Original subtitles

The questionnaire.

I'm not gonna go through the entire questionnaire

from start to finish, because you guys can

read through that yourself on your own time.

This questionnaire has changed over the years.

I'm still adding things to it and taking

things away from it, depending on where Lani

and I are at or depending on things

that I learned from other photographers.

But make your own that makes sense for

you.

There's a few important things though that I'd

like to point out.

So one is obviously I'm getting all the

logistical information and I'm making sure we got

our timelines right and I've got phone numbers

and names.

I've got the bride's name, I've got her

cell phone number, I've got the groom's name,

his cell phone number, his room number, all

the bridesmaids and groomsmen's names and parents, all

that sort of stuff.

So logistically, we just make sure we're on

the same page.

And it's also really important, I mean half

of my clients, I will say, half of

my clients never get around to filling out

this questionnaire, but then I always make sure,

I can always get them to commit to

a phone call where we go over this

questionnaire in person.

So if they don't fill it out, at

least I get on the phone with them

and this questionnaire gives me a structure of

the conversation just to make sure that we're

on the same page.

Even if they do fill it out, I

make sure we get on the phone as

well because as we're going through the questionnaire

over the phone, of course questions come up,

tangents come up, and it's just, again, another

opportunity to educate and make sure we're on

the same page.

Okay, so all that logistical information, of course,

is very, very important.

Then I find out if there's any, and

you'll notice this throughout the questionnaire during groom

prep, bride prep, ceremony, reception, I always have

a question, are there any special rituals or

heirlooms that we should know about before the

actual wedding?

I don't want to be surprised by some

special song and dance that the aunts are

doing right as they enter or anything like

that.

So this gives them an opportunity to tell

me about any special surprises or heirlooms or

rituals that are important.

So if she's wearing like a fourth generation

ring, I'll know that, oh, it's gonna be

important for me to at least get a

few pictures of that ring.

Or if she's got a special necklace that

came from a great aunt, I might, maybe

I'll show up a little bit earlier to

get some detailed shots of that by itself.

So anything that's really important is in that

questionnaire and I can make a mental note

to get that on the wedding day.

Another important section of the questionnaire is the

family formals.

Because we've mentioned this before, but we want

the family formals to be as quick and

painless as possible.

And this questionnaire helps us achieve that goal.

So first of all, they list out all

the family formals that they want.

And second of all, they designate someone.

So they designate someone that they think will

be good at gathering people, bossing people around

and making sure that we can run through

these as quickly and smoothly as possible.

You'll notice throughout the questionnaire, in addition to

the questions, I have little tips, right?

I have little asterisk tips, like it is

recommended that you schedule at least three minutes

for every family formal so that they can

put that into their timeline.

So that if they know they want 30

family formals, they're gonna have to schedule 90

minutes for that.

Obviously it's not gonna take Lani and I

90 minutes to do 30 family formals, but

we want them to schedule based on the

worst case scenario, like Aunt Alma's in the

bathroom or whatnot.

So this helps them with their timeline as

well and it helps communicate, again, our values

and communicate the things that we can do

together to make the day run smoothly.

And then the last section that I'm gonna

chat about is the reception, because this can

often be an awkward thing to talk to

the clients about, like, are you feeding us?

And when are you feeding us?

And so the fact that I'm going over

the questionnaire with them on the phone allows

me to bring up this subject in a

way that doesn't feel so awkward.

So, and you'll notice in the questionnaire, I

have some tips.

It is requested that you feed us right

after the parents table.

And I'll talk to them about that and

I'll talk to them about the importance of

that.

And that is so that we can be

ready with our cameras to photograph the speeches

when the speeches start happening because once the

speeches start happening, we pretty much don't sit

down again.

And I can communicate exactly what I just

said to you to the clients.

It also broaches the subject about where we're

gonna be eating, right?

If they say, oh yeah, we got you

a vendor meal and you're gonna be eating

in the back with the band, I might

say something like, you know, it might be

in your best interest to have Lani and

I eat in the same room as you.

Just because often when we, and I can

give them anecdotes, often when we photograph weddings

in the past, there's some stuff that happens

in the reception that wasn't planned.

And it's really good if Lani and I

are in the actual room so that we

can respond to what's happening if something happens.

Sometimes we get some pushback.

It's usually never from the clients, actually.

It's usually from either the actual venue or

the wedding planner and they want us to

eat in another room.

But if I can get the clients to

sort of push back and get us eating

in that room, it's better for their coverage,

it's better for Lani and I, it means

we're shooting from that more inside perspective and

they'll end up with a better product.

As long as I can communicate that it's

in their best interest, they'll usually make that

change.

And then the last thing that I wanna

get a finger on the pulse of is

if there's anything that they're really self-conscious

about.

And so that's what that last question's about.

Is there anything, like a tattoo or a

birthmark or it's not so much that we

can Photoshop it out later.

It's really so that we can be cognizant

if there's anything that they're really self-conscious

about on the wedding day.

Maybe it's a bald spot.

Maybe it's she likes one side of her

face better than the other.

And if we know that before the actual

wedding day, we can change the way we

shoot slightly to provide a product that they're

really happy with in the end.

So that's the questionnaire.

Hopefully that's helpful for you and your clients

getting on the same page and keeping those

communication channels open right up until the actual

wedding.

♪♪