Do you really know your photography clients? Paul Caponigro once said, “It’s one thing to make a picture of what a person looks like; it’s another thing to make a portrait of who they are.” Therein lies the challenge. How can we get to know our clients so that we can capture images that reflect who they are in a way they’ll cherish for the rest of their lives?  In this article, we’ll give you an organic approach for getting to your your clients, including a list of wedding photography questions for clients.

Here are some possible questions or prompts to discover more about your clients during your meetings.  You might ask these during the initial meeting or somewhere else along the planning process.

  • Tell me the story of how you met
  • Tell me the story of who asked who out
  • Name your 3 favorite physical features on your partner
  • Name your 3 favorite non-physical features about your partner
  • Tell me the story of how you proposed
  • What would be your perfect date night
  • Describe your favorite activity to do with your partner
  • What would make your partner laugh
  • What is your favorite thing that your partner does to show you they care
  • Describe your most memorable moment with your partner

Before the wedding, ask these questions to get a better idea of the couple’s expectations for the wedding day:

  • What are you looking forward to most at the wedding?
  • (To him) Describe how she will look on the wedding day
  • (To her) Describe how he will look on the wedding day
  • Tell me about both of your families
  • Who do you envision helping you to get ready in the morning?
  • What is your favorite thing about your wedding venue?

When prospective clients reach out to you and tell you they just got engaged and are looking for a wedding photographer, your knowledge of them is very limited. So far, all you know is that they are engaged to be married. Now, remember that your prospective bride and groom-to-be each has his/her own story and they’re so much more than just engaged. While trying to understand your clients’ vision, you can also get to know them more as individuals.

Ask them questions about themselves.  Here’s a sample breakdown of what a client’s background might look like:

Him

  • Played football in college
  • Wanted to go pro, but got injured
  • Met a lot of girls, never interested
  • Met her at the school gym
  • She was the first girl to make him laugh
  • He loves her smile
  • He loves her intellect
  • His favorite feature are her eyes
  • He feels like she would be an amazing mom
  • He proposed during an adventure trip to Thailand
  • He bought the perfect ring by consulting her best friend

Her

  • Focused on school and her grades
  • Rarely dated, didn’t have time
  • Most guys seemed shallow to her
  • She religiously exercised, loves the outdoors
  • She loves his drive and motivation
  • He makes her a better person
  • He makes her laugh and stay light-hearted
  • She loves his athleticism and adventurous spirit
  • Her favorite feature is his smile and hands
  • She didn’t see it coming
  • The ring was incredible, it was exactly what she wanted

They dated for 5 years, but they just got engaged.

Again, they’re so much more than just engaged. When translating this information into a photo shoot, a photographer might shoot a lot of close-ups of them smiling and laughing because they love that about each other.  The more you get to know your clients, the more personalized and impactful your photography will be for them.

Bonus 1 – The WAVE Exercise

In addition to asking sincere questions, we also recommend following the W.A.V.E. (Wall Art Vision Exercise) Process that we outline in our S3 Workshop in Premium.  We actually have a free training on the process here.  With this process, you ask a series of questions that reveals the client’s underlying needs and desires on their wedding day.  Be sure to join the training for more information.

Bonus – 10 Wedding Photography Questions for Clients by Hanssie

Below are 10 of the most important questions on the questionnaire so that you can craft your own. Communication makes everything go smoother and the more you communicate with your clients, the better you know how to serve them. These ten things you should know (in no particular order) before you photograph any wedding to keep those lines of communication open.

1. Family Details & Dynamics

In this day and age, it’s more than likely your clients will have step parents, and step siblings, and with that will come estranged family members. On the first page of my pre-wedding client questionnaire, I have them list out their immediate family members as well as a space that asks them if there is anything I should know in terms of family members that would prefer not to be photographed together, family issues that might affect portraits, etc. I’d rather walk in and know what’s happening instead of assuming everyone gets along and is one big happy family.

I also use this to make my wedding photography timeline, listing specific names of who should be where and at what time.

2. Names of all in the Wedding Party

As I’ve gotten older, I’ve lost my ability to remember anything…names particularly. If I meet a group of people, I won’t remember anyone’s names, but if I have a list of all the people in the wedding party, it helps. I will, at least, memorize the names of the Best Man and Maid of Honor and then as many of the bridesmaids and groomsmen as possible. Plus, I’ll already have seen some of the names which, in theory, should help them stick in my memory.

