HOW TO HIRE · PHOTOGRAPHY & VIDEO

How to hire a wedding photographer in the UK
The checks, the questions and the paperwork.

Wedding photographers need no licence in the UK. The contract is your protection; here is what it must say, who owns the pictures and what to ask.

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THE 60-SECOND VERSION

Hiring a wedding photographer in five steps

  1. See one whole weddingA full gallery from a single wedding, start to finish — not a portfolio of best frames from thirty.
  2. Confirm who shootsThe photographer you meet, an associate, or a second shooter. Named in the contract.
  3. Read the contract before the depositDate, hours, deliverables, delivery time, cancellation, and what happens if the photographer is ill.
  4. Know what licence you getThe photographer owns the copyright unless it is assigned in writing; you get a licence to use the images.
  5. Agree the backupTwo card slots, two copies of the files, one away from the studio, until your gallery is delivered.

BEFORE YOU BOOK

Check before you book

No register applies

Wedding photography is unregulated in England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland: no register, no licence, and nobody checks a photographer before they take your deposit. Nobody checks their competence before they take a booking, so the full gallery, the references and the contract are the checks. No law makes a wedding photographer hold insurance, but many venues ask every supplier for public liability cover. Equipment cover is the photographer's business; your concern is that the venue lets them in.

Ask for a complete wedding gallery and two couples from the last year to ring. Ask your venue what it requires, then ask the photographer for the insurer's name and the certificate.

Copyright and your licence

Under section 11 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 the photographer is the first owner of the copyright in your wedding photographs. It only passes to you through a written assignment signed by the photographer (section 90). What a wedding package normally gives you is a licence to use the images.

Read the licence clause: prints, social media, giving files to family. Ask for an assignment in writing if you need the copyright. legislation.gov.uk →

Your right to keep the photographs private

Section 85 of the 1988 Act gives the person who commissions photographs for private and domestic purposes the right to stop copies being issued, exhibited or shown to the public. A wedding photographer owns the copyright but cannot use your pictures in an advert or a competition without your permission.

Agree in the contract whether the photographer may use your images in a portfolio, on social media or in advertising. legislation.gov.uk →

ICO data protection fee

A wedding photographer holds your names, contact details and hundreds of images of you and your guests. A business processing personal data must pay the ICO data protection fee — £52 or £78 a year for most small businesses — unless exempt, and then appears on the ICO's public register.

Search the photographer's business name on the ICO public register, and ask how long they keep your files. gov.uk →

VAT

Wedding photography is standard-rated: 20% VAT is due on the coverage, the album and the second shooter. Once taxable turnover is above £90,000 a year, registration is compulsory, and the VAT must then appear as its own line on the bill.

Ask for the VAT number on the contract, and whether the wedding package total already includes the 20%. gov.uk →

“May I see a full wedding, start to finish?”

A good answer: A complete gallery from one wedding, including the speeches in poor light and the family groups. Thirty best frames from thirty weddings show you nothing about a whole day.

“Will you be the wedding photographer on the day, by name?”

A good answer: Yes, and the contract names them. Studios that send an associate are fine if you know which you are buying.

“What happens if you are ill or your car breaks down on the wedding day?”

A good answer: A named arrangement with other photographers and a promise to supply a replacement, not "it has never happened".

“How do you back up the photographs during and after the wedding?”

A good answer: Cameras that write to two cards at once, and the files copied to two places, one off-site, the same night.

“How many edited photographs, in what form, and by when?”

A good answer: A number or a range, online gallery or album, and a delivery time in weeks written into the contract.

“What does my licence let me do with the photographs?”

A good answer: Print them, share them, give them to family. If you need the copyright itself, the photographer has to assign it in writing.

“Will you use our photographs to advertise your business?”

A good answer: A question back to you: they ask permission and put the answer in the contract, because section 85 lets you refuse.

“Are you on the ICO register, and how long do you keep our files?”

A good answer: A yes and a business name you can search, plus a clear period after which the originals are deleted.

Getting the quote right

  • Who actually attends the wedding day — the photographer you met, or an associate sent in their place, and a second shooter, employed or subcontracted
  • Hours of coverage, the start and finish points, and the overtime rate
  • The wedding photographer named, and whether a second shooter is included
  • What is delivered: number of edited images, gallery or album, and the delivery date
  • The licence: what you may do with the photographs, and whether the copyright is assigned
  • Travel, accommodation and meals if they apply, as separate lines
  • The deposit, the balance date, the cancellation terms
  • The VAT number, and VAT on the wedding package given as its own line

Walk away if

  • Only best-of galleries, never one complete wedding
  • No written contract, or one with nothing on illness or cancellation
  • A large non-refundable deposit with nothing said about what it secures
  • One camera with one card slot, and no answer on backups
  • Vague about who will actually shoot, or about delivery time
  • Terms that let them use your photographs in advertising without asking you
LOW
£1,000
TYPICAL
£2,100
HIGH
£4,000

What a wedding photographer costs: £1,000–£4,000 per wedding

Wedding photographers price by the package — hours of coverage, a second shooter, an album — with travel and overtime added as separate lines. Wedding Photographer price guide →

Guide prices compiled by the Locufy team from published Irish and UK provider price lists and 2026/27 cost guides. Updated 2026.

