Should I bring my own photographer to my destination wedding?

Booking a Resort Photographer vs. Sara June Photography | Destination Wedding Photographer

You’re planning a beautiful day abroad to celebrate your marriage and you’re wondering “should I bring my own photographer to my destination wedding?”. Choosing the right photographer could be settling for your resort photographer, or choosing a destination photographer to capture every second of your amazing destination wedding at the resort of your dreams. So much time goes into carefully planning a wedding and possibly even more for destination weddings (how is Grandad getting there?).

We could all use an organizational goddess in our back pocket, but on your special day it’s even more important to capture milestones and loving moments where all of that preparation work comes together. If you are sitting on the couch with your dog, scrolling through your friend’s wedding photos and admiring the raw moments and the pure emotion… the scroll is over! Sara June Photography has all you need to know about destination weddings and hiring a high-quality, detail-oriented, and creatively trained destination wedding photographer (ehem, like me!).

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Quality

Let me be the first to tell you that you don’t have to settle for your resort photographer. You don’t have to settle for the monotonous, assembly-line quality of resort photos! Hire a destination wedding photographer to fly out to your resort, and guess what, you’ll get quality, memorable, unique photos. Every single time.
Quality, Destination Wedding Photographer: 

• Provide prompts instead of posed-poses
• Trained to capture the day in different lightings and yes, from different angles
• Tell a story with images
• Remember your hard work and planning over every detail? Yeah, we can take creative pictures of ALL that! 
• Focus on you, but also your really cool destination (like the beach!)
• Additional benefits to hiring me, my husband comes along to cover twice the ground! Relive your special day from multiple different, quality angles. (He’s also a videographer!) 

Resort Photographer: 

• Mass-produced – aka the style of your wedding photos will be the same as any other couple who books that resort
• Pictures taken from one angle: the end (you have more than one good side, honey) 
• Cheesy poses
• Miss the teeny-tiny details that make up you, your fiancé, and your relationship
• Selling/Money mind-set – sacrificing the quality over the goal number of images

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Better Value 

If you’re analyzing the cost differences and comparing the value, go with a destination wedding photographer always. Even if a resort charges an outside vendor fee for your photographer, you definitely still want to fly out your destination photographer anyway – because there’s an easy way around the vendor fee. 

Destination Wedding Photographer (oh, hi, that’s me!): 

• I provide valuable memories your entire wedding day plus another day to shoot
• I don’t charge any additional travel fees so there are no surprises when it comes to pricing
• Completely customized wedding collection for you so you get to pick exactly what you want and nothing you don’t
• As much wedding-day coverage as you’d like
• A second day to take engagement photos or honeymoon photos or even a boudoir session
• You have access to ALL your photos, plus the print release which is all included in my price
• You have the option of having a second photographer OR a videographer at no additional cost to you
• Book me as a guest to avoid the outside vendor fee – it’s usually a minimum of three nights booked at the resort and the fee is waived! (I usually stay four nights to better serve you and your big day)
• Specially trained in weddings: classy portraits, giggly bridesmaid photos, emotional first-looks, detailed flat-lays, and funny moments at your reception
• A pre-planned, customizable photo experience – giving you exactly what you want (and even what you didn’t know you wanted) 

Resort Photographer: 

• You’re getting married at Sandals Resort, for instance. You’ll be assigned a resort photographer who could cost about $1,500 for a miniscule four hours of your day
• Prints or a print release are not often included in the price (not usually the best value for what you’re paying for)
• Usually just one photographer
• A photo release for only 250 photos
• Money focused: taking posed photos of your guests and then selling expensive prints to your family and friends 

Time

Completely dedicated to your entire wedding, a professional destination photographer wouldn’t miss a minute of your special day. 

Destination Wedding Photographer: 

• Wondering how I time my travel? In case of travel delays, I always plan to arrive two days before your wedding
• I LOVE destination weddings (especially Jamaica!). As an experienced wedding photographer, I know sometimes flights to Jamaica can get tricky, so I will always plan a day or two of buffer in case of cancelations or delays
• Not only will I spend your entire wedding day with you, but an extra session or two can be included (like on the beach near Couples Tower Isle in Ocho Rios, Jamaica!)
• I stay for your reception (dancing fun = great pictures!) 
• Sunrise photos – yes! 
• Sunset photos – definitely! 
• I scout around the resort and city for hidden gems we can go to for sessions (hello hidden gems!) 

Resort Photographer: 

• Typically 4 hours of coverage

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Peace of Mind and a Solid Contract

Booking with me or another professional destination photographer means you get your beautiful images no matter what. 

Destination Wedding Photographer: 

• The terms of our contract will be upheld in any country (or a different state)
• If something goes wrong, my contract protects you and me
• Oh no, the airplane is delayed! But, don’t worry! I’ve booked a flight two/three days before your wedding to ensure I’m there for your big day
• You will always get your beautiful images – always 
• Next-day image sneak peak and receive your images quickly thereafter 
• Access to my direct business email and phone (no hoops to jump through in order to reach me) 

Resort Photographer: 

• Confusing contracts
• Usually no direct communication with the photographer until the day-of 
• No backup plan if things go wrong 
• Foreign photographers are harder to coordinate with and getting your pictures is usually a prolonged experience 

Contact me at hello@sarajunephotography.com with any questions. I have plenty more destination wedding tips and tricks to help you (everything from invites to bridal party gifts). And if you’re getting married at a resort, I’d love to work with you! 

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