I highly recommend that you book Kat Carney (Swell & Stone) for your wedding. When my husband and I got engaged, we were very excited to get married, but less than enthused at the thought of planning the wedding. When we discovered Swell & Stone and Kat’s unique approach to small elopement style weddings, we were thrilled.

Kat envisioned the wedding that we wanted and helped us plan it down to the last detail. She went above and beyond to help us with everything: ceremony location, air bnb, florist, cake, catering, and the timeline for our wedding day. Kat was easy and fun to work with and was very responsive during the planning process.

Our actual wedding day was absolutely magical. We opted for two days with Kat, because there were so many different types of photos we wanted to get. I wanted wild flowers, and mountain views, sunsets and stars, and fall colors, and water views and somehow Kat delivered on all of it! We had the best time hiking and exploring with her; it honestly felt like we were hanging out with an (incredibly talented) friend. Our family also loved Kat and she was helpful in getting all the shots we wanted, but was also unobtrusive during our special moments.

Kat really shaped our entire wedding experience. She made our vision come to life and we couldn’t have been happier with the results. The photos she took are works of art and we made memories that will last a lifetime. We are so grateful to have worked with her for this very special milestone in our lives.

Kat of Swell & Stone provides the most spectacular service and product!!! My husband and I couldn’t have imagined a better experience! When we first started planning our adventure elopement we had no idea what we were doing or what to expect. Nobody we knew had ever done what we were trying to do. When we started doing research, Swell & Stone stood out because of Kat’s amazing night sky photos and her website, which was easy to navigate. When we reached out, she was responsive, warm, upbeat, and knowledgeable. She put us at ease right away and helped us tap into our excitement. We didn’t bother looking into anyone else. As busy as Kat is, she was patient and responsive across the whole process. We worked with her for about 10 months before our big day. She walked us through each planning stage and gave us great options for vendors. She provided us with questionnaires that made us think about the spirit of the day and our journey as a couple as well as all the tiny details we would’ve overlooked without her expertise. When we finally met with Kat the day of, we were nervous about basically being models for an entire day. Immediately, Kat made us feel better about what was ahead of us. She provided reassurance, clear instructions, and a peaceful presence. We were able to get out of our heads and have a great time, just being ourselves. It felt like we spent the day hanging out with a new friend. Once we received the finished product it was obvious Kat and the mood of the day brought out the best in us. Kat helped us craft and carry out the elopement of our dreams and her pictures captured that perfectly. I never knew I could look so beautiful! We can’t stop looking at them and brainstorming ways to display them! It was the best day and we can’t thank Kat enough! Because of her, we have this beautiful, bright memory to look back on for the rest of our lives!

Kat truly made our wedding dreams come true! From the first call, we knew that she was the perfect person to help us plan, capture and officiate our day.
Kat is calm, kind, knowledgeable, organized, an incredible photographer, and so comfortable to be around. (I can't say enough positive things) Kat is detail oriented, and collected the perfect amount of information to know us as a couple and to help us pick out or special adventure elopement based off of our visions. She provided us with many different locations and ideas based off of information she gathered. Once we picked our perfect location through her recommendations, we chose vendors with her help for our day. Kat is a professional and a wealth of knowledge. If we had any questions or needed any recommendations, Kat was quick to respond and guide us. Kat helped us outlined the day and timelines, so that everything flowed perfectly, stress free!
On our wedding day, we felt so at ease, and had so much fun exploring beautiful waterfalls, covered bridges and a gorgeous lake in Vermont, with Kat capturing our special moments. She has a way of being present, yet subtle, to capture the most special moments organically. At some parts of the day, we almost forgot that she was photographing us! We were just having so much fun! It's so important to feel comfortable around a photographer you will be spending your special, intimate day with. Kat is absolutely the best.
We got sneak peaks back so quickly, and our jaws dropped at the photos. Our photos are STUNNING! They are so special and capture the best moments of our day. Our love for each other and enjoyment of exploring nature, really shined through. We do not have any regrets about picking Swell and Stone, or for planning our wedding the way that we did with Kat. It truly was the best day of our lives!
My wife and I cannot express enough how grateful we are to have followed our hearts, and chose to do our wedding the way that was most intimate and special to us. Being in weddings ourselves, we saw all the pressure that is put on couples. From throwing the best party, the chaos of greeting all guests, and to going along with formalities to make sure others are content.
In our opinion, all the hype took away from what was most important to a couple sharing vows of lifelong commitment. To us, spending intimate time together and sharing special moments that were specifically for one and other was most important and why we chose Swell and Stone. We want to stress to couples out there thinking about their day, to make sure you do what I best for YOU! We are so happy that we got married the way that we did, and would not have been able to pull it of as perfectly as we did if it weren't for Kat at Swell and Stone! We now have the most beautiful photos to look back on and remember for a lifetime together, how perfect our wedding day was. Thank you, Kat!