KNOW WHAT TO LOOK FOR? NOW FIND ONE

Wedding photographers near you, with the badges that matter shown

ID checked, trader status and one score from every review — on the card, before you message anyone. Nearest first. No account needed to look.

Or post the job free and let them come to you.

  1. Meet and see a full galleryIn person or on a call. One wedding end to end, and the contract to read before you pay.
  2. Plan the dayA timeline, the family group list, the venue's rules on flash and on where the photographer may stand during the ceremony.
  3. The weddingThe photographer arrives at the agreed start, shoots to the plan, and keeps the files on two cards as they go.
  4. Backup and editThe files copied to two places the same night; editing and selection to the delivery time agreed.
  5. DeliveryThe gallery or album on the date in the contract, with the licence terms and how long the files will be kept.

Licence
Your permission to use the photographs — what you normally get, rather than the copyright.
Assignment
A written, signed transfer of copyright from the photographer to you; rare for weddings.
Second shooter
A second photographer covering angles and moments the lead cannot.
Dual card slots
A camera that writes each frame to two memory cards at once.
Online gallery
A private web gallery for viewing and downloading; check how long it stays up.
Usage rights
The clause on whether the photographer may show your images in a portfolio or advertising.

AFTER

When the job is done

Download the full gallerySave the files in two places as soon as the gallery arrives, and note the date the online gallery closes.
Check the delivery against the contractThe number of edited images, the album, the date. Ask in writing about anything missing.
Keep the contract and the licenceThey record what you may do with the photographs and whether the photographer may use them.
Leave the reviewReviews on Locufy come only from booked jobs, so yours about the wedding photographs counts. If something was wrong, the make-it-right step comes first and the wedding photographer is asked to fix it.

STEP 1Tell the wedding photographer, in writingSet out what went wrong with the coverage or the delivered photographs and what you want done, by message or email. Section 49 of the Consumer Rights Act 2015 requires a trader to use reasonable care and skill; where the coverage or the delivered photographs fell short, ask for it to be done again at their cost, or for money off.
STEP 2Use the make-it-right step on LocufyRate the wedding photographer under four stars and you are asked whether to send the problem to them first; we follow it through. Then the review goes up.
STEP 3Data protection, or a trader who will not engageIf your photographs or details are misused, the ICO handles data protection complaints. For the service itself there is no regulator; Trading Standards is reached through Citizens Advice on 0808 223 1133 in England and Wales, Advice Direct Scotland on 0808 800 9060, or Consumerline on 0300 123 6262 in Northern Ireland.
STEP 4Money still in disputeA claim against a wedding photographer for a refund or the cost of putting things right can go to small claims: up to £10,000 on the county court small claims track in England and Wales, up to £5,000 under simple procedure in Scotland, and up to £5,000 in the small claims court in Northern Ireland.

Hiring a wedding photographer: questions people ask

Wedding photography has no licence or register in any UK nation. The written contract, a full sample gallery and references are what protect you.

The photographer, under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988, unless they assign it to you in writing and sign it. You normally get a licence to use the images.

Not without your consent. Section 85 of the 1988 Act lets you stop photographs commissioned for private and domestic purposes being shown or published. Agree it in the contract.

£1,000 to £4,000 a wedding, typically around £2,100. Hours of coverage, a second shooter and an album move the price. Package prices by hours, second shooter and album are in the wedding photographer price guide; add your town above for photographers near you.

Do not count on it. A photographer booked for your wedding date is providing a service for a specific date, and regulation 28(1)(h) of the Consumer Contracts Regulations 2013 excludes leisure services booked that way from the 14-day right. The contract's cancellation and deposit clause is what applies, so read it before signing.

Tell them in writing. Under the Consumer Rights Act 2015 a trader must use reasonable care and skill; you can ask for a price reduction where the service cannot be repeated, then go to small claims if needed.

MORE GUIDES

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How to hire: Wedding VideographerHow to hire: Event PhotographerHow to hire: Family PhotographerHow to hire: Portrait PhotographerHow to hire: Event VideographerHow to hire: VideographerHow to hire: Drone PhotographyHow to hire: Newborn PhotographerAll 701 hiring guides →

Wedding photographers near you

Wedding photographers in LondonWedding photographers in ManchesterWedding photographers in BirminghamWedding photographers in GlasgowWedding photographers in BelfastAll wedding photographers on Locufy →

Sources — checked October 2026

  1. Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988, section 11 — first ownership
  2. Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988, section 90 — assignment
  3. Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988, section 85 — privacy of commissioned photographs and films
  4. gov.uk — pay the data protection fee
  5. gov.uk — data protection and your business
  6. Consumer Rights Act 2015, section 49 — reasonable care and skill
  7. Citizens Advice — more help with a consumer issue
  8. gov.uk — make a court claim for money: court fees
  9. Consumer Contracts Regulations 2013, regulation 28 — exceptions to the right to cancel
  10. VAT rates — VAT rates for goods and services: standard rate 20% on most goods and services
  11. GOV.UK — Register for VAT: when to register