Destination Wedding
There is something to be said about having a destination wedding! It’s so intimate and romantic and you are truly surrounded by the people who love you the absolute most. This was really my third destination wedding where I went with the couple from Knoxville to the destination (I shoot lots and lots of destination weddings in the Smokies where couples come from their home states to TN) and it was my first wedding getting to shoot at the beach. I had originally planned on doing a styled shoot at the beach (which I still did) in order to have some beach experience and try to book my own beach wedding. But before I even got to do that, Chaney and Andy hired me and I cannot tell you how much I LOVE shooting oceanside! The best part to me are the color tones. Everything has a bright neutral tone to it. Shooting a destination wedding at the beach is totally different than shooting a destination wedding in the mountains. So for all my photographer friends reading this (and because another photographer asked for some tips on shooting at the beach), I want to share three tips that I learned that made shooting a bit easier!
- Lighting. Lighting is hard at the beach. There is NO shade when you’re standing in the sand. And 9 times out of 10, there’s bright, harsh sun. The obvious suggestion is to shoot at sunset. But let’s face it… how often do couples plan their ceremony time so that you are getting to take all the pictures at sunset??? hardly ever, and even if they did, there’s really not enough golden hour to do ALL the pictures. So to give you a realistic, practical tip I want to first talk about where the sun is coming from. Depending on the time of day and what coast you’re on, the sun is either going to be shining into the ocean, into the hotel’s/houses, or perpendicular to the shore. In my particular case, it was shining into the ocean. Ideally, I always try to put the sun behind my clients so that their faces are completely shaded, but in this case, if I did that, the hotels would be behind them and that is totally not cute. If I put them with the ocean in the back ground though, then the sun is shining straight on their faces and it makes them squint really bad. So instead, I angle them so that the sun is shining on half of their face and I meter for the sunny side of their skin. I definitely have to do some adjustments to the shadowed part of their skin when editing, but I think this is the best way to handle scorching sun directly on them. You’ll see this technique in action during the bridal party photos. The couple’s portraits was at sunset, so those are that creamy golden lighting. Also, one other thing if people are still squinting. Have them look down at their feet. Then you count to three and they all look up and smile and you take the shot. That is a sure fire way to get non squinty eyes!
- If you get the opportunity to put the ocean behind your couple (solely based on where the sun is shining), you’ll notice that you might lose the detail of the water because it’s SO bright. You can’t see the waves, or you can’t tell where the water ends and the sky starts. I have a solution for this that many of you probably already know, but may not have practiced yet. Bump up your aperture. I’m talking like 3.5+. You’re sacrificing your beautiful bokeh when you do this, but your gaining beautiful water and clouds. Because you’re sacrificing the bokeh, I encourage you to also do some in the 1.8-2.2 range where the bokeh is great and your water and sky are over exposed. I also did not have an issue with this during the bride and groom romantic portraits, but again, during bridesmaid and groomsmen photos, you can see this implemented!
- This third one is less technical and more personal. Wear shoes that can stay on your feet the entire day. It is hard to find a versatile shoe that can get wet and sandy, not flip off your foot, not be too hot in the heat, and still be comfortable. I have found it though. It’s the Chaco. And not just any Chaco, the chaco with the Z-cloud sole. I tighten my straps in the sand so they aren’t falling off my feet. They tread through the deep sand, they get soaked in the tide coming in, but I never felt like I had to spend time taking them off and on. The sand worked it’s way out of the straps within 5 minutes of walking on sidewalks. They were literally perfect. Everyone knows how quickly weddings go. Who the heck has time to sit down, wash off their feet, dry them, and slide them back into a shoe? Not any wedding photographers… that’s for sure. Chacos are game changers. It’s entirely worth it. This is my second wedding season in mine and they still look amazing. and just as comfortable as day one.
The Wedding Day
I want to start out by saying how obsessed I am with the whole bridal party wear. I wish so bad that linen pants were cool to wear in Knoxville, TN too. The bridesmaids’ dresses were not even technically bridesmaid dresses. I believe the bride said they were $30 and one of her friends sewed the lace detail around the bottom. They were literally perfect. Then I LOVED how the guys wore khaki linen pants and Andy wore white linen pants. But really, lets talk about Chaney’s dress!!! Have you ever seen a gown more perfect for a beach wedding? The detail on it reminded me of sea shells and then the back… holy cow. They’re arbor at the ceremony was also incredible. I personally feel like if you do a beach wedding, have a fantastic arbor is so necessary. Since the ocean seems endless behind you and the beach is so vast on either side, it only makes sense to have some amazing something to frame in where your standing. The flowers were incredible but I also really really loved her lanterns around it.
I am so so thankful that Chaney and Andy let me come photograph their wedding day. It was so perfect in so many ways! Of course, as you could imagine, the couple, their families, and wedding party went down the week before the wedding. They got all the decor together, set up as much as they could, and relaxed. But the entire week leading up to the wedding it rained. Chaney and her mom were super stressing. Even at the rehearsal dinner the night before, it was saying that the forecast was 60% chance of rain. And then… Jesus happened. Clouds were removed, rain was detoured, and it was the most beautiful day all day long. And ironically enough, we ended up being thankful for the rain all week because it cooled it down so much!
One last thing that was really cool. It’s inevitable that when you have a destination wedding, there will be people that mean so much to you that can’t come. Chaney’s mom and sisters put together a video for Chaney and Andy full of clips from those people. They would tell them congrats, give them marriage advice, make some jokes, etc… You’ll see below a series of images where Chaney and Andy are standing in the middle of the reception and all the people are looking up at one spot. They are laughing, getting watery eyed, and hugging one another. Those were the moments watching this video at the reception. It was so cool. If you are related to someone doing a destination wedding… I so encourage you to do this. It’s super easy if you just text all the people that can’t make it and ask them to send you a video for it, you can easily burn them to a DVD and then it can be played at the reception!
Whoever is planning a destination wedding right now… keep me in mind, because it was AWESOME! Don’t forget to see all the vendors that Chaney and Andy used at the very end of this post!
Other sessions you may be interested in:
Charleston, SC Destination Wedding
Destination Wedding in the Smokies
Vendors used at this wedding:
Venue: Dimucci Towers
Wedding Coordinator: Lyndsey Roberts Photography and Events
Videographer: You and I Pictures
Cake Artist: Treats and Sweets Cakery
DJ: James Duchon
Makeup and Hair Artists: Mollie and Bonnie Webb
Wedding Dress Store: White Lace & Promises
Wedding Dress Designer: Maggie Sottero
Officiant: Knotical Weddings and Photography
The Guide
A lot of moving pieces go into planning a wedding day timeline, and we know it's easy to feel like a hot mess! Grab our free guide to plan the perfect timeline for your day.
