Wedding Photographer from Destiantion or From Home????

One thing i've learned from other brides is not to skimp out on the pictures.. so i am undecided about weather to pay for a photographer in cancun (thinking of the expensive DEL SOL because of their amazing pictures OR flying out an amazing photographer from my home town how is willing to do it all free if we fly them out there or pay for their stay don't know which because my meeting isn't for another few weeks but until that meeting and i make my decision wondering what others did or are going to to...

I am bringing my photogrpaher from home.  There are obviously benefits to each:

Using a photographer from Mexico:  1) the photographer you select will likely have photographed weddings at your resort and will be able to take those post-wedding pictures a little bit quicker, 2) if you do a TTD and want to leave the resort, a local photographer will be able to take you to some great spots, 3)  potentially less expensive (though not likely if you are looking at Del Sol)

Flying a photogrpaher in:  1)  you get a LOT more pictures - as they will take pictures the entire time you have them booked at the resort, 2) you will have a chance to build a relationship with this photographer before your wedding day (by means of an engagement session), 3)  for the wedding day and TTD there will be no time constraints

Things to think about:

- You have to find a photographer from home that will give you a good deal.  When I went to a bridal show and got cornered by a photographer, she said that she loves to do destination photography and would be willing to travel for the cost of the travel (flight + hotel) IN ADDITION TO her normal wedding day fee.  Uh, I don't think so!  The photographer I selected ended up giving us what I consider to be a great deal because he is excited about the trip:  we pay for the flight and hotel for he and his wife plus an additional sum of money and in return we get an engagement session, bridal portrait session, and photography the entire time he is traveling with us (we plan on having him take picture of: the rehearsal, wedding day, excursion, and TTD)

- How long to book the photographer at the resort.  I chose to book our photographer and his wife at our resort for 5 nights - which is the length of time family will be staying.  That length of vacation will ensure he is there for all of the events I want photographed as well as allow him time to enjoy the trip a bit.  I am of the opinion that a photographer that enjoys his or her trip will take better pictures.

-  If you bring a photographer from home, you should consider scheduling a meeting with them to scout out the resort property.  I will be getting married on a Saturday and I plan to spend 1-2 hours with the photographer on Friday to walk around the resort and pick out all of the locations to take pictures for the wedding day and TTD.

- You might want to try out a photographer from home BEFORE committing to bringing them to your DW.  We had our engagement pictures taken a full year before our wedding so I could see if I liked his work prior to signing a contract.

Hope that helps and best of luck.

Courtney

Amazing points Courtney.  We started looking at photographers at our destination as we expected to "save some money" by booking someone local... in the end I think it is costing us MORE than it would have to have brought a photographer from home... OH WELL.... too late now but I think Courtney has touched on some great points here to consider!

Thought some photographers say you pay their package price AND their flight and hotel not ALL will.  I ended up finding that what I heard most was that if you book and pay for their trip that they basically do the photography for free (then books, prints etc on top of that) OR you pay the trip and a "lump sum" usually a discounted rate and they photograph the ENTIRE trip.  I am kind of wishing we had done this now as you would have pictures of your guests through the whole week, at the beach, the pool. dinner etc. 

RESEARCH RESEARCH RESEARCH - check out some photogs at home, find a style and feeling you like.  Find out what their "deal" is and then if you are happy with that meet with them.  You need to mesh well with your photographer.  Decide what is important for you.  Pictures were EXTREMELY important to us and are taking up about 30% of our budget but I feel it is the one thing we will have to look back on and that is SO SO important!

We have thought about this topic and finally came to a conclusion!! We are flying a photographer out there with us! Our resort that we chose will not allow outside vendors unless they are staying at the resort for three nights!

We figured all that we are going to have left after our wedding is our memories and our pictures. I want them to be amazing and I don't think that you can really put a price tag on that. I honestly think it is the largest part of our budget but it is going to be far worth it in my own opinion!!

Good luck deciding... Let us know the outcome!!

My FI and I battled for a while over this topic.  I wanted to bring someone from home and he wanted to hire someone locally.  I should tell you all we are on a super tight budget as we are both students and paying for everything ourselves.  He assumed it would be cheaper to hire someone locally then to bring one with us.  We started looking into photographers from home and were quoted (for the most part) rediculous prices.  They wanted us to pay for them to fly there and their hotel plus for the pictures. 

In the end we did end up hiring someone locally from Jamaica and even though I havent had my wedding I am extremely happy we chose who we did. 

There are pros and cons to both, for us it just wasnt in the budget to bring someone from home.

Well i think it may just be cheaper since the photographer is including my engagement pict with the whole thing!!! I might even change my mind about the Trash The Dress session since his portfolio has so mnay beautiful ones!!! Also he made a good point he will be shooting for 3 days as  opposed to someone in cancun is only shooting for 6 hrs in one day! hmmm good points!

I looked at both myself (although from the beginning I wanted the ones from home):

The ones from home I'm paying for the least expensive package plus air and hotel. And there's 2 of them. I also get the engagement shoot. And they will be attached to the hip with us/family/friends for 3 days in mexico

The local photographers I looked into had a huge range in prices with the most expensive (and of course the one I liked the most) coming in at pretty close to what the home ones cost (plus air/hotel).

I'm really excited about using my home ones - they will be taking pictures on the plane with our guests too! (we are going a day ahead of time)

Who are you using?!?
 

Originally Posted by JenFL 

I looked at both myself (although from the beginning I wanted the ones from home):

 

The ones from home I'm paying for the least expensive package plus air and hotel. And there's 2 of them. I also get the engagement shoot. And they will be attached to the hip with us/family/friends for 3 days in mexico

 

The local photographers I looked into had a huge range in prices with the most expensive (and of course the one I liked the most) coming in at pretty close to what the home ones cost (plus air/hotel).

 

I'm really excited about using my home ones - they will be taking pictures on the plane with our guests too! (we are going a day ahead of time)

We are flying in our photographers from home too.  We hired two photographers who are a husband and wife team.  They are willing to shoot an engagement session pre depature, our welcome dinner, unlimited hours on the wedding day and a full day TTD session the next day and  all in exchange for just the cost of their flight and accomodations for the week.  Seeing as we booked a group and get a person free for each 10 people booked, we're actually getting both photographers for the price of one all inclusive vacation!  We looked at a few Jamaican photographers who seemed amazing, but it was much cheaper to work with someone from home. And we liked the fact that they had shot a few of our friends weddings who had been super happy with them, and we are developing a relationship with them.  In the end I think it worked out well for them as they can expand their portfolio with destination weddings and we get two great photographers who's company we enjoy all for a great price!  Couldn't be better!

Before deciding on something I would defnitely shop around.  You'll only get one wedding day, and I can only imagine how quickly that day will fly by!  The pictures will be what stands the test of time. 

We're bringing our photographer with us.  Shes actually a family friend, and we paid for one of her packages including a minimal fee, it also included our engagement pictures.. the way I see it, she takes atleast 1000 pictures at a wedding here, imagine a week with us! Also, I felt like the photographers at the resorts limit you to a number of pictures as well as time.  Also, something important is to see if you can get the rights to your pictures so you can print them on your own and do whatever you like with it.  Good luck!