Destination and Hawaiian weddings are beautiful, but it can be hard to hire a Hawaii wedding photographer when you’re hundreds of miles away. For tips and tricks on how to book the perfect photographer for your island or other destination wedding, keep reading.
Ask for a Phone Interview
If you can’t meet your Hawaii wedding photographer in advance, you should get a phone interview as a bare minimum. Remember, you’ll be spending the bulk of your wedding day with your camera person, so you want someone that meshes with your personal style.
Interviewing a service provider over the phone can be difficult, but try to get a sense for both their personality and photography style. Ask about the equipment used, preferred shots, picture technique and what you can expect for the price.
Review Their Portfolio
Hiring a photographer over a long distance can be difficult, but the Internet lets you browse portfolios and get samples via email in seconds. A good photographer should already have an online portfolio that you can review. If they don’t, then maybe you should look into someone else.
When you review a prospective photographer’s portfolio, look beyond the quality of their web design or flashy gimmicks and get right to the photos. Ask yourself if they tell a compelling story? Do you like the style and feel? Would you hang those photos in your home? Do the people look good or washed out?
Ask for Client Referrals or References in Your Area
Whether you’re hiring a wedding photographer for a destination wedding or a local one, you should always get references from past clients. You want to be able to ask a previous customer how they enjoyed the service, if they’d hire the photographer again and both the photographer’s strengths and weaknesses.
Bring a Photographer From Home
It can be costly, but bringing a wedding photographer with you to your destination wedding ensures that you can meet your photographer in advance, get comfortable with the person and have the photographer you want, not the one you have to choose out of necessity.
When booking a local photographer to travel, you will be expected to pay their travel expenses, including flight, airport transfer, hotel and a modest per diem for food. You’ll also be required to pay for their services on the day of the wedding, which can get fairly expensive when coupled with your other wedding preparations.
Ask Your Venue or Hotel for Advice
Almost every weekend, most venues and hotels on the Hawaiian islands have at least one wedding – that means they see hundreds of local photographers. So, ask them to recommend a Hawaii wedding photographer or see if they’ve worked with your prospective photographer in the past. You’ll get an insider opinion from local wedding experts.
