Destination Wedding Photography - Make sure you Capture all the Special Moments

So you’ve decided to make your special day a dream vacation. Choosing to have a destination wedding is an amazing thing but it does bring up some questions when it comes to planning and especially when it comes to your suppliers. The most important thing to many brides is their photographs and so photography should be very high up on your list of priorities.

You are in a difficult situation because you are planning the wedding from afar, you may not be able to meet the photographers or other suppliers face to face and you may have to rely on the wedding planner or resort staff to make most of the smaller decisions but remember that this is your wedding and it is important to get what you want.

When choosing your photographer remember that this person is most probably the most important person you will hire for your wedding, you are investing in your memories of your special day. You need to realize that you do have many options here – you can make use of your resources at the venue and hire someone local or you can do the researching yourself and fly someone if from your home town.

If you fly a photographer in with you, you will at least be able to meet with them in person and discuss your needs and wants; you can also review their portfolios and get recommendations from friends or family may have used them before. The major downfall with this option of course is the cost factor. you will probably have to factor in their flights and accommodation for the photographer into your budget and this could surmount to a fair share – especially if they need to work with an assistant. You also need to ask if they will be happy to travel to your destination with thousand of dollars worth of equipment.

If you are leaning towards hiring a local photographer then make sure you do some research. You can listen to the advice of the wedding planner or resort staff but this is ultimately your decision to make. When you hire someone local to your destination you will not have to pay for travel and accommodation which will make a big difference to your budget. It would also be beneficial to hire a local as they will know the venue and the different locations to take photographs. Your biggest problem will not be able to meet them beforehand.

There are ways to go around this and it is important that you still stay involved in the process when it comes to the photographer as the memories he will capture need to last you a lifetime and it is so important that he captures every moment perfectly.

Firstly, with the technology available today there are ways of communicating easily over large distances. You can hold meetings via the telephone or even make use of webcams, this way you can get a bit of a feel for the person. Make sure that you still get recommendations from the venues and from various wedding planning professionals who have used the photographer’s services before. Even though they don’t know you personally they will still give you their honest opinion.

If they have a website then chances are that you can view some of their work online. If this is not the case or you would like to see more ask them to post or email you some. If they really want the job they will go out of their way to show you what they can do. It is important to see a portfolio to make sure that you like the work that they do – that the quality is good and that they photographic style matches your likes.

Let them know ahead of time what kind of images you would like to ensure that they will be able to deliver this and so that they can source the perfect location for the shots.

Because your wedding is going to be somewhere wonderful and you will be there for more than just the day of your wedding, if budget allows, work some weekend or honeymoon coverage into your photography package, this way you will be able to capture the Holladay as a whole and will have the most amazing photographs of your special day.