Now, when you already know how to choose the right wedding photographer for your big day [LINK!] you are probably wondering what to ask to get the best idea how the working together will look like in real life. This also might help you to make sure that you made a right choice. Or it might be the last chance to change your mind if something is not going to sound right to you after this conversation. We’ve prepared a list of helpful questions that will make the decision about signing the photography contract easier.

1. CAN I SEE FULL GALLERY?

It’s easy to choose two good photos of te whole day and put it in he portfolio. It’s obvious that not all of the pictures will be equally attractive and artsy, but the gallery should be consistent with the photos shown on the website. They have to have equally good quality and style. Besides, you’re paying for the whole gallery, not ony the best of the best ones, so it would be nice if you liked the full product just as much as you like the photographer’s portfolio.

It’s also nice to remember, that not only you need to see the full gallery before signing the contract, so permission to share your future gallery is essential to photographers. Lack of such permission might soometimes increase the price of the service.

2. DO YOU REQUIRE DEPOSIT?

Most (if not all) professional photographers will require a deposit. Well, they can be only in one place at the same time, so it’s just assurance for them that they will have a job. However, payment deadlines and ammount of the deposits differ, so it’s always good to ask and put all the dates and other details in your calendar.

3. DO YOU ACCEPT INSTALLMENTS?

When budgetig your wedding (LINK) turns out you can’t afford your favourite photographer? Ask about installments – perhaps you will get some money as wedding gifts and you will be able to pay the whole ammount in smaller parts rather than paying it straight away. At the end of the day photos will stay with you for ever, so it’s nice to have the images that really touch your heart.

4. DO YOU WORK WITH ANY VIDEOGRAPHERS?

More and more people consider hiring a videographer for their wedding day. After comparing all the prices it might turn out that having both photogrpaher and videographer hired independedly is not the best for your wallet. It’s worth asking photogrpaher is thy are working with other creatives. Ususally both of them will have better prices if hired together.

 

5. DO YOU WORK WITH ANY OTHER VENDORS?

The same comes to other vendors, such as florists or make up artists. It not only might be a special price, but also a huge time saver for you! This is specially good idea to ask about this when you’re having destination wedding and you don’t know anything about that place.

6. IS THERE ANYTHING WE CAN DO TO REDUCE THE PRICE?

Sometimes small changes can make a huge difference to you wedding budget. Maybe it will be cheaper to pay fr second driver rather than booking a hotel room for the photographer who had to travel far for your wedding? Or maybe reducing ammount of final photos? You know you won’t be coming back to all 1000 of them… You know what they say – who doesn’t risk, doesn’t drink the champagne, or something like that. So it’s always good to at least try.

7. DO YOU HAVE A BACKUP IN CASE OF SICKNESS?

Photographer is a human being (hard to imagine sometimes, I know) and gets sick from time to time. It’s important for you to be sure there is someone to cover him/her in case of some emergency. 99.9999% of times the coverage will not be necessary, but just ask this question to have healthy nerves.

8. DO YOU HAVE A BACKUP EQUIPMENT?

Camera is just a machine and it can break any time, for any reason. Sometimes even with no reason. It’s imporant to have at least one extra camera body and one extra lense. This is an absolute minimum any professional photographer should have.

9. WHAT ARE THE EXTRA COCTS?

There might be costs that are obvious, but you just forget to ask about them and put them into your wedding budgeting tool, such as fuel / transport costs, food coverage, etc. It doesn’t cost anything to ask and might save you unnecessary nervousnes after.

10. CAN I SEE THE CONTRACT BEFORE SIGNING IT?

Never sign the contract last minute without fully understanding it and being sure all the points are ok with your life philosophy!