You will spend more hours with your photographer on your wedding day than with almost anyone else, and you will live with the results longer than with anything else you buy for the wedding. These are the questions worth asking every studio you talk to, grouped so you can get through them in one call. We have answered each for ourselves so you can see what a straight answer looks like.
Availability and the team
1. Are you available on our date, and who exactly will be photographing? Some studios book you with the owner and send an associate. Ask for the name. Ours: you will know your lead photographer's name before you sign, and that person shoots your wedding.
2. How many weddings do you shoot a year? Under fifteen may mean part-time; over fifty may mean a rushed edit. Ours: we keep each photographer's calendar deliberately small so no wedding is one of three that weekend.
3. Have you shot at our venue? Useful, not essential. Ours: if not, we scout it before your date. Every venue page on this site says plainly whether we have worked there.
4. Do you bring a second photographer, and what does that cost? Ours: $500, and we recommend it for guest counts over 120 or a getting-ready in two locations.
5. What happens if you are sick or injured on the day? This is the one to insist on. Ours: a studio of senior photographers means a named backup, not a stranger from a Facebook group.
Style and approach
6. How would you describe your style, and can you show a full gallery? The website shows the best forty frames of the year. A full gallery shows a whole day. Ours: ask and we send two complete galleries closest to your wedding in size and setting.
7. How do you handle a dark church or a ballroom with no windows? Ours: off-camera flash we set up before the ceremony, never a flash on top of the camera pointed at your face.
8. Do you pose people, or stay out of the way? Both is the right answer. Ours: directed for formals and portraits, invisible for everything else. Our styles guide explains the labels.
9. How do you deal with an unplugged ceremony, or one that is not? Ours: we ask the officiant to make the request. Phones in the aisle are the one thing we cannot edit out.
10. Will you help build the timeline? Ours: yes, and it starts with sunset. See our 8-hour timeline.
Coverage and logistics
11. How many hours are included, and what does an extra hour cost? Ours: four, six, eight or ten; extra hours are $175.
12. Do you charge for travel, and how much for our venue? Get the total, not the base. Ours: none. Travel is included in every collection nationwide.
13. Do you take a break, and do we need to feed you? Ours: a vendor meal for each member of the team, served when you are served, so we are back before toasts.
14. Will you photograph the engagement session, and is it included? Ours: included with every photography collection.
15. What if it rains? Ours: we have a plan for the venue before the day: the covered spot, the window light, the umbrella that photographs well. Rain days make some of the best portraits we deliver.
Delivery and rights
16. How many images will we receive? A number, or a range tied to hours. Ours: every usable image edited, typically several hundred for eight hours.
17. How long until we see them? Ours: a sneak-peek gallery within days on the eight- and ten-hour collections, and the full gallery within weeks, with a date in the contract.
18. Are the files high resolution, and can we print them anywhere? Ours: full-resolution files with full ownership rights. Print them where you like.
19. Do you deliver raw files? Most photographers will say no, and that is normal. Ours: no for photography; yes for every film collection.
20. Will our photos be used on your website or social media? You can decline. Ours: only with your permission.
21. How long do you keep our files? Ours: archived, and we tell you to keep your own copy in two places anyway.
Money and the contract
22. What is the total cost, including tax?
23. Is the deposit a refundable deposit or a non-refundable retainer? Ours: $500 reserves the date. The collections page explains it.
24. When is the balance due? Ours: two weeks before the wedding.
25. What happens if we change our date, or cancel? Ours: a date change moves the retainer to the new date if we are available.
26. Do you carry liability insurance, and can you send a certificate to our venue? Many venues require it. Ours: yes.
27. Do you have backup equipment, and do you shoot to two memory cards? Ours: two bodies per photographer, every frame written to two cards at the moment it is taken.
The ones people forget
28. How do you handle family formals? Ours: from a list you give us in advance, with someone from each family assigned to gather people. Our shot list is a good starting point.
29. Can you also do video, and is it cheaper to book both together? Ours: yes, one team for both, and the combined collections are the best value we offer.
30. What do you need from us before the wedding? Ours: a planning call, the formals list, the timeline, and the names of anyone you want us to look after.
If you would like to put these questions to us directly, the booking page is the fastest way to check your date.
Planning your wedding?
Elizabeth Scott photographs and films weddings nationwide — travel included, dates limited.
Check Your Date