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Weddings

About

Based in Ithaca, New York, Rachel Philipson Photography & Design is a wedding photography service with a photojournalistic edge. An experienced photojournalist, Rachel will bring a documentary sensibility to your wedding day by capturing those authentic moments in a true candid style. Moving beyond traditional wedding photography, Rachel provides couples with a personal archive of their special day.

Services Offered

Rachel Philipson Photography & Design understands the importance of intimacy even in the most shared celebration and aims to capture these moments naturally. Couples can avail of custom packages that include a secondary photographer, multiple locations, and an engagement session. Influenced by an informal style designed to provoke emotion years later, Rachel also includes a toning service. Final images are supplied as digital files. Additional items include albums, canvases, matted prints, save-the-dates, and thank-you cards.

  • Hispanic or Latinx-owned
  • Woman-owned
illustration popular

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Frequently asked questions

Which of the following are included in the starting price?

Add'l Hours
High-Res Images
Multi. Locations
One Event / Day
Digital Files

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

2nd Shooter
Add'l Hours
Engagement Shoot
High-Res Images
Multi. Locations
One Event / Day
Digital Files

What primary photographic style do you identify with?

Film
Natural
Photojournalism

What photography services do you offer?

Additional Hours
Engagement Shoot
High-Res Images
One Event / Day
Second Shooter

What photography items do you offer?

Albums
Canvas
Digital Files
Matted Prints
Negatives
Prints
Proofs
Save the Date
Thank You Cards

Reviews of Rachel Philipson Photography & Design

Casey
Casey Sent on 08/18/2025
5 out of 5 rating

Hire her!!

Hiring Rachel was one of the best decisions that we made during our wedding planning process. Her calm and collected demeanor was exactly what we needed during our wedding day and the pictures she took are absolutely stunning.
Sara
Sara Sent on 08/08/2024
5 out of 5 rating

Wedding photography

Rachel was absolutely wonderful to work with and took gorgeous photos at our wedding! Things ran smoothly with her every step of the way; she was extremely responsive over text, flexible with coordinating with from a distance since we live out of town, and even did a walk with us through the day before the wedding so we knew how everything would go. Her calm and easy going demeanor made for a lot of natural smiles in pictures, and she had them ready for us only a week after the event. We are thrilled that we chose her and have her photography as our wedding memories. Thank you Rachel!!
Sweeny
Sweeny Sent on 07/20/2021
5 out of 5 rating

Perfectly beautiful photos

I’m speechless with how wonderful these photos came out. Rachel is a true professional, I gave her a pretty long list of photos I wanted and she got every single one. But my favorite part was all the photos that weren’t planned. She captured the feel of the day perfectly from beginning to end. We are super happy with her work and would definitely use her again if we have the opportunity as well as recommended her to all our friend and family.
N
N K Sent on 07/11/2021
5 out of 5 rating

Highly recommend!

Rachel was great to work with from the minute we first contacted her. She responds very quickly and is very helpful. We had selected an outdoor space at a park. She went and checked this out weeks in advance and let us know that parts of it were closed off, which would have impacted our plans the day of. We switched locations, and she remained flexible as we did so. The day of our wedding, Rachel was so easy to work with. She even hiked up with us a bit to take pictures where we wanted. The pictures turned out beautifully and really captured our day. Thanks for being a part of our special day and for helping to capture our memories for years to come, Rachel!
Cara
Cara Sent on 06/29/2019
5 out of 5 rating

Rachel is wonderful!

Rachel did the photography for our wedding on June 22, 2019 and she did an amazing job. She is extremely talented and takes a creative approach to telling the story of the wedding through pictures. We received a beautiful flash drive from Rachel with all our pictures on it and, when looked at all the pictures, it felt like our wedding story was flashing in front of our eyes. Simply stunting. Rachel is professional and extremely responsive. She was a joy to work with! My husband and I totally recommend her!
L
Lillian Sent on 02/26/2019
5 out of 5 rating

Amazing experience and fast turnaround

Working with Rachel was amazing! She brought so much experience and professionalism to the process, which was extra helpful because we had no idea what we were doing. She was reassuring while we tried to plan the wedding long-distance, and on the day of she was able to give us some advice and tips to get the best shots. The most shocking part was that she had the (absolutely beautiful) photos back to us in just a few days!!
P
Paige Sent on 10/31/2018
5 out of 5 rating

The best photographer we could have ever dreamed of!

