5 Reasons Why Hiring a Resort Photographer Is A Destination Wedding Mistake
Should I book a hotel resort photographer?
That is a great question! Here you are, planning your glorious destination wedding in Cancun or the Bahamas, and the resort is offering its own photographer.
What do you do?
If we are being honest, booking a destination wedding photographer can be pretty expensive. Why pay so much to fly in someone when you could use the resort’s photographer for a much cheaper price? While this may seem like a cost-effective and easy solution, here are a list of reasons why you do not want to book a photographer through the resort.
1. Their Creative Style May Differ From Your Vision
The sample images that you see in a resort’s wedding gallery may not even be from the same photographer that is assigned to you. Because of this, there’s a very little chance that you’ll actually receive that same quality you saw online as having multiple shooters under a payroll can produce very different creative styles.
By hiring an actual destination wedding photographer, you’ll be aligned with a professional who shares the same creative vision that you have for your wedding day.
Invest in someone whose work resonates with you.
2. They Most Likely Aren’t Passionate About Their Jobs
Think of a resort photographer being like a Disney cast member who holds a camera and asks your family if they’d like a picture in front of the Disney castle. Do you think that hour and hour, day after day, they still have the desire to do their job? Most likely not! It’s the same old thing at the same old location.
There’s a very high risk in receiving a resort photographer who is just doing it for a paycheck and without any regard for your love story. As a result, they might not take photos with extreme care and attention to detail. Yes, shooting lots of weddings is my job as well, but this is actually my passion and my craft.
Invest in someone who is passionate about their job.
3. They Provide Way Less Coverage
The best advantage to having a destination wedding photographer is that we are available for whatever you need us to shoot. Are you going kayaking? Let’s shoot it. Are you zip-lining? Let’s shoot it. How about the dress rehearsal, or the intimate family dinner the night before the big day?
Resort photographers shoot multiple weddings throughout the day, and the hotel might not be able to spare anyone to photograph anything that you’d like to do. Wouldn’t you rather hire someone like me whose only job is to assist you with whatever you need to be covered before, or after the wedding?
Invest in someone who will be there for you.
4. They Aren’t There to Capture the In-Between Moments
This point follows closely behind the theme of the third point, which is that having extensive coverage throughout your destination wedding trip allows for more opportunities to get intimate moments captured between you and your loved ones.
While a resort photographer’s job is to get the obligatory first kiss during the ceremony, are they there when your parents hug you and let you know how much they love you? Are they there when you share an intimate kiss with your spouse while everyone else is dancing?
It’s these beautiful in-between moments that a resort photographer simply doesn’t have the time to capture. It’s what your children will be looking back on when they are looking at your wedding album. Wouldn’t it be beautiful to share those moments with your family?
Invest in your heritage.
5. You Don’t Gain A Lifelong Friend
If we are being real, how many true friendships have been made between a wedding couple and a resort photographer? I’m willing to bet not very many.
Since resort photographers shoot so many weddings every day, do you really think that they view you as a special couple? When you hire a destination photographer, we view you in a different light compared to a resort shooter. From the wedding planning to the dress rehearsal, from the ceremony to the reception, we are with you every step of the way. Rooting, and cheering for you with every frame that we capture.
We are more than just a photographer, we are like family. We will laugh and share stories. And when it’s all said and done, we have both gained lifelong friends.
Invest in true friendship.
I hope that these 5 reasons helped you see the true value of a destination wedding photographer. For those interested in booking with me, or have more questions about travel weddings feel free to contact me.
