Destination Wedding Photography Tips: Las Vegas
Having a destination wedding can be glamourous but it often requires more planning then a wedding in your home town. Whether your photographer is local to the wedding area or not, it can be difficult to communicate effectively with your wedding photographer. Here are some destination wedding photography tips for all kinds of destination weddings, but especially for getting married in Sin City.
Tips for planning with your long distance wedding photographer:
- Lots of wedding photographers are available for travel so if you have favorite photographer ask them about traveling options.
- Because you proabably won't be meeting your photographer in person until the wedding day, try to 'meet' them online as much as you can. Before hiring them read their blog and throughly check out their website to make sure your personalities mesh. Out of all your wedding vendors, your photographer is the one you will be spending the most time with on your wedding day. Make sure you like them! You can also try to conferance call, Skype or Facetime with them to get a better feel of their personalities.
- If your photographer is local to the area while you are not; ask them about good places for photographs or ideas they might have. Local photographers are a great resources for all kinds of advice on local vendors or venues. Utilize that resource!
- Mail a wedding invitation to your photographer. It gives your photographer all the details and lets them have the opportunity to photograph your invitation.
- Keep the photographer in the loop when planning your wedding day time line. Your photographer will have a good idea of how long things will take and how long you will need for pictures as well as lighting conditions throughout the day.
- Give your photographer your hotel room number. Imagine your photographer stuck in the lobby when she should be with you for getting ready photos because you are too busy and/or stressed to look at your phone.
Las Vegas is a unique place to get married and it has some quirks about it. Like the fact that almost every wedding couple wants their picture taken at the famous Las Vegas Welcome sign - so there is a line. And on a big wedding weekend it can be a really long line so plan accordingly by giving your timeline lots of padding.
Most wedding chapels in Vegas (especially on the Strip) are strict about not allowing outside photography for the ceremony. They want you to use their in house photographer, which is not usually in your best interest for quality images. Here is a short list of my favorite Las Vegas wedding venues that DO allow you to use the photographer of your choice. There are lots of other amazing golf courses/country clubs, ballrooms, and private dining rooms in restaurants that all allow outside photography, just make sure you ask before you book with them.
- Lake Las Vegas Hotels (The Westin, The Ravella, and The MonteLago)
Even if you have your wedding at a venue that doesn't allow outside photographers, you have some options:
- Use the chapel photographer for the ceremony and then switch to your own hired photographer for the rest of the day.
- Most chapels let you pay a fee to not use their photographer and bring in your own.
- Let your hired photographer be a 'guest' at your wedding. A guest with a big camera ;) I've had successful results with this by just bringing in one camera to the chapel and sitting in the front pew. Most chapels let wedding guests take pictures during the ceremony as long as they don't use flash.
Some advice from some Las Vegas wedding professionals:
"I think my best advice is to schedule enough time. My wedding had a number of things go wrong which really cut down on our portraiture time and Neon Boneyard tour time. Add to that a slow-ass Cadillac that took FOREVER to get anywhere, and we missed our entire cocktail hour, and had to rush through most of our shots with no time to break for water or bathroom, basically. I think I scheduled two hours, but that didn't seem long enough for what all I wanted to capture. In retrospect, it was kind of dumb to think I could have it all!" - Kelly of Little Vegas Wedding Blog
"Have a Plan B! In certain months, it gets very windy and super hot, and we can even get snow out here. Consider that even though you might be okay with getting married in 120 degree weather, your guests might get irritable and be so distracted with the weather that they might not even be focusing on you! If you're interested in having a reception outside, definitely have a Plan B. Nothing ruins a wedding reception more than linens flying off the table, vases falling over, candles melting, or guests having to wear a snow jacket to your reception!" - Angelica of Green Orchid Events
Thank you, Kelly and Angelica for your words of wisdom! Anyone else have some awesome destination wedding photography advice?
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