How far in advance should I book a photographer for my destination elopement?

This is one of the biggest questions I hear couples asking and the answer depends on the photographer you are looking to hire and when you are getting married. Many couples like to get married on dates that are fun to remember like 2/20/2020. For these special dates, you may have to book years in advance and if the photographer is extremely popular, you may have to book a couple years in advance. For photographers that travel a lot, you are looking for 6 months to a year to book them. This allows them to book cheaper flights and get everything ready, because there’s a lot that goes into planning a destination elopement.

For photographers like me, that only concentrate on small areas like the western slope of Colorado and don’t desire to travel out of the state, you can normal book us for a weekend elopement 4-6 months before your elopement. If it’s a popular date, then you might want to consider a year. I’ve had couples change their date to hire me before, but if you plan everything right, you won’t have to. If you have an elopement during the week, you may be able to book a local photographer a few weeks before your elopement! Eloping during the week allows you to get so much more of what you want. Locations are normally not a problem during the week in Colorado unless it’s fall. The yellow aspen trees bring people out here like crazy, but the advantage of hiring a local, is that we know places to shoot that no other photographer will know of!

Like I said, it all depends on the photographer and where you are wanting to elope. Always look to see if the local photographers are good. If they are and they are in your budget, then that’s going to be your best bet. Local photographers may don’t have to charge travel fees and they know the area. Destination elopement photographers normally just go to all the popular places to shoot your elopement.

If you can book your elopement photographer a year in advance, you’ll be doing good. It’s very important that you look at multiple photographers, because it’s just going to be you and them. You need to get along with them.