As you can imagine, I hear LOTS of questions from clients and prospective clients while they are planning their wedding day. This post will be a running list of answers to those most frequently asked questions:

Q: What are your Package Prices?

A: My full day wedding coverage starts at $3000 with the option to add on extras. I also offer hourly “Elopement” options as well as a “Bells and Whistles” package. You can check out my prices on my website, or reach out to get a more in depth pricing sheet.

Q: Do you offer engagement sessions?

A: Yes! I LOVE when clients add an engagement session to their package! It allows us to get to know each other better so we are more comfortable with each other on your wedding day. I also offer stand alone engagement sessions for people who are just visiting but getting married elsewhere. Check out my engagement gallery or my pricing page for more information.

Q: Can we schedule our engagement session on a weekend?

A: Because most weddings occur on weekends, I typically prefer to schedule engagement session during the week. If you can only do your engagement session on a weekend, Sundays are usually preferable. If a wedding is scheduled for that weekend at a later date, we will have to reschedule your engagement session.

 

Q: How far in advance of my wedding should I schedule my engagement session?

A: This is completely up to you, but I usually think the sooner the better. Typically Save the Dates are sent out 4-6 months before your wedding day. If you are planning on ordering a guest book for your wedding from your engagement session, I advise you do your session no less than 2 months before your wedding so I have time to process the images, you have time to select your favorites and the album has time to be printed and shipped.

Q: How do I reserve you for my wedding?

A: All dates are reserved once I receive your signed contract and deposit. I book weddings on a first deposit first serve basis, so if there are multiple inquiries for the day I will let you know in advance.

Q: If we cancel our wedding, will we receive our deposit back?

A: Unfortunately no. Deposits are used to reserve your date. Once I reserve your date, I turn away other inquiries for that date. So in the event that your wedding is canceled, the deposit goes towards covering lost wages.

Q: If we change our wedding to a different date, will we be able to use our deposit towards the future date?

A: Yes and No. This will depend on my availability for your new date. If I’m still available for your new date, then yes I will transfer your deposit. If I’m not available for your new date, then the deposit is non-refundable and it will be considered a cancellation.

Q: Will you be the photographer at my wedding?

A: Yes. I will always be the lead photographer at your wedding. For full day weddings I will also have a 2nd photographer with me, but being the control freak that I am I will work with you to make sure that your timeline allows me enough time to personally capture all of the important moments of your day.

Q: What type of equipment do you use?

A: I use 2 Canon 5D Mark 4 camera bodies as well as multiple professional canon L series lenses and speed lights. I have back ups for all of my equipment. If you would like amore in depth list of my equipment, please don’t hesitate to ask!

Q: Do you have insurance?

A: Absolutely! And plenty of it! haha. Typically most venues in the area require liability insurance and require being added as a rider to our insurance, so make sure whatever photographer you choose is insured.

Q: Are you familiar with my venue?

A: If you are getting married in SWFL, most likely I have worked at your venue before. But even if I haven’t I love photographing at new venues and getting the chance to flex my creativity muscles for finding creative new spots to create awesome photographs for you and your family.

Q: Should we do a first look?

A: This is a personal decision! It is whatever is most important to you on YOUR day. If you are more traditional and would like to wait to see each other until the ceremony, we can work with that. If you know you will be a bundle of nerves and would like to just get it out of the way, we can work with that too! Please contact me for more details about a timeline that will fit either choice to make your wedding day run smoothly.

Q:What if it rains!?!

A: Luckily in Florida when it rains, it typically doesn’t last allll day and we can usually re-arrange your timeline to squeeze in portraits at another point of the day. I also don’t mind getting wet, so if you are a fun loving free spirit and don’t mind playing in the rain to make some unique portraits I’m totally down!

If in the rare case it rains all day and your venue doesn’t have  a good indoor option and you aren’t particularly excited about getting your dress, hair and makeup wet, i DO offer a 1hr “Rain Check” session to my couples so they don’t have to worry about not getting the beautiful sunset portraits you hired me for.

Q: Do you offer any discounts for weekday or off-season weddings?

A: Unfortunately not. All of the costs associate with photographing your wedding remain the same no matter what day or time of year it is.

Q: I have downtime between events on my wedding day. Will I be charged for that time in-between?

A: For a variety of reasons, I do charge for consecutive hours of coverage even if that includes down time in between your events. Generally I am never truly “down” during your wedding day and will use that in-between time to back up your images, set up my lighting at your ceremony or reception, travel from one location to another, take detail or venue photographs or use that time to take extra family or bridal party portraits etc.

Q: What if we exceed our contracted time for wedding day coverage?

