when i mention i shoot destination wedding photography, a lot of people assume . as fun as it is, and as glamorous as it sounds, shooting destination weddings is quite challenging to be honest! while many wedding photographers rely on a hotel or other wedding reception venue’s ceiling to bounce a flash off for additional lighting, there is not that option outdoors. with a fast arsenal of lenses and creative use of flash, magic can happen. while moon dance villas and moon dance cliffs resorts currently let their brides and grooms bring their own photographer, some of the big chain resorts build photography into their package and charge high fees to bring a photographer of your choice to your wedding. one of the more popular hotel chains in the caribbean offers photography packages with less than 45 digital negatives, so i can see why bringing your own photographer makes sense!

more often than not, hiring a photographer to fly to your destination wedding is the best option for when you aim for quality and want peace of mind both during and after your big day. photographs need to be edited after the wedding and having a photographer in your own country doing this makes a lot of sense opposed to trying to reach a photographer by phone in another country. while i think most photographers will jump at the chance to shoot a destination wedding, there are some important things to consider when selecting your photographer. i have made over 25 trips in 2009 for photo shoots. not all photographers are used to traveling with expensive equipment. one of the tiring aspects of doing destination wedding photograph for me is that in a foreign country, i don’t leave my equipment anywhere out of sight. i bring everything with me, everywhere. it is important to hire a photographer that takes the job seriously and one that knows the pitfalls of leaving any photographic equipment unattended. when i travel for shoots, i arrive early to make sure that if there are any airport or weather delays, i will still have time to make it to the shoot. i regularly follow the TSA website for updates on traveling and baggage restrictions, and know the importance of what types of photographic accessories should be hand checked by security agents. i also have insurance that covers me on international shoots. while it is inevitable that you will have some wedding vendors from another country, it makes sense to have at least one vendor who is from your home country who is familiar with destination weddings.

when i asked laura sangster, a travel consultant who is a destination wedding planner “what is the single most important piece of advice you share with your brides?” she said “to relax!!! it is important to remember that most suppliers a bride will come in contact with when planning a caribbean wedding are based in the islands and they work on ‘island time.” this translates to longer than desired turn arounds on rate quotes and questions. i try to convince my brides to see the beauty in their more relaxed way of doing business because there really is nothing we can do to speed up the process. as a travel consultant, it is my job to stay on top of the process and make sure none of the delays cause us to lose reservation space.”

this wedding below was taken at moondance villas resort in negril jamaica. it was during the same week i was hired to do architectural resort photography for moondance cliffs, their sister resort.

the couple was from chicago and incorporated many tropical elements to their wedding day. they also incorporated a few jewish traditions during their wedding ceremony on the beach such as standing under a chuppah and the breaking of the glass.

the florist that moondance resorts had available was familiar with what species of flowers not only looked good, but also could stay looking fresh and withstand several hours of a wedding. certain cut flowers wilt faster than others and an experienced tropical wedding florist has the right knowledge.

after the wedding ceremony, the newlyweds were congratulated by their guests and signed their jamaica marriage license.

the sun was setting quickly so i informed the newlyweds that it would be great to utilize the last few moments before the sunset to get some great wedding photos on the beach.

red stripe is jamaica’s famous beer and each guest had a bottle with their table number on it. cute idea!

the bride and groom were named melissa and mark and had monogrammed boxes at each place setting with candy inside for their favors. can you guess what type of candy they used?

i have seen moondance villas and moondance cliffs set up for events and they do a great job always.

aside from tasting great, moon dance did an excellent job with food display and presentation.

colorful paper lanterns and strings of lights illuminated the dancefloor. because the west end part of negril is away from city lights, the sky was dark and clear for stargazing.

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