Questions to Ask Your Wedding Photographer

What you need to know: When meeting with a photographer, it is important to specify not only the date of your wedding but also the time. It is not unusual for photographers to shoot one wedding in the morning and one in the evening, so give them all of the information to answer this question fully. It’s also important to ask if they will be the actual photographer or if they have a crew they outsource assignments to. If you’re in love with this particular photographer’s work, it may be a dealbreaker. You’ll also want to ask if they bring any assistants with them on your wedding day to get an idea of how much ground they’ll be covering.

Pro tip: "Photographers show their absolute best work on their websites, but you want to be sure that you're getting beautiful images from all the important moments of your wedding day. Ask to see a full wedding gallery from any photographer you are considering. The larger gallery of images—anywhere from 500 to 1200 images—gives you more insight into how a photographer captures the entire wedding day, including family formals, toasts, cake cutting, parent dances, and your first dance. These are all moments you will want captured, and seeing examples of these in your photographer’s work is important.” —Jennifer Domenick, Love Life Images, Inc.

What you need to know: The photographer's experience at your wedding venues will be an advantage since he/she shoule be more familiar with the potential as well as challenges that the venues possess. This is especially important if the venue has a unique lighting condition, either a low light, harsh sunlight, or mixed lighting.

Pro tip: “This is a legitimate concern for some couples, especially if they are looking at a venue that is very unique and provides lots of options for photography. However, choosing a photographer that has more than a few years of experience and who has worked at venues similar to yours should give you the confidence needed to still hire them regardless if they’ve worked there or not. A great solution is to ask your photographer if they can visit the property prior to the wedding day, even if it’s the day before the wedding, to become more familiar with where everything will take place. That way, you can both go into the wedding day confidently.” — Garrett Richardson Photography

What you need to know: Through your research (if the extent of your research is through Instagram that is 100% valid, as photographers often show their best work there), you probably have an idea of the styles and looks you would like to replicate on your wedding day. Questions to ask wedding photographer candidates can include, do you shoot digitally? With film? Or both? Are there particular settings and backdrops you prefer? If you're unsure about how they achieved a certain effect, this is a time when you can also communicate shots you liked from their portfolio (or in general!) to understand how they might capture a similar vignette.

Pro tip: "Every photographer has their own unique approach to their portfolio. It might be helpful to narrow it down to these three categories of style: Do you tend to like timeless or trendy; candid emotions or posed images; high contrast with lots of colors or photos with soft and organic tones? Of course, photography can be very subjective and isn’t necessarily as rigid as those specific categories, but it will definitely help you begin to narrow down what style you are drawn to and build from there.” — Garrett Richardson Photography

What you need to know: Everyone’s personality is different, so think about the type of energy and direction you’d like out of your photographer the day of your wedding so that when you ask this question, you know what kind of answer you want to hear. You may want someone who directs you each step of the way or someone really laid back that captures natural events seemingly from the shadows. Ultimately, being comfortable is number one. It’s also really important to ask if you can send over a specific shot list for the photographer to work with.

Pro tip: “This question can make or break your experience, depending on what you are hoping for. You will probably spend more time with your photographer than any other vendor on the wedding day so your trust in them to make you feel comfortable in front of the camera and capture the important details is extremely important. Make sure you and your fiancé get a good enough feel for your photographer’s personality so you can trust them throughout the process.” — Garrett Richardson Photography

What you need to know: When asking a photographer to describe their photography style, you’re essentially seeking to understand how they approach capturing moments and how the final images will look. You might hear photo styles like candid, traditional, fine art, photojournalistic, etc. Understanding their style helps you decide if their approach matches the aesthetic you envision for your wedding.

What you need to know: It is especially important to comb the photography contract because there can be additional fees or add-on costs that aren’t clear at first. It’s not a matter of intentional deception, there just may be costs like overtime hours or transportation you may not have thought of. Ask your wedding photographer questions like, how many hours are included in each package? How much do extra hours cost? Do you include engagement photos in your packages? Do you include pre-wedding events like rehearsal dinners in your packages? Do you offer retouching, color adjustment, or other corrective services? Are those included or an additional charge? Do you charge a travel fee? For what distance? What does that cover?

What you need to know: It can take up to a month or two to receive all your wedding photos and you don’t want to rush your photographer. However, you can ask for things like a sneak peek of a few images right after the wedding, so you can share them on social media or feature them on your thank you cards. Be sure to ask your photographer how they process their images, if you have rights to the images, and how long they’ll be accessible online.

Pro Tip: Digital photography is sometimes processed too quickly. If you are looking to have moving images full of emotion and of the highest quality, make sure that your photographer takes time with each image.” — Sarah DiCicco Sarah DiCicco Photography

What you need to know: This is one of those wedding photographer questions to ask. Do they have a plan B that you are comfortable with? If they mention about a backup photographer, you may want to also look into the portfolio and experience of the backup person.

Pro Tip: “Nothing is certain in this life, and it's super important to have a community of trustworthy photographers that I network with regularly. If something were to happen to me before the wedding day—or on the wedding day!—my clients can rest assure that there is a backup plan!” —Lauren Kearns, Lauren Kearns Photography

What you need to know: Tie up some of the last critical questions before you sign a contract. Ask how much of a deposit is required to hold the date and when the balance is due. How much of a deposit is required to hold the date? Make sure you’re clear on the preferred method of payment and the refund/cancellation policy. A final question to ask wedding photographer candidates is whether they have liability insurance and whether it covers their assistants as well.