3. Phone Numbers of Day Of Contact People

Aside from the wedding planner (if they have one), who are the main contact people the day of the wedding? Usually, it’s the Maid of Honor, Best Man, the bride’s mother or a sibling. A bride and groom may not have their phones handy throughout the day, and there may be a need to get a hold of someone besides the planner. Keep these numbers handy; you never know when you might need them.

4. A List of All The Vendors

On the last page of the questionnaire, I ask for a list of vendors from the florist to the DJ to the person who made the invitations. I’ll send the people I’ll be working with directly an email introduction and I’ll also include the wedding photography timeline. It’s always nice to work with friendly vendors, and I find that just a quick introduction paves the way for a great wedding day working relationship.

This list also makes it easy for me to send images after the wedding and have a list of people I can refer to in the future (and hopefully they will return the favor).

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5. Photography Expectations

A few years ago, BrideBoxPro asked 50 brides what they wished their wedding photographers would’ve done better (see that article here), besides communication, many of the brides said they wished their wedding photographers would’ve taken specific pictures of this or that, or this group of people or those floral arrangements. Some said they wished that the photographer took more pictures of the reception or more romantics or more family pictures, etc.

Well, we photographers are not mind readers, and neither are your clients, so talk to them! Ask them what they want. In this video, Pye said that his studio has all their clients make mood boards. A mood board is a great idea to get the MOOD your client is going for; it’s typically not a shot list; your client is just showing you some of the things they like. They aren’t expecting you to recreate every photo (well, most of them aren’t).

If your client sends you a shot list, don’t bristle. Read it over, do what you can to please your client WHILE using your style and creativity to make all parties happy. In my questionnaire, I give my clients a list of words to describe themselves, the feel they want for their wedding, the experience they want their guests to have, the feel they want their images to have. If they send a shot list, I always thank them and tell them that I’ll try my best to get as many of those images that I can within the timeframe of the day. Then I do that while melding my style within their requests as best I can.

Get on the same page as your client about what they want and what they expect from their images and from you.

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6. Their Story

Every couple has a love story, and I haven’t met one couple who didn’t want to share how they met each other, how they fell in love and how he proposed. It’s a connection to them, another way for them to become more than clients, to become your fans. Get to know them and who they are; the more personable you are, the better your relationship with them will be and maybe when their friends get married, they will think of how great you and pass your name along

Plus, the added bonus of knowing their story is to be able to personalize their blog post. It makes the feature much more interesting to blog visitors and meaningful to the couple.

7. List of People (aside from immediate family) To Be Photographed With

Her best friend’s sister from college; his best friend’s grandmother who was like a second mother; their college roommates who set them up on a blind date…these are the people that are important, but not obvious to you.

During the hustle and bustle of a wedding day, the bride may not remember that she wanted a picture with all her sorority sisters, so ask her before the big day. My questionnaire asks them to list any VIPs that may not be in the wedding party or on the list of family that they want to make sure they have photos with. Once I get that list, I add it as a note on the timeline which I carry around with me the day of the wedding. I’ve been known to track down the bride toward the end of the night and remind her that she wanted a photo of her and her third cousin’s family. (She was very happy I remembered for her).

8. Venue Restrictions

Each venue is different, and many have restrictions on how close you can be to the stage or if you are allowed to use flash, etc. When you get to the venue on a wedding day, typically the person in charge at the venue will inform you, but I like to know beforehand.

For example, at one wedding, a bride sent me an image she loved where the wedding photographer got a fisheye view of the couple and all their guests during the ceremony. The church they got married in did not allow the photographers past a certain row during the ceremony. Because I knew of the restriction beforehand, we were able to coordinate with the officiant to have everyone stay seated after the bride and groom’s recessional, so we could come back and create the shot after the ceremony. The bride got her shot, and we didn’t break any of the venue’s rules.

9. Food

Last month, Brides.com published an article where a wedding planner suggested that brides and grooms could save some money by not feeding their wedding photographer. Whatever side you fall on, you need to communicate with your clients your expectations on food – whether you expect to be fed or not.

I give my clients the option of feeding us (if the wedding is over a certain number of hours) or giving us a dinner break where we leave to get food.

10. Other Expectations

Make sure you ask your clients if they have anything else they think you should know. Leave it open ended and be open to what their wants and expectations are. Remember, an open line of communication with ample time before the wedding is the key to happy clients.