25 Questions You Must Ask Your Wedding Photographer Before Booking
- Tom Keene
- Aug 7
- 12 min read
Updated: Aug 8
25 Questions You Must Ask Your Wedding Photographer Before Booking With Them And Why It Is Important
Choosing your wedding photographer is one of the most important decisions you'll make while planning your big day. Long after the flowers fade and the cake is gone, your photos are what you'll have to relive every moment. These are important questions whether you are getting married in Los Angeles, Pasadena, Ohio or New York.
But how do you know if a photographer is the right fit for your style, personality, and vision?
Here’s a list of 25 questions every couple should ask before booking their wedding photographer—along with the reasoning behind each. Feel free to bring this list with you to consultations. There is a PDF downloadable version below.
Experience & Style
01 How long have you been photographing weddings?
Look for someone who has worked through different lighting situations and venues. Tom Keene is a full time wedding and event photographer in the Los Angeles area since 2003 and is based in Pasadena, CA. From the darkest of churches to the brightest sun out in Death Valley and Maui.
02 How many weddings do you shoot per year?
This will let you know if this photographer is in high demand often. But some photographers work around their
other job schedule which will likely lower their number of events. Their turn around time for events will be a huge
factor and one of the fantastic follow up questions to ask your wedding photographer.
03 Can I see full galleries from past weddings—not just highlights?
Albums show how consistent their work is across an entire day. Always as to see their most recent wedding they shot, that is either at the same venue you are using, one like it and just their most recent event. Notice the dates of the events. Want to see ours? Just go to our Recent Events Tab
04 What’s your photography style—documentary, editorial, traditional, portrait?
Their response should match your taste. Are you drawn to candid or posed? Frankly, just look a their work. A technical term means very little to a couple. A great photographer will incorporate all styles.
Yes these are all real weddings. LA Digital Photo never stages fake weddings to show our event photography.
05 Have you worked at our venue (or similar ones)?
Experience with your venue = smoother photo flow oftentimes. But do keep in mind, a photographer that has never shot at your venue is likely to get something new. Trust them, that is why you hired them.
Logistics & Timeline
06 Are you available on our wedding date?
This probably should be our first question asked and honestly you should know this before you even start any lengthy
list of questions. If they do work with others on their team though, this may allow you to still get what you wanted!
07 How far in advance should we book?
As soon as you know you are interested and want to move forward. This should take place as soon as you can after booking your venue. Waiting will cost you in the long run. Photographers often book out as far as a year in advance, so if you love their work and your wedding is 4 months out, book them!
08 Do you help with the photo timeline?
A good photographer will be able to answer basic questions regarding flow and how long they need or take. A great photographer should have a timeline they would prefer available on demand. We recommend you read this article written by our very own Tom Keene. Should You Have a First Look? and Best Timeline for Your Wedding Day
09 How many hours of coverage are included?
This really falls under, how many hours do you need? Take the link above for Best Timeline for Your Wedding Day. This will explain how long things take. If your photographer cannot answer the question of how many hours they should be there once you have a timeline, you may want to reconsider. Longer days do not always add up to more photos captured. Message Tom, he will explain further. Read more here
10 Can we add hours if needed?
Any photographer who takes his craft seriously, will know that you should not book more than one wedding per day for most days. This should allow them to stay longer if needed, but this should usually be figured out before the wedding day.
Gear & Backup
11 What kind of equipment do you use?
This is often a weird question to get when you are a photographer. If they answer with "Canon R5 with a 24-70mm f/2.8, 70-200mm f/2.8, a 35mm f/1.4, and a 85mm f/1.2", would you know what that meant? It is not the equipment that makes a photographer. It is a tool that they use to make their craft. I could own Gordon Ramsey's oven and his pans, but I bet he will make you a better omelet than I could. The more important question is number 12 below.
12 Do you have backup gear with you?
This is really important question. Camera failure happens! Lenses get dropped. Your photographer needs to have a back up and plenty of batteries.
13 Do you work with a second shooter?
A second photographer is not always needed. Frankly, it should not even be a question if have a smaller wedding unless you are getting ready miles apart. Any professional should be working with other photographers of have them on a call list when needed. Tom is actually writing a specific blog article just for this that will help you really understand what you need and why you need it. All of our "seconds" are full time primary photographers.
