Congratulations on your engagement!
Wedding planning is such a sweet time in your life as a couple! One of my goals as a wedding photographer here in Nashville, Tennessee is to keep this time sweet rather than stressful. Keep on reading to see the top 10 things I suggest all couples ask their potential wedding photographer before booking.
1 - How would you best describe your style?
At the beginning of their wedding photography search, many couples don't realize how many different style options are out there. Or maybe you have an idea of what kind of style you like but don't know how to describe it. This is a great chance to ask the photographer personally, "how would you best describe your style?". Options include documentary style, posed, candid, true to life, trendy, timeless, light and airy, dark and moody, and the list goes on. I recommend typing some of these keywords into Pinterest and seeing what catches your eye. From there, you can find a photographer whose style aligns with your vision.
2 - How many weddings have you solo shot this year?
This is an important question to ask for two reasons. The first of which is to determine how experienced your photographer is. Photographing a wedding is a lot different than photographing a portrait shoot or even a styled wedding shoot. You want to make sure that your photographer is not only capable of taking photos but also directing large groups of people like families and bridal parties, is comfortable using flash and working with tricky lighting scenarios, can help you come up with an accurate timeline for your wedding day, and is able to work well with other vendors. For this reason, it is important to know not how long they've been a photographer but specifically how many weddings they have lead shot. The second reason this question is important is to understand the workload that your photographer is taking on. If you want a photographer who is very hands-on and will answer your messages right away, someone who books 30+ weddings a year may not be the best fit. On the other hand, if you're a more laid-back couple who is planning on having a coordinator handle all communications, a larger photographer may be a great fit for you. I personally tend to fall somewhere in the middle booking about 10+ weddings a year and working to be as hands-on and helpful during the planning process as possible.
3 - Does your camera have dual card slots?
If you've never heard of dual card slots in a camera, the short explanation is that they are very important and if your photographer doesn't have them, you are running a risk with the safety of your photos. I'll explain. When your photographer is taking photos, their shots are captured on an sd card. After your wedding, the photographer will take that sd card out of their camera and plug it into their computer for editing. When a camera has dual card slots, that means that the photos are captured on two different sd cards. That way, if something happens to one of the cards (ie. it is lost, corrupted, etc.), your photos are still safe on the other card.
4 - How are our photos protected after the wedding day?
Dual sd card slots are not the only way to protect your photos, however. It is important for you to know that your photos are preserved in more than one place post-wedding day. For example, I usually recommend that photos are kept on a cloud drive (such as Dropbox or Google Drive) and an external hard drive as well as the original sd cards. Once the photos have been delivered to the client, I always recommend they download them to more than one device as well. All of this ensures that your photos are never lost. You can't redo a wedding day!
5 - What is your editing process like?
As mentioned when discussing photography style, every photographer's editing style is different. Personally, I use both Lightroom and Photoshop on my images to edit the color of the photos the way I like as well as remove things from the background and make small adjustments to things like the sky. Some photographers primarily work in Photoshop and others stick strictly to Lightroom. If you are looking for highly edited photos (blemishes removed, objects or people edited out, clothing altered) you are not going to want to book with someone who advertises as true to life or only makes small adjustments to the photos. On the other hand, if you are looking for something more natural, you may want to steer away from trendier styles or photographers who heavily Photoshop. Neither style is right or wrong it's just all a preference!
6 - What is your backup plan in case of an illness or emergency?
This might be one of the most important questions. Experienced photographers always have a backup plan for the day of the wedding. You truly never know what kind of traffic you are going to be dealing with the day of or if you might test positive for Covid. Your photographer should not only be leaving early to accommodate for issues that may happen on the road but should also keep you updated if any kind of health issues arise. Typically, if needed, it is the job of the photographer to find a replacement. This should not be a friend of the photographer or someone they don't know, but an experienced photographer who likely uses the same camera as them and has their own individual experience as a lead photographer.
7 - Do you ever offer refunds? How long do they typically take to process?
If you decide that you would rather handle finding someone new yourself, it is important to understand how your photographer's refund process works. Ideally, if the cancelation is their fault, they should be fully refunding you. If you have a quick turnaround time for hiring someone else, it will be important to know how long their refund process normally takes. This is truly a worst-case scenario situation that I have thankfully never had to deal with but I think it's worth asking about just in case.
8 - Have you shot at our venue before?
Having experience at a venue can be a serious leg up on a wedding day. Your photographer is more likely to know the best spots to take sunset photos and how to make the indoor lighting look the best. However, this isn't a make-or-break question in my opinion. Everyone shoots at a venue for the first time once! Especially if you are a destination wedding photographer. If your photographer is confident and experienced, you should have no problems at all.
9 - Do you have any other vendors that you recommend?
As a photographer, I love recommending other vendors to my couples! It is always a great feeling when you show up to a wedding and see familiar faces. This is especially the case for photography and videography. Your wedding day really can go ten times smoother if your photographer and videographer work well together and aren't in each other's way. If you are interested in hearing about some of the vendors that I love and recommend, I'll likely be making a post on that soon so be on the lookout!
10 - What is your favorite part about being a photographer?
I know, it's a little cheesy. But get to know your photographer! All of my couples have heard me say the following phrase "the person you will spend the most time with on your wedding day, other than your fiance, is your photographer." If you are going to be hanging out with someone for 8+ hours on your wedding day, you should probably like them! Even more importantly, your photographer should like their job! Being a part of wedding days is truly such an honor. You will often catch me tearing up during speeches, smiling during your ceremony, and helping you fix your makeup in the bathroom because I'm honestly just so happy to be there. You don't want to be just another wedding on your photographer's schedule. I personally send all of my couples a small gift in the mail after they book so if you are one of my 2023 couples, expect that soon!
Lastly, it will be important for you to thoroughly read over your contract and ask questions if you have any. The contract is likely where you'll find information on how long the photographer's turnaround time will be, what accommodations the photographer is requesting, and how payment will be handled.
I truly hope that this guide was helpful in narrowing down the list of photographers you are likely faced with. It's a big decision but hopefully, one you feel a little more confident about now! If you are interested in booking with me this year, my books are open and I would love to hear from you!
