5 out of 5 stars and 22 reviews Best of Weddings (1x).
5
(22)Pennsylvania, Maryland, Elopements, Destination Weddings
About this vendor
I love weddings and I want you to love yours. I love glowy golden light, vibrant unexpected color combinations, and fun people who aren't afraid to get a little dirty, be a little crazy, or go on an adventure. Modern, stylish weddings with lots of personal details and lots of laughter are my jam. My goal is to provide a relaxed and personalized experience with an eclectic, fine art edge. I believe in bringing to life authentic moments that will induce nostalgia 30 years from now. I'm committed to giving my absolute best to every client. My work has been featured on Martha Stewart Weddings, Wedding Chicks, Buzzfeed, Brides, The Baltimore Sun, Cosmopolitan and more. I work with couples in Pennsylvania & Maryland, and I am always up for travel adventures, elopements or destination weddings.
Details
Photo Shoot Types
- Engagement
Photo & Video
- Digital Files
- Photo
- Second Shooter Available
- Wedding Albums
Photo & Video Styles
- Artistic
- Modern
Wedding Activities
- Getting Engaged
- Wedding
Awards and Affiliations
2021 'Best of Weddings'
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.
Reviews
Your trust is our goal. Our community relies on honest reviews to help
you make those big decisions with ease.
5
out of 5.022 reviews
Karen was literally a dream come true. She shot our engagement session and very low-key courthouse elopement and turned them both into pure MAGIC. I expected to end up with a few...
great pictures but what I got was HUNDREDS of beautifully captured moments that I will cherish forever. I can look through the pictures and discover new favorites EVERY time. Karen was so easy and fun to work with. She made my husband (who was not exactly looking forward to a photo shoot) feel completely at ease. She gave us sneak peaks of each event by the next morning which was AWESOME!! I feel so blessed to have been able to work with Karen. HIGHLY HIGHLY RECOMMEND!!! You won't regret it!
Can't say enough good things about Karen. From being one of the sweetest people I know right on down to her ability to get 20+ people in line for the shot, she is professional and...
a gem to work with. I called her months before my wedding and booked her as a surprise gift for my bride. She showed the greatest bit of excitement at the challenge and I knew right there my decision was perfect. The pictures?... we look at them all the time a year later and I fully expect to look at them regularly in years to come. They're stunning!
Karen is not only the most amazing photographer ever but she has the personality to match it. She is so sweet and will instantly make you feel at ease and comfortable. I followed K...
aren on social media and fell in love with the work that she was doing. I thought there was no way that we could afford her but her price is absolutely reasonable for the quality of work. If there's one thing you should splurge on is your wedding photographer and videographer. Karen is worth every penny and I will continue to recommend her to anybody willing to listen to my advice on a photographer. Lastly, you know how you get really impatient and want to see the photos that were taken at your wedding or engagement shoot immediately? Well, Karen was so great about editing the photos and getting them to us ASAP. We didn't have to wait long (maybe 2 weeks?) before we were able to check them out. Trust me, 2 weeks is nothing compared to most photographers, who take monthssss to get your photos back to you.
BOTTOM LINE: If you want a genuinely nice person, who is easy to get along with, has bomb ass skills, you can laugh with, and want to be your best friend, look no further. It's Karen Rainier, no doubt.
What can I possibly say? Karen is absolutely awesome. Wedding planning was the most absolutely stressful time of my life and I wasn't nearly as chatty with Karen as I should have b...
een with day of scheduling (even when Lord knows I know better!) But I can honestly say that with Karen.. you can feel at ease knowing that you've got someone on your team that is going to go above and beyond in making you feel special, your family happy, and your friends all jealous of the person you chose to document the happiest day of your life. Karen has the most amazing personality, skill, style, and eye for the good stuff. She is a talented photographer and overall A+ human. Or as Smash Mouth would say... an all-star.
Ugh... where do I even begin ? Karen is simply nothing short of amazing. We are so lucky to have had you capture all of these special moments , not only on our wedding day, but fro...
m the very beginning with our holiday minis. I hope you know how much you have helped us, as a couple, become more confident and open with our love. (You literally were the first person we EVER kissed in front of hahah). It’s so nice to look back and see how far we’ve come, and see how much we’ve blossomed together since those winter minis on that cold ass day. We will be forever grateful for you. Thank you for always making us feel so comfortable and for always slaying the SHIT out of our pictures. You are amazing , don’t forget it! We can’t wait to continue our little mini session tradition every year with you ! 🖤
This is a little late... okay very late (sorry Karen) but here goes.
My wife and I got engaged summer 2015 and in October of 2015 had engagement pictures done. I should have know...
n right then and there that we went with the right photographer. She went a little further out of her normal driving range for us since we picked a secluded place on the water.
Besides that, the entire shoot went so well. Nothing felt forced, nothing felt awkward, and Karen felt like a friend we’ve had for years after only 20 or 30 minutes. Her truly sincere personality, followed by her goofy sense of humor made any nerves we did have disappear.
The engagement shoot went extremely well and nearing dusk she pulled off some incredible skills of using the setting sun, reflections, and her own lighting to make the shots look absolutely incredible. (If you use her, please ask her to show you!)
Fast forward about 9 months to our wedding in July. Through those passing months, Karen was also in touch with us to ask or answer any questions each of us had to make our special day go smoothly.
When our wedding day did finally come, Karen was MORE than prepared. Little did I know she’d have multiple cameras on her body to ensure the right camera/lens/lighting etc, as well as a helper that was also awesome.
Karen’s helper took the groomsman pictures at one location and Karen was with my wife at another location taking pictures of her and her bridesmaids and mother.
Once the actual ceremony started, she told us to act like she wasn’t there she’d come snag us at the golden hour. Karen was like a mouse with a camera. Sneaking around to get different shots at different angles. After we said our “I do’s” The sun was beginning to set and she told us it was the perfect time for outdoor pictures.
The rest of the reception went flawlessly. Partially in thanks to Karen’s work.
In the coming days and weeks after the wedding, she worked tirelessly going through thousands (yes with an s) of pictures. Before we knew it, we had an album of a couple hundred EDITED pictures of everything from start to finish.
I could go on forever but I’ll sum it up here:
-if you’re looking for the cheapest option, go ask your friend who took a college photography class to do your wedding
-if you’re looking for the BEST option, use Karen
-she is extremely professional, and always puts her work first (add her on FB and you’ll see her goofy posts at midnight on how she’s been editing for 13 hours)
-she is so genuinely good. She’s sweet, fun, honest, and overall just an awesome person
-yes she will take a couple thousand pictures, yes she will go through every. Single. One. And edit what she chooses best (and discuss with you along the way)
- she will go over what you’re looking for, but always has designs and ideas on hand. She’s no amateur.
- over 3 years later and we’re still LOVING our wedding pictures. You’re paying for something you’ll enjoy the rest of your life.
Thank you Karen!
Mike and Melissa
WOW! It has been two months since my wedding and we are still getting comments about how BREATHTAKING our photos are. Karen is simply one of a kind. One of the most important thing...
s to me for my wedding was the pictures- I knew the day would go by quickly and my only concrete memories would be those photos! I knew after my best friend’s wedding three years ago that I NEEDED Karen as my photographer and she is one of the first vendors besides our venue that we booked. From making my now husband and I feel super comfortable during our engagement photos (never have had any professional photos done) to the planning process, Karen made every step of the way easy and FUN! The day of the wedding, she was prompt and not only did she have such an eye for detail…she took control of my crazy bridal party and family. Everything went as planned and the timeline was flawless. She sent sneak peaks of our wedding photos the day after and was quick to get us our whole package! There are so many beautiful photos it will be hard to decide which ones to print. I am only on my 100th time looking at all of them. She even took my boudoir pictures ;) I HIGHLY recommend Karen and this is easily one of the best decisions you will make.
Wedding planning was harder and more overwhelming for me than I ever thought it would be, but working with Karen was the easiest and best decision that I made for our wedding day. ...
She is considerate, attentive to detail, creative, open-minded, and organized. Her enthusiasm and personality is infectious and I immediately felt that I had known her for years. She understood what was in my head and how to capture that feeling in both candid and vignette shots. She had no fear reeling in my crazy large family and getting everyone in order and staying on time. The schedule she worked out gave us the best lighting and her and pre-wedding questionnaire covered things I hadn't even thought of. She had awesome recommendations for other vendors she's worked with in the past. Our photo album has so so many amazing moments to look back on because of her. We can't thank her enough! So much love for her and her business!!
