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What To Ask Before Hiring a Wedding Photographer

Questions to ask a wedding photographer before hiring them

What Questions Should You Ask A Wedding Photographer Before Hiring Them?

Finding a wedding photographer for your wedding in Charleston SC can be overwhelming but they’re one of the first vendors you should book! Normally couples choose their venue first, then planner, then photographer…though sometimes photography comes second!

I’ve been a wedding photographer since 2009 so I wanted to share some questions we love to get from couples who inquire with us that I think are SUPER important for anyone planning a wedding to ask any potential wedding photographer that they’re interested in working with! If you’re looking for New Orleans wedding photographers, call Erika Parker Photography; she will assist you and answer all your queries.

Do you have our date available?

This is obviously an important one! It would suck if you start talking to a photographer, fall in love with their work and personality & want them for your wedding only to find out that they aren’t available for your date!

When you inquire with them on their contact form its super important to include your wedding date, or all the potential dates you’re thinking of!

Most photographers book out 12-18 months in advance so the sooner you can snag your dream photographer the better!

And don’t wait too long after inquiring to seal the deal…all dates are first come first serve so if someone else inquires for the same date and the photographer hasn’t heard from you in a week they’ll assume you’ve moved on and ghosted them and you could lose out to someone else.

what questions should I ask a wedding photographer?

How would you describe your photography style?

Photography styles vary greatly and there are 2 different categories.

The photographers shooting style: fine art, romantic, documentary, traditional, candid, fun, serious, digital, film

And the photographers editing style: dark & moody, true tone, and light & airy are the 3 most well known editing styles

and you can mix & match all of those!

So really think about what kinds of photos are you drawn to:

Photos that look like museum quality works of art with a Rembrandt feel? Ones that are carefree and seem like every photo was caught in the moment and not manufactured at all? Ones that focus on emotion? Are the photos perfectly posed with a perfectly styled dress train?

Our style is a mix of true tone, candid, fun & romantic!

We want your wedding photos to look exactly how it was on your wedding day with our true tone colors. We don’t overly pose our couples because we want to leave room for them to be themselves which will provide them with fun & candid images…though we do love a good romantic sunset portrait session! We also believe in candidly documenting 80% of the day, just letting people enjoy the wedding as it naturally unfolds.

why you need to see a full wedding gallery before you hire a wedding photographer

How do you approach shooting a wedding?

Your photographer is the person you will spend the MOST time with on a wedding day so figure out HOW you want to spend that day.

This is how we approach weddings:

•We start with you getting ready. I shoot the details, Jay shoots the candids. Once Im done with details, if your Other Half wants getting ready photos then Jay will leave for them (sometimes your Boo will opt out of getting ready photos and that’s ok!). You’ll spend about 30 minutes relaxing & sipping on your favorite beverage before getting dressed, because its IMPORTANT to actually ENJOY your wedding day…not rush rush rush!

•Once y’all are dressed, its time for the 1st Look! We let you guys have your moment and then we photograph your Couples pictures for 60 minutes. You’ll get some classic photos smiling at the camera, but most of them will be very candid looking…and you’ll have so much fun doing it! And since you used your free engagement session, you already know how to let go and enjoy yourselves front of the camera!

•Next, your Wedding Party (if you even have one) will meet up with us for 30 minutes. I’ll shoot y’all as a big group, and again, we get a few classics before we jump into the FUN. Then we break y’all up into your respective Wedding Party groups and while Im shooting one group as a whole, the other group is with Jay getting solo shots with your Love. Then we swap!

•After wedding party comes the family. You & I will have already made a list of Must Have Family photos so we are gonna FLY through these. It usually doesn’t take the full 30 minutes we allot but sometimes grandma is late and we have to wait around to finish up.

•Once the family photos are finished, everyone needs to hide because youre getting married in an hour!! Usually older wedding guests start arriving but this is the only time Jay & I have to photograph your ceremony and reception spaces untouched by guests. You’ve worked SO HARD picking out all these details and working with your planner and florist on your dream design so you’ll definitely want lots of photos…with OUT wedding guests, coats, purses, and cellphones all over the place.