Kat is AMAZING, period. From the beginning, she was so responsiveness and incredibly timely. For me and my husband, we wanted to make a point about making the wedding planning process and the wedding day itself not stressful and fun. So we opted for a small wedding with 13 guests on one day and an adventure day on Mount Washington to exchange personal vows the following Monday.

Kat helped us with every detail along the way and made it easy on us to make choices. She scouted locations based on what our idea of an ideal wedding day was, she gave us list of local vendors, and she finalized a schedule for us. She was basically like our wedding planner and we found that so valuable since we didn't know what we were doing or exactly what we wanted! If we had a lot of questions, she was very willing to schedule a call to go over them with us. I've had friends tell me about their horror stories with photographers not responding to them or never getting their photos back, but I 100% never had to worry about that with Kat. She even got our photos back earlier than promised. She was truly so fun to be around that it made the days that much more enjoyable.

I also wanted to compliment the website our gallery was posted through. It's super intuitive to use and I love that it's categorized, that I can favorite photos, and that I can see which photos my husband has favorited on his own account. I can also send out links to our guests and they can send me back links of their favorites, it's super cool and convenient.

Kat also gave us some polaroid photos and some GIFS she curated, which I did not expect and absolutely loved. I knew the photos were going to be great from looking at her portfolio but they were better than I could imagine. I was also super stoked about a starry night photo and she made that happen. So if you couldn't tell from my review, Kat goes above and beyond and you will absolutely not regret working with her!

Kat made our wedding dream come true!

We adore autumn in New England and decided that we wanted to get married there at that time amongst the incredible fall foliage. Though we had visited some places in the area, we really relied on Kat to find the perfect destination for our elopement. After briefing her on our vision for that day, Kat gave us a list of incredible spots throughout all of New England that fit exactly what we were looking for! We were blown away by her knowledge of the area and the details she provided in order for us to make our decision.

Once we decided on a location, Kat was there for us every step of the way offering information on where to stay, what to pack, and even what to wear in regards to shoes, layers, and color scheme.

Kat was also incredibly patient and flexible throughout the entire process. We had a number of changes to the original plan (including a few on the day of the wedding) and Kat was able to accommodate our every need. It was comforting to know that if we had any issues, questions, or concerns, Kat was only a phone call away.

On the day of our elopement, Kat went above and beyond to make us feel relaxed and comfortable in knowing that she had everything under control. In fact, before our day, she actually informed us that she was pregnant and would be bringing along a photographer friend, Lindsay (who was also delightful), to assist her in case she needed to take a break. We were blown away that Kat went out of her way to bring in a second photographer just to honor her commitment to giving us the best experience possible. That kind of dedication is priceless and hard to come by.

The photos from the wedding are absolutely stunning! Kat and Lindsay were able to blend in with the beautiful fall scenery in a way that made forget that they were there. We were able to really focus on eachother on our wedding day and it shows in the pictures.

To sum things up, we put all of our faith into Kat to make our wedding dream a reality and the result was better than we ever could have imagined. Our day was truly magical and the photos are breathtaking. We are so blessed and grateful that Kat was able to provide that for us.

I am still in awe of my wedding photos and I owe it all to Kat. Not only did she help me decide on a location, she gave recommendations on florists, bakeries, and lodging! There is no way I could have planned our out of state elopement without her. And Oh My God the photos! They are truly works of art, every last one, and believe me there are a ton. The words stunning & breathtaking have been used most by my friends and family. My wedding day was spectacular and my wedding photos show it. I'm already planning an anniversary vacation so I can have Kat capture that day too. If you need an adventure photographer then you absolutely need to check out Swell & Stone. I'm forever grateful that I did!

