What to ask in a wedding photography client questionnaire

A useful questionnaire arrives before the call and comes back filled in. If it reads like a magazine quiz, people abandon it. Six short groups are enough.

1. The wedding, in addresses

Date, ceremony address, reception address, and the name of a person who will actually answer a phone that morning. “Downtown church” is not an address. Two venues mean a travel block. One venue means you can give that time to portraits.

2. Who decides

Ask who is planning, and whether a parent or a planner has veto power over the photo list. You want one person to write back when the timeline slips. Also ask who should not be in photographs. That answer is easy to miss on a call and expensive to miss in the gallery.

3. First look, or not

This single answer moves 20 to 40 minutes. A first look lets you make portraits in daylight before the ceremony. No first look means the portrait window is after the recessional, often in worse light, and the family list has to shrink or the reception entrance slides.

4. Hard stops

Ask what time the venue wants the room empty, and whether cocktail hour is in the same building. A sunset clause in the venue contract beats the couple’s hope to “stay as long as the light is nice.” Put the hard stop on the timeline first, then work backward.

5. Coverage they will actually buy

Ask how many hours they think they need, and whether they already know they will not buy an album. You are not upselling on the form. You are stopping a six-hour booking from being planned like a ten-hour one. If they want a second shooter, ask which part of the day that person is for: ceremony only, or getting ready as well.

6. The one worry

End with an open line: “What are you afraid we will miss?” The answers are specific. A grandmother who tires early. A signed wine bottle. A speech from a brother who cries. Those belong on the shot list, not in a mood paragraph.

What to leave out

Do not ask them to describe their brand, pick a preset, or rank ten sample photos. Do not ask for Instagram handles of every guest. You can look at a Pinterest board later if they offer one. The form’s job is to make the day-of timeline possible.

The blank we use is the 28-question template. The longer note on how the emails fit around it is the welcome packet guide.