Top 5 Questions to ask before hiring a Wedding Photographer

Questions to ask a Wedding Photographer

Your guide to help you during your wedding planning process, from a wedding photographer perspective

Choosing the right Wedding Photographer is probably one of the most important choice you have to do when planning your wedding. It will be crucial in order to fully enjoy the wedding day itself and to keep everlasting memories of your best day ever! The best way to be sure to find a good fit for your wedding is to interview a potential wedding photographer and ask him/her some specific questions. We cannot stress it enough: do not book any wedding vendor without a consultation! You need to know your wedding photographer and a good photographer needs to know you and be sure he’s a good fit for you.

During our experience as wedding storytellers we have met hundreds of couples, so we feel confident listing below some important questions to ask a wedding photographer during a consultation:

HOW WOULD YOU DEFINE YOUR PHOTOGRAPHY AND EDITING STYLE?

Every photographer has his own approach about weddings. Mainly you could find photographers who love to capture authentic moments without posing couples but also photographers who prefer a traditional approach with more static moments during the wedding. It could be clever to ask on what the photographer is going to focus more during the wedding. Perhaps it can be family, emotions, location, details, etc. All these elements could describe a photography style. But this is not enough. The editing process is the final stage of your photos and every photographer approches it differently. There are basically two main options: dark & moody (more contrasty and priority to shadows) vs light & airy (enphasis on highlights and some global desaturation). This will be very important for your final pictures so be sure to ask how your images will be edited.

WILL YOU PROVIDE US A CONTRACT? CAN WE GET A COPY OF IT?

Professional wedding photographs will send you a contract to sign up with details about package, wedding locations and time, delivery time for the products, payments schedule and eventually cancellation policy. Avoid photographers who do not provide contracts since it could be painful in the future in case of any problem. It could be also smart to ask the photographer to get a copy of its contract, have a look at it before hiring him and eventually discuss what you don’t understand or don’t agree with.

COULD YOU SHOW ME A COMPLETE WEDDING REPORTAGE?

In order to have a lighter website, photographers tend to show on it a selection of their best work with few pictures from different weddings and sessions. It can be enough to have an insight of his/her style but it cannot be enough to understand how the photographer will handle the whole wedding day. So always ask for a complete wedding gallery and be sure it fits your vision.

IF MY WEDDING LAST LONGER THEN SCHEDULED, WILL YOU STAY? IS THERE AN EXTRA CHARGE?

You may choose a wedding collection which includes 8 working hours and without clarifying what would happen after that time you could experience some problems. We’ve been talking to couples who had to pay hundreds of dollars afterwards or experienced delays from the photographer’s side delivering photos and his services. So be sure to clarify this option and take into account to eventually spend an extra charge for the extra hours. This is common, but again you want to be preparred and you want it be written in your final contract.

HOW DO YOU MANAGE UNFORESEEN SITUATIONS AT WEDDINGS (I.E. HEAVY RAIN, ILLNESS, CAR ACCIDENT, ETC…)

We all want weddings to go smooth but you want to be sure your wedding photographer knows how to handle this kind of situations. The answers you’ll get we’ll allow you to understand who much experienced the photographer is. During this question you want to hear clear instructions and ideas from your potential photographer. This will help you to fully rely on your wedding photographer.

Now you are ready to rock your consultation! Always keep in mind to be prepared when meeting a potential wedding photographer. With these questions to ask a wedding photographer you can be sure to find the right supplier for your amazing wedding.

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“Questions to ask a Wedding Photographer”