Kat captured our wedding elopement on Mt. Mansfield, Vermont. I intentionally waited a year to leave a review, because I wanted to see how the photos resonated after a good amount of time had passed. And oh my goodness, I am transported back to our wedding day every time I open that album. It's kind of crazy just how perfectly those photos reflect the most important and intimate memories of that day, and the insane beauty nature granted us that morning. From hiking up the mountain; to changing on the ridgeline and having our first look; to the summit ceremony; then the hike down, I get to relive the magic of those moments all over again. I am so thankful to Kat for being down for the adventure, helping us feel relaxed and comfortable in front of the camera, wearing multiple hats as photographer AND officiant, and just being such an awesome person to spend our day with. I couldn't recommend Swell & Stone more highly. Thank you Kat!

If you are debating using Swell & Stone do yourself a favor and book already! Kat was fantastic. Leading up to my wedding she frequently reached out to me and my husband to keep us on track as we were super busy, without her things would have fallen apart because we were not at all on top of it. She is very on top of everything. All the location suggestions were very well planned and thought out. She had vendor names for EVERYTHING and was able to even get me more names when I had trouble getting hair and make up for a sunrise wedding. She was professional and also really fun to have on our hike. She made the day fun and while we weren't sure if it would be awkward to spend a few hours hiking with a photographer we'd never met she was really personable and we enjoyed having her there helping us. We are beyond grateful to Kat and you will be too! 100% recommend Swell & Stone. Our photos are beautiful and exactly what we asked for. I can't stress enough how great the experience and final products were. Kat's the best!

My now husband and I used Kat from Swell and Stone as our photographer for our small wedding. What an amazing experience we had with her. We can't recommend her enough. You don't realize how important it is to be comfortable with your photographer because it shows in your photos!!!

If I could give people any advice from our experience it would be to consider taking photos over two days or more. The reason why is because the whole actual wedding day can be very stiff and more traditional. We spent the first day exploring Martha's Vineyard island. We took photos all over the island which is what my husband and I are more about. We are the outdoors and adventurer type. This also allowed us to get more comfortable with having photos taken and act like ourselves in front of the camera.

We planned our second day (wedding ceremony) to be more traditional. We had family and friends join us for the ceremony. By day two I was used to Kat being around but I also knew how to pose and move better for the camera. On your wedding day you want a really easy breezy experience. That is what Kat gave us.

In the end my photos are amazing - Better than I could have ever envisioned. Kat is a gem in the wedding photographer world.

Swell and Stone (Kat) was such an integral part of our wedding day and there is not a single thing I would have changed! I knew I did not want a big traditional wedding, but did not know what I really wanted until I stumbled onto the Swell and Stone page. When I sent a message about interest, I was met with a timely response and very straightforward packages. Once I decided to move forward I was also sent a document that gave me tips about having a non traditional wedding which helped me learn more about them and put my mind at ease. Kat also helped us find a perfect location and sent out questions/made phone calls to get to know us better and our vision for our wedding day. She took all of this into account because we asked for a chill wedding day where the two of us could be ourselves, explore together, and have these moments captured forever. She delivered that and so much more like officiating and making timelines.

Kat was the perfect amount of personable and professional. During the ceremony and private vows, I did not even know she was there. The few family members that we had there loved her saying she was non intrusive and an amazing photographer. When it was time for more posed photos she was there to guide us as we were a little awkward at first. She had a fantastic artistic sense, but would also listen to any ideas we had which made for stunning photos!

If you are worried about having a non traditional wedding, Swell and Stone will help you every step of the way! If you are worried about being with someone you have never met in person all day, Swell and Stone is such a kind and caring person who will fit right in and listen to what you want for your wedding day! Words truly can’t describe how amazing our special day was and a huge part of that was because of Kat. If I could do it all over again, I would not hesitate to choose Swell and Stone for my photography!

Kat was absolutely AMAZING. The knowledge she had of the area and the help she provided in order to help you make these difficult decisions is unmatched. I’m so glad we went with her and followed all her recommendations because our pictures turned out INCREDIBLE. It captured the story of US and our days perfectly. The day of the ceremony shoot she was so patient as the weather was not working in our favor and we have very fussy small children and Kat made us all feel much more calm and the day went off without a hitch! The adventure day was one of the best days of our lives, it was such a fun and exciting experience, it really felt so magical but the pressure to appear perfect at all times wasn’t there, it just felt like I was hanging out with my husband in our favorite places. Her photography skills are unmatched and her editing and the time it took to get back the THOUSAND something photos was super quick! I wish I could give more than 5 stars.

