California
Destination wedding · San Diego
In short
Destination wedding in San Diego starts at $4,800: 10 hours on location with a photographer who works in San Diego, and 700 edited photos delivered to a private gallery within 6 weeks.
Why choose Destination wedding in San Diego?
A destination wedding in San Diego is ten hours of coverage, or the same hours split across a welcome party and the wedding day, with a second photographer throughout and 700+ retouched photographs, priced from $4,800. Couples flying in usually choose a resort that handles the whole weekend, and the Hotel del Coronado, a National Historic Landmark on Coronado Beach, is the one most often requested. Resort weddings bring their own rules on who may photograph where. The value of a photographer based in San Diego is knowing those rules before the contract is signed, not discovering them at the rehearsal.
Worth knowing about San Diego
Hotel del Coronado permits professional photography on its grounds only for contracted events, so a San Diego destination wedding held there is covered across the resort while a guest’s day-after session is limited to the public beach past the hot coal bins. Drone footage over the hotel needs FAA clearance, clearance from Naval Air Station North Island and at least $3 million in drone liability coverage.
What does the session in San Diego look like?
- Hotel del Coronado and Coronado Beach
- Red turrets, the Victorian veranda and the wide beach below, available on the grounds only to a contracted event.
- La Jolla clifftop resorts and Scripps Park
- Ocean-view ceremony lawns above the cove, with portraits on the public clifftop path afterwards.
- Balboa Park
- A welcome-party or day-two portrait setting with Spanish Colonial Revival architecture, unaffected by tide or wind.
What does destination wedding in San Diego include?
- 700+ retouched photographs
- Ten hours of coverage, or split across two days
- Welcome-party or rehearsal-dinner coverage included
- Second photographer throughout
- Venue liaison, and guidance on any permit the location needs
- Private online gallery within 6 weeks
Permits at these locations: Balboa Park: A professional session needs a City of San Diego film registration, which is free.
FAQ — Destination wedding in San Diego
Can our own photographer work at a Hotel del Coronado destination wedding?
Yes, when the wedding is a contracted event at the Hotel del Coronado; the hotel reserves professional event photography for contracted events. Without a contracted event, professional photography on the hotel grounds is not permitted, and a San Diego destination couple’s day-after or welcome session moves to the public portion of Coronado Beach beyond the line of hot coal bins.
Can a drone film our Coronado destination wedding?
Only with extra paperwork. Hotel del Coronado’s filming policy requires proper licensing, FAA clearance, clearance from Naval Air Station North Island and aviation or drone liability coverage of at least $3 million per occurrence for any drone work, and recommends its preferred operator. A San Diego destination wedding wanting aerials books that operator separately and early.