Kate McElwee Photography

We had the absolute pleasure of working with Kate since we met her in late 2019. To put it simply - she is an amazingly talented photographer, as well as a wonderful human. We were originally set to get married in November 2020, but needed to change plans due to the pandemic. This included having a small, intimate, family wedding ceremony as well as a larger wedding celebration with the 200+ guest list that we had originally planned on. Because of this, we had the opportunity to work with Kate not once, but twice, in very different settings. This allowed us to experience the full scope of Kate’s talent, as the two days could not have been more opposite. Our first wedding was on a warm, sunny, beautiful evening in August on the coast with 17 people in attendance. Kate was there to capture every moment and managed to be both ever present as well as quietly in the background. Kind and warm hearted, she was instrumental in making that day as special as it was with so few people in attendance. We could not have been more pleased that we asked Kate to be there to capture the evening. By contrast, our larger wedding celebration happened to fall on a very dreary November day with gusting winds and pouring rain in Boston. Kate was extremely flexible in helping us adjust the timeline of our day and accommodate for the poor weather. She ensured we had the opportunity to take photos outside with city landscape while also gently, and respectfully, recommending that we make some adjustments to our original photo plans. The conditions that day would have been daunting for most photographers, but she was able to skillfully and efficiently navigate this challenge with grace. She remained calm, and this kept us at ease throughout the day. This ease was reflected in the beautiful pictures she took of us at our celebration. Kate proved very competent no matter the weather, the setting, or the number of people. It is this versatility and her kind, warm demeanor that makes her such a wonderful addition to any wedding. Our family and wedding party could not have been more complimentary of both our photos and Kate. We are now in the process of putting together our album from the larger celebration, and the pictures instantly transport us back to the day. Her photojournalistic style ensures that your photos will have life and energy. The beauty of her photos speak for themselves, but her true gift lies in evoking feelings that help you relive the emotions of your wedding day over and over again. We have been so pleased with our experience with Kate from start to finish, and we would absolutely recommend her to anyone.

I could not recommend Kate more highly! She photographed our wedding at the Boston Public Library in February and she was above and beyond fantastic. A true gem who is both lovely to work with and is absolutely incredible at what she does. I was nervous about the photo opportunities with a winter wedding - especially with certain spaces being weather dependent - and she really took the extra time to help me plan ahead and feel comfortable going into the wedding weekend. It felt like she REALLY cared about me and listened to me. She also helped me with other aspects of the wedding just because she is so familiar with the industry - and gave us fantastic recommendations for other vendors, etc. She is also just lovely - and someone you will want to be around during all of the most amazing moments on your wedding day. Kate is sweet, kind and not pushy. She allows moments to feel really authentic and genuine which was important to me. My friends and family were blown away by our photographs. My husband I would use Kate again and again - and hope to work with her more when we want to document more of life's events!!

Kate is a complete artist and total genius with the camera. Plus, she was so warm and calm and excited about being with us on the big day. We loved working with her and the end result has been pure magic. Worth every penny - we will have these beautiful photos for years and years to come!!

Hiring Kate as our wedding photographer was one of the best decisions we made throughout our wedding planning process. My now husband and I met with a few different photographers when we first got engaged and when we met Kate at Starbucks one evening, we were totally won over--not only her photographs (she brought some amazing albums showcasing her work) but her easy going, friendly demeanor, her candidness, and her approach to her work. Fast forward a few months and Kate was communicating with us about the details of our day and answered all of our back-and-forth questions about what would work (first look or no first look?), what would be challenging (will we have enough time?), and how we could structure our day to get all the shots we wanted based on our timeline. Fast forward a few more months and Kate was photographing our big day. She was equally as sweet, laid back and fun to hang out with as when we first met her, making everyone around her feel calm and relaxed--my bridesmaids still taking about how awesome she was. She totally ran the show and made sure we got everything accomplished that we wanted to in a timely manner. Best of all, Kate's work came out AMAZING. We had a few sneak peaks of her photos within a few days, a slideshow after 10 days, and the full set a few weeks after that. I literally cannot stop smiling because I feel like I can relive every emotion of the day through the shots Kate got. Of course the portraits are great, but Kate's real talent is capturing raw emotion in candid moments--from smiles, tears, laughs, dance moves, applause, and little glances, she caught it all and seemed to be everywhere at once without being distracting or intrusive. I would choose Kate a million times over and encourage everyone else to give her a serious look. You won't regret it!