A: I will always check in with you before I leave on your wedding day to see if there is any “OMG I forgot to get a picture with Aunt Betty!” moments. If the party is still hopping and you would like me to stay, of course I will! It’s not like I have another even to run off to after your wedding LOL. The standard rates will apply for overtime and will be invoiced to you prior to you receiving your wedding photos.

Q: Do you provide the digital negatives after the shoot?

A: Yes. You will receive all of the best edited high resolution .jpeg images ready to print and download from your online gallery.

Q: How many Images will I get from my wedding?

A: For a wedding I typically deliver about 100 images per hour of coverage. Keep in mind that these numbers may increase or decrease depending on the number of guests, details, family and bridal party size and the number of subsequent portraits that need to be captured.

Q: Can I have the RAW image files from my wedding?

A: Typically no, as I prefer to only deliver a finished product to my clients. Most clients don’t have the software to process RAW images and it is not a file format that is able to be downloaded via your online wedding gallery or printed.

Q: Do I get the copyright to my wedding images?

A: No. I will retain the copyright to your images, BUT you do get full printing and personal permissions to your photos. This means that you can print your photos, share them on social media and send them to family and friends to do the same. The only thing you can not do is sell your images for profit or publish your images without my written consent.

Q: How will I get my photos after the wedding?

A: With technology constantly changing (can you believe that laptops don’t even take CD’s anymore?) I now deliver all of your edited high resolution images via an online gallery download. This way you can download and make copies of your images on any media you prefer. I always suggest making back ups of your images and asking friends and family to do the same. I will provide you a USB of your images if you prefer at an additional fee. If you would prefer your gallery to be private I can also password protect the gallery so you can pick and choose who can see and can not see your wedding photos.

Q: How long until I get my photos?

A: Per our contract, I will deliver your online wedding gallery within 6 weeks at the latest. I promise I am working as fast as I can to get you your photos as soon as possible. I edit all of my weddings in the order that I photograph them.

Q: Do you edit all of the images delivered?

A: Yes. All of the images I deliver will be edited using my signature style of post production. This includes color correction, exposure adjustment, elective B&W processing, contrast and vibrance. I also offer free retouching on photos selected for your album if you order one, or if you would like to have a few images printed and would like me to fully retouch them I would be happy to do so.

Q: What is the difference between editing and retouching, and why is there an additional cost for retouching? 

A: As mentioned above, editing includes color, exposure, contrast, vibrance etc. Retouching post production includes touch ups such as removal of blemishes, bags under eyes, fly away hairs, removing people in the background, changing the size or shape of body parts and other custom work. I charge hourly for the custom retouching as the time required ranges depending on the complexity of the request. Some retouching work is beyond my skill level however, and in those cases I will contract out with a professional retoucher at an additional cost.

Q: Can you send me a few photos to choose from for a Thank You Card?

A: I do offer rush processing at an additional fee for both a few images or a full wedding. If this is something you are interested in please let me know!

Q: Will you post some teasers on social media?

A: Maybe. Social media and blogging comes 2nd or 3rd to making sure you and other clients get their photos delivered on time. Social media and blogging is something I do for marketing my business, and I don’t guarantee it for every wedding. I would much rather you get your photos on or before your delivery date so you can share them with your friends and family yourself!

Q. I LOVE my photos so incredibly much because you are more awesome than I ever expected, Nikki! Can I still add an album?

A: Of course! Please let me know if you are interested in an album and I can send you the pricing and information for you to review

Q: Where should I print my photos?

A: You can always print your photos via your online wedding gallery which are printed at my pro printing shop at an additional charge. If you would like to print your photos yourself, I highly recommend Adoramapix.com for their low cost and high quality. They also color correct each photo individually unlike big box stores such as Costco or Walmart, who process all of their photos the same whether they were taken professionally or on a disposable camera.

Q: Do I have to credit you on social media? 

A: You don’t HAVE to… but most of my clients find me through word of mouth and referals. It would be nice if a friend is wondering who took your beautiful photos and saw you give a shout out to @NikkiMayDayPhotography on FB or @NikkiMayDay on Instagram and twitter

Q: Can I add filters to my photos on Instagram?

A: Wellll….. per our contract the answer is technically no. But I’m not a jerk about it. I spend a lot of time editing your photos, so it is a little sad to see them pink or green or super dark or washed out. If you do choose to do this, in this case I ask that you do NOT tag me on social media since it is not the product that I created or delivered anymore.

Q: What if I lose my images?

A: Your wedding gallery will be active online for 1 year from when I deliver your images. After that, I typically archive your images to the cloud to make space for new weddings. If you lose your images a $50 fee will apply in order for me to un-archive your images and re-upload them back online. I always encourage my clients to make multiple copies of your images after you download them and keep them in separate locations incase one gets lost or damaged, and have your family and friends do the same.