Hiring a photographer: questions to ask
See full galleries, not highlights. Ask about hours, second shooter, delivery time and backups.
Choose a photographer whose full-day work, communication and practical coverage fit your wedding—not only a few favorite images.
Ask to see the whole job
- Review complete galleries from comparable light, weather and venues. Look at ceremony, group photos, movement, dark receptions and quieter moments.
- Clarify hours, travel, second-photographer coverage, breaks, overtime, editing, delivery format, preview timing and the full-gallery deadline.
Make the backup plan specific
Ask how capture, card handling, file backup and recovery are managed. Confirm who covers illness or an equipment failure, and how replacement arrangements work under the agreement.
Agree the family-photo list and a person who can gather people. Share timing and access constraints, including any ceremony restrictions, without turning the brief into an impossible minute-by-minute shot quota.
Separate image delivery from rights
Confirm printing permission, personal sharing, credit, portfolio or advertising use, privacy preferences and any restrictions in writing. Receiving files does not by itself transfer copyright; the relevant agreement and law matter.
Keep the signed scope and delivery terms together. Ask a qualified professional about rights or contract language you need interpreted.
Sources
A wedplan.ai guide on the Photo & video board. More planning guides.
Try it as a Bride IQ question
- The second shooter — Two houses to get ready in, a ceremony across town. The photographer offers a second shooter.
- When do we get the pictures? — The wedding was Saturday. Everyone wants the gallery by Wednesday. Slide to the real number of weeks.
- The flu, the night before — Your photographer, who you love, gets sick. What does the contract say happens next?