Choosing where to get married is one of the most exciting parts of planning a destination wedding. Whether it’s a cliffside celebration on the Amalfi Coast, a barefoot ceremony in the Maldives, or a vineyard in the Cape Winelands, the location often sets the tone for everything that follows.
It’s easy to picture the views, the atmosphere and the celebration itself. What’s less obvious is how much the destination influences the way your wedding day unfolds. Over the years, I’ve found that the couples who enjoy their destination wedding the most are the ones who allow the destination to become part of the experience, rather than simply the setting for it.
Planning a wedding from another country can feel daunting, especially if you haven’t had the chance to visit the venue beforehand. Fortunately, an experienced planner and venue coordinator will often have the local knowledge to guide you through the practicalities.
When I arrive, I always spend time getting to know the venue before the wedding day. Years spent working in film location management taught me never to assume that a venue works the way it appears in photographs. I look at how the light moves through the space, where people naturally gather, how guests will move between different areas and how the space changes throughout the day.
Before the wedding, we’ll talk through your plans in detail so that I understand what’s important to you and anything you’d like me to be aware of. That preparation means I’m not discovering the location on your wedding day. I’m ready to photograph the day in a way that feels natural to you.
One of the easiest mistakes to make is trying to fit too much into the schedule. Destination weddings often include welcome dinners, family gatherings, excursions or a relaxed brunch the following day. It’s tempting to plan every minute because everyone has travelled so far to be there.
In reality, it’s often the unscripted parts of the day - the spaces between the schedule – that become the most memorable. A quiet walk together after the ceremony. Guests lingering over dinner as the sun sets. Five minutes to yourselves before joining the celebrations again.
Giving yourselves breathing room changes the feel of the entire day. It gives conversations time to happen, let’s guests settle into the celebration and means you’re less likely to spend the day chasing the schedule instead of enjoying it.
Sometimes those decisions are practical too. In Austria during summer, the evening light lasts beautifully late into the day. On Saadiyat Island in Abu Dhabi, outdoor ceremonies are often more comfortable once the midday heat has eased. Small adjustments like these don’t change the wedding; they simply help the day feel more comfortable for everyone.
One of the things I enjoy most about destination weddings is that they rarely begin when the ceremony starts. Guests often arrive a day or two beforehand. Families share meals together, friends reconnect and everyone has a chance to settle into the location before the celebrations begin. By the time the wedding day arrives, people are usually more relaxed than they would be at a traditional one-day wedding, and the atmosphere naturally finds its way into the photographs.
Those shared meals, the streets you wander the evening before, the landscape that greets your guests as they arrive and the conversations that continue long after dinner all become part of your wedding story. Years later, they’re often just as much a part of what you remember as the ceremony itself.
Thinking about the photography for your destination wedding? I’d love to hear what you’re planning, and where in the world you’ll be celebrating.
