Submitted from an anonymous Maui photographer
Aloha fellow Hawaii Photographers!
I shoot a fair amount of wedding on Maui’s public beaches and 99% of my experiences have been wonderful. Most everyone on the beach is so excited to see a wedding happening. Every couple getting married (when there are a few weddings in the same area) are so sweet and congratulatory to the other couples. There really is a lot of Aloha that is spread around on Maui’s beautiful beaches.
There are those very rare occasions though when people are not at their best. All wedding vendors need to keep in mind that Maui’s public beaches are just that…public. Even small Makena Cove is public, which is known for small beach weddings. Anyone has a right to be there.
During one of my weddings on a somewhat crowded beach, the groom unfortunately heard another photographer say to his own couple “Whose wedding photos are more important …. theirs or yours?” As a professional photographer, I would never say that to a couple of mine. That is petty, unprofessional and embarrassing. It put a bad memory in my couples minds from their wedding experience. We were able to keep shooting and have a good time, but my couple didn’t forget that rude comment. Fortunately that is a very rare occurrence.
The wedding industry here on Maui is not about the wedding vendors, it is about the happy couples. Being respectful of peoples special wedding day is of utmost importance. Not only for the couples getting married but also for our wedding industry. The more people having a great time getting married on Maui, the better our industry will become.
And now that weddings are starting to happen again, we should put other vendors and our couples and their families into the right frame of mind. Even if there are 6 weddings happening on a small beach, reinforce how important it is that each couple is equally important to all of us in the big picture.
AND, if having beach photos without other people or other weddings is important, do more scouting and find spots that are less popular and a little harder to get to. Everyone wins!