WHERE DO WE EVEN BEGIN! From the very first phone call, Kat has been so sweet and helpful. Not only does she take STUNNING photos, she also is so knowledgeable about the best timing, lighting, seasons, etc to help your wedding planning go without a hitch. She was so easy to talk to and we enjoyed spending our day hiking and talking with her while she guided us all around Acadia National Park taking photos. We are literally blown away by the final results. Cannot recommend her enough!!!

Working with Kat was so easy and effortless. She was always quick to answer questions and direct us where needed. We gave her our vision of the day and she gave us all the recommendations to make it perfect. She also had a lot of great vendor suggestions. On the day of our elopement, I was a little nervous about having someone follow us around all day but it did feel like we were being followed at all! Just felt like walking in the woods with a friend. She was great interacting with our family as well. My now father-in-law kept talking with how impressed he was with her and impressing him is very hard to do. Now let’s get to her photography, we haven’t received the full gallery yet but our sneak peaks are gorgeous. She had true to color style and balances posed photos with an almost documentary style. I’d definitely recommend her in a heartbeat.

Few photographers are able to make their mark as unforgettable, singular people with a fantastic, unique eye. Kat is undeniably one of those select few. She did a phenomenal job on our wedding photos in Rhode Island. She not only helped plan the locations, she was able to stage and direct where everyone needed to be positioned in the photos. She was extremely patient, kind, and easy to work with. Kat is also flexible in adapting to working with others' ideas. We had a number of technical challenges, including long range photos of landscapes and nature with changing cloudiness and amounts of daylight. Kat was so determined in her resolve that we ended up with almost too many good photos to choose from for our album! She has outstanding technical proficiency, illustrated on one of the longest days of the year (in terms of daylight). She wanted to capture the perfect photo at the cusp of nightfall and showed incredible patience. The photo, like all the others, was perfect. We cannot thank her enough as she was an integral part of our unforgettable wedding.

Kat was an absolute wonder! From the start of our whole process she was more than happy to send us recommendations of locations, pros/cons of places, answer any questions and create a packing list.
On the day of our wedding, we could not have asked for a better addition to the day/ photographer. Kat was ready to go super early in the morning and captured such emotional moments. She was also an incredible leader in terms of our hike! She kept a great pace, pointed out amazing spots to capture photos, and of course captured incredible candids.

I could not give a stronger recommendation for Kat.

Inviting 9 guests to our wedding was the best decision we could have made. It allowed our day to be flexible as far as location & time, and was an intimate day of celebration with loved ones. Our close-second best decision was connecting with Kat. At the beginning stages of planning our special day, we honestly had no idea where to start. We’re talking location, time, ceremony details – not a clue. Kat provided us with a questionnaire to get to know us a little better, which was super helpful and got us to start brainstorming. After our initial discussion, Kat understood we needed a little help. She sent us some sample weddings she had completed in the past, as well as some insight into her own previous positive experiences. We had limited preference with location; our only desire was that it be scenically beautiful. We landed on Beavertail State Park in Jamestown, RI at sunrise (thanks to a recommendation from Kat). Never did we ever think that sunrise was even a possibility, but looking back at the day now, we can’t imagine anything different. She also provided us with a timeline to complete which was a huge help to figure out the logistics of the day. On our day, Kat made it a point for the focus to be on us: being present with each other, where we were, and the moment we were in. She let us soak in the incredible scenery and each other’s presence; capturing every sweet moment. There were times we and forgot she was even there. After seeing our sneak peak photos a week after the wedding, we are so excited and eagerly awaiting all of the moments Kat captured so beautifully. All-in-all, Kat was simply a true pleasure to work with. She’s organized, she’s encouraging, she goes with the flow, she welcomes your creative expression. A perfect fit for the memories she captures.

