Grace Kathryn Photography

Santa Barbara + San Luis Obispo + Ventura

About this vendor

Congratulations! You're madly in love and engaged! Now the wedding planning begins and choosing a photographer is one of the most important decisions you will make. I approach every wedding with the intention of capturing the day in the most genuine and creative ways. My goal is to capture your REAL personalities and all the little things that make you and your wedding unique and special. While shooting with you, I am constantly inspired by the emotions and fleeting moments that make up your lives together. I am a storyteller at heart and every image invites you to travel back in time to relive your memories with the people who help celebrate your love. Reach out to chat with me about your wedding, or follow me on Instagram at @GraceKathryn to see what I've been up to lately.

Details

Business Attributes

Woman-owned Business

Destination Weddings

Destination Wedding Packages

Photo Shoot Types

Boudoir
Bridal Portraits
Day After Session
Engagement

Photo & Video

Digital Files
Film Photography
Photo
Printed Enlargements
Second Shooter Available
Wedding Albums

Photo & Video Styles

Artistic
Classic
Lifestyle
Modern

Wedding Activities

Getting Engaged
Rehearsals & Parties
After Party
Wedding
After Party

out of 5.0

30 reviews

Search reviews

7/22/2026 • Emmelene F

I could not recommend Grace Kathryn enough!! She was truly a godsend on our big day. I know deciding on a photographer can be one of the more stressful parts of wedding planning bu...

t when we happened upon Grace Kathyrn’s work we knew she was perfect! We were able to book her Extended package which gave us 2 photographers and up to 10 hrs on our wedding day (which we definitely used) and an engagement photo session that was able to fit our budget and all of her work was so worth it. Throughout the entire process she was extremely communicative and thorough, making sure we covered bases that we hadn't even thought about. We had the necessary meetings prior, the photo lists organized ahead of time, and all the information we needed when deciding on location and our desired aesthetic. On the day of she worked nonstop, helped with poses, made us feel comfortable, and honestly felt like family. She was so personable and put us at ease. She was dependable, even for things outside her role. She even lent us a dog leash and dog treats for our engagement photos when we foolishly forgot to bring our own. She checked on us often leading closer to the big day as well as during, and even though we had a day of wedding coordinator, she felt like one as well. We were so happy to have had Grace Kathyrn work with us and absolutely LOVE all the photos she delivered! She also put lots of work on all the edits that we requested and everything came out perfect!! We felt bad for asking for multiple edits but she was more than happy to do it for us and made sure we didn't feel guilty about asking. She truly made our day and we couldn't be happier!! Thank you Grace Kathyrn for everything!!! You deserve all the praise for your amazing work and work ethic!! We're so happy to have these wedding photos to cherish for the rest of our lives.

7/17/2025 • Kelly N

I truly couldn't be happier to have Grace as our long-time family photographer! From our engagement and wedding to now two sessions of family photos, she has beautifully captured o...

ur family's most meaningful moments. Grace is an absolute joy to work with - she is warm, kind, and instantly familiar, like an old friend. She’s professional, punctual, and has a remarkable talent for providing just the right amount of direction to help everyone feel comfortable, while also knowing when to step back and let moments unfold naturally. Her photos are genuine works of art. They fill the walls of our home and bring us joy every single day. Grace has a rare gift for capturing emotion - you can truly feel the love and connection in every image. She preserves intimate, heartfelt moments that transport you right back to how you felt when they were taken, even years later. Grace is wonderful with all ages and has a calm, easygoing presence that puts everyone at ease. We trust her completely to preserve our sweetest memories and biggest milestones. If you're looking for someone to document your most precious moments with heart, artistry, and true talent, Grace is definitely the one!

