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 wedding, keep reading.

Conduct an Interview Over the Phone

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

When hiring a wedding photographer for any destination wedding, including in Hawaii, you should not only ask for references, but see if they can provide a reference in your area. Ideally, you could call or email the prior client and ask about the service, whether satisfied with the work and if they would hire the photographer again.

Bring a Photographer From Home

Many professional photographers will travel with you, but it can be expensive. If you’re prepared to spend the extra money, bringing a photographer from home allows you to meet the individual in advance, review their work personally and choose the photographer that you actually want.

However, bringing your photographer with you from home can be very expensive. In addition to the photographer’s fees, you will be responsible fro their airfare, transportation to and from the airport, hotel accommodations and a per diem for food. To save money, many brides book their photographer’s hotel at a nearby, cheaper alternative rather than at their own, more expensive resort.

Ask Your Venue or Hotel for Advice

Weddings are popular in Hawaii and because most hotels or venues hold weddings every weekend, so they have a chance to work with and evaluate hundreds of local photographers. Ask them which Hawaii wedding photographer they’d recommend or, better yet, ask who they would hire to shoot their own wedding.

Author: Trevor Price. For great information on wedding preparation tips, see weddingpreptips.com, a popular site providing helpful pre-wedding insights, such as finding a Cincinnati wedding DJ, California yacht weddings, and many more!