As cliche as it sounds, our experience with Swell & Stone (Kat) was a complete dream come true! Kat was encouraging and enthusiastic throughout the entire planning stages and was easily reachable by email. When I felt I wanted to talk through plans she would promptly set up a phone call to ease my nerves. We eloped on 12/12/22 in Puerto Rico and although we could have found a local photographer, I am so glad we went with Kat. Our elopement day felt easy and relaxing although we had several different stops throughout our day. Our plans changed last minute and we decided to do a 2 hour horse back ride, and Kat took pictures the entire time while also riding a horse! Both my husband and I found Kat very personable and she made us both feel comfortable especially since this was our first professional photoshoot. Our pictures feel timeless, and immediately bring us back to our amazing elopement. Kat has so much experience with adventure shots, so I would encourage anyone thinking of doing an adventure elopement to think outside of the box - she will make it work!

For our wedding, we wanted a unique experience and since we love the outdoors, we wanted an adventure photographer to capture the day. We loved working with Kat because she took the time to get to know us as a couple, and understand what our ‘ideal’ day would look like. She found some amazing locations based on the time of year (our wedding was in the Fall) and we are so glad we went with her recommendations as the scenery was spectacular on the day.

Kat was wonderful to work with, she kept us well informed, kept an eye on the weather, and advised us on what clothing and accessories we needed for our elopement day.On our planned wedding day, the weather was forecasted to be torrential rain and Kat was very flexible in agreeing to move everything back a day to avoid the downpour. We really appreciated her flexibility. We had such an amazing and fun time with Kat, and we loved every minute of it. Even when the weather didn’t cooperate, she was very well prepared and was able to capture some very creative and artistic photos.

Kat really is a master of her craft and was so enjoyable to work with. The final set of photos were truly breathtaking and it was exactly what we had hoped for.

We highly recommend Kat for any bride looking to have a unique experience with photos which aren’t your traditional cookie cutter style shots.

Kat is a remarkable photographer with world class talent. We recommend her as much as we possibly can.

For our wedding, my wife and I wanted to be married in an intimate ceremony outdoors and in nature. We hired Kat to capture our adventure wedding in the White Mountains of New Hampshire. Kat was both our photographer and our officiant, which was an added bonus that really made our vision possible.

Kat was the perfect companion for our adventure wedding. When we finally met in person on our wedding day, it was like we had been old friends. We had so much fun hiking with her, and she seemingly effortlessly blended between adventure companion and expert photographer.

Perhaps most importantly, the photos came out magnificently! The pictures have brought our friends and family to tears with how stunning they are and we could not be happier or more impressed with their quality, the variety of moments she captured, or how deftly she was able to capture both us as subjects and the stunning wilderness and landscape that we occupied. Kat is perhaps one-of-a-kind in blending intimate moments between a couple and the grandeur of nature. Kat’s photography captured the story we were hoping to experience and see!

We would recommend Kat unreservedly. She was professional across the board, whether the quality of her photography, her handling of our photo shoot in being able to bring out the best of us and be a trusted companion, and our interactions and planning with her leading up to the shoot. We are so grateful to you, Kat!

I’ve been speechless since getting our sneak peek photos and still having a hard time finding the words to express my happiness and gratitude.

Kat is a master at her craft! Our micro-wedding was our first time having a professional photographer photograph us, so we didn’t know what to expect and just rolled with the entire day.

When we decided to elope with 14 close family members and friends we looked for an adventure elopement photographer. That then snowballed into getting married in NH and choosing 2 locations for sunrise photos. Kat was a huge help in bringing our vision to life! She made a couple location suggestions in New England and we chose what best fit us.

She has the most calming way about her but still came off as my hype woman after she was clicking away taking our photos. I felt so beautiful and comfortable with her and actually teared up when we said our goodbyes at the end of the night. She’s quite special and 1000% worth it! She let us be ourselves and just captured those moments.

If you’ve made it this far, hire Kat. You’ll never regret it!

My partner and I absolutely loved working with Kat. We talked to a couple of photographers and really felt like Kat understood our vision of what we wanted our wedding day to look like. From the outset, Kat was responsive, organized, had great ideas about where to take photos. The night before our wedding, we had to quickly change photo locations and Kat was flexible and adaptable -- really we couldn't have asked for a better photographer to capture the day. And the photos are STUNNING! Couldn't recommend Kat enough.

