Wedding Videographer Questions to Ask a Client
A client intake list for wedding filmmakers, for the consultation call and the planning form that follows. Twenty questions covering the timeline, the people, ceremony restrictions, audio and microphones, weather plans, edit length, music, and delivery expectations.
20 questions, each with the reason to ask it · includes a conversation guide
The questions
Open any question to see why it works.
- 1
Tell me about the day: where is everyone getting ready, and where is everything happening?
Open here because it is easy to answer and it sets your travel and gear plan. What you are listening for is the distance between locations and how many rooms you would be splitting yourself across, which is the first thing that decides whether you need a second shooter.
- 2
What does the timeline look like right now, and who owns it on the day?
Couples often have one version, the planner another, and the venue a third. Ask whose copy is authoritative and get that person's number. Being told at the ceremony that everything moved forward an hour is only survivable if you were told.
- 3
Who else is working the day: photographer, planner, band or DJ?
Your day is shaped largely by the photographer, so it helps to know whether you have worked together or can speak beforehand. The band or DJ matters too, since their sound feed is often the difference between usable speech audio and a room recording.
- 4
How do you both feel about being on camera?
Ask each of them if you can. One partner is frequently far less comfortable than the other and has not said so. The answer decides how much you direct on the day, and whether a posed portrait session will feel like a chore or a relief.
- 5
When you watch this in ten years, what do you want it to feel like?
It gets past style words like cinematic, which every couple says and nobody defines the same way. Answers about atmosphere and about specific people are directly usable in the edit. Answers about equipment are not.
- 6
Is there a wedding film you have seen and loved, and one that was not for you?
The dislike is the more useful half, and couples rarely volunteer it. It shows you where the boundary sits on slow motion, drone openings, vows used as voice-over, and heavy music, which is where most revision requests come from.
- 7
Which moments would you be upset not to have on film?
This is your must-shoot list and it is often unglamorous: a grandparent arriving, a private letter being read, a parent seeing the dress. Get each onto the timeline with a time, because unlisted moments are the ones that happen while you are changing a battery.
- 8
Who must appear in the film, and is there anyone I should keep out of frame?
Ask for names and, ideally, a photo of the two or three people you cannot afford to miss. A room of two hundred strangers is not searchable in real time, and the person you filmed least is the one who will be noticed.
- 9
Is there any family situation I should know about before the day?
Divorced parents, an estranged sibling, a recent bereavement, someone unwell. You are not asking for the story, only for enough to avoid framing the wrong two people together or lingering on a seat that was left empty deliberately.
- 10
Are there speeches, and do you know who is giving them?
Order and rough length determine where you set up and how many batteries you burn. Ask also who is likely to be emotional or funny, because knowing to hold on a reaction rather than the speaker is what makes those sections work.
- 11
Would you be comfortable wearing a microphone during the ceremony?
Raise this early, not on the morning. Some people refuse, and some outfits leave nowhere to hide a pack. If the answer is no, you need a plan built around the officiant's microphone or a recorder near the front, and the venue may have views on both.
- 12
What are the ceremony rules: where can I stand, and can I move during it?
This varies enormously by venue and officiant, and couples usually do not know until you ask them to check. Fixed-position rules change your camera count, and that is much better discovered in a planning call than during the processional.
- 13
Are there cultural or religious parts of the ceremony I should understand in advance?
Ask what happens, in what order, and what matters most to their families. It keeps you from missing a short moment that carries the whole ceremony, and from the awkwardness of filming from somewhere you were not supposed to be.
- 14
Has the venue given you any restrictions on lighting, drones, or setup?
Common ones are no added lighting in a church, no drones over the grounds, and a hard curfew on power. Ask for the venue coordinator's contact so you can confirm directly, since restrictions reach couples in a softened form.
- 15
Do you want a portrait window in the last hour of daylight?
It costs about fifteen minutes and it is usually the best-looking footage in the film. Raise it now, because once the timeline is locked with the caterer nobody will move dinner for you. If they decline, drop it and do not reopen it on the day.
- 16
What is the plan if the weather turns?
You need to know the indoor backup space and whether it has any natural light, because a dark backup room changes what you bring. Ask who decides and by what time, since a late call means moving equipment during the part of the day you should be filming.
- 17
Do you want a short highlight film, a longer edit, or both?
Set the expectation in minutes now, and say plainly what a longer edit does and does not include. Most disappointment at delivery is not about quality, it is about a couple expecting the full ceremony inside a five-minute film.
- 18
Is there music that matters to you, and how do you feel about licensed alternatives?
Couples frequently name a commercial track they cannot legally have in a shareable film. Have that conversation at booking, offer to find something close in feel, and write down what they agreed to so it is not reopened at delivery.
- 19
How do you feel about your film being shared publicly?
Ask about your portfolio, short social clips, and any submission separately, because people answer differently for each. Get the answer in writing either way, and check whether any guest or family member has a reason to be excluded from anything public.
- 20
When do you want to see it, and have you promised it to anyone by a date?
The pressure usually comes from an outside commitment such as a family screening or a relative travelling home. Learn about it now, quote your real turnaround with a margin, and explain what happens if they want changes after the first cut.
Running the intake
Practical guidance for the conversation itself.
Splitting the call from the form
Splitting the call from the form
Two conversations work better than one. The first call is about feel and fit: how they want to remember the day, how they are on camera, what they liked and disliked in films they have seen. Keep it short and mostly listening. The logistics belong in a written form sent six to eight weeks before the wedding, once the timeline has firmed up and the venue has answered its own questions. Asking for a shot list at booking gets you a guess; asking a month out gets you something accurate. Whatever comes back in writing, restate the important parts in your own words in a follow-up email: locations, arrival time, the must-have moments, edit length, music approach, and the sharing permission. That email is what you will both rely on if anything is disputed later.
What the answers tell you before you book
What the answers tell you before you book
- A couple who cannot name a single film they disliked will usually discover their preferences during revisions instead. Push gently for one dislike.
- If nobody owns the timeline, expect to be the person tracking it. Price and staff accordingly, or ask them to nominate someone.
- Strong feelings about one commercial track, held after you have explained licensing, are worth resolving before contracts rather than after the edit.
- If the list of people who must appear runs to thirty names, the expectation is documentary coverage. Say so plainly and talk about a second shooter.
- Reluctance about microphones combined with a wish for the vows in the film is a conflict to surface immediately. It rarely resolves itself on the morning.
Things to confirm yourself, not through the couple
Things to confirm yourself, not through the couple
- Ceremony filming rules, directly with the officiant. Couples relay these inaccurately in both directions.
- Venue access times, power availability, and whether there is anywhere for you to work or store cases.
- Whether a meal is provided and when it is served, since it is usually the only break you get.
- The photographer's plan for portraits and family groups, so you are not both directing the same people at the same moment.
- Sunset time on the actual date, and where the light falls at that venue, rather than the couple's impression of it.