What should you ask a wedding videographer before booking?

Ask to see a complete film, not just the highlight reel

A highlight reel is edited to look its best: fast cuts, the nicest light, the best few seconds of every moment. It tells you almost nothing about how someone handles a whole ceremony, a dim reception room or a best man who mumbles into the microphone. Ask to watch one full wedding film, start to finish, before you decide. Most videographers who do this well are glad to share one, and it's the single best way to judge whether their style actually suits you.

Watch it with the sound on, in a quiet room, rather than skimming it muted on your phone. You're checking whether you can actually hear the vows clearly, whether the pacing holds your attention past the first minute, and whether the style, calm and classic, or fast and heavily edited, matches what you'd want of your own day.

Coverage, hours and what's actually in the film

Get these in writing before you sign anything.

• How many hours are covered, and what time coverage starts and ends.
• How long is the final film? A three-minute highlight and a full documentary edit are very different amounts of work, and very different things to rewatch.
• Are the ceremony and speeches included in full, uncut, or only as short clips inside the highlight film? This is the footage most couples go back to, so don't assume.
• Is there a short teaser for sharing on social media in the days after the wedding, separate from the full film?

How is the audio actually recorded?

This is the question couples forget and regret forgetting. A visually beautiful film where you can't clearly hear the vows or the speeches is the one mistake that can't be fixed afterwards. Ask specifically whether the videographer uses a microphone on you and your partner, or near the person giving a speech, rather than relying only on a camera's built-in mic from across the room. If the answer is vague, push for detail, since this single choice affects the film's most important minutes more than any camera or lens does.

It's also worth asking what happens if the venue's own sound system is used for speeches, since some videographers can take a feed directly from it as a backup. A second, independent audio source is a good sign that someone has thought about what happens if one microphone fails partway through.

Delivery, teaser and rounds of changes

Ask what happens after the wedding, not just what's filmed on the day.

• Delivery time. Weeks or months, and whether it's stated in the contract, not just a rough guess.
• File formats and how it's delivered, download link, USB, or both.
• Rounds of changes. How many, if any, and what counts as a change versus a full re-edit.
• Raw footage. Whether it's available, and if so, at what extra cost.

Deposit, cancellation and what happens if something goes wrong

The unglamorous questions matter as much as the creative ones.

• Deposit amount, and whether it's refundable if your date changes.
• Backup equipment. A professional carries at least a second camera body and extra batteries and memory cards, and should be able to say so without hesitating.
• What happens if the videographer is ill or unavailable, is there a backup, or a full refund?
• Travel costs, and whether they're a fixed figure in the quote or billed separately afterwards.

My answers, as a model for what to expect

My wedding terms are specific rather than vague: up to 10 hours of coverage, a 4–6 minute film, the ceremony and speeches filmed and delivered in full, and a 60-second teaser, with a fixed quote sent within 24 hours and 30% to book. I work solo with a multi-camera setup, with audio recorded close to the vows and the speeches, not from across the room.

Full details are on my wedding videography page, and highlight film versus full wedding film explains the layers of footage you should expect included.