![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.studio220photography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/Studio220_2018_0019_HL-1024x683.jpg\")
<\/figure><\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\nYou\u2019re having so much fun with your crew that you almost forget what time your photographer is supposed to show up. But eventually it enters your mind that something is off, or maybe your personal attendant or maid of honor or event planner are the ones that mention it to you\u2026 \u201cIsn\u2019t the photographer supposed to be here by now?\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n
It\u2019s only a few minutes past the agreed upon arrival time, so you try not to stress too much and assume they are just running a bit late. A few minutes go by, they still haven\u2019t arrived. Feeling a little anxiety about the situation now, you decide to call the photographer\u2026 no answer. So you text, and wait a few minutes\u2026 no response. Now, you\u2019ve still got \u201call the feels\u201d, but not the right ones. Worry turns to anxiety, anxiety turns to stress, stress turns to panic, and now you\u2019re so completely overwhelmed with furiously calling and texting and emailing your photographer, and getting no response, that the situation has completely consumed this part of your wedding day. With the photographer completely unresponsive and ridiculously late, you\u2019re all out of sorts\u2026 your hair isn\u2019t right, the dress doesn\u2019t feel right, you\u2019re feeling nauseous\u2026 but you can\u2019t delay the wedding. And there\u2019s no time to find a replacement photographer. It\u2019s an icky feeling. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Well, the wedding goes on, but it\u2019s not like you expected. All the happy feelings you thought you\u2019d have are drowned out by the awful feelings of stress and anxiety. You\u2019re day isn\u2019t ruined, but at the time it feels that way. The person you trusted to capture the images and memories of your biggest day, has unfortunately ruined your day\u2026 and there are no do-overs. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
So what happened? It might have been a number of things, perhaps your photographers fault, or perhaps not. Maybe they got so sick they couldn\u2019t even communicate, maybe their child-care fell through, maybe they got in a car accident, or maybe they just plain forgot\u2026 Regardless of the cause, it doesn\u2019t change the fact that they never showed up, and you didn\u2019t have a professional photographer to capture your wedding. And even if the situation didn\u2019t put you in a funky mood all day, you\u2019ll never have those precious memories captured in imagery, so you can relive the day through the professional images you expected and paid for. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
The point of this story is not to scare you with the \u201cdoomsday scenario\u201d, but rather to illuminate that this scenario, while rare, is possible. And it unfortunately does happen to couples from time to time (you can google it and find many real life actual stories of this happening). And when it does happen, it\u2019s devastating. So while it\u2019s extremely unlikely, the question you have to ask yourself is, how comfortable are you with some level of risk that if an emergency happens, the photographer that you\u2019ve hired may not be able to show up and shoot your wedding? Assuming that your answer is that you\u2019re \u201cnot very comfortable with the risk\u201d, that leads us to the point of the entire email, and it may surprise not surprise you at this point, given the rather long lead-in\u2026 What is the #1 Question Couples Forget to Ask Their Wedding Photographer? <\/p>\n\n\n\n
What happens in the case of an emergency and you aren\u2019t able to shoot our wedding (or you don\u2019t show up to the wedding and we can\u2019t reach you)? <\/p>\n\n\n\n
If you\u2019re still looking for a photographer, and you haven\u2019t asked this question, you might want to consider asking all of the photographers that you\u2019re talking to. And while I can\u2019t tell you what answer should make you sufficiently comfortable, and give you confidence that your photographer has you covered with a great emergency back-up plan\u2026 I can offer a perspective on some of what you may encounter as you search for that answer, and tell you what Studio 220 has in place for our clients. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
The challenge that most couples face in getting a sufficiently comforting answer to this question, is that the vast majority of wedding photographers are single operators, meaning they are the only photographer in their business, and they work with an assistant or a couple of assistants that don\u2019t have their level of skill or experience. That in itself is not a bad thing. But the issue is risk. The risk of that photographer you hired to shoot your wedding getting sick, or getting in an accident on the way to the wedding, or having one of their kids get sick, or having their childcare fall through last minute. There\u2019s dozens of things that could potentially go wrong on your wedding day that could result in your photographer not being able to shoot your wedding. And while we\u2019ve heard that some photographers claim to have a network of equally talented backups, it\u2019s really not feasible when you consider how that would actually work in a real life scenario. Would they commit that someone of equal talent is going to be available in an emergency? Would they give you access to the contact information of the person or people they have secured to be on-call? What happens if something happens to your hired photographer, like an accident on the way to the wedding, and they aren\u2019t actually able to notify their back-up that there is even a problem? There\u2019s just no realistic way that a sole proprietor can commit to having a guaranteed back up, of equal talent, with access to all of the information and details of your wedding, who can seamlessly step-in and shoot your wedding in any potential worst case scenario. So in our opinion, there really is no suitable answer to this question that a sole proprietor can give you. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
That said, you do have an option to work with a photographer that does have a great answer\u2026 At Studio 220, we have always been committed to having one of our Lead photographers (not assistant photographer) scheduled to be on-call whenever we have a wedding event booked, and that back-up photographer is paid to be on-call. This gives our clients total peace-of-mind that even if disaster strikes, they will have a Lead photographer from our studio that will be available to shoot their wedding, and that the photographer will have the skills and experience the clients paid for and expect. Additionally, because of all the systems and process investments we have made, all the relevant client information such as schedule, shot lists, notes and other information, is stored online and is easily accessible to the on-call photographer so they have everything they need to shoot the wedding event. This means that with Studio 220 our wedding clients can rest assured that even in an emergency, we have a Lead photographer on call and available to step in and seamlessly deliver the service they expect, and that peace-of-mind is priceless\u2026 because you don\u2019t get to reschedule your wedding if your photographer doesn\u2019t show up.<\/p>\n\n\n\n PS – Are you wondering about other questions to ask a wedding photographer? Check out our FAQ<\/a> for a list of some of the most common questions to discuss with your wedding photographer \u2013 <\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Before we jump right into that question, it\u2019s better to demonstrate WHY it\u2019s so important through an example of what can happen if you don\u2019t ask\u2026 Imagine this scenario for a moment\u2026 It\u2019s your wedding day, and you\u2019re on your way to the church or hotel to get ready, you\u2019re with your closest friends and<\/p>\n![\"studio](\"https:\/\/www.studio220photography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/12\/Studio220-Rachel-and-Bryant-0523-1024x683.jpg\")
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