Destination Wedding Photographer
Hi, I’m SJ, welcome to my Destination Wedding Photography hub!
If you’re planning your own destination wedding, this hub is here for you! Treat it like a resource with helpful tips, inspiring real weddings and a place to calm any worries.
Your destination inspiration!
Between myself and my husband Matt, we’ve photographed dozens of destination weddings so we’ve got you covered!
That also means we’ve probably photographed a wedding in the part of the world you’re planning your wedding too.
Below are a small selection of my favourite real weddings from all over the world:
Destination Wedding Photographer
Hi, I’m SJ, welcome to my Destination Wedding Photography hub!
If you’re planning your own destination wedding, this hub is here for you! Treat it like a resource with helpful tips, inspiring real weddings and a place to calm any worries.
Your destination inspiration!
Between myself and my husband Matt, we’ve photographed dozens of destination weddings so we’ve got you covered!
That also means we’ve probably photographed a wedding in the part of the world you’re planning your wedding too.
Below are a small selection of my favourite real weddings from all over the world:
Check Availability
Each year, I get booked up very fast so please get in touch to check my availability for your date as soon as possible to avoid disappointment.
45+ 5 Star Google Reviews
Recent Destination Wedding Photography
I’m very lucky to travel the world photographing beautiful weddings around the world – from Mexico to Thailand, and you can check out some of thise real weddings below!
Click to see full wedding:
It’s so exciting! Getting married somewhere totally different is a dream come true for so many of us – so you’ve found a place that you love, a place that you know your family and friends will love too, but what now?
Since you’re on this page, I’m guessing you’re looking for a destination wedding photographer (or want to be one… if so scroll down to the bottom to find out our tips!)
“The happiest photographer ever!”
You get to celebrate with your closest family and friends, leaving all the family politics back home (and the rain if you’re from the UK like me!). There’s nothing quite like the experience of a destination wedding.
So with your excitement and adventure levels being through the roof, now is the time to figure out how you want to remember it!
NO POSING, NO TIMETABLES & NO PRESSURE
“Our wedding photos went from being not all that important to VERY important as soon as we saw SJ’s images, we just had to have her!
I was so awe-struck that I actually booked her before we confirmed the venue!!!
I just loved the light, ethereal quality of her images.
She is so lovely, so upbeat and so happy that she made our wedding day so wonderful and the images have captured the day so well that we are instantly transported back in time whenever we look at them!”
– Ben & Meg
Why Choose A Destination Wedding Photographer?
Experience – I’ve photographed over 200 weddings, many of which have been outside of my home country. I’ve been able to streamline my destination wedding photography so that you get the best pictures possible
Style – my signature soft, pastel style, full of laughter and love is combination that I adore but is pretty rare to combine the two the way I love to, if you want that for your wedding pictures, then I’m your girl!
Language – speaking the same language (and for me, enough French Spanish and Italian to get by) helps make sure your wedding experience is easy and relaxed. Your destination wedding photographer is the one vendor at your wedding who you’ll have such close contact with, so I believe it’s really important to know who you’re getting and that they’re ablate interact with you and your guests easily
Professionalism – because of my experience photographing weddings in many different countries, I’m keenly aware of the difficulties and logistics of photographing in a different country and so I have a number of things prepared to mitigate any possible hick ups!
What Is It Like Hiring A Destination Wedding Photographer?
Because I’ve already made sure I know where I’m going, I’ll be at your wedding in exactly the same way I would be if you were getting married at home.
We’ll have prearranged a time for my arrival, which I’ll discuss with you beforehand to make sure I’m ablate get the best images possible.
Most of the time, that looks like spending some time with the girls as they’re finishing off getting ready, then diving right in to your ceremony!
Photography you love
If you have a first look arranged, we’ll have a pre-planned location for this, but sometimes things change on the day – whether that’s logistics or the weather – so I’ll have a few backup location in mind too.
So if there are any problems the day, it’ll be covered.
The same goes for your ceremony – if you’re getting married at an official venue, your coordinator will be on top of everything, but if you’re having a more elopement style destination wedding we’ll get make sure it’s amazing no matter what.
Whether you have a friend, celebrant or official marrying you, I’ll make sure I know how everything is going to be working so that you can just relax in to the moment, enjoying it for all it’s worth – this bits the reason we’re here after all!
For the rest of the wedding day, I very much work with what’s happening around me – I’ll be capturing all those beautiful and elegant moment throughout the day that you were part of, that you missed, that you never want to forget.
From family pictures, to your wedding portraits and through to the dancing I’m looking for that beautiful light and raucous laughter that defines my style – sometimes you’ll see me, sometimes you’ll forget I’m even at your wedding, but by the end, we’ll have some beautiful pictures to show for it!
What’s The Process, And How Do I Book?
I’d love to be a part of your wedding, nothing makes me happier! But what are the next steps?
First, I’d love for you spend some time over on the About Page to see if my style and service is everything you’re looking for.
I want us to be the perfect fit, and that’s more important than ever if you’re hiring me as your destination wedding photographer.