3/25/2025 • Kelsey

WE LOOK LIKE FREAKING MOVIE STARS. From start to finish, Grace was a calming, warm presence - the whole time we worked with her I felt like we were in excellent hands. She gently d...

irected us without being "posed" or pushy. No notes. Like any engaged person, I felt some anxiety about photos since that's the thing that you get to actually "keep" after your big day. When I tell you, not only do we look like freaking movie stars in all Grace's photos, she PERFECTLY captured the EMOTION of the moment. If you didn't know better, you would think our wedding pictures were a People Magazine Exclusive or something. Just as valuable as the photos themselves was Grace's kind attitude and willingness to work with us on what we needed. It ended up raining on our courthouse day and she not only rolled with it, but got INCREDIBLE photos to boot! Long story short: HIRE GRACE!

2/11/2025 • Jaime L

Grace Kathryn Photography was an absolute delight to work with for our wedding. From our phone consult, her communication style was funny, laidback, and honest, which immediately p...

ut us at ease. The quality of her work was amazing - they captured all the fun and special moments of our day in a way that was both creative and helpful. She was incredibly flexible, accommodating our wedding only being a week away, and providing a quick turnaround on our photos so we could relive the day. If you have seen Friends, I am like Chandler when taking photos, but Grace made an easy process, haha. We would highly recommend Grace Kathryn Photography to any couple looking for a talented, personable photographer who will make your wedding day that much more enjoyable.

1/21/2025 • Erika B

Grace was an amazing partner for our wedding photos. She stayed in touch throughout the months leading up to our event, setting expectations and gathering information ahead of time...

so we could have a smooth experience on the day of. She was flexible and thoughtful with our schedule and budget. The sneak peek photos were up on our personal dashboard within a week, and the full gallery of photos became available within a month or so. The photos are beautiful!! She captured our day so genuinely without forced poses or wasted time. We are reminded of that wonderful day every time we walk past the pictures on our walls now. Thank you so much Grace!

11/05/2024 • Luke M

Working with Grace was such a pleasure!! She made us feel comfortable and at ease; throughout our engagement... and leading up to the big day. Her great communication and overall ...

professionalism helped everything run smoothly. The photos captured so many moments ~it feels like we are reliving them when we look at them. She has an eye for color and design. Her pictures are vibrant, with wonderful texture and angles. I would 100% recommend Grace to capture your treasured moments.

12/08/2019 • Michella C

Grace Kathryn was amazing . We came from out of town for an elopement and from the moment we selected her we were in constant communication about our vision. She even helped with p...

roviding suggested local vendors. We met with her the week of the ceremony and walked the the wedding she shared her professional opinion and it really helped. The pictures tuned out wonderfully . I couldn’t ask for more.

12/03/2019 • jaclyn s

From the time we inquired with Grace about her services to her delivering our wedding photos Grace was professional, kind, and consistent. The day of the wedding she made us feel a...

t ease while still capturing all the amazing moments. We were blown away with her photos, her attention to detail, and the way she artfully documented our wedding. I highly recommend Grace!

10/25/2019 • Kasey D

Grace is an amazing photographer! She photographed our wedding and we absolutely LOVE the results! All of our friends and family complimented the photos she did. She made sure I w...

as comfortable during the pictures, which was super nice. She is such an artist! My husband and I would highly recommend her!

10/11/2019 • Jasmin R

Grace and her work are outstanding!!! We found her through our wedding planner. What caught our eyes was definitely her vibrant and artistic style of photos. I could not be happie...

r, she captured our elopement just as we envisioned. I’m glad and thankful to have memories for a life time, with no regret of how the photos came out. Grace is super sweet and we enjoyed shooting our special day with her! My friends and family were absolutely in love with the photos!!!

9/28/2019 • Rebecca B

Do not hesitate to look any further than Grace for your photography needs. From the onset, our communication with Grace was exceptional - completely helpful and knowledgeable, answ...

ering our emails promptly and continuously putting our needs and concerns at ease. We absolutely loved her relaxed but incredibly professional attitude throughout our experience. Coming from the UK to California for our renewals, we relied heavily on her positive feedback - Grace is exceptionally worthy of each one. Our photograph collection has been executed to the highest standard, leaving little to do other than look back on very fond memories and hope that our next encounter isn't too far into the future. Book her before someone else does!

