A big question when having a destination wedding is whether or not to fly down your own photographer or to hire a local one at the destination. There are many factors to be taken into account when choosing – things like the budget, for example, ease, reliability, etc.

Here is a list of things to take into consideration before hiring your destination wedding photographer –

Reliability

Wedding photos are precious and memories that will be captured and passed on for generations to come. They are an investment in building your family’s heirloom. When hiring at the destination – keep in mind you are in a foreign land with absolutely no control of things like timings, including delivery times.

Hidden fees

Most resorts charge up to $1000 for wedding day pass fees for vendors to come from outside and shoot at the resort. Some resorts offer and in-house photographer, which may be a better option and may save you on the cost. Make sure to talk about all these costs with your destination wedding resort, before hiring any vendors.

Service

Destination weddings are love stories incorporated with travel stories. Usually, if you hire a local photographer, they will be coming in only for the wedding day for an 8 hours window. Flying in your photographer gives you more options for them to cover pre/post wedding shoots and or excursions for the couple or guests. At our studio, the destination wedding shoot comes with a post wedding shoot where we take you to a local destination outside the resort to incorporate the local flavor. We also offer shoots with the guests either on an excursion or around the resort.

Future needs

If at a later stage you require more prints or want to have a wall print, it is easier to coordinate with your home-based photographer than the local photographer at the destination. You will also save on shipping costs etc.

Personalized service

At Alfaaz Photography, we invest our time getting to every client. We meet them before the wedding and get to know the couple, how they met, what kind of music the listen to, and we also meet their families. This helps us provide better services and offer you a more personalized documentation of your wedding.

Cost

If you have a tight budget, hiring a local photographer may save you anywhere between $1000 – $1500 even after factoring in the cost of a day pass.

Education

Usually, we spend a lot of time education couples about how to pose and how to face the camera which is not possible if you are meeting your photographer on the day of the wedding.

Locations

Local photographers know more about the city and local destinations to shoot. At Alfaaz Photography, we network with local wedding photographers to get insights of locations and we sometimes even have them come and assist during the shoot.

Whichever option you choose, do keep in mind that the photographer you pick is going to be with you throughout the day and be part of some of the most important and intimate moments of your special day, so it is extremely important that you get along with them. There could be language and cultural barriers when hiring someone local at the destination. You do not want to end up ruining your special day because the photographer did not gel with you.

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