When you will receive the imagesof your wedding

There is a question almost nobody asks before signing and everybody asks afterwards, every week: when will I have my images? The lead times the sector announces range from a few weeks to several months, and the honest answer depends on the season and on the team.

What the figures do not measure

Whoever publishes their lead time is precisely the one who does not fear publishing it: announcing a long lead time is a commercial disadvantage, and whoever takes longer has more reasons not to say. So the announced figure is probably more optimistic than reality. Hence the one piece of advice that matters: if your photographer does not publish a lead time, do not assume it is short. Ask, and in writing.

Film runs on another track

Delivery of the film is usually markedly later than that of the stills, and almost nobody commits to it in writing. If you hire both, ask for the two lead times separately: it is not rare to have had the photographs for a month and the film still without a date. Sobre un solo equipo para ambas cosas: photo and film from one team.

The preview: what most changes the wait

Some authors send a small preview before full delivery, from around twenty images within twenty-four hours to a summary in the first week. It costs little and changes much: a few images chosen quickly, not the whole work, resolving the moment when having something is most missed, the week after the wedding. If it is not in the offer, ask for it. On the trailer and the film: two pieces, two dates.

What to ask before signing

• What is the lead time and what does the contract say? The website figure serves to compare; the contract figure is the one you can demand. Have both. The contract conditions and what insurance does not replace: wedding insurance.
• Does that lead time hold for my date? A June wedding and a February one do not come from the same volume of work.
• Is the lead time for the digital delivery or the album? They are two different deliveries, and the album clock starts when you choose the images.
• Is there a preview? How many images and when.
• And the film? Its own date, apart from that of the images.

What is advertised also binds

A common doubt: if the lead time on the website and the one in the contract do not match, which one counts? Spain's consumer protection law says that the content of the offer, the promotion or the advertising, and the conditions offered, can be demanded even if they are not written into the contract (art. 61.2). And if the contract contains something more favourable to you, the contract prevails (art. 61.3).

Put simply: what is advertised binds too, and the contract rules when it is more favourable to you. Even so, the prudent course is to have the lead time in the contract as well, and to keep the proposal or a copy of the page where it is advertised. That way, if you ever need to claim, nobody has to argue about what was said.

When the images arrive: how they are kept

The lead time does not end when the link is sent. Three more things are worth asking:

• In what form do I receive them? Online gallery, download or physical drive: they are not the same.
• How long will the gallery stay available? Some are taken down after a while, and it is better to know before it happens.
• How long does the author keep a backup copy? It should not be your only safeguard, but it is worth knowing it exists.

And a habit that costs nothing: as soon as you receive the images, make two copies in different places, for example an external drive and cloud storage. A wedding cannot be repeated, and neither can a lost folder. Here is the full three-copy rule, and what to do with the album.

The clock for the film and the album

If there is a film and an album, ask in which order they are delivered and from when each lead time runs. The album's usually depends on when you choose the images: the sooner you review them, the sooner the clock starts. Ask for that condition to be in writing, as a number of days, and not as a "whenever you tell us".

With this you can compare

A lead time does not say whether an author is good; it says how their work is organised and how many people stand behind it. But it is worth knowing beforehand and in writing, because it is one of the few things in the proposal that cannot be renegotiated afterwards.