Fragen an Hochzeitsdienstleister vor der Buchung: Preis, Anfahrt, Anzahlung, Storno, wer kommt, Plan B – und die Fragen an Location, Fotograf, DJ und Co.
Das Eventadore-Team11 Min. LesezeitAktualisiert am 26. Oktober 2026
Before you book any wedding supplier, ask the same eight things: are they free on your date, what exactly the price includes, what travel and overtime cost, how much deposit they want and when the rest is due, what happens if either of you cancels, who exactly turns up, what their plan B is, and who your contract is with — a business or a private person. Then ask the questions of their trade: a venue's curfew, a caterer's deadline for final numbers, a photographer's delivery time, a band's breaks.
Ask in writing and keep the answers. A quote that says what it leaves out is worth more than a cheaper one that doesn't.
The eight questions to ask every wedding supplier
Are you free on our date, and is it held for us? A question rarely holds a day; usually only a contract or a paid reservation does.
What exactly is included? Hours, people, equipment, set-up and clearing away, VAT. Ask for a list, not a sentence.
What do travel and overtime cost? Per kilometre or a flat fee, an overnight stay if they come from far, and each extra hour if the party runs on.
How much is the deposit, and when is the rest due? Every payment, with its date and how they take it.
What happens if we cancel, and what if you do? In writing, before you pay anything.
Who exactly comes on the day? The person whose work you saw, or a colleague? How many, and what do they need: a meal, a parking space, a socket?
What is your plan B? For illness, broken equipment, rain. A good supplier answers at once: a colleague on call, a second camera, spare speakers.
Who is our contract with? The legal name, the address, and whether they work as a business or as a private person.
Where it matters, ask about liability insurance too: some venues require it from the band, the DJ or the photo booth.
Deposits, payments and cancellation: the money questions
There is no standard deposit. Many suppliers ask for somewhere between 20 and 50 per cent when you book, and the rest shortly before or on the day. Knowing every date matters more than the percentage. Ask:
Does any of the deposit ever come back?
If we cancel, how much do we lose, and does it depend on how close the day is?
If you cancel, do we get back everything we paid you?
Can we move the date instead, and what does that cost?
How far may our guest count change, and until when?
Don't count on a cooling-off period. The EU's 14-day right to withdraw from a purchase made online or by phone has exceptions, and catering services for specific dates are one of them, as the EU's Your Europe portal explains. Read the cancellation terms as if they were the only ones you have.
On Eventadore, the one thing you pay us is a booking fee per supplier, already inside the price you see: held on your card when you reserve, charged only when the supplier says yes. The deposit and the rest go to the supplier directly. A deposit you paid them is between you and them under their own conditions, so the questions above still matter. Our guide to how paying works goes through each step.
Who is your contract with? Business or private person
Many wedding suppliers are one-person businesses, and some work weekends on the side as private individuals. Both can be excellent, but in the EU consumer protection rules apply when you buy from a trader, not from a private person, as the EU sets out in your rights when shopping.
So ask for the legal name, the full address, and whether they invoice as a business. With a private person, the written agreement is what protects you: make sure the date, hours, price, payment dates and cancellation terms are all in it.
Before you pay on Eventadore, the checkout names each supplier's legal name, town and country, and whether they offer as a business or as a private person.
Questions to ask a wedding venue and a caterer
The venue
How many does it seat for dinner with a dance floor, not standing?
Is the price fixed for our date and guest count, and what does each extra guest cost?
What is included: tables, chairs, linen, staff, cleaning?
Do you cook yourselves, work with a partner list, or may we bring any caterer?
Is there a minimum spend?
When does the music have to stop, and is there a sound limiter?
Where do we go if it rains, and are we the only wedding that day?
The full list, with rooms, parking and step-free access, is in our guide to choosing a wedding venue.
The caterer
What is in the price per person: bread, starters, mains, dessert, coffee, the late-night snack?
Drinks: a package or by consumption? A corkage fee if we bring our own wine?
How many staff, and until when? As a rough guide, a plated dinner needs one server for every 8 to 12 guests, a buffet one for every 15 to 20.
When is the tasting, for how many, and is it charged?
How do you handle allergies, vegetarians, vegans and children?
By when do you need final numbers, and can they still go down?
Chefs' hands finishing rows of small plated starters on a dark kitchen counter
Prices per person, styles of service and the venue's kitchen rule are in our wedding catering guide.
Questions to ask a wedding photographer or videographer
Will you photograph our wedding yourself? If not, who will, and can we see their work?
How many hours are included, and what does each extra hour cost?
Is a second photographer included, or can we add one?
Can we see two or three complete galleries, not only the highlights?
