Wedding Photography Questionnaire
No two weddings are the same. Please answer these questions and send this questionnaire back to me to make sure your wedding photography wants and needs are captured flawlessly. I will create a photography timeline for the day of your wedding, that is custom designed to fit your day perfectly.
Your Wedding
Pre-Ceremony/Details Shots:
- Wedding Dress Details / Hanging Dress Shot
- Brides Shoes
- Bride and Bridesmaids Getting Ready Shots
- Ceremony Site Details Prior to guests arriving
- Groom/Groomsmen Getting Ready
- Grooms Clothing Details
- Gift/Letter Exchange
- Rings Shot
- Shot of Hand Written Vows
- Flowers
- Invitation Shot
- Reception Details and Décor
- Bride getting her dress on with help from important friend or family member.
- Bride Holding Bouquet
- Bridesmaids Holding Bouquets
Interior / exterior of venue/ceremony site/reception site First look if there is one.
Ceremony Shots:
- Guests Arriving
- Processional and Recessional
- Musicians Performing if any
- Bride or Groom walking down the aisle.
- Bride/Grooms reaction to their partner walking down the aisle
- Wide shot of the ceremony taking place
- Couple reciting vows
- Exchanging of rings
- Unity Ceremony Shots
- Couples First Kiss
- Candid’s of family and guests at the ceremony
- Couple Exiting Ceremony
Reception Shots:
- Wedding Party Entrances and First Dance
- Toasts
- Father Daughter Dances & Mother Son Dances
- Cake
- Cake Cutting
- Band or DJ
- Guests Dancing Shots
- Bouquet Toss
- Garter Toss
- Candid Shots
Formal Wedding Portraits:
- Bride and/or Groom, Each Alone & Bride and/or Groom Together
- Bride with Bridesmaids
- Bride with each Bridesmaid individually
- Groom with Groomsmen
- Groom with each Groomsmen Individually
- Couple with Bridal Party
- Bride(s) with her family
- Groom(s) with his family
- Bride(s) with her Mom & Dad
- Groom(s) with his Mom & Dad
- Groom with his partners Family
- Bride with her partners Family
- Both Families Together
- Flower Girls and Ring Bearers with Bride and Groom
I want your wedding photos to be flawless. Something you can look back on for years to come and be happy with the product I provided. Here are some things to take into consideration and suggestions for your wedding day to help me be able to capture the best photos that I can:
- Ladies... Avoid glossy lip-gloss and consider foundations that will reduce the chance of having a shiny face in photos.
- In order for me to capture some fun, intimate, and creative images of the couple, please allow a minimum of 30 minutes of
time to capture the images of JUST the couple together. 10 minutes of this time is usually done at sunset to capture the most
amazing lighting for your photos. If you are doing a first look, we will capture the majority of these photos at that time.
- Pre-assign a family member or friend to be in charge of rounding people up for the group shots. As time will be limited, and
gathering people for photos can become extremely time consuming.
- I love creating dance floor photos that show motion and have a creative effect to them. I will for sure capture lots of these shots. However, I also like to capture some shots without my creative technique while everyone is on the dance floor. Talk to your DJ about what type of lighting they will be using. Suggest that he/she uses less colored lighting that might move around the dance floor in all directions. (Especially those lights that produce colored dots all over the dance floor. They look awesome and party-like in person, but in your photos, a face covered in colored polka dots isn’t very attractive). This is especially crucial for the first dances and father-daughter, mother-son dances, etc.
- At the ceremony, talk to your Officiant about stepping out of the way once he says ”you may now kiss the bride/groom.” The first kiss is the best part of the ceremony, you don’t want the Officiant’s head sticking up behind you two as you kiss in your photos.
- Keep the moment sacred. As a photographer one of the things that I have noticed is that with social media being so popular and everyone having an awesome I-phone or I-pad or small camera of some sort, people want to take as many photos as they can with their own cameras at weddings. I am all for this! Just keep in mind that people leaning into the aisle to get that awesome picture of you during the ceremony time might get in the way of some of my shots. Also, I shoot with a camera in which I manually set everything to be perfect for the lighting conditions as we go about the day. Any unexpected change in lighting can either overexpose or underexpose my image that I produce. Please let your guests know that flash is not permitted at any time. The last thing you want is for someone to try and get a good shot of your kiss and use their flash at the same time I click my shutter to take your picture. That flash could completely ruin your kiss photo. My greatest suggestion for all couples is to consider an unplugged wedding, or have your Officiant make an announcement that flash photography is not permitted at anytime during the ceremony and to make sure that they turn their flashes off.
- Don’t forget to eat and drink throughout the day! This goes for both my couple that I am shooting, and myself. On your wedding day things will be going fast, and the stress can be high, and I know many of us can completely forget about something so important such as eating. We need the fuel to get through the day, so make sure there is time allotted to grab a bite to eat prior to the ceremony if needed. Also, at the reception, if I am there during dinner I also eat there as well. Sometimes wedding coordinators or the ones in charge of a venue will suggest that the photographer wait for all the guests
to get their meal before they eat. There is one problem with this, if we eat last then we miss the Couple as to not miss any
shooting opportunities.
- Think about the light. This is one thing many couples tend to not consider. (or don’t realize they should consider), but be aware of the way the light will change throughout the day of your wedding. In the summer our days are longer and our nights are shorter. Its easier to have a 6 pm ceremony and still have plenty of light left outside for those amazing outdoor shots, but in the winter time or closer to, the sun may be fully set and it be dark by the time a 6pm ceremony is to end, leaving us little to no options for great outdoor photos after the ceremony. If this is the case for your wedding, you may want to consider a first look.
- A First Look. What Is It And Why Should You Do It? A first look is a chance for the couple to see each other privately before the ceremony. It’s a super intimate moment that always shows real and awesome emotion. I highly recommend this. Weddings are stressful there is no doubt about that. But this can take away so much of the stress on your wedding day. Plus being able to enjoy that first moment of seeing one another on your wedding day without a hundred pairs of eyes staring you down is quite lovely. You're able to hug each other, express every emotion that comes to the surface together and not hold back anything at all. And having that reaction when your soon to be husband first sees you in your wedding dress documented to always look back on... yeah it's a pretty epic moment. The first look also allows for you to also get most of the portraits done prior to the ceremony and not feel rushed after to get the photos that you want. Timing is everything when it comes to photos. If you want outdoor photos with beautiful light, but your wedding is in the later time of the year with a 6 pm ceremony, chances are it will be close to fully dark outside by the time your ceremony is over. This would give you a chance to get the photos you want, and not have to worry about the lighting outdoors. Most importantly, a first look can seriously calm your nerves. And every couple I have known to do a first look says that they were much less nervous about the walk down the aisle after they had their first look, but they also have said that its a totally different and just as great of an experience. Having a first look won’t take away from the emotions of the walk down the aisle, just make you more comfortable.
- Last but not least, share your timeline we come up with, with everyone! The greatest thing at a wedding is having everyone be on the same page. This way, everyone knows when he or she needs to be ready to take photos.
