3 Must-have Documents for All Wedding Photographers

A wedding is often one of the most important days in a couple’s lives, and as the wedding photographer, there’s a lot of pressure on you to capture those memories in the best way possible. Try our course, Wedding Photography for Beginners to learn about everything you’ll need. In this lesson, we’ll look at the paperwork you need to get in place before the big day.

Essential Documents for Wedding Photographers

The thought of paperwork can sound a bit boring but it’s really important, it’s the foundation that the rest of your business is built on, so it needs to be rock-solid, both for you and your clients.

Insurance

One of the first things to consider when setting up as a photographer of any kind is insurance. This is usually broken down into a few factors.

Protect Your Equipment

Your kit needs to be covered. We’ve all seen internet videos of photographers doing things like backing into fountains, or dropping their cameras from a great height. You never know what could happen and your kit could be ruined in the blink of an eye. With that said, make sure your gear is insured for accidental damage as well as theft.

Protect Yourself

You’ll also need to consider liability and indemnity. If somebody trips over a tripod and hurts themselves, you're liable and they could sue you. Some venues won't let you work on their premises without seeing an insurance certificate to prove that you're covered.

Indemnity is a weird one but definitely worth getting. It covers you for things like losing all of the photographs, or at the more extreme end, if the couple don’t feel like you’ve fulfilled what you promised, like if they hate the photographs. You should also put something about this in your contract.

Contracts

A contract is essential / Envato Elements

You and your clients need to know where you stand and what's expected; that’s where a contract comes in. If you're not confident writing something on your own, an insurance company will often give you a booking form or even check over something that you've written to make sure it's all okay.

When you’re putting together your contract you should think about whether you'll take a deposit or a booking fee. Weddings can be booked in many months or even years in advance and if your client decides to cancel your service nearer the time, you could have missed out on work for that date and be out of pocket, so think about a reasonable amount like 20% of the total.

Licensing

A wedding photographer photographing a group shot at a wedding / Envato Elements

Music License

Have you considered whether you'll need pay for licenses for anything? Music is a particularly tricky one, so make sure that you know the laws where you live. Don't be tempted to use popular music just because you've bought the track. This doesn't actually give you the rights to use the music and you could end up being hit with a hefty fine. In the UK there's something called a Limited Manufacture License which gives you blanket permission to use any music for DVDs or CDs that are for a limited or one-off production.

There are also sites where you can pay a yearly fee and use as much of the royalty-free music as you like. If you're putting together a wedding video or a slide show to music then this is a good option to consider.

Venue License

Some venues require a license; this is usually something that churches do in particular just to raise a little bit of extra money. Make sure that you get in touch and ask first because you don't want to be hit with a fee on the big day.

Summary

Very few people enjoy doing paperwork, but it’s really important to get everything in place before you start photographing weddings.

Getting good, reliable insurance will help to protect your equipment and you in the event of major issues. It’ll also give you access to someone qualified who you can run a contract by.

Having a contract will help keep expectations realistic and everyone will be on the same page, which can save you a headache later. You’ll also avoid mission creep!

Finally, think about licensing, whether that’s for use of music over videos/slideshows, or a license to take photographs in particular venues, like a church.

About the Authors

Marie Gardiner created the video course that includes this lesson, and wrote the updated text version. Marie is a writer and photographer from England, with a background in media.

This lesson was edited and published by Jackson Couse. Jackson is a photographer and the editor of the Photo & Video section of Envato Tuts+.