14 What happens if you're sick or there's an emergency?
As mentioned above, your photographer should have another photographer working with them or know a handful of people they can call if an emergency arrives. Things happen but in the 22 years of Tom being a photographer, he has only missed 2 events and other photographers were sent in his place. One was him in the hospital and the other was completely unavoidable due to a freak storm. At LA Digital Photo we try to have one of our team not booked just in case and have 4 other photographers we know that we work with to cover something like this.
Communication & Editing
15 How do you handle communication before the wedding?
Everyone likes to keep in contact in a different way. Your photographer should be willing to chat via phone, text, email or meeting in person (usually during your fist meeting or your scheduled engagement session). If it takes them hours or days to get back to you, you may want to reconsider your choice.
16 Will we meet in person or virtually before the big day?
As mentioned above, the photographer should be flexible. Back in the day, a sit down "interview" took place at a Starbucks or at the clients home. Today, we all live a more hectic schedule. Meeting in person is not as common and photographers who still do this and do it a lot will charge more for their rates often times. Booking an engagement session with your photographer is a great way to work with each other before your wedding day. It will build trust.
17 How long will it take to get our photos?
This is a great question! It goes hand in hand with question number 3. You should be able to ask to see a number of full weddings, not just a blog list of highlights. At LA Digital Photo, our turn around time is 10 day so or less 95% of the time and never exceeds 2 weeks.
"Unbelievably, Tom had the digital photos back to us in 48 hours. We received over 2500 [it was only 1042, lol] photos and have been able to share the gallery with friends and family."
18 How many edited photos will we receive?
In the industry, this is really a hot point of contention. The long standard of this is often a fixed number of 300-500 edited images. Photographers often spend more time deleting images than they do editing them. over 15 years ago we started including every single image captured. Yes all of them were edited. Why? We would often sit around and say, this photo and that photo will never get used in a wedding album... and once we gave them all we'd often select a handful we thought should be deleted. What did we learn? These are not our memories, they are yours. If a photographer felt the need to shutter an image, they thought it would be a nice moment or a documentation of the day. How do you delete that and forever hide that from a couple? What did we learn, often and I mean almost every single time, a handful of images we would have culled (fancy way of saying deleted) showed up in the couples' photo choices for their album. With so many weekend warrior photographers out there who are using AI editing software more and more, that not only edits but also deletes photos it deems as not needed, you are left with a small amount of what was captured. If you are just too busy to not want to see every possible memory of your wedding day, ask your photographer to give them all to you and their list of how many photos you want to see as a best of the best.
19 Do you deliver sneak peeks?
Sneak peeks were created to allow a photographer to give a couple a way to see a handful of images to them, so they could take months to edit them around their "real" job. If your photographer takes months ask this question, then ask them for a set of examples and then ask to see the full gallery. A follow up then is to ask, how much time it was between each of these steps.
Tom, often shares images on the day of the wedding to you and your guests when asked. Makes people put their phones away and they get to leave with nice keepsake. This is rather uncommon for most photographers, even his own team.
20 Can we request edits or retouching?
Yes you can ask for this and depending on how much is being asked, do expect to pay for it. A simple crop of a photo to remove a distraction or something like that shouldn't be anything you need to pay for. Ask that on 300 images, well that will take a lot of time. Also removing a blemish here and their should be fine on a handful of key images, but asking for it on every single one, that again take a lot of time above and beyond what is normally expected. We honestly rarely ever get asked for a redo, but sometimes it is something you may want on one or two key photos.
Pricing, Payments & Rights
21 What’s included in your packages?
Know and understand what you are being provided and ask for a contract that spells this all out clearly. Don't be afraid to ask for an apple to apples comparison to another photographer. View our upfront pricing. Each event is unique so always feel free to "Chat with Tom" on the link below. Just let us know where you event is, how many guests you are expecting and how many hours you need.
22 How much is the retainer, and when is the final balance due?
An important question to ask. You should never ever pay more than 1/2 of your total amount due in a retainer. For us it is usually between $200 and $600 depending on the services you are booking. Expect to pay the remaining balance about a week before and no later than day of the event. Dealing with money on your wedding day can feel odd, so pay it at least the day before. If you feel off by any of this and or your are asked to pay the final balance months in advance and that makes your hair on your neck stand up... read your contract and know what the expectations are for your choice of photographer.
23 Are travel fees included?
Everyone has a range of travel. If you live in California and your wedding is in Hawaii, expect to pay for them to fly out and a day of stay. If it is a county away from their normal area you will get a range of answers for this question. LA Digital Photo has no travel fees from San Diego to San Luis Obispo.