We had the absolute pleasure of having Rachel Philipson as our photographer for our engagement photos and wedding photos. I cannot emphasize enough how incredibly talented (and sweet) Rachel was throughout the process. I was a destination bride living across the country, but Rachel was so helpful that I felt like I was right there planning alongside her. She responds to e-mails immediately and is beyond patient/understanding (I admit I changed the wedding day timeline probably a thousand times and it never phased her). Rachel showed up promptly and was prepared and ready to go. Her personality was happy and helpful so she fit right in with the festivities. Leading up the event, Rachel offered fantastic suggestions and even put me in contact with the right people to reserve extra photo locations in case of rain. She thought of EVERYTHING to ensure I would have the perfect day. As for quality, her photos were breathtaking. I have had so many people tell me how they've never seen such beautiful work. She captured every detail of my dress, special moments that I never thought of, and candid shots throughout the night. She knows how to work the lighting/angles and how to blend in to allow the moments to happen naturally. I often forgot she was even there so she caught so many special moments without intruding. As for editing, Rachel worked with such speed--getting our photos back to us within a week for both engagement and wedding photos. I cried seeing the photos because they turned out even more perfectly than I could have ever dreamed. My mom was even worried (she hates being photographed!), but can't stop raving about the photos. Rachel was an absolute joy to work with and I plan to book more photography sessions with her. Booking her as our photographer was the best decision that we made for vendor planning. Rachel is a beyond talented photographer and an incredible person too!
M
Michelle Sent on 08/24/2018
5 out of 5 rating
Rachel was the photographer at our daughters wedding. She was incredible to work with right from our first contact with her. She responded quickly and completely to my numerous questions throughout the planning process. She visited our venue to get a feel for the location before the event. My daughter commented how Rachel seemed to be at the right place at the right time the entire evening. She captured everything we had hoped for, plus so much more that I would have missed if not documented in the photo gallery. It was seamless. We had the online photo gallery within 3 days of the wedding and the images are absolutely beautiful. Rachel is truly a talented photographer and I am so happy we were able to have her as our daughters wedding photographer. She truly went above and beyond our expectations!
V
Valentina Sent on 07/08/2018
5 out of 5 rating
We hired her for our wedding on June 22 and she was fantastic. Professional, kind, competent, super attentive to detail, and fast on delivery. She was able to capture so many small details, expressions and interactions in her work. Her photographs are modern, personal, narrative. Her work really helped document our day in a unique way, and we highly recommend her.
B
Ben Sent on 06/28/2018
5 out of 5 rating
Rachel is a must-have photographer at your wedding! We are sooooo very happy she documented our special day and she is incredibly talented.
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Awards

53
WeddingWire Couples' Choice Awards 2017 Winner
WeddingWire Couples' Choice Awards 2016 Winner
WeddingWire Couples' Choice Awards 2015 Winner
WeddingWire Couples' Choice Awards 2012 Winner

Professional Network & Endorsements

1 Endorsement
Take Your Pick Flower Farm Take Your Pick Flower Farm Wedding Florists

Rachel is an amazing photographer. I have seen much of her work. It is beautiful. If you are looking for an unobtrusive, highly professional photographer that works in the journalistic style, Rachel is definitely the person you should be working with.

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Rachel Philipson Photography & Design frequently asked questions

Rachel Philipson Photography & Design includes the following photography services in the starting price:
  • Add'l Hours
  • High-Res Images
  • Multi. Locations
  • One Event / Day
  • Digital Files
Rachel Philipson Photography & Design includes the following photography services in their most popular wedding package:
  • 2nd Shooter
  • Add'l Hours
  • Engagement Shoot
  • High-Res Images
  • Multi. Locations
  • One Event / Day
  • Digital Files
Rachel Philipson Photography & Design offers the following photography styles:
  • Film
  • Natural
  • Photojournalism
Rachel Philipson Photography & Design offers the following photography services for weddings:
  • Additional Hours
  • Engagement Shoot
  • High-Res Images
  • One Event / Day
  • Second Shooter
Rachel Philipson Photography & Design offers the following photography materials for weddings:
  • Albums
  • Canvas
  • Digital Files
  • Matted Prints
  • Negatives
  • Prints
  • Proofs
  • Save the Date
  • Thank You Cards
Rachel Philipson Photography & Design is recommended by 100% of couples who have used their services. Their overall rating is 5.0, with the same score awarded for quality of service, flexibility, value, professionalism and average response time.

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