7/07/2019 • Rachel K

I can’t say enough good things about Grace and her team!!We hired grace for our wedding this past April in Thousand Oaks. Grace is based in Santa Barbara and I live in LA but she w...

as always so accommodating and kind and would meet us half way whenever we needed to have in-person meetings. She responds to emails quickly and is a pleasure to work with. Other than that her work is BEYOND!! My husband and I are obsessed with our wedding photos and if it wasn’t weird I would print them all out and use them as wall paper for my bedroom because each and every one of them is incredible. They are bright and vibrant and everyone looks good! On the day of the wedding her team arrived on time and made the best use of the time we had them for. They got so many detail shots of the venue and our cocktail hour that I saw things in the pictures that I missed in real life on the day of the wedding. A photographer is one of the most important vendors you will hire - don’t make the mistake of not hiring Grace!

5/09/2019 • Shaina M

The most important detail of our wedding to my, now, husband and I were the photos. Therefore we researched quite extensively and we are beyond grateful for the art Grace created i...

n our engagement and wedding photos. She is knowledgeable, makes you feel very comfortable, and is extremely talented. Honestly I am short on words because her photos speak for themselves. I would say they have a romantic and artistic feel to them. Many of our loved ones have commented that she catches personal moments well and that her art is something you might see in a magazine.

2/20/2019 • Amy K

Grace was absolutely AMAZING! My husband and I were from out of town, so she communicated with me about what I was wanting before our big day and all the way to days long after my...

wedding regarding questions, touch ups and all. She made us feel comfortable the day of and really took the time with us to get the pictures we wanted. Our pictures turned out perfect and I feel like I got so lucky in finding her! :)

2/16/2019 • Megan D

Grace was amazing on our wedding day! We had a really small wedding, but I was still overwhelmed on the day trying to get everything ready. Grace showed up and took charge, got thi...

ngs organized, staked our our spot at the Santa Barbara courthouse, and took the most gorgeous photos. My husband and I love them so much, and I cannot thank Grace enough for everything she did for us that day. She’s more than a photographer— she helped me relax! And that’s huge :)

1/16/2019 • Kelly W

Grace is absolutely incredible! My husband and I tend to be pretty camera shy, but Grace made us feel so relaxed and confident! Her photography is perfection, we loved how well she...

captured every aspect of our wedding day! We could not be happier with how our photographs came out! We highly recommend Grace Kathryn Photography!

11/07/2018 • Laura Y

Grace is simply the best! I have nothing but amazing things to say about her and her photography. My friend used Grace for her wedding in Southern California, and I was blown away ...

by her talent behind her camera lens. I just felt pure happiness when looking at her photos, and having the opportunity to work with her previously and seeing first hand how relaxed she made us all feel at my friend's wedding, I knew it would be silly not to use her! My husband and I are so grateful we did! We used Grace for our engagement photos as well, and I had heard stories from other friends about how awkward they felt during their engagement photo sessions, so I wasn't sure what to expect. Grace made us feel completely comfortable and her lighthearted personality with the occasional joke during our session made everything perfect and so enjoyable. The result of this totally shines through in both our engagement and wedding photos. She worked closely with us over the phone and by email to make sure she was capturing everything we wanted her to. For the things I wasn't sure about, she offered suggestions as to what she had seen work well in previous experiences and also what didn't work so well. If you are looking for an amazing photographer who will capture all the happiness and special moments of your big day, look no further. You will not be disappointed by Grace's amazing talent!

7/09/2018 • Jennifer B

We had a wonderful experience working with Grace. We had a small elopement (just my husband and 18 month old daughter) in Santa Barbara - so I was a bit nervous having strangers j...

oin in on our celebrations that day. Grace was so relaxed throughout - she was a pleasure to hang out with. So happy to have her as our official witness! We could not be happier with our photos. Grace was so patient and sweet with our daughter - as we had to be a bit "go with the flow" with a toddler on board. Grace took such beautiful pictures of our family. I was so impressed with her ability to frame her photos and capture these special moments. She was able to suggest poses without making things feel forced or artificial. She also took some amazing pictures of the Four Seasons and Santa Barbara courthouse - which really helped us to remember the feel of the whole day. Our friends and family have been equally impressed with our photos, and consistently comment on how "stunning" they are. Communication with Grace was amazing throughout the process. I just can't thank her enough for what she does - her photos created lifelong special memories for our family.

