Every wedding photography client is unique, and they all have their own unique wedding photography plans. So, as a wedding photographer, knowing your clients and their expectations from you is crucial to your plan of action. Even after you have met them, you still might not have all your answers. And if that happens to be the case with you, a wedding photography questionnaire could help you get some answers. Keep your questions short and easy to understand, and try to cover as many aspects about your couple as you can through this questionnaire. Not all couples may give you the perfect answers, but as their wedding photographer, you can build their story using whatever they provide you. There are no set rules to what you should ask your couples, but in this blog, we offer you some suggestions on what you could include in your questionnaire.
10 Questions to Include in a Wedding Photography Questionnaire
1. How Did You Two Meet? Can You Give Me a Glimpse Into Your Love Story?
Asking about the beginning of your couple’s love story is a great question to open with. It would be best if you got to know your couple personally before becoming a part of their big day, so knowing all the little details about how they came to be is essential to how you photograph and connect with them. In this section of your photography client questionnaire, your couple could talk about their first meeting, the proposal, and their wedding plans.
2. What is Your Vision For the Wedding?
A big fat wedding or a low-key backyard wedding – this question should give you information about what kind of a wedding your couple wants. Besides rescheduling their weddings due to COVID, many couples even changed their wedding plans entirely in the past year. With this question, you may be able to get an insight into whether your couple is planning a more private affair with a focus on close friends and family or whether their guest list will include even colleagues and distant relatives. The answer to this question will also help you get an idea about your shot list for the wedding.
3. Any Family Details I Should Know?
A question on family details and dynamics in your wedding photography questionnaire would help you gather information on both sets of parents or step-parents. Separated or divorced parents may or may not be comfortable getting photographed together, so it’s important for you to know such details. If any of the grandparents are a part of the guest list, your couple could mention them here. In this answer, the couple can tell you all about their siblings or if they have any favorite uncles or aunts.
4. Who All Are a Part of Your Wedding Party?
Through this question, you could ask your couple to mention the names of people who are a part of their wedding party. You should know the names of the bridesmaids, flower girls, the ring bearer, and the groomsmen. You could also ask your couple to describe each of the members in a line or two. Most importantly, remember to ask them to specify their relationship with each person.
Related Read: 35 Must-Have Bridal Party Photos
5. Tell me About Your Wedding Timeline. Are There Any Chances of Changes?
If your couple hasn’t already shared their timeline with you, you could request that they give you their final plan. If they say yes to the latter part of the question, ask them to specify what may change in the final timeline. If they are having a hard time finalizing it, you could offer some help. Having the final wedding timeline from the couple will help you finalize your wedding day timeline too. It will give you an idea of how much time you can use to experiment with different types of photography styles or just get more time with certain photo groups.
Related Read: Wedding Day Timeline Templates For Photographers
6. Any Specific Poses or Couple’s Portraits You Have in Mind?
This is certainly a question you want to ask to avoid any unsatisfied customers in the future. Couples these days head to Pinterest or other picture platforms to get inspiration for how they want to look in their wedding photographs. Ask your couple about what they have in mind. Once you get the information, you can let them know if their expectations are realistic and also add your suggestions to enhance their ideas.
Related Read: 3 Keys To Mastering The Couple Portraits
7. Any Individual, Group Shots, or Decor Details I Should Not Miss?
We suggest that you send a basic shot list to your couple before sending them a wedding photography questionnaire. After your couple goes through your list, they will be better equipped to add or remove any individuals/shots from the list. Your couple may be planning a theme-based reception or bringing in decor from different parts of the world and may want you to dedicate some time to photographing those decor detail shots. This question is where they will be able to give you this information. This question will help you understand what your couple expects from you.
Suggested Read: 10 Must-Have Detail Photos For Every Wedding
8. Are You Going to Follow Any Ritual or Custom That’s a Part of Your Family Tradition or Culture But Could be New to me?
You might be photographing a wedding that belongs to a culture different than yours. This can be reason enough for you to ask them about any special ceremonies or rituals at their wedding. Family traditions and different cultures make weddings unique, so you certainly don’t want to miss out on showcasing this beauty in your photographs. And your couple will feel the same about these unforgettable moments.
9. Could There be Any Photography-Related or Other Venue Restrictions For me?
During COVID, this can be another important question for you to ask in your wedding photography questionnaire. Venues might be following mandatory precaution policies that you might have to adhere to. Since some venues may need you to have a COVID negative report, ask your couples about venue details in advance. In order to avoid last-minute chaos, you could also scout the place in advance.
10. Can You Tell Me About The Other Vendors?
Knowing the other vendors your couple is hiring will make your job easier. Once you get the contact details, you could make a phone call to introduce yourself or drop an email. This will help both parties to get acquainted before the wedding and collaborate better. Moreover, this will also help increase your network and work on vendor relationships.
5 Bonus Questions For Your Questionnaire
- Does your wedding attire have any sentimental elements?
- Will I have to arrange my meals or will they be provided?
- Any other details you want me to know about your wedding?
- Any other wedding photography expectations from me other than the ones discussed earlier?
- Are you flexible with time? If required, would I be able to get some extra time?
A wedding photography questionnaire is essential for you to get to know your couples and their expectations from you. Our 10 suggested questions will help you get a fair idea of who your couple is and what they are looking for, but by no means are these the only questions that could make it to your questionnaire. We suggest that you take some time to carefully draft your questionnaire and perhaps even tweak it for couples who are including some unique ceremonies in their timeline.
We hope our suggestions help you create your own questionnaire and get to know your couples in a simple and easy way. At ShootDotEdit, we understand that you may not have too much time to focus on editing photos for each wedding. Therefore, to lessen your workload, we offer photo editing services that match your style. To learn how we can help your wedding photography business, check out our price plans.