Destination Wedding Photographer
From the wedding day to the whole week. You decide how much of it gets photographed. Seventeen years, weddings from the Caribbean to the Rockies to the Aegean, and the travel handled from my end.
Where I’ve Worked
Each one is a long gallery, not a highlight reel. Enough of the day that you can tell what it was actually like.
Turks & Caicos
Sapodilla Bay, a private villa, and water that colour all week
Cabo San Lucas, Mexico
Pueblo Bonito Sunset Beach, the hills above it, and a long empty shore
Big Sky, Montana
The Madison River, Bear Trap Canyon and Ennis Lake
Santorini, Greece
Sunrise over Oia, before anybody else is awake
Four Seasons Maui
An ocean lawn in Wailea and a ceremony that sounds like Hawaii
Wallowa Lake, Oregon
A ceremony on a mountain moraine, and the Milky Way after
San Francisco
Black tie on Nob Hill at the Mark Hopkins
Crater Lake, Oregon
The bluest water in the country, and nobody else there
The Session Doesn’t Have to Be Here
Every collection includes an engagement session, and it can happen anywhere. Some couples fly me out for it. Some have me shoot it where the wedding will be, so we both learn the place a year early. And when a couple would rather not travel twice, we use it during the wedding week instead, usually the day before or around the welcome dinner.
These are couples who travel. La Jolla, Laguna Beach, Napa Valley.
What a Destination Wedding Costs
Collections and packages range from $5,000 to $15,000 depending on coverage and scope. Destination weddings are custom-quoted once I know where and when, because getting to Montana and getting to Greece are not the same problem. Travel means the flight, the hotel and ground transportation. That is the entire list. No per diem, no meals, no equipment fees, nothing added later. You can set a ceiling on flight costs if you’d rather, and I do the booking myself, so there is nothing for you to coordinate.
Ask about your dates →
Fly Me Out, or Hire Someone Local?
Sometimes you should hire local, and I’d tell you so. Someone who lives there knows the light, the seasons, the venue and the other vendors. That’s a real advantage.
What’s different about flying me out is that you already know exactly what you’re getting. You’ve seen long galleries rather than ten frames chosen to sell you. And I’m not working an hourly block, which at a destination is usually where the photographs you keep actually come from.
Ask Your Resort About the Outside Vendor Fee
It decides more than people expect
Most resorts charge an outside vendor fee to bring in a photographer who isn’t on their preferred vendor list. It runs from a few hundred dollars to a few thousand, and it is easier to deal with before the venue contract is signed than after.
It is often waivable
Many resorts drop the fee entirely if your photographer stays on property for two or three nights. That one clause can be worth more than the fee itself, and it almost never comes up unless you ask.
Get it in writing, then send it to me
Ask your venue for their outside vendor policy in writing, then send it to me. I’ll read it and tell you exactly what it means for your quote, before anything is signed.
I Do the Paperwork Properly
There is a shortcut, and I don’t take it
The common workaround is to turn up as a guest who happens to have a camera. It’s doable. I work with the system honestly instead, because I like to work in a professional way without risk.
Work visas, where they’re required
I’ve gone through the process for Mexico and for Turks and Caicos, and I’ll do it for wherever you’re getting married. There are sometimes fees, and they go in the quote with everything else.
Why this is your problem, not just mine
It is paperwork I handle, start to finish, and you will not hear about it again. I raise it at all because most couples don’t know to ask, and because a photographer who skips it is taking a risk on your wedding day.
Destination Wedding Questions
Do you travel for destination weddings?
Yes, everywhere. I’ve photographed weddings across the United States and internationally. Travel is built into destination quotes so there are no surprise fees. Turks and Caicos, Cabo San Lucas, Maui, Montana and Greece are a few recent examples.
Are you legally able to work in another country?
Yes. I’ve gone through the work visa process for Mexico and for Turks and Caicos, and I’ll do it for wherever you’re getting married. There’s a common workaround where the photographer simply arrives as a guest with a camera, and I don’t use it. I’d rather work with the system honestly and without risk. It is paperwork I handle, and you will not hear about it again.
Our resort charges an outside vendor fee. How does that work?
Most resorts charge a fee to bring in a photographer who isn’t on their preferred list. It’s commonly several hundred to a couple of thousand dollars, and many resorts waive it entirely if your photographer stays on property for two or three nights. Ask your venue for their outside vendor policy in writing before you sign, and send it to me. I’ll tell you what it means for your quote.
What does destination wedding photography cost?
Collections and packages range from $5,000 to $15,000 depending on coverage and scope. Travel is quoted per destination once I know the location and dates, and it covers the flight, the hotel and ground transportation, nothing else. I don’t charge a per diem and I cover my own meals. You can set a ceiling on flight costs if you’d rather, and I do the booking myself. Whatever we agree is what it is.
Should we hire someone local to our destination instead?
Sometimes you should, and I’d tell you so. A local photographer knows the light, the seasons and the venue. What you get by flying me out is different: you’ve already seen how a whole day of mine looks, not ten frames chosen to sell you, and I’m not working an hourly block.
We don’t live in Minnesota. How does the included engagement session work?
Every collection includes an engagement session and we can do it anywhere. Some couples fly me out for it, some have me shoot it where the wedding will be so we both learn the place early, and some want to meet somewhere neither of us has been.
What if we’d rather not travel twice?
Then we use the session during the wedding week instead. Usually the day before, or around the rehearsal or the welcome dinner. You still get the session you paid for, we get comfortable with each other before the day itself, and nobody books a second set of flights.
How long do you stay?
That’s yours to decide. At minimum I fly in a day early, in case of delays, and photograph the wedding day. At the other end I’ll stay the whole week and document all of it: the welcome dinner, a session in the ocean, hikes, whatever you’re doing with your families while everyone is in one place. Most couples land somewhere in between, and we work that out when we talk.
How do I know you’ll actually get there?
I fly constantly, and my gear flies with me as routine rather than as a special arrangement. I hold Delta Platinum, which means priority booking, priority baggage handling and waived fees on equipment bags. I fly Delta wherever I can and switch airlines when Delta doesn’t serve a route or the fare makes no sense. I also arrive a day early as a rule, so a delayed flight is an inconvenience and not a problem.
What happens if you get sick or injured?
I’ve never missed a wedding in 17 years. I shot one five days after ACL surgery. In the rare event something truly prevented me from being there, I’d arrange a photographer on your behalf and you would approve them, not me.
Do you have backup equipment?
Yes. I shoot with two cameras at all times, both writing to dual memory cards simultaneously so every image is captured twice in real time. Full backup bodies, lenses and cards travel with me, and every image is backed up to multiple locations before I fly home.
How many photos will we receive, and when?
Most weddings deliver 400 to 600 final edited images depending on coverage. Sneak peeks go out shortly after. Full galleries arrive within 4 to 8 weeks, individually hand-edited. No batch filters, no outsourced editing.
Do we get the full resolution files and printing rights?
Yes. High-resolution digital images are delivered with complete rights to print, share and post however you want. No watermarks, no restrictions.
Do you shoot alone?
I shoot solo by default. That’s how I stay present and connected with you, and at a destination it means one extra person at your table rather than two.
How far in advance should we book?
I photograph a limited number of weddings each year and peak dates book well in advance, sometimes more than a year out. Destination dates need the most lead time because of travel and your guests’ plans, so reach out sooner rather than later.
Tell Me Where You’re Getting Married
Tell me where you’re getting married and what drew you there. Send the dates and what you’re picturing, and I’ll come back with how travel works for that part of the world, what the range looks like, and an honest answer about whether I’m the right person for it.
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