-Lauryn and Nate
I do not have all the words to describe our incredible experience with Karen Rainer. From our first phone conversation she made me feel comfortable and at ease and I felt an immedi...
ate connection with her. At our engagement photos Karen took two people who’d never had professional photos taken and made us look like models. Her direction and clear communication made our shoots easy and fun! Karen is creative, eclectic and an amazing photographer. I am beyond obsessed with our pictures and looks forward to having her shoot all of our life experiences. Choosing her as our wedding photographer was easily the best decision we made about our wedding.
Karen is THE best! She accommodated us for a double destination engagement (Dallas, TX) wedding (St. Augustine, FL) shoot. The venues crossed multiple themes from outdoors to naut...
ical to sheer elegance and she nailed them all. She worked her butt off throughout the wedding and ended up with hundreds of photos to show for it. She did not miss a single moment and we are very grateful to have had her.
I don't know where to start! I'll be totally honest and say that hiring a photographer wasn't high on my list when planning our wedding. I would describe my husband and I as quirky...
and eccentric and felt like a wedding photographer wouldn't be able to capture that side of us. I thought our photos would just look staged and not natural. What I found out was that if you have a crazy talented photographer...they will capture exactly what you want! Picking Karen as my wedding photographer was easily the best decision that I made in this wedding! Besides actually marrying my husband...but it's up there! Karen is extremely creative and an expert at her craft. I was so impressed with how organized she was and how attentive she was to our wants and needs. I had a very nontraditional Halloween wedding and Karen was so responsive to our wacky ideas. She made us feel so comfortable the whole time too (posing for photos can be awkward, no?!). The actual photos blew both of us away, it was almost a surreal moment looking at them because we just couldn't believe how amazing they turned out! I'll forever be recommending to Karen to everyone I know.
Karen is absolutely amazing. Pictures are very important to our family; we have always taken a ton of pictures because we love being able to look back on them to remind us of that ...
day/moment/vacation whatever it is! That being said, finding a great wedding photographer was important to us! We found Karen and after looking through her work I knew we could trust her to capture one of our most important milestones and she did! We were/still are blown away by the beautiful pictures she captured for us (both engagement and wedding pictures). There is something special and unique about her work - her photos are so vibrant and colorful and she captures the most precious moments. She is extremely talented and has such an eye for detail. I have not seen any wedding photographs that compare to hers. I was also very impressed with her online portals/questionnaires that she has you fill out prior to your wedding. In those questionnaires she had questions that made me think about things I wouldn’t have thought of otherwise. It allowed me to communicate with her about things such as special details of our wedding I wanted to ensure she captured and all the group shots I wanted to get. Because of those questionnaires, we were on the same page and everything went smoothly the day of. Karen and her second photographer, Angelina from Astice photography, were prompt, organized and efficient. They are both such sweet people and made us and everyone in our family feel so comfortable and relaxed. I am so happy we chose Karen, and am forever grateful that she gave us photographs of our wedding that we will be able to cherish forever. I would recommend her to anyone and will definitely go to her in the future to capture our next milestones :) Thank you Karen!
Hiring Karen will be your best decision you make!
If you are looking for an amazing photographer to capture your special day, look no further! If you check out Karen’s photos, they...
really do speak for themselves. They are truly beautiful and really showcase the special day just as it was! She not only provides beautiful photos but she is such an awesome person! We knew from our engagement session that we had with Karen that she was special. She made us feel comfortable and natural the whole session and wow the photos were awesome! We knew we were in good hands for our wedding. We had a large bridal party (10 bridesmaids, 9 groomsmen, 2 ring bearers and 1 flower girl and she handled the large group with ease. We also had a ton of family photos that had up to 28 people in them and everyone looks good, which is hard to do! Our portraits of my husband and I are outstanding. There are so many we love we can’t even decide which to print for our house! Hiring Karen will be one of the best decisions you make for your wedding!
