Portfolios are curated. These questions tell you more than the pictures do.
1. Who is actually shooting my wedding?
Larger studios sometimes sell you the founder's portfolio and send an associate. That is not dishonest if it is disclosed. Ask for the name, and ask to see that person's work.
2. Do your cameras record to two cards?
A single memory card failing is rare and unrecoverable. Dual-card recording writes every frame twice as it is taken. Any professional setup should have it.
3. What backup equipment comes to the day?
Bodies, lenses, batteries, lighting. A wedding does not offer a second attempt.
4. What happens if you fall ill?
There should be a named plan — a network of photographers who cover for each other, and a refund position if nobody can be found.
5. When do we get the photographs?
Ask for both the highlight timeline and the full gallery timeline, and ask what happens if they slip. Six to eight weeks for a full wedding gallery is normal. Six months is not.
6. How many images, and how are they chosen?
A number alone is meaningless. Ask whether they deliver everything or cull to the frames worth keeping. Both are defensible; you should know which you are getting.
7. Do we get full-resolution files?
And what are you allowed to do with them? Personal use should be unrestricted and unlimited in time.
8. Will you publish our photographs?
Ask whether consent is assumed by the contract or requested separately. If it is buried in the booking form, you have already agreed to it.
9. What does the quote exclude?
Albums, travel, extra hours, additional edits. Get it itemised before you sign.
10. What has gone wrong at a wedding you shot, and what did you do?
The most revealing question on the list. Anyone who has shot enough weddings has a story. Anyone who claims otherwise has either not shot many or is not being straight with you.