Jul 24, 2024
Are you planning a destination wedding in Mexico? Well, first off, that’s so exciting! Mexico is a beautiful place for your destination wedding. Last year, I photographed a wedding in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico, and I’ve been dreaming of going back ever since!
Destination weddings are the perfect excuse to turn one day of celebration into a fun-filled weekend! I’m sure that most of your guests, if not all of them, will be traveling for your wedding. So, most people aren’t going to travel all the way to another country just for a night or two. I bet that most of them will happily use your destination wedding as an excuse to plan a vacation to that dreamy location! That said, hosting a welcome party for your guests is the ideal way to kick off your wedding weekend!
Keep reading to learn six reasons you should consider planning a welcome party for your destination wedding!
If you have a destination wedding (or even have family and friends traveling to your local wedding), your guests will be there for at least a few days. So you should maximize your time with loved ones and make the celebrations an entire weekend experience!
Not only is it fun to have lots of gatherings, but you get more time to mingle and chat with your people. Many couples feel pressure to speak to every person at their wedding, which honestly can cause a lot of stress and take away from your own special moments. Hosting a welcome party allows you to be more present throughout your wedding day while still feeling connected to everyone!
When you host a welcome party, you can design it with a totally different style than your wedding day. Many couples choose to have more fun and add unique elements that make it feel more like a party and less like a wedding. But even if you want your wedding day to feel like a colorful party, it’s still special to plan another event to celebrate your love in a unique way!
For this sweet couple (whose photos you’re seeing in this blog), their welcome party was a huge contrast to their wedding day. Their welcome party was very vibrant with the red and pink florals, whereas on the wedding day, the design was much more neutral with just white and green tones. You can read more about their luxurious wedding day here. I love how with welcome parties you can have a totally different vibe than a wedding day!
Welcome Parties are the perfect time for toasts. A lot of couples even plan time for an open mic where anyone can come up to share kind words, a funny story, or celebrate you!
While traditionally, the Father of the Bride, Maid of Honor, and Best Man give a toast on the wedding day, it’s sweet to hear words from even more loved ones. Or, if you would rather get to the dance floor sooner during your wedding reception, you can plan for all your toasts to happen at the welcome party!
Traditionally, the bride’s family plans the wedding, while the groom’s family hosts a rehearsal dinner or something the night before the wedding. Planning a Welcome Party gives the groom’s family a chance to host part of the wedding festivities (if that’s important to your family). It’s a sweet night, no matter what it looks like!
When I photograph welcome parties, I take a more documentary-style approach. It’s a great time to get candids with family and friends. On your wedding day, there’s such limited time for group photos, so this provides a time to have your photos taken with guests who otherwise may not make it in a wedding gallery.
As much as I love taking pictures of as many guests as possible on a wedding day, I prioritize serving you and capturing the most important wedding day moments. A welcome party gives you and your photographer more chances to get photos of as many of your favorite people together as possible!
It’s a time to truly have fun! While your wedding day should 10000% be fun, nerves or stress can sometimes take priority depending on different dynamics. Weddings tend to be more structured in doing specific things at specific times, leaving little wiggle room for unplanned moments.
But at your welcome party, you could have it be an actual party with dancing (or any activity you love and won’t have time for on your wedding day)! Enjoy eating good food, hanging out with your people, and ending the night by jumping in the pool (or ocean). The possibilities for your welcome party are endless! And as I’ve mentioned before, welcome parties really allow you to celebrate all weekend with your favorite people!
You’re dreaming of timeless, effortless, documentary-style images that feel completely “undeniably-you”. You value refined details and curated experiences, but never at the expense of real moments.
If this sounds like what you’re looking for, I’m Claire and you’ve just found your photographer. Knowing when to step in and step out, you’ll have all of the moments you wanted and those you didn’t even know you’d be hoping for.
Moments are constantly fleeting. That sounds depressing at first, but I don't mean it that way. More so, this reality gives me an incredible importance as a wedding photographer to capture the future memory within that moment as it truly happened. Isn't that a beautiful thing?
I'm not interested in photographing fabricated version of you or your day. I want to photograph the real stuff. The tears, laughs, and stolen glances... Your guests dressed to the nines and bringing the party on the dance floor. And mostly, the unplanned, undeniably-you moments during one of the biggest celebrations of your life.
If you're looking for a documentary-style photographer who appreciates all of the big and small moments, who will make your guests feel seen and known, and who truly cares about storytelling every moment that makes your day yours, you've found your match.
Here's the deal - I couldn't be more honored that you have seen something here that resonates with your soul. Are you wanting to take photos in the mountains? Your new home? The coast? I am available in Colorado and worldwide, no matter where your love takes you! I cannot wait to create undeniably-you photos together.
Most of my couples spend an average of $800-$1000 on sessions, whether that be for an engagement, just-because, bridal, or anniversary session. My goal is to be more than someone who shows up to snap photos. I'm there for you in every step of the planning process being more than just a photographer. Everything I do, I do with serving you in mind.
I CAN'T WAIT TO HEAR ALL ABOUT YOU AND YOUR LOVE.
pricing:
I am always adding to my travels for the year! Feel free to reach out and join me on one of my adventures or invite me on yours.
TRAVEL:
