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Weddings

About

Kate Hayter Photography

Hi, I’m Kate. I've been a wedding and family portrait photographer for over 20 years, here in Halifax, Nova Scotia. I strive to capture authentic, timeless and joy-filled images that help tell the perfectly imperfect stories of your families and your celebrations in life.

I’m tall, often funny, I love to dance, and I photograph people for a living. As a photographer and a person, I’m creative and calm, passionate and organized, romantic and practical, and I like to dream big with my feet still on the ground. I’m married to a fantastic man who enables all this in me, and I love what I do almost as much as I love my twin hooligan 11-year-olds Ruby and Nate.

When people ask, I always joke that being a wedding photographer prep’d me for being a twin mama… I have a very high threshold for panic, the ability to find beauty in chaos, and know how to have fun inside of a schedule. Weddings require of this, and, and then, there is cake.

As a dancer, the music tells my feet what to do. As a photographer, my eye and instinct do. Elements such as inspiring lighting and locations are nice to have, but it’s the challenge of creating authentic and alive images of my client's relationships and personalities that keeps me on my toes.

On your wedding day: I'm there when you need me, moving things along, organizing your family for you and treading lightly the rest of the time. When we are doing "the photos" I shoot efficiently while still creating joy-filled, timeless and relaxed images with a variety of backgrounds, candids versus smiles to the camera, laughter and tears, and fine-art compositions. I'm told I'm pretty laid back and easy to get along with, while still delivering you to your reception on time.

I work to create images that are real, beautiful, and descriptive of all the events, emotions and details of your celebration. On your day, you should just get to "be". Be in the moment and breathe in your day. You worked hard to plan it all and I'll be there capturing it for you.



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Frequently asked questions

What primary photographic style do you identify with?

Contemporary
Portraiture

What photography services do you offer?

One event per day
Add'l hours
Boudoir shoot
Engagement shoot
High-res
Liability insurance
Multi. locations
Slideshow
Trash the dress

What photography items do you offer?

Albums
Canvas
Digital files
Flush mount
Matted prints
Negatives
Prints
Save the date
Thank you cards

What is the starting price for your wedding photography services?

$1,950

Which of the following are included in the starting price?

One event per day
Digital files
High-res
Multi. locations
Negatives
Slideshow

What is the price of your most popular wedding package?

$1,950

Which of the following are included in the price of your most popular wedding package?

One event per day
Digital files
High-res
Multi. locations
Negatives
Slideshow / montage
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Any other questions?

Request pricing
4.0 out of 5 rating
4 reviews
  • Quality of service
    4 out of 5 rating
  • Response time
    4 out of 5 rating
  • Professionalism
    4 out of 5 rating
  • Value
    4 out of 5 rating
  • Flexibility
    4 out of 5 rating
75% Recommended by couples
Nicole
Nicole D. Sent on 01/02/2024
1 out of 5 rating

