Weddings are highly stressful events for all involved. With so many moving parts, from the cake and the dress to the reception and the wedding cars, there’s a lot to go wrong on the day.

As a professional photographer, with all that time and effort you’ve put into the preparation and the expensive equipment you’ve invested in to get great results for you and your clients, the last thing you need is an unexpected spanner in the works.

While many incidents can be harmless or humorous, like a toddler shouting out at just the wrong time during the ceremony, which is captured permanently on video, or someone overbalancing while doing the twist at the reception, others can be serious and actually heartbreaking for the bride and groom.  If the incident is linked to the wedding photography, it could be expensive for the photographer. At a wedding in Queensland, Australia, twenty thousand Australian dollars’ worth of high-quality camera equipment and footage was stolen from the photographer’s car.

Based on our insurance claims experience,  here are Aaduki’s top 5 things that can potentially go wrong for a wedding photographer.

1. Theft of equipment

Theft of any item, regardless of value, has consequences, both in the cost of the item and the inconvenience of having to replace it; as well as any problems that might arise at a wedding if it’s stolen before you’ve finished using it.

It may be that you have unattended bags stolen while you’re taking photographs, or someone might break into your car to take camera equipment, with the added expense and inconvenience of having to sort out repairs for damage to your car door or windows.  It might even prevent you from moving between venues at a multi-location wedding.

Whatever the situation, the best protection for your business is to have appropriate insurance, specifically tailored for your wedding photography business.

2. Accidental damage

Wedding photographers rely on so many vital pieces of equipment to achieve such excellent results, and they all come at a cost. It’s essential to protect what you’ve got with superior insurance cover that also allows for accidental damage so your equipment is always available and in working order when you need it.

With so many guests involved in a wedding, including children, caterers, and venue staff, it’s easy to understand why photography equipment might be accidentally knocked into, tripped over or damaged. It may even be that you drop your camera, or someone spills their beverage on your bags or equipment. Any one of these incidents could result in a major bill for repairs or replacement of lighting, cameras, lenses, laptops and more.  You might even need an urgent equipment hire so that you can complete the job. 

3. Trips, falls and accidents

Lights on stands, photography bags with straps and trailing wires can be a dangerous combination with people dancing on slippery dance floors, and perhaps having a little too much to drink.

Nobody wants an accident to happen, but if someone happens to trip over any of your equipment and injure themselves, or you accidentally cause an injury in some way, there is the possibility of claims for compensation or even legal action, which could cause you an immense amount of stress and put a serious financial strain on your business. Our public liability insurance is specifically designed to ensure you are covered in these situations.

4. Problems with photographic quality

It’s every photographer’s nightmare to put in so much work for a wedding, only to find that the photographs aren’t of suitable quality, perhaps from a faulty camera, or because the wedding party aren’t happy for some reason.

If you specialise in film photography or have had a special request for it, there can be further problems with development if you don’t do it in-house. It’s not unheard of for items to go missing in the post, and the last thing you want to happen is that the lab send your gorgeous photographs back with the negatives and they disappear en route, never to be seen again.

Unfortunately, these things do happen, and as a professional, it’s vital that you protect yourself and your business with professional indemnity cover against being sued.

5. Injuries or illnesses to staff members

It’s not just injuries to members of the public that you need to guard against. If anyone is injured or falls sick due to their employment, then employers’ liability insurance is a safety net that protects your financial position, and it’s mandatory to have this in place if you have any employees.

Professional wedding photographer insurance

While we have to think about the things that might go wrong, with the appropriate advice we hope that you can relax, safe in the knowledge that we’ve got you covered.

If you’d like a little peace of mind in case the worst does happen, from an insurance adviser who has paid out on over 95% of claims, take a look at our insurance services for professional photographers and get in touch to see how we can help.