You might find categories 1, 2, and 3 great but end up with a horrible experience over all. Did you know some couples go 3-6 months without seeing their wedding proofs and years before they get their album?? Here's what to ask to make sure that doesn't happen to you:
How long will it be to see the proofs?
If they say six weeks, then ask to see proofs from the wedding they shot six weeks ago and see the date on the invitation picture they took. Don't get caught with someone who over-promises and then doesn't deliver! My couples see their wedding pictures in just 3-4 weeks, sometimes even sooner.
How long does it take to get the album?
Find out the album process step-by-step. Often times photographers make you choose your wedding album pictures which could leave you frustrated, over-whelmed and procrastinating the process causing you to not have your wedding album until years after your wedding. My couples have an album design within weeks of their wedding. We’ll go through the design and make changes, in real time, together until it’s absolutely perfect. My couples typically have their wedding album in their hands 3-6 months after their wedding.
Are they a boutique studio?
Your wedding is unique and important and you want a photographer that thinks the same way and doesn't just pile you in with one of the 100 couples they're photographing that year. The advantage to having a "Boutique-style" photographer (one that shoots less than ~30 weddings a year) is that you'll receive more attention and care each step of the way. Your photographs will show more of your unique couple personality rather than a cookie-cutter style that is done the same way at every wedding.
Do you like your photographer?
Is their personality one that you'll love working with over the next year or two? You’ll be spending a lot of time together for the next year or so! Your photographer is one of the wedding vendors that you'll have contact with the most before, during and after your wedding, so make sure they have a personality that's knowledgeable, authoritative (for rallying those group photos!) but calm with pleasant demeanor that you'll want around for a while.