As a husband and wife team specializing in capturing adventurous couples in the beautiful places they choose to get married, we love to travel. Destination weddings are a blast and definitely something we do. And destination weddings have their challenges that are worth addressing if you’re going to photograph destination weddings.
First off, you have to be able to convince a couple to take you with them to their destination wedding. Then, you have to calculate the additional costs. And finally, it’s important to research and scout the destination as well as figure out how to get all your gear there.
Destination weddings are romantic and fun but it’s not a vacation, it’s work. I love shooting new locations and being inspired by a place. And, at the same time, I love running a profitable business so that I can pay my bills.
Know Why You’re the Best Photographer for the Job
Why would a couple hire you to come to their destination wedding? The answer is not simply because you love to travel. As a destination wedding photographer, you need to have a unique perspective that you’re bringing to the table, er, the destination.
Destination wedding photographers need to pay even more attention to their branding and their photography style to prove to potential clients that hiring them is better than hiring a local photographer. I deeply believe that a good wedding photographer/client fit is important. I also want to be hired for my unique vision, and for what I am good at.
If a couple trusts me and values my work specifically, they are more likely to see value in hiring me for their destination wedding. It’s important to demonstrate the ability to constantly shoot new locations in a way that is meaningful to a couple. Therefore, if you can determine what your vision is and why someone should hire you, that will help you not only get hired but also meet the expectations you set for the wedding.
Destination Wedding Costs
It’s easy to think that destination wedding photography is like a free trip. It sounds super fun and romantic to travel to beautiful places and take pictures. However, if you want to build a sustainable photography business you need to be aware of the costs of a destination wedding.
Instead of a one-day event, a destination wedding will require you to block out a minimum of three days for the wedding to account for travel time. And you should probably add a buffer day on the front end in case anything goes wrong. That’s travel time plus travel expenses including food, transportation, and additional nights of accommodations.
From there, if you have kids or pets or anyone you’re leaving behind or taking with you, you’ll have to figure out the logistics and costs of that. That’s not to mention the additional time you’ll spend planning your trip, researching, and scouting.
For me, if a couple wants to bring me to their destination wedding chances are the client is a great fit. If the client is a good fit and a destination is a place I want to go and I can make it happen without costing me too much money, then I do it. If, however, the money doesn’t quite pencil out and the location isn’t somewhere I would choose to go or the client isn’t the right fit, then sometimes I choose to work closer to home and go to a destination on vacation.
Research and Scouting a Destination
As I alluded to above, it’s important to know how to research and scout new destinations. As a wedding photographer, you might already be good at this anyway. We’re constantly shooting new locations and having to learn the best angles and light.
If that’s not something you’re familiar with, practice closer to home. Give yourself scouting assignments and practice finding new spots and storyboard how you would shoot them. Take ideas that you find online but then figure out how to take those ideas one step further.
It can be fun to shoot a location that you know really well if instead of taking the same shots every time you take new shots every time. That will help you learn to see places differently. Then, with a little research ahead of time and some scouting time, you can utilize the inspiration that comes with traveling to a new destination to create something new.
Traveling with Gear
The last tip is a simple but important one. How do you plan to get all of your gear to the destination? We do our best to keep our wedding photography gear to a minimum so that we can be light on our feet, but even so, there is a lot to pack.
Have a good camera bag that’s carry-on size so that you can keep your important gear with you at all times. Figure out what you can reasonably pack in your checked bag. And then, consider alternatives such as renting something once you get there.
Don’t forget all of your chargers and card readers since you’ll need to charge and back up everything before you can return to your office. Essentially, you need to create a mobile office and imagine what you would take to a wedding if you could only take what you could carry. And then, you need to make sure you have everything you need to still be able to shoot the wedding properly.
In Summary
In conclusion, if you’re interested in photographing destination weddings I suggest that you evaluate your intentions. If you just love traveling to cool places, you can always travel for vacation and focus on work when you’re working. However, if you’re inspired by shooting new locations and watching your clients have memorable adventures, then destination wedding photography might be for you.
If that’s the case, knowing your why will help you market yourself as a destination wedding photographer and ensure that you’re providing value to your clients. From there you’ll want to be realistic about the costs associated with shooting a destination wedding because it’s not a free vacation, it’s work. You can practice researching and scouting new destinations so that you’re able to capture them in a unique way.
If you solve the remaining problems such as how to travel with all of your gear then you’ll be all set. There are some places that don’t actually allow destination wedding photographers so make sure it’s legal to work there and that you have all of the proper documentation in order. Happy travels!
About the author: Brenda Bergreen is a Colorado wedding photographer, videographer, yoga teacher, and writer who works alongside her husband at Bergreen Photography. With their mission and mantra “love. adventurously.” they are dedicated to telling adventurous stories in beautiful places.
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