Introducing Destination Wedding Photographer: Katie Pietrowski!

Romance Travel Group is excited to announce a new partnership with destination wedding photographer, Katie Pietrowski!

Tell us a little about you?
Born on Cape Cod, the beach is my second home, and a place I could photograph couples forever. After 9 years of photographing weddings, I have developed a style of shooting that is fun, authentic, and honest. My goal with each wedding is to capture the hundreds of individual moments that makeup the story of the wedding day. When you work with me, you don’t just get a photographer, you get an organizer, a hype (wo)man, and someone who genuinely cares about delivering you an outstanding product.

How did you get into photography?
I have always loved photography and purchased my first “professional” camera for fun in college. I started photographing friends, taking headshots for the theatre majors, and landed an internship my senior year with an incredible photographer nearby. After a 3 month long crash course in shooting weddings, editing, and creating an amazing customer experience, I started my own business shortly after graduating. Nine years later, I’ve photographed 140+ weddings, and made dozens of new close friends who were once my clients!

Why weddings?
Weddings are the most unique, intimate, and emotional events to photograph. You can never replicate them, never go back in time and re-do them, and they truly are the beginning of a new chapter for the couple (and all of their family and friends.) They are a mix of emotions, beauty, and chaos, and I never get tired of documenting them.

What is your favorite part of a wedding day?
Two favorite parts. First, the ceremony. This is the reason everyone is there. It might only last 20 minutes, but those 20 minutes are the most important part of the day. I love photographing the reactions of family members, the emotions on the couples face as they read their vows, and the passionate first kiss as a newly married duo. Second favorite part of the day; portraits with the couple. Often times this is the only time where they are able to be alone and soak it all in, so I love facilitating that time and naturally capturing them from afar.

Can you share a moment during a wedding that took your breath away? 
Oh man. So many moments, ha! It’s very likely that at some point during your wedding day, I’m behind my camera trying to hide my watery eyes. A good father-daughter dance moment, or any time a parent gets emotional during a speech gets me good! Also, any time vows are so personal and beautifully written that everyone is crying truly does take my breath away.

How would you describe your photography style?
My approach is simple. I’m there to document the day from behind the scenes. I let the wedding day unravel as it naturally would, and I capture everything from the emotional first look, to the crying with your best friend on the dance floor, to the group photo with 96 year-old grandma at the center of it all. The best wedding photos are the real ones. The moments and small but important exchanges that happen all day long. And those are the photos that my clients appreciate most. 

What would your past wedding couples tell us about you? 
I think clients would say I am outgoing, funny, reliable & creative. Fortunately, a lot of my couples end becoming friends of my fiance and me due to how much fun we have working together!

The biggest compliment I received from a bride’s review recently was: “My bridesmaids absolutely loved her and I joke to my husband that I really just want to be her best friend because she is just so fun and has great energy (trust me, also something you really want on your wedding).” My relationships don’t just end after the wedding day is done, and I love that!

Any advice for our future destination wedding couples?
Relax. Do the hard work leading up to the wedding. Hire vendors you TRUST. Delegate your budget to things that are most important to you. Throw all ideas of “what I’m supposed to do” out the window and reframe the thought as “what do my fiance and I WANT to do.”  Do all of that, and when the wedding day comes, you will be in complete relaxation mode knowing that you’re working with the best, and have planned a day that is totally unique to you.

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LEARN MORE ABOUT KATIE