Questions You Must Ask a Wedding Photographer Before Hiring

Photography: Spectral Pictures

Thanks to social media platforms and our marketplace, finding wedding photographers who match your personality and definition of wedding aesthetics is no longer difficult. But how do you zero in on 'the one' in a pool of too many options? I advise planning a quick video or face-to-face meeting with the vendor and asking essential questions.

How can an interview help before you book them? Ensure you will get enough opportunities to clear all your doubts. If the wedding photography team connects you to their business or marketing contact, please request that they ensure the senior wedding photographer who will cover your wedding will be present during the call. Get to know them and their work style before finalising this wedding vendor.

To make this process easier, I have prepared a set of questions you can read in your meeting. Keep this link handy and moonwalk into hiring the best wedding photographers with this set of questions you can ask your wedding photographer.

In this blog:

1. Questions on Availability

2. Questions on Price & Packages

3. Questions on Experience & Background

4. Questions on Style

5. Questions on Deliverables

6. Questions on Policies

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Questions on Availability

• Are you available on our wedding date?
• Will you be shooting my wedding? If not, please meet the senior photographer covering our wedding day.
• How many people will be coming to shoot our wedding? 
• In the case of accommodation, how many rooms will your team need?

Questions on Price and Packages

Always send your basic wedding details before discussing the wedding package. This helps the wedding vendors evaluate your requirements and send you the best package. Your wedding details should cover your planned wedding date, venue, number of events, and total guest list number for each event. Let the photographer's team get back to you with their best packages per your requirements before you plan a meeting/interview with them. 

Here is a list of questions to ask your wedding photographer about their pricing and packages - 

• Thank you for sharing your package with us. Can you customize this to fit our wedding budget? 
• I hope the quoted package covers all our pre and post-wedding ceremonies. Do you charge for the extra rituals, if any?
• Please share the complete list of deliverables covered in your quoted price. 
• Do you include the travel and stay costs in the package, or must we bear that separately? 
• How many edited photos from each event will you deliver in this package?
• Are you open to video edits based on our feedback?

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Questions on Experience & Background

Feel free to ask your wedding photographer questions about their total work experience in the industry or how many weddings they have covered so far! Some of India's finest wedding photography teams have rich portfolios and have covered weddings in different parts of India and abroad. 

Here are a few questions to ask your shortlisted wedding photographer about their experience and exposure - 

• How long have you been shooting weddings?
• How many weddings have you photographed so far? 
• Have you photographed weddings similar to the one we are planning? (It could be related to a destination wedding or an intimate wedding.)
• Can we see some of your unedited work as well?
• Have you covered weddings at our booked wedding venue before? If not, would you be planning a recee? (It works best if you are planning a local wedding.) 
• Have you ever worked with the wedding vendors we have booked before?

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Questions on Style

Wedding photography is no longer limited to capturing traditional memories of your wedding. With newer trends and event formats doing the rounds, the requirement for new wedding photography styles has evolved. Couples are now asking for candids only and exceptional cinematography and are highly inspired by wedding films created by celebrity couples. 

Ask these questions to your wedding photographer to ensure your vision of wedding photographs is aligned with their photography style - 

• How would you describe your photography style?
• Do you prefer capturing candid moments, or would you want to dedicate additional time before the ceremonies to capture wedding photography poses?
• Can you choreograph our pre-wedding shoot?
• What is the equipment that you will be using to capture our wedding photos? 
• Do you also cover drone videography? Is there an additional cost for that?

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Questions on Deliverables

When your wedding photographer sends you their package, get a curated deliverable list. You can then customize it further if your budget allows. This can include the total number of edited photos from each event, reels (if any), a video teaser, a trailer, and the main wedding film. Some professional photography teams also offer digital wedding invites and save-the-date creatives at a lower cost. Discuss the requirements before you close the deal.

You can ask these questions to your wedding photographer about the final deliverables in your package - 

• Will you provide the raw data - including wedding photos and videos? 
• How long does it take to deliver the final images and videos? Please share a timeline with us. 
• Apart from sharing the photos digitally with us, do you also provide printed wedding albums? 
• Can we customize the designs of these albums? 
• Will we have the right to share the images with friends, family, or third parties?

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Questions on Policies

• Will you be providing a detailed contract mentioning the cost of all deliverables discussed? 
• How much do you charge to book your services? 
• When do we need to deposit the booking amount?
• Do you accept payments in instalments?
• What is the cancellation and refund policy?
• Do you provide any insurance?
• Do you have a backup plan if you cannot come for the shoot or lose wedding coverage due to technical defaults?
• Will you be posting our photos on your social media pages and website?
• Will you submit our photos for third-party features?

If you have started your wedding planning journey, check out the questions to ask a wedding planner and hair and makeup artist before you book them.