Karen is amazing! She made the most special day of our lives so much fun and stress free! I promise if you go with her, you will not be disappointed :) WORTH EVERY PENNY! We love y...
ou Karen!!
As soon as my husband and I got engaged I knew I wanted Karen as my photographer. I even planned our wedding date around her availability. All of the photos she captures are breath...
taking! She has a vision for every picture. No matter the place she will make sure you have amazing pictures. Karen, thank you for making our wedding day that much more perfect. Brandon and I couldn’t imagine our day with any other photographer. ❤️
I can not say enough wonderful things about Karen! Hiring her as our photographer was one of the best decisions we made during our wedding planning process.
Karen did both our en...
gagement shoot and our wedding. Having an engagement shoot with Karen, allowed us to get to know each other and get familiar with her style of work, before the big day, which was a huge advantage!
When we first met Karen she welcomed us with open arms. Her fun loving and corky personality makes the most camera shy person feel comfortable. From the engagement shoot to the ceremony/ reception, she knew exactly what shots to get and when, and was able to capture the most amazing moments that we are now able to cherish for a lifetime!
Her photography skills are not the only thing she’s good at though, she also knows how to handle business! When working with Karen, I didn’t have to worry about a thing! She continually keep me up to date on the progress of everything. Before the big day, she even gathered information and created a timeline for us, which allowed everything to run so smoothly the day of!
Karen truly captured each moment of our special day so perfectly, and we are so very thankful!
Karen is hands down, without a doubt, 100% the absolute best! I will recommend her over and over again!!
From the beginning when we started engagement photos, she was up for all m...
y crazy ideas and made my camera shy husband feel very comfortable!
Karen and her husband also came to shoot our destination wedding which I am forever grateful for! They captured every moment so perfectly and somehow made it appear to not be raining (even though it did).
If you need an fun, upbeat, vibrant photographer who can capture candid wonderful moments to cherish forever....Karen is YOUR girl! She is the best ever.
Karen and her assistant were AMAZING! Being someone who is not creative and definitely awkward when it comes to getting their photo taken; I was blown away by the ease and quality ...
of each picture. As a bride, you understand that the photos are one of the most important aspects to the wedding day. Thanks to Karen, she made the process (from engagement shoot to presenting the photos) completely painless and worth every penny. We cannot thank you enough!
Karen took care of my husband and I for our engagement photos and wedding photos and let me just say .. she’s KICKS ASS! Karen’s personality sets her apart from anyone I’ve ever me...
t. She is corky, bubbly, and gives great direction!! We love that she offers a way to get prints directly from her to insure the best quality! I also am obsessed with Karen’s style - we took our engagement photos in February so I definitely wasn’t tan but her style of photos make you feel absolutely flawless and timeless. Can’t wait to work with her again soon!
It's hard to even describe how great Karen is at what she does. Her work speaks for itself, I mean come on, the photos she takes are amazing! I feel so lucky to have had her captur...
e all the special moments on our big day. She's also incredibly easy to work with. We had a great time getting to know her during our engagement shoot and she made an awkward couple feel at ease. I would recommend her to any and everyone. Thank you, Karen!
Karen is simply the best! I am so thankful we had her photograph our wedding! Included in her package was engagement pictures, which was a great time to get to know each-other pri...
or to the big day. Karen not only captured beautiful photos we will cherish for a lifetime, but she helped me create a timeline for our day, and luckily planned ahead for us to be off schedule! Karen also on more then one occassion gave us other vendor suggestions, with people she has worked with. We could not have imagined our wedding without Karen, and I recommend her to anyone I know looking for a photographer!
Karen was beyond amazing to work with! Not only does she take phenomenal pictures, but she goes above and beyond to help you with all things wedding. She referred me to other vendo...
rs, gave me suggestions with her vast knowledge of experience that I hadn't even thought of, helped me make my wedding day timeline, and on the day of my wedding make sure everything went as I wanted it and just helped really put it all together. I can't say enough wonderful things about her.
Contact
Westminster, MD | Pennsylvania, Maryland, Elopements, Destination Weddings
- Wedding Vendors/
- Wedding Photographers/
- Maryland Wedding Photographers/
- Westminster Wedding Photographers/