Roughly how many edited photos, and by when? Delivery times vary from a few weeks to a few months, so put the date in the contract.
What if a camera fails? Ask about two memory cards, a second body, and how long they keep backups.
What may we do with the photos? Usually the photographer keeps the copyright and you may use them privately; ask whether that covers printing, sharing online and an album made elsewhere, and whether they may use your photos in their advertising.
For a film: how long is it, and do we get the raw footage?
How many hours do you play, from when to when? Is the ceremony or the drinks reception included, with its own microphone?
Are sound and light included, and enough for our room and our guests?
When are your breaks, and what plays meanwhile? Bands often play three or four sets.
How much space and how many sockets do you need?
Do you know the venue and its volume limit?
When do you set up and sound-check, so it is done before the guests arrive?
Do we meet beforehand to go through the running order, our wishes and the songs you must not play?
Still choosing between the two? Our piece on a DJ or a live band weighs atmosphere, cost and space.
Questions for the florist, the hair and makeup artist and the officiant
The florist
What is in season on our date, and what will you use if a flower is not available?
When do you deliver and set up, and who moves the ceremony flowers to the tables?
Are vases, stands and arches hired, with a deposit, and when are they collected?
Hair and makeup
When is the trial, and is it charged? Many artists suggest four to eight weeks before the day.
How long per person, and how many artists come? As a rough guide, two to three hours for the bride's hair and makeup together, 45 to 90 minutes for each other person.
Do you come to where we get ready, and do you stay for touch-ups?
Is the ceremony legally binding? In Germany only the civil wedding at the registry office (Standesamt) is; a symbolic ceremony is for you and your guests. Rules differ between countries, so check with the authorities where you marry.
How often do we meet, and do we read the text beforehand?
Who brings the microphone, and what happens to an outdoor ceremony if it rains?
A worked example: two photographers, compared properly
Lena and Jonas marry on a Saturday in June, with 80 guests. They want photos from the ceremony at 14:00 to the first dance at about 22:00: eight hours. Two quotes arrive.
Photographer A: €2,600 for eight hours, travel included, the gallery within six weeks, and she photographs the day herself.
Photographer B: €1,950 for six hours, €220 per extra hour, travel at €0.50 per kilometre for a 240 km round trip, the gallery within twelve weeks, "a photographer from our team".
B looks €650 cheaper. For the same eight hours, B costs €1,950 + 2 × €220 + €120 = €2,510: €90 less, nobody named yet, and twice the wait. Lena and Jonas ask B who would come and to see that person's full galleries, then decide on the work, not the headline.
When a search already shows the price for your day all in, travel included, the arithmetic is done for you. Who comes, how long you wait and what you may do with the photos are still yours to ask.
How to ask, and what to do with the answers
Shortlist two or three suppliers per trade, not ten.
Send each the same numbered questions in one message.
Write the answers down where you both find them, such as the Notes in your planning tools.
Compare like with like: the same hours, the same people, everything in.
Book only once the answers are in writing.
Be wary of a supplier who won't say who comes, has no written terms, won't name the business behind the work, or wants everything at once in cash without a receipt.
On Eventadore you can press Ask a question on any supplier's profile; phone numbers and links stay hidden until a booking is paid. Asking holds nothing: until you reserve, another couple can book them on your day. Once you add a supplier to your Planning, the price is locked and nobody renegotiates it. When you reserve, they only say whether they are free — within 72 hours if your day is more than two weeks away, 24 hours inside two weeks, 6 hours inside three days — and some accept at once. Reviews there come only from couples who booked and whose wedding has happened.
Frequently asked questions
How many wedding suppliers should we contact for each service?
Two or three per trade is usually enough. Shortlist from their work and price first, then send each the same questions. More than that and the answers blur.
Should we meet a supplier in person before booking?
For the people who spend the whole day with you — photographer, DJ or band, host, officiant — a meeting or video call is worth it, because you need to like working with them. For the caterer there is the tasting; for the florist, recent work and a clear list are often enough.
What should a wedding supplier's contract include?
The supplier's legal details, the date, place and hours, what is included, the price with every payment date, travel and overtime, cancellation terms for both sides, what happens if they cannot come, and for photographers and videographers what you may do with the pictures.
What happens if a wedding supplier cancels on us?
That depends on the contract, which is why you ask before you sign. A fair contract returns everything you paid them, and a good supplier helps you find a replacement. If you booked through us, the whole booking fee comes back when the supplier cancels.
Do we have to feed our suppliers?
Anyone who stays through dinner — usually the photographer, videographer, DJ or band and host — will expect a meal and a soft drink, and many contracts say so. Ask each of them, and give your caterer the number.