Top left: Santa Barbara Court House Top middle: Aruba Top right: Bahia Resort in San Diego
Bottom left: Callaway Winery in Temecula Bottom middle: La Canada Thursday Club Bottom right: The Sanctuary Long Beach
24 Do we own the rights to the photos? Can we print them anywhere?
Another great question to ask. Legally a photographer owns every photo they take, period. They can set the parameters how they see fit. They can share usage rights with you or not. They may require you are mentioned in any usage of their images on social media or in print publications. You should be proud of their work and be willing to do this. Some photographers provide smaller files that limit your ability to print them larger. It will force you to use them to get enlargements. LA Digital Photo shares usage rights and will not police your giving us credit for them. You can always print them anywhere you wish with us! This can save you a ton, but using other labs like CVS or some online companies will give you mixed results, lower quality prints that can fade or yellow over time much faster than what a professional photographer company like us provide.
25 Do you offer albums, prints, or USBs?
Hey, good for you. You actually made it to the end. Always know what your photographer can do and will do. Never ever accept DVD, Cd Rom or even now USB drives as a way to get your files. It is old tech. USB drives too often fail over time, or limit the size of files that can be given to you. If your photographer is giving you a thumb drive that is 16 gb or less, you are either not getting every photo they took or your are getting lower resolution files that limit your printing. Most 8 hours weddings we shoot are over 80 gig in total size and that is without videography movies. We always give you every image and at full capture size at LA Digital Photo. Yes, albums are great to have. Don't buy them upfront in a package. You have no idea how many photos you will choose until you see them all. Wait, make your selections and go from there!
Bonus Tip: How You Feel Matters, Too
Beyond the answers, pay attention to how comfortable you feel with the photographer. They’ll be by your side during emotional, intimate moments. Connection and trust are everything.
At LA Digital Photo, we believe your photography experience should be personal, seamless, and joy-filled—from consultation to image and album delivery when purchased.
Ready to Chat?
Want to see full galleries, sample timelines, and hear how we’ll help guide your day? Contact us here and let’s see if we’re the right fit! You can "Chat with Tom " below. And Yes, It is really him that you are chatting with.
We have answered many of these questions above from our perspective. You can find out answers and more on our FAQ page.
Want to Make This Easier?
Download our free printable checklist of these 25 questions — perfect to bring to consultations or keep as part of your wedding planning folder!
👉 Click below to download your PDF checklist now!
Or contact us directly to schedule a discovery call and ask us these questions in person. Text Tom 714-394-4263 to set up a time to connect.
Here is the full review that we took a snippet from above for Kellie and Morgan's wedding at Pasadena City Hall in July 26, 2025
"Just a few weeks before our private wedding ceremony, we decided to try to find a photographer. We put a project request out on Yelp and Tom responded to our inquiry within the hour, sent sample shoots in the location we requested, and had a contract over to us at an incredibly reasonable price. The whole coordination process with him was so easy.
He met us at the location and was early, approachable, and professional. During and after the ceremony, Tom captured every moment and totally surpassed our expectations - giving us words of wisdom about marriage, taking us to every spot he knew around city hall, and warming up to our families. We could not have asked for a better experience.
Unbelievably, Tom had the digital photos back to us in 48 hours. We received over 2500(*) photos and have been able to share the gallery with friends and family. The photos came out amazingly and we are so grateful to have found Tom and how he was able to capture the warmth of our celebration. Thank you Tom!!! We would absolutely work with him again."
(*) it was only 1042 images captured but Tom did it in 1.5 hours!
Kellie and Morgan at a private wedding ceremony at the Pasadena City Hall
Tom Keene is a full time wedding and event photographer at LA Digital Photo of 22 years covering the entire planet and specializing in Los Angeles, Pasadena, La Canada Flintridge, Newport Beach, San Diego, Temecula, Santa Barbara and beyond!
Quick FAQ
Q: How far in advance should I book my wedding photographer?A: Ideally 9–15 months in advance, especially for spring or fall dates in Los Angeles and Surrounding counties.
Q: Can I customize these questions for an elopement?A: Yes! Many of the questions still apply, and we’d be happy to tailor the list during a consult.
Q: What’s the most important question to ask?A: Ask to see a full gallery. It reveals consistency and how well a photographer tells a full story—not just highlight shots.