6/23/2018 • Alexa B

I cannot overstate how incredible Grace is and how happy we are with our photos! There are too many things I want to say about her but I will pick just a few: 1) Skill. Grace is a...

n extremely talented photographer. Her eye for creative shots is truly incredible. She was able to capture both the emotions of the day and the beauty of it through her lens! 2) Professionalism. Grace is a professional. She showed up to everything on time, ran her team (second shooter and assistant) efficiently, was extremely responsive via email, and stuck to all of her deadlines. We were absolutely confident in her and never had to think twice about whether she would pull through. 3) Personality. Grace was there for some of the most intimate and private parts of our wedding, which meant could have been incredible awkward but wasn’t! She is kind, warm, and extremely pleasant to be around. She was a fly on the wall during our first look and while we were getting ready. You have to like your photographer more than any other vendor in my opinion, and Grace is truly delightful. In summary, Grace is one of the best in the business in SB County. I would highly recommend checking out her website and her insta and you will see for yourself how talented she is!!

6/18/2018 • M d

Grace was fantastic and I'm so happy I chose her to photograph our small destination wedding in Santa Barbara. First and foremost - our photos turned out perfect!! I love them and...

they're really everything I was hoping we could get! Also, Grace's experience shooting at our ceremony site and around downtown SB was invaluable. She knew just where to set us up for perfect lighting and framing of photos, and I love that we got a variety of backgrounds, lighting, poses, etc. My husband and I haven't had professional photos done before (and we didn't do engagement photos), so we figured it would be awkward but Grace made it fun and natural, and honestly taking the shots of the two of us was one of my favorite parts of the day! I would wholeheartedly recommend Grace, she's super talented, easy to work with, and was a delight to have around on our wedding day.

3/31/2018 • Sofie L

Grace was great in every way possible and we're incredibly happy with her as our witness and photographer. We traveled from Sweden to elope in the S.B. Courthouse so arranging eve...

rything from abroad was an ease with Grace and we felt really informed during the whole process. Most importantly, the pictures turned out stunning and she guided us through the Santa Barbara Courthouse, making us feel super special.

11/04/2017 • Allison K

Grace and her assistant Aly photographed my wedding in August. Grace's work is beautiful, artistic, and romantic. The photos speak for themselves! I spent a lot of time searching f...

or and speaking with different photographers, as this was one of the most important decisions for me when planning my wedding. From the first time I spoke with Grace on the phone, I knew she was going to be perfect. She's sweet, thoughtful, and a great listener. Grace specializes in outdoor photography and when I told her my concerns about there being shadows from the bright, afternoon sun during my outdoor ceremony, she totally put me at ease. On the big day, she did a great job wrangling my husband's and my large families for family portraits. We chose not to do a "first-look", so it was really important for me that she caught my husband's and my reaction when we first saw each other during the ceremony - and boy did she deliver! The photos she took of that moment are priceless. Simply put, Grace is amazing. I highly recommend you hire her as your wedding photographer. You will be so happy you did!

9/20/2017 • Jenna S

We are so beyond happy we choose Grace Kathryn Photography along with her photog gal pal Alexandra Wallace for our wedding! We were married at our home in San Diego in July, which ...

made it a less predictable wedding venue to shoot on. Their work was absolutely stunning! They did an amazing job of finding the perfect nooks and perspectives in our home and on our property that captured our personalities, the atmosphere of our wedding, and the specialist of moments! They did an impressive job of slipping into the background so that they were able to capture authentic moments between my husband and myself, and our guests. And to top it off, they were the easiest people to work with! They made us feel so comfortable and at ease on such a big day. The photos they captured were beyond beautiful! We LOVE our wedding photos! In addition, the digital portfolio they sent us following the wedding was beautifully curated. If you are as lucky as we were to find Grace Kathryn Photography, do not hesitate to book her!

