Bringing a Photographer to your Destination Wedding

Bringing a Photographer to your Destination Wedding

SHould you bring a Photographer to your Destination Wedding?

No matter how much time and effort couples put into planning their destination wedding, things don't always go perfectly. While most issues are minor, some can leave a lasting impression. This is especially true for destination weddings where you're relying on the resort to handle most of your vendors and the overall setup.

If your flowers aren't exactly as expected, it's manageable. If the cake has a little lean to it, you can laugh it off. But when it comes to your destination wedding photos, they’re yours for life - no retakes. The photos you get will be the ones that take you back to that special day, and the ones your children and grandchildren will look at for years to come.

Choosing the right destination wedding photographer is crucial for preserving those memories. After all, how do you want to remember the day that marks the beginning of the rest of your life?

CONFIDENCE

Bringing your own photographer to your destination wedding offers you assurance of being able to research and select the exact photographer you want based on style, personality, experience etc. Oftentimes resort photographers are assigned to you and you'll have no prior knowledge or experience with them.  

Will their style and personality jive with you and your guests?  By bringing your own photographer to your destination wedding you're able to do your homework, interview them either in person or via video chat. This part of your destination wedding planning provides you with the confidence that your day will be as memorable as you hope it to be.

PERSONALITY

Your photographer will spend more time with you on your wedding day than anyone else.  This is especially true with a destination wedding where many photographers you bring with you will offer an uninterrupted full days coverage (not so with most resort photo packages).  Spending that much time with a photographer makes it so important that your personalities jive and that you're 100% comfortable with them throughout the day.  The more comfortable and confident you are with your wedding vendors, the better able you are to let go and simply enjoy your day without irritations and stress.

The amazing Maya Angelou said, "People will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel."  

This has served me well in my photography business often referring to a cool phenomenon from many of my weddings where couples and guests approach me throughout the day saying things like "amazing job"... etc. when they haven't seen a single photo yet.  A photographer's priorities begin with the quality of their work however the experience of the Bride, Groom and guests is every bit as important.  It's difficult to predict this experience with a vendor you haven't yet met or worked with.

Rock the Dress photo at destination wedding

TRAVEL

As with any wedding pro that travels with you, you'll have additional costs to cover with respect to travel and such.  Pricing from photographers can vary quite a bit with each doing it a little different from the next.  Some charge a flat rate for travel and wedding package, others will break it out separately and some newer photographers will shoot your wedding for the cost of the trip alone (more for the experience and for portfolio building).  

For me, I'm often able to book multiple weddings at popular wedding resorts during the same trip and therefore my travel costs can be shared among couples... win-win.  During my peak destination wedding season at my most popular wedding resorts I'm even able to waive my travel costs due to volume... big win-win.

QUICK TIP:  

Many resorts offer a free trip when you book a minimum number of rooms, Brides have taken advantage of this by using that free trip to offset my travel.Above all, your wedding is a major milestone.  It's also a major investment of time, money and your futures as husband and wife.  It only makes sense to invest those efforts in the memory of it for you and your future generations.  

A destination wedding requires a great deal of thought and planning to pull off, it makes good sense to have professionals around you that you can rely on  and trust.  The cake, flowers, DJ etc. will be gone... but great photographs will always be there offering you a return ticket to that special time.