Questions to ask your wedding Photographer before booking

Houston Wedding Photographer | Half a Rice Studios – Book a Houston Photographer

There are more than 1000 of photographers in the Houston, TX area and 60% of them specialize in weddings. I hope these questions can help you narrow down your choices.

• Why did you become a wedding photographer?

This simple question and its answer can give you a lot of insight about a person, a photographer in specific.

• Can I see some weddings from start to finish?

While it is so tempted to choose a photographer based on their portfolio and beautifully curated gallery they have on their instagram, it is important to see how your whole wedding gallery will turn out. Some photographers are great with natural light but when the night falls, they struggle with using flash or vice versa.

• Do you have insurance?

There are so many things that can go wrong on your wedding day. Asking about insurance is one way to make sure that you are protected from some uncertainties.

• Can I read over your contract?

The contract should be the #1 place you refer to when anything wrong happens. So it is should be one of the thing you ask about at your consultation meeting.

• Where can I read your reviews?

Ask about their reviews and make sure you read them. Always read the vendor’s reviews, from multiple platform. I would trust the Facebook page reviews the most. Why? Because from the review, you can view the person’s profile and if they just got married recently, their profile pictures are probably from their wedding. Real person, real reviews. I will also read reviews on The Knot and Google… just to make sure that I have not miss any negative review.

If you happen to find a negative review for your favorite vendor, don’t panic! Keep reading to see how the vendor responded to the review, and whether it was the vendor’s fault. You can tell a lot about the vendor through the positive reviews and a lot more through their negative reviews’ responses.

Read more about how to choose your vendors in my article.

• What is your deposit and retainer policy?

While deposit is part of your balance and may or may not be refundable, retainer is not. Retainer is the fee for the vendor to reserve your date. Some photographers apply that fee, some don’t. So make sure you find out if they do.

• In case of emergency, what does your policy look like?

This point should be in the contract but I think it should be your decide factor, too. We are all human and anything can happen to our fragile body or loved ones. So in the case of emergency of the photographer, what he/she will do to ensure you still have a photographer to document your day?

• How long is the turnaround time for our wedding photos?

Typical answer should be around 8 weeks.

• What does your backup system look like?

I know this question is quite technical and not a lot of people ask about it. But you should know where your photos will end up after they leave your wedding venue. In case of fire, flood or other natural disasters, would your photos be safe?

• Do you have a cancellation policy in place?

When you want to cancel your wedding (and I am crossing my fingers that you wouldn’t), or reschedule it, you should know how the photographer treat your cancellation/rescheduling. Or how much they will refund you, if any, afterwards.

• Who owns the copy rights to the photos?

Again, not a lot of people think about this question, but it is very important to know the answer! The copy rights of the photos let you print, share, post the photos without the photographer’s permission. If the photographer does not give it to you, you will have to purchase it separately.

• What is the resolution of the delivered photos?

This is the question you should ask after the copy rights question. If the photographer gives you the copy rights to the photos, you should know how large you can print the photos. Some photographers deliver files in smaller resolution to save space. It is not necessary a bad thing. Smaller resolution can help you save space as well, but sometimes you may also want to have large prints in your home.

• Do you apply any travel fees?

Each photographer has different policy in place for their travels. Some charge and extra fee, some don’t. So if your venue is a little further away, make sure you find this out.

Read our reviews here.

Send us a message here.

Book a Houston Photographer, Book a Houston Photographer