9/13/2017 • Alex B

Grace is amazing to work with! She made our engagement session so fun and easy! Hire her!!!

8/15/2017 • Natasha R

We could not be happier with Grace and her photos. They turned out amazing and she was a pleasure to work with. She emailed us back so fast every time we emailed her and she had so...

me many great suggestions. I would recommend her to any bride. She also has amazing photoshop skills! I asked for some photoshopping to be done on a few of my photos and they looked amazing. She is a gem!!!

5/02/2017 • Andrew P

Grace did a fantastic job on my proposal to my now fiance! The photos are absolutely stunning and all of our family and friends had only great things to say.

12/20/2016 • mindy m

After months of researching and speaking with different photographers, I chose Grace based on how responsive and incredibly professional and talented she is. She took time and care...

to ask all the right questions to assure she'll capture exactly what what's important to us. She's so nice and easy to work with, my then fiance (now husband) and I are very camera shy and Grace made us feel very at ease when she shot our engagement shoot. She even produced us with some teaser photos on the same day! On our wedding day, my husband and I did not do a "first look" shoot. We only had our venue for 5 hours so we were on a major time crunch after our ceremony, as we both wanted to enjoy some cocktail hour with our guests. Even though it was Grace's first time shooting at our vineyard venue(acres big), she had pre-scouted our venue and was very efficient in telling us where to go and how to pose. Within two days, she produced us with some out of the world wedding day teaser pics. Also, as promised I received the rest of the wedding album within 2 months. I'm so obsessed with my wedding pictures as are our friends and family. Everyone says they are straight out of a magazine! Planning a wedding is very difficult as some vendors may not be easy to deal with, rest assure Grace with make you feel loved and treat you like the special bride you deserve to be treated like.

12/20/2016 • mindy m

After months of researching and speaking with different photographers, I chose Grace based on how responsive and incredibly professional and talented she is. She took time and care...

12/17/2016 • Kristina P

Grace was our photographer for our wedding this August in Santa Barbara at the Historical Museum. Long before we were engaged I had found Grace's work online after searching around...

for inspiration and saved her work on my Pinterest board. We reached out to a couple other photographers for comparison and I always kept coming back to Grace's website and Instagram because her work is truly so beautiful! After I connected with Grace over the phone I knew without a doubt she was the one for the job. Not only is Grace is extremely talented, but she's so friendly, down to earth, easy going and makes it a point to understand you as a couple and the overall themes we wanted to show on our big day. We talked to a handful of other photographers that were far too expensive and were nowhere near as friendly and open as Grace was. It's been 4 months since our wedding now, and I still pull up our photos in amazement. They are beautifully captured, lighting is gorgeous and they are so many details I will cherish forever. Sounds cheesy, but Grace is the best kept secret in Santa Barbara when it comes to talent!

12/05/2016 • Natalie M

Great find and unreal value! After researching photographers in the area, I was concerned with how this piece of our wedding was going to fit into our budget. I initially contac...

ted Grace because of how reasonably priced she was. After speaking with her on the phone and seeing her portfolio we decided to book her for our day. Originally we hadn’t wanted to take engagement photos, Grace wasn’t pushy about it either, but after some thought we booked two hours when we were in town visiting the venue. Grace accommodated our rather packed visit, she had great recommendations for where to shoot and made my fiancé and I feel comfortable in front of the camera. She even put up with us when we requested a few goofy pictures. The pictures were provided to us in a timely manner, we were not forced to print them via her site (which further helps our budget) and she provided a complimentary print of our choice. Leading up to our wedding day, Grace was patient as I put off creating a shot list. She was flexible as our plan to take family photos/first looks outside was adjusted due to rain, and practically invisible during the ceremony and reception! A month after our wedding date we received a preview and continued to be impressed with Grace’s talent and eye for details. We look forward to receiving our remaining photos (we got married last month). We hope to find an excuse to work with Grace in the future!

Contact

Santa Barbara + San Luis Obispo + Ventura

Grace Kathryn Photography's photos

Grace Kathryn Photography

Wedding vendors in Santa Barbara