The 12 questions every couple should ask their wedding photographer

Most photographers answer these questions eventually. The ones with the smoothest weddings answer them before anyone signs.

About the day itself

1. Who is actually shooting? Not which studio — which person, by name. Ask this first and everything else gets clearer.
2. Is there a second shooter, and what do they cover? Two cameras is not the same as two angles on the same moment.
3. How many hours, and what happens if the day runs late? Weddings run late. The question is whether that is a conversation or an invoice.
4. Have you shot at our venue? If not, will you scout it? Difficult light is a solvable problem when it is known in advance.
5. What is your backup plan for equipment failure? Two bodies, or one body and an apology.

About what you get

1. How many edited images should we expect? A number, not a range with a factor of three in it.
2. When will we see them? Ask for the full gallery date, not the preview date.
3. Can guests get their own photos? For a large wedding this matters far more than couples expect. Nobody scrolls 800 images to find themselves.
4. What editing style will you apply, and can we see a full gallery? Not a portfolio of ten highlights — one complete wedding, start to finish.
5. Do we get the RAW files? Most photographers say no, for good reasons. Get the answer before it matters.

About the paperwork

1. What happens if you cannot make it? Illness, emergency, double booking. There should be a named answer.
2. What are the cancellation and postponement terms? Ask specifically about postponement. It comes up more than cancellation.

For photographers reading this

Publishing your answers to these twelve, in writing, before the first call does two things: it filters out the couples who were never going to be a fit, and it makes the ones who do book far easier to work with.