•Now its time to get you married!! Jay & I always shoot with different lenses to make sure we’re getting as much variety as possible. If you’re in a church, we will be very restricted on what we are allowed to do.

•You did it!! You & your wedding party walk down the aisle, they congratulate you & then we’ll take 5 minutes of photos of you two wearing your rings! Then you’ll walk hand in hand into your COCKTAIL HOUR!!!

•At your cocktail hour, Jay will be going around getting candid AND formal photos of your wedding guests. I, however, will be your personal paparazzi! I always recommend our couples stick together at cocktail hour to greet everyone instead of separating. This way Im able to shoot you both interacting with guests candidly but if you want a group photo with some people I’ll be there to get that for ya!

•After cocktail hour its dinner time and usually that means its sunset time! So while you’re guests are eating we will pop out for 5-10 minutes to get some romantic sunset photos. Then…its just party time until our time together comes to an end!

most important questions to ask a wedding photographer

Do you carry backup equipment?

Run FAR FAR away from any photographer who tells you they don’t have backup equipment.

I was shooting an elopement by myself once and my camera died (as in…for forever) right before the ceremony. I had a backup with me ready to go so I was totally fine! Could you imagine if I didnt have a backup camera in that moment? “Sorry guys, no point in me staying any more for your wedding, I dont have another camera to shoot you GETTING MARRIED”

We shot a wedding where Jay tripped, dropped his camera and the flash snapped off and broke. But we had a backup flash so he popped it on his camera and went on his merry little way!

We worked with a video team once and one of their cameras fell into a fountain right before the ceremony. They were using 3 cameras at once but didn’t have any more, so we lent them our back up camera for the ceremony so they could get all the angles they needed.

Backup equipment is ESSENTIAL and should be a non negotiable.

how to hire a wedding photographer

Can I see a full gallery of images from a recent wedding & engagement session?

This is one of the MOST important questions you can ask a photographer!! We only put our best work out on the internet and anyone who takes 10,000 photos can get at least 20 really great ones to show off so that would suck if you hired someone like that only to get a gallery back of unusable photos. Except for maybe 20 of them. These are the “wedding photographers” you hear about on the News.

By looking through a recent wedding gallery (3 months or earlier) you’ll be able to see what a full wedding could be like with this photographer. It does NOT have to be a wedding from your venue. That literally doesn’t matter. Photographers shoot at new venues all the time.

You should be looking for the things that matter to YOU: how do they shoot the family photos? What do the portraits feel like? If you want a candid style then are their a lot of candid photos or does it feel overly posed? Or if you want more of an editorial feeling to your wedding photos, does the gallery feel like that or is it very traditional? If you love dark & moody but you hire a light & airy photographer you are going to be dissapointed.

Your photographer has a specific style and we dont change it based on your wedding, so hire someone who is already shooting & editing the way YOU want your photos to be.

what are the most important questions to ask a wedding photographer for your Charleston wedding

What are the next steps to book you?

When you’re ready to book your photographer, find out how it will happen!

Most photographers have digital contracts you sign online but some still go the paper route. Do they take checks or just credit cards? What is the deposit like? What is the payment plan?

For us, we have an online contract that you sign digitally, we take checks & credit cards (and we dont charge you a fee to use it), your retainer payment is 25% of your total contract and you’ll have 3 more payments spread out with your final payment due 30 days before the wedding!

wedding photographer questions

Hiring the best Charleston SC wedding photographer

Who ever you choose to hire as your wedding photographer, we hope these questions help make the process easier for you! Of course, if you’re getting married in Charleston (or anywhere in the world for that matter) we’d love to be considered as your photographers for your wedding!

charleston | new york | Europe

Vibrant, documentary-style wedding photography for fun, fashionable couples hosting an intentional, laid-back wedding with the people that matter most

Est. 2009

Luxury wedding photographer providing vibrant, documentary images for fun, fashionable party people in the U.S & Europe! Charleston based.

 

catherineannphotography@gmail.com