They aren’t kidding when they say your wedding goes by fast - definitely way too fast. After your wedding is all said and done, the photos will never fade and carry every memory of the day. Choosing your photographer is arguably one of the most important decisions in wedding planning, and definitely comes with homework. Before you start asking all the questions, you need to start by narrowing down your top choices and choose who to interview.
Photographers use their website and social media as their portfolio. Looking through these will answer some questions, show you their photography style, and give you a feel of them as a photographer and person. Once you take time looking over those, move on to the must-know questions!
#1 Is my date available?
This should be an obvious question. If you want to hire them, they need your date available. Photographers can get booked up way in advance, so always double check they have your date open!
#2 Have you ever shot at our venue, or a similar venue before?
The exact venue is not really what’s important, but whether they have shot somewhere similar. For example, if your venue is very dark and moody, you’d want to see the other dark and moody venues they have shot at. This way you can see the style of their photos and make sure it’s what you’re looking for!
#3 Can we see a full wedding gallery? (or multiple)
You can get a sneak peak of the photographers work through their website and social media, but they are displaying their favorite or best images. Seeing a full gallery (or a few galleries) can show you if the quality of every photo is consistent.
#4 What wedding packages do you offer?
This will cover an area of things: customizations, amount of hours, engagement sessions, or prints being included. It will also give you the pricing to see if it's within your budget, if you have one.
#5 What is your back-up plan if you are unable to make my wedding?
This question may be more important than ever - especially when considering Covid-19. While the chances seem slim, they are not zero. You want to make sure you are covered if your photographer is sick or injured and can’t make it. The goal should be to get another photographer to your wedding while the original photographer would still process and edit the photos to their style.
#6 Can we give you a shot list?
If you’re anything like me, you have a Pinterest board full of inspiration photos you might want on your wedding day. Most photographers will be willing to get a shot list from you to get an idea of your vision and must-have photos. But remember you want the candid memories and not all posed photos recreating your Pinterest board!
#7 How do you keep my images safe?
Photographers should be happy to tell you how they keep your photos safe during and after the wedding! You want them to be able to walk you through their safety steps so you can ensure it is a priority to them.
#8 What is the booking process like?
This will give you answers for when they need a contract, retainer, and final payment. IF THEY DON’T HAVE A CONTRACT - RUN! Just trust me on that. Assuming they have a contract, take the time to read it over carefully before signing it.
What questions do you have for a professional wedding photographer? Let us know in the comments and we'd be happy to answer them!