Next, over on the prices page you can find all the important details of cost and what’s included – my pricing is super simple, so you’ll be able to see exactly what you want straight away.
I’d love to meet you!
If everything you see gets you as excited as me, then it’s time to make contact! Hit the contact button here (or at the top of the page!) to go let me know a little about your special plans and to check my availability!
I’ll absolutely get back to you within 24 hours so if you don’t hear from me, my reply to you has either gone to spam, or something didn’t quite work as it was supposed to so please don’t hesitate to let me know via the contact form again.
If I’m available we can get you all booked in, which is a super simple and fast process simply requiring a completed booking form (which takes 5 minutes to fill out) and a deposit.
Because I’m a super low-maintenance photographer, I’m not going to hassle you with all sorts of logistics leading up to the wedding – but if you’d like to email me, never hesitate, I’d love to hear from you.
We can discuss final plans for how your wedding is going to go approximately 1 month before (though do feel free to ask me questions and advice along the way) – that way I know we’ve got everything covered with all the details pinned down.
Some of my couples like to go through all the details with me, other couples like to just send me a quick email with timings on the week before the wedding – either is totally fine for me, I want you to enjoy the lead up in exactly the way you want to enjoy it, so don’t feel any pressure that you should be doing anything a particular way!
How Much Does It Cost For You To Be Our Destination Wedding Photographer?
I know that planning a destination wedding requires a lot of planning, this is why I offer an all inclusive price covering all my transport and accommodation so that you are free to focus on planning all the fun details and decorations for your day without extra logistics! My aim is to make your wedding day as stress-free and enjoyable as possible. There are add ons if you’d like them, but of course that’s totally up to what you’d like. For the full run-down of everything that’s included, and what everything costs definitely check out my full Prices Page .
So what’s included?
- Fairytale images – just like the beautiful images you see here, your pictures will have my signature, soft pastel feel
- A fast & dedicated service – my diary is sparse to give you the best service possible meaning you get your final collection fast
- Full-day coverage – just like wedding at home, I’ll provide full wedding coverage between 8-10 hours
- All travel costs – I take care of all the travel and logistics so that you don’t have another thing to organise (it’s not like planning a wedding is challenging enough already!)
- Quick, effective communication – planning a destination wedding can be extra difficult, so I reply to your messages as fast as possible
This is just the start – make sure to get the lowdown and full pricing details over on the Prices Page!
What’s It Like Being A Destination Wedding Photographer?
For a lot of photographers, becoming destination wedding photographer is the ultimate dream – it looks like the best job ever, getting to do what you love, all whilst travelling the world and seeing amazing places.
In many ways, that’s true, but there are some major caveats! Myself and my husband Matt are both destination wedding photographers (ha, yes we’re each others competition!), so between us we have quite a lot of experience under our belts, so hopefully this section can let you in on some secrets and details if you’re interested in becoming destination wedding photographer too!
Adventure awaits!
When it comes to the work itself, there’s not much difference – your gear is your gear, and by now I’m sure you know it well!
If you’re crossing cultures and not working with a couple from your home country then there might be significant differences between wedding days, but that’s pretty easy to get a handle on, simply speaking with your couple.
It’s important then to be prepared for the unexpected so that you’re lined up with good light and good timing whilst you’re working!
So what are the differences?
First, it’s way harder work than a wedding in your own country – I can’t overstate how much extra work it is if you don’t speak the local language well (or at all!).
It might be easy at the airport or your hotel where everyone speaks English but as soon as you hit the wedding itself it’s likely a totally different story.
Think of all the times as a photographer at home you need to interact with people at a wedding and now imagine it’s 100 times more difficult to communicate.
It could easily turn into a bit of a nightmare! We’ve developed a bunch of tips and methods that make this way easier, but it’ll still add to that fun destination wedding exhaustion level!
Sign up below if you want to receive our tips on getting into the destination wedding market, and our tips for making the most of it whilst you’re there (for your clients, and for you!).
Next it’s worth noting that it takes more effort to maintain your normal professionalism.
At home you’re probably able to arrive at a wedding and just start working… you’re GPS works perfectly every time, there’s almost never unexpected traffic… it’s all those little logistics at home that are easy that simply aren’t when you’re not on home soil.
Extra time is the solution here, on everything! Don’t be tempted to wing it (even if this is your tenth time on Lake Como, have a buffer!)
We’ll always arrive in country 2 days before the wedding – when you take over 60 flights per year, you realise just how regular delays and cancellations are… but they’re not a problem with a little extra buffer!
The hard work pays!
Over the last few years we’ve only had two flight where the cancellations were so bad that it ate into our one day buffer – but we were still able to do a great job for our clients because we weren’t stressed (or completely missing!!)
And lastly, about that vacation-y bit? It might not be all it’s cracked up to be either!
The vast majority of the time you’ll want to get home to your partner/kids/friends/family sooner than you realise – so take that into consideration when planning your travel!
We often find ourselves returning home the day after the wedding rather than sticking around to explore or vacation – so definitely consider whether how freely you’re able to travel in a destination is a big factor in becoming a destination wedding photographer.