazing woman to work with and has become part of the family! I highly recommend her. You will find yourself able to worry about the other important details on your big day, because she has it covered start to finish!
Booking Colleen was one of the best choices we made for our wedding--she is an absolute pro, a dream to work with, and so incredibly talented. She really listened to our wants and ...
needs and spoke honestly about her style when we met with her early on in the planning process, and she worked with us to find the perfect package for our big day. Our photos are a DREAM and we couldn't have asked better mementos from our ceremony and reception. Colleen tackled our non-traditional wedding (on a 0-degree day in December, to boot!) with a smile on her face the entire time, and we still don't understand how she was able to capture the amount of incredible photos she did! Book Colleen--you will NOT regret it!!
Working with Colleen was a total dream! My husband is also a photographer and we spent a not-trivial amount of time looking for the right person to photograph our fusion wedding. W...
hen Colleen was recommended to us, I fell in love with her documentary-style, honest and vulnerable work. My husband (fiance at the time, whatever), was skeptical until we met her - she immediately understood our style and wishes and translated them into incredible engagement photos. Throughout the whole wedding journey, Colleen was kind, responsive and thoughtful, incredibly professional yet down to earth and easy to communicate with. She went above and beyond the day of the wedding, staying late to (hopefully have fun) and photograph the never-ending reception. And the most important part - our engagement and wedding photos came out better than anything we could have imagined. We love you, Colleen!
Our experience working with Colleen exceeded all expectations that we had and we could not be happier. From the first phone call we knew we had picked the right photographer. Colle...
en is an incredibly gifted photographer and genuinely awesome person to work with. She has the ability to capture every nuanced moment like a ninja. We did nothing but laugh while working together which made for effortlessly beautiful candid photos. Her style of shooting has the same quality and our portraits are seriously amazing. Our family has been non-stop talking about our photos and how terrific Colleen was at every gathering since our wedding. Her website is lovely and booking process was a breeze. Extremely professional without the professional feel. 10/10 would HIGHLY recommend.
Colleen photographed our wedding and engagement. She is not only amazingly talented, but very kind and generous. We appreciated everything she did for us, and recommend her for a...
ny meaningful event.
Colleen was absolutely incredible - we couldn't have asked for a better experience. She is beyond professional, works above and beyond to capture the shot, and truly shows that she...
cares about being part of your special day. I highly recommend her!
Colleen Stepanian is a tremendously talented photographer! After meeting her through being in a friend’s wedding party, and seeing her photos from that wedding, we were absolutely ...
sure we had to have her for our own wedding. Her work has stunning color and shows daylight, sunlight, and candlelight so well. Colleen caught so many beautiful candid moments of our day — gestures of joy, laughter, and love. She is easy to work with, flexible, and quick to think on her feet to solve unexpected lighting problems. I would highly recommend her as a wedding photographer — I guarantee you won’t be disappointed!
Contact
Philadelphia, PA | Based in Philadelphia and available for travel worldwide.
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