I have my first meeting with my photographer next week. What questions should I ask?

Before you can hire a wedding photographer, you need to know if their style of taking pictures works with what you envision for your wedding. Here are some important questions to ask any wedding photographer:

What’s your primary style? Posed and formal, relaxed, photojournalistic, creative, artistic, candid, traditional?

Do you shoot in color or black and white? Or both? Do you shoot in a digital format that can create both color and b/w versions of the same picture?

What kind of input can we have on the direction of the shots? Can we give you a shot list to work from?

Are you the wedding photographer who will actually take our pictures? If not, can we meet the person who will be?

Can we meet any assistants who will also be our taking pictures?

How many times have you worked specifically as a wedding photographer? How many were similar to the size and formality of our wedding?

How many other events will you also photograph that weekend?

What kind of equipment will you bring with you? How intrusive will lighting, tripods, other equipment or assistants be?

Do you develop your own film?

Can we buy the negatives from you?

After you’ve asked these questions of your potential wedding photographer, there are several questions you’ll want to ask yourself:

Do I like this person? Do I get along with them or get a good feeling from them?

Do I like their work as a wedding photographer? Is it well lit, focused, well framed? Looking at their books, do I feel like I have a good feeling for the wedding?

Don’t forget to call their references. While it may feel a bit awkward to call a stranger, it can be invaluable to have an outside opinion on a potential wedding photographer. Remember, your photographs will be one of the most lasting aspects of your wedding – you’ll want to make sure you find the right wedding photographer for you.

I've been married twice. Payed for it myself both times. Big weddings both times.

It depends on what you want. Make sure that you get a seasoned professional. There is a HUGE difference between some talented young guy and someone who has been doing it for years.

Be sure to look at his portfolios. Remember, these are what he considers his best pictures. Yours might be as good if all of the stars align.

There aren't a ton of questions to ask. But here are a few:

Do you do digital?

If so, do I get the digital copies as well?

This is a big shift in wedding photography over the last 10 years. Most photographers don't want to give you the digital media because then you can just turn around and make your own prints instead of buying them from him. The compromise is him giving you highly compressed jpg files made for web pages. These don't print into high quality but are great for making a web photo album which is really cool.

Do you shoot alone or do you have an assistant?

A good photographer doesn't need an assistant but if there are two of them, everything gets done quicker. Quick is the key. A bad photographer will dominate the entire reception when he should be a little more than a ninja.

How long do you take to do post ceremony pictures?

This again goes with the time issue. Most photographers, even great ones will want to take more than an hour for post ceremony pics if they have it their way. Most grooms hate this. He can suck it up, I did, but you also have to consider the reception. You probably only have the reception hall for 4 hours. If a ton of time is wasted it can cut into the fun of the reception. At my second wedding the reception felt like a checklist of stuff we had to do.

Keep in mind that unless you are in a really small town, photographers are plentiful. Interview a bunch until you find what you want that works in your budget. And remember, your DJ runs your reception, not your photographer.

Congrats, good luck and don't forget to pick a best answer. :D

Ask if they are the person that will be doing your wedding personally. If they are bringing an assistant, and if you can meet them too.

If they have ever worked with ____ (your videographer, your venue, anything). You want to make sure they have, if not a good relationship, at least a professional/working relationship.

Ask for references AND names of people who's wedding they've done within the past week or few weeks. You want to make sure they don't cherry-pick all their references.

How long it will take to do the "formal" pictures after the ceremony, and if they can keep it under X time. Some photographers I know take over an hour and a half. Anything more than an hour is too long in my opinion...and I had a HUGE bridal party and a lot of formals to take.

I'm guessing you know all about the package, pricing, and time details of the company. Ask them to please show up at least an hour before the ceremony.

Always find out if they charge for a set amount of hours! My sister in law had to do a mock cake cutting because she didn't pay attention to her contract. She was booked for 7 hours, not an entire day. My photographer booked us for a whole day, not hourly. Also find out what the packages entail, including albums for parents and yourself, how many proofs you're going to get plus how long you can expect to get them. The one thing I have heard is that people who still use 35mm film always have problems. Make sure your photographer uses all digital film and can put your pictures on a disk for you once they're finished. I know that it seems that everyone has a horror story but my photographer was amazing. Also, pick your thank you picture as early as possible. It's easy to think that you're done with wedding obligations once you've cashed the checks. :) Good luck & congrats!!!

First of all how much is the package. Second when I got married I felt like the photographer could have focused on detail a little more. I would suggest writing a list of pictures you want taken and do research online of wedding pictures you like.

Here are some good questions that you should consider asking him/her:

-Will you personally be the photographer for our wedding?

-How long have you been a wedding photographer?

-How many weddings have you photographed?

-When they show you their work be sure to ask them if it is recent

-How many pictures do you take?

-What type of camera do you use?

-Have they ever worked at your event location?

-Do you bring backup equipment with you?

-How many people will cover our wedding event?

-What are your policies regarding negatives, proofs and delivery time of pictures?

-How long after the wedding will your pictures be ready?

-Do they have liability insurance?

-Discuss in depth about payment - deposits, when payments are due, if they add on any extra's for touched up prints, etc.

-What are the cancellation/refund terms?

-What happens in case you become ill?

Must importantly, make sure that you feel comfortable with them. When we met our wedding photographer I instantly felt comfortable with her and so did my fiance. So that is why we went with her. Just make sure you go over all the terms and conditions - make sure there are not additional charges, etc.

Good luck to you!

_Ask him/her to show you their portafolio

-Ask fo rrefernces

-Very important to ask him/her if she/he is the actual photographer that will show up at your wedding (some people sned other photographers!!).

- Ask him/her if he/she will bring an assistant

-Time table for picture return

-Are cd's going to be sent/are included?

-Rights to the pictures

Good luck