Photographer - Lack of communication

Sorry that you are having slow responses from your shooter. It is not normal and weddings have really eased off now this time of year but they might be working on a back log of editing which means that they are in front of the computer in the office and should be right there to answer emails.

It could be that they have another full time job and shooting weddings are something they only do part time, which may explain when you say they have been slow in getting back to you in the past.

Are they active on social media ? have they posted recently, try phoning them and leave a message if they do not answer. Have they gone on holiday perhaps.

Do they have a business email address that includes their trading name, because if they use a gmail or hotmail type one then those email systems can be really fussy with things they think are potential spam so she may not of seen your emails. With a business email address attached to a website you have more control of spam settings.

I get that you want to get things sorted quickly, trust me I am a super organiser myself! But I do think that maybe you’re worrying about this prematurely.


I contacted our shooter back in May (we’re not getting married until 2026) they emailed back the next day with a quote and gave us one week to accept and pay the deposit, which we did. We then received an email from him to advise that as our wedding was, at that point, over 3yrs away the contact would be non existent unless there was something urgent we needed and even then it could take up to 5 business days to get a reply due to work constraints, which I think is fair.
I think the thing with photographers is they focus on what’s on their immediate schedule which suits some and not others. saying that however I have never known it take so long to draw up a contract unless they’re a sole trader (ours has an admin team for when he’s not immediately available) I know it’s hard because like you’ve mentioned, suppliers are booking up for 2025 now and you don’t want to have to worry about someone letting you down.
But you need to ask yourself how contactable you want them to be right up until the day, are you wanting to check in with them once a month for example or every 6months? Or is it that the whole deposit/contract situation has rattled you and now you are worrying they’ll let you down. Personally I am happy to sit back and make contact again with ours 6months before the wedding because I trust his business. The problem if you cancel and then book with another shooter is that you’ll lose your deposit and still maybe be in the same situation with communication as they’re not focusing on their 2025 couples right now because they feel they have time.
The only person who can decide which is better for you and your OH is the pair of you. Weigh up the options and see what would help put you at ease.

View quoted message This is such a helpful response!


My wedding is in March 24 and I booked my photographer in August 22. I haven’t spoken to him since we signed the contract as there is nothing that needs to be arranged that far our that isn’t subject to change.
I am now only 4.5 months away and starting to get back in touch with our suppliers, starting with our venue for a planning meeting which we were told when we booked would take place 3 months before.
It can feel very odd not having contact and I get the need for the anxiety that isn’t not really booked to be assuaged but even with our venue, bar the odd question eg. “Is it okay if the cake isn’t made by a professional?”, there is nothing to discuss yet.

View quoted message

Glad you found it helpful

Sometimes I get a message saying "hi Bill our wedding is getting close" etc and then I go into a panic because they are not in my diary and then I look in the next years diary and there they are 18months away . Then there are others that are so chilled I begin to wonder if they have cancelled and its me trying to contact them about their wedding next week

The point is everyone has different needs and I answer all of them equally regardless of how far away the wedding is.

View quoted message Lovely response

I wouldn’t worry. It is a while away and although you want to be super organised, it may not be top of their priority list at the moment as they may have to be sorting out closer enquiries, getting galleries out to customers etc. They may also be keeping the message unread so they don’t loose it if they was to email “I’m busy will reply soon” sort of thing. I book my photographer a year ago, I get married in August and I’ve not spoken to them since because there’s not really anything to say either! 🤣