Botched my wedding photos

Note this is almost 5 months after my wedding because I was so upset I couldn’t write this until now.
I had my wedding photos done by Kate. I found Kate’s site and looked through her gallery and past work and it was lovely. She had pics she had taken in our venue and where we wanted ours done already in her gallery.
She had mentioned that The Lower Deck was a more difficult venue as the lighting wasn’t to her liking but she still agreed to cover our day. we also rearranged our whole day to be able to do pictures at the time of day she wanted for lighting.
I sent her a list of photos I wanted by email and she told me she didn’t need it as she had a mental checklist of photos to get. This was the first thing she asked for when she arrived at my hotel room that morning.
As the day progressed, I felt confident about the photos and didn’t pay much attention to her as I trusted she was doing a good job. A few days later she posted our sneakpeek and most of the pics were okay. A few I thought we’re awful, and barely any had any editing that I could see other than color grading and white balancing, which was to my ivory dress which in turn made everyones teeth look yellower.
Once I got my photo gallery I was devastated. The only good photos were basically the handful that were given in the sneak peak. In almost every photo she got the least flattering expression of me. Just me, the bride. Everyone else looked amazing. My eyes were closed, I was lowering my chin and had quadruple chins, my face was blurry, I was looking away, everything. Almost every photo that included me was ruined.
I asked to see all of the originals, was told no. I told her that my husband could edit them if she would just give us some photos where I actually looked decent, she said no and uploaded ‘4’ more photos to our album, which I couldn’t even find because they were just as awful as the rest. Asked if there were any photos of the ring exchange, only photo was of me looking at my ring on my hand with half closed eyes and multiple chins. She didn’t get a photo of me signing my marriage certificate, but got 3 BEAUTIFUL photos of my sister signing it as my witness. She said she didn’t have room to get the photos she was missing and that she decided to take photos of my guests instead during the certificate signing… Except I had a very small ceremony and had 10 of 50 people not show so she was taking photos of empty seats instead of me and my husband signing our certificate.
As a wedding photographer she should have been asking people to get out of her way to get the shots that are needed. She blamed the lighting of the venue, the lighting outside, that I was too long getting ready (Im the bride, the wedding literally can’t start without me. If a half hour was the difference between good photos and the awful ones I got then everyone could have waited), everything but herself for the awful photos. She told me that I told her to focus on my natural face, I would never have told her to get my resting face. I did say that I wanted the photos to be more natural and not posed. She didn’t even get a photo of me with my husband, his parents, and his brothers. On top of this, instead of finding good lighting to take the photos of my dress and jewelry, she presented me with blurry, dark, awful photos of my dress.
The only thing that was offered to me for botching my wedding photos was my tip back. Which is laughable considering that she ruined the photos that I was supposed to treasure for the rest of my life, and I can’t display a single one of them without my husband having to edit them.
My favorite photo from my wedding is one that was taken with a cellphone after the ceremony, which should not be the case after paying for a professional photographer.
Pay a little more for someone else, because if I knew she was going to give me almost ‘400 keepers’ and that her definition of keeper was eyes closed, double chins and blurry faces with multiple important photos missing I would have hired someone else.
L
Lay-Kuan L. Sent on 17/07/2023
5 out of 5 rating

Talented and experienced photographer

Kate has photographed a lot of weddings, and her experience shows. She was consistently professional and responsive throughout the whole process from booking the date to the wedding day itself.

Kate was great at instructing people on how to pose for pictures and ensuring we had good pictures with everyone in the wedding party. She knew how and where to get good pictures, and managed to come up with a plan flexible enough to adapt to the rain that came on our wedding day. She even helped my friends and family figure out how to bustle up the wedding dress, even though that is outside the scope of her duties.

And this isn't a one-time thing: she also was the photographer for my husband's friend's wedding and was just as proactive then as with ours.

She finished editing the pictures within a month of the wedding and they came out beautifully. We are very happy with her work and would recommend her to anyone looking for a talented wedding photographer.
K
Kristen D. Sent on 09/08/2021
5 out of 5 rating

Great experience

Kate was great at directing us to make sure we got the best shots. It was a hot day and she was such a trooper with us!
E
Emily S. Sent on 17/09/2015
5 out of 5 rating
Kate was definitely the right photographer for our wedding. Even the guests were talking about how good she was. She knew exactly what shots to take. She took so many in the limited time available for staged photos and they are turned out beautifully. She also got tons of shots during the reception and dance. She really captured the whole day and how everyone was feeling. We will treasure the pictures forever. I would recommend her to anyone who is on the hunt for a photographer. Her portfolio is not only crammed full of amazing wedding photos, but also engagement sessions, and baby sessions. She was extremely professional and able to help with many details outside of photography as well. My bustle broke and she had a heavy duty safety pin ready to fix it!
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Awards

4

kate hayter photography Real Weddings

Adrienne & Scott
43 Photos · 23/Sep/2017
Heidi & Colin
49 Photos · 03/Sep/2017
Lisa & Drew
32 Photos · 25/Jun/2016

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Map

258 States Lane B3t2j4 Halifax (Nova Scotia)

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