We are beyond grateful we found Kat! She made our special day more perfect than we could have dreamed. Kat spoke to us over the phone a couple of times leading up to the wedding. This helped us get to know each other and narrow down where we should get married (we hadn't decided yet). She then helped plan out our day for us. Kat is so patient, kind, and fun! She was not only our photographer but also our "officiator" since she is ordained in the state of Maine. This let us conduct our ceremony ourselves and made the process all the more special. We had such a fun time spending the evening taking photos and getting creative.
Of course our photos are beyond what words can describe. They captured the adventure and magic of our day, the fun we were having, and the love we share. I recommend Kat to all of our recently engaged or soon to be engaged friends, look no further for the most epic adventure elopement!

Kat is an incredibly talented artist, wonderfully kind person, and all around magical human! When I first contacted her, I was in the throes of anxiety--I had planned and paid for a traditional wedding when I realized that wasn't what I wanted. My now husband and I decided to elope, and after pouring over Google searches, landed on Swell and Stone. From the moment I saw her photographs, I knew we had to book her!! I contacted her and she got back to me so quickly, and was SO flexible--I gave her basically a 2 month timeline and she made it work for us!!

The day of my wedding, I was running late and she made me feel so at ease and not stressed at all! The whole day was so fun, and she found the MOST beautiful spots to take pictures that I see in wedding magazines and on the internet--I still can't believe these are pictures of my wedding! She had our sneak peek ready in less than a week, and gave us the rest of our pictures (HUNDREDS!!) well before the agreed upon date.

Kat was incredibly flexible, professional, and open minded--she wanted to do whatever we wanted because it was our wedding, but also made sure to note things that would be preferable from a photography stand point. She is a lovely, warm, kind, and relaxed person, and I genuinely cannot recommend her enough to anyone looking for wedding pictures that will make you think you are dreaming. She also included drone shots (so cool!!) and GIFs which are some of my favorites!

We were so nervous about being photographed. After all, we aren't models, and our wedding was simple. A little off-beat. At a family home in rural Vermont. I was nervous and a little self-conscious about what a photographer would think of it, and what our family would think of the photographer. Kat was extraordinary.

From the first time we spoke, she put us at ease. It was clear she was experienced and knowledgeable, flexible but willing to assert herself to make sure we got what we were looking for - and she knew what we were looking for both from her experience and because she asked, with a survey that was just the right length and meant that come wedding weekend, she didn't need to ask us loads of questions, she could just dive in. She was low-key, easy-going, and so good at blending in that one guest later asked me if we had a photographer. Did we ever! The photos are gorgeous, but more importantly, they remind me so intensely of that day. They're classic without looking like everyone else's wedding photos.

It rained, our schedule got a little off, we had some folks who were more difficult than others - none of it mattered, Kat made us feel beautiful, un-judged, and like everything would turn out great. And it did!

We happened to stumble on Kat's page while searching for an 'adventure elopement’ photographer. We can't believe how lucky we were to find such a talented photographer, specializing in exactly the type of wedding we wanted, who also happened to be a laid-back, supportive adventure buddy for our elopement day.

Kat walked us through many of the pre-planning logistics— everything from suggesting online sources to look for wedding dresses during quarantine to sending us a full list of location options hand-picked for us. We never would have discovered our unique and epic elopement location without her research, and we're so grateful to have discovered another beautiful hike that we can revisit each year for our anniversary!

On our elopement day, we had a number of hiccups (including forgetting a full pack of hiking clothes at the AirBNB and a clasp breaking off my wife's dress at the eleventh hour—whoops!), and Kat totally rolled with it. She not only MacGyvered the dress closure but also offered extra hiking clothes in case we couldn't get the pack driven out by a friend in time— not quite the shirt off her back but pretty close! Since we were eloping without anyone but Kat with us, we feel so grateful to have clicked so easily with her and spent 'down time' on the hike comparing stories about rock climbing and retro-fitting SUVs for car-camping.

Kat helped facilitate an elopement day full of humorous and sweet memories that we'll always remember even before we saw the pictures. And then there are the pictures! Kat's photos of our day completely blew us away-- epic, honest, beautiful, and creative. We've had so many loved ones tell us that her shots of us should be featured in wedding magazines. A few family members even commented that they didn't understand why we wanted to get married the way we did until they saw the pictures.

Seriously, Kat is amazing at what she does and was excellent company for our elopement. We still can't believe that we struck such gold in finding her. Now, if only we could choose which pictures are our favorites... Never mind-- it's impossible!