How much did you pay for your wedding photographer?

Question

what did it include? were you happy? was to to expensive? Im a photographer looking to make a price list out for weddings so your info would be very helpful

Answer 1

$2040. Its one of the cheapest in my area, but I think it will be great!! My wedding isen't till Nov. 30, 2008 though.

Answer 2

We paid about $1300.00 for our photographer. In our area that is a great deal! We got 8 hours of coverage, all of our pictures on a CD (she took about 4,000 pictures that day), all of our pictures online to share with family/friends and a 36 page album. The lady that we went to had a studio in her home; so it was cheaper for her to do business. She did a fabulous job! My friend paid close to $3000 dollars for 500 photo's and a 24 page album...after she saw my wedding photos she regretted ever hiring her photographer for that price.

Answer 3

I found the best wedding photographer when I was getting married.  She charged $50 an hour, would not have any other event booked on your wedding day so you could ask her to stay longer than you had originally planned, she had me buy the film (that she selected) and then she gave the designated person in the wedding party all the film when things were finished.  Not only do I have over 500 professional photos from my wedding, I own all the negatives!

She told me she didn't like how most photographers hold the negatives hostage and every time you want a copy or an enlargement, you had to go back to the photographer and pay alot of money to get what you wanted.

Most of the professional photographers I spoke to and visited were WAY too expensive for me...just an average person with a modest wedding budget.  Their packages were ridiculous...30 4 x 6's of your choice for $180 not including the album and they would be taking no more than 120 pictures.  That's ridiculous!  On the biggest day of someone's life you're only going to take 120 pictures??!!  And I only get 30 for $180!

I hope you will look at the professional photographers in your area and beat their prices and the quality of their photos.  Good luck!

Answer 4

$950.  that includes 2 photographers.. and she is really really good!

Answer 5

$600. We got a great deal, too, because he was friends with my father-in-law. The guy was fun and professional, was not too intrusive, stayed out of the way when necessary, made us laugh, and the pictures came out great. We basically got an entire wedding album, including the album itself, plus all the negatives. I don't recall how many pictures it was, but the album was overflowing! LOL!

Answer 6

1.4K. This includes an assistant, 6 hours and digital rights to the photos (the last is hard enough to find, let alone pricey, and was essential to us). It doesn't include any prints.

Don't charge per-hour because that's unfair to you. We have only one hour between the end of the service and the start of the reception, and there's no way a photographer could make a good living on an hour a day at fair wages. Have a minimum amount of time.

Answer 7

Like in Real Estate, location is the prime factor in cost.  I'm in the south so it's cheaper than many places (like Boston and NY) but I do live in a large city.  I looked everywhere to try to find one of the cheaper photographers who still had experience in the business.  It was $2,500 for 5 hrs.  Price was one of my most important considerations.  Then style.  I like candid, spur of the moment stuff.

With that I had 5 hrs.  One assistant.  Multiple cameras including film and digital.  At least 500 shots.  The proof book which would be mine to keep.  A mother's album and a 16x20.  My album which was something like 20 pgs.  I bought the negatives from her for an additional $200.

She was one of the cheapest in the area.

My cousin paid $7,800.  She got engagement pictures.  Like 3 books of proofs and an album of about 30 pics.  Bridal portraits at a location.  Larger pics (but you can trade sizes so I think instead of a 16x20 she got 2 smallers like 11X17 or something).  And the day of stuff.

Really the big difference is

Are you going to charge for each thing?  Extra 200 for an extra hour, 350 for bridal session, 100 for another assistant,  150 for a mother's album.  Or are you going to do complete package deals where there price includes what most people want with just a charge for additional hours?

Are you doing the touch ups or sending it out?  If you send it out build that into the cost of how much you charge.

How much experience do you have?  Is your portfolio book complete and shows your creativity?  Nearby locations to take bridal portraits.  Do you have some great state parks that you can get an annual membership fee for $100.  Or is this a private place that you have to get a permit each time at like $100 a day.

I was thrilled with my photographer though she was needy.  She was very very stressed and needed a lot of reassurance.  But she did good work.  I had over 800 proofs to go through.  Plus I own the negatives so I can make copies of pictures whenever I want.

Often to get clients what some photographers do is a small bridal portrait fee.  I had one email me with a day at the beach.  He was going to This Beach, this place, all day.  And he had bridal portraits arranged throughout the day for about 45 minutes each.  By not charging but like $50, he booked his entire day for just the one permit charge.  He sent out an email to everyone saying

May 7th- Botanical Gardens

May 14th-Local Lake

May 21st-The Beach

It only had like 3 weekends (the one I wanted didn't work for me so I wasn't able to see how good his work was).  He booked nearly every time slot and got a lot of people who had other photographers for the wedding.  But booked him for their engagement and bridal portraits.  It was cheap for him since he took maybe 50 shots and he only had to print out the one you order.  No proofs--all online.

Online has really helped a lot of photographers out.  The horrible pictures they don't even have to pay to print out at all.

Answer 8

when i looked for a photographer it wasn't price that really influenced it these things made me decide on the one i am using ...

1) quality of work obviously

2) if there will be another photographer ... i really wanted 2 ... the second one can be a trainee just as long as there are 2

3) the quality of the printed album

4) if all the images taken on the day will be supplied on a disc

those were non-negotiable

Answer 9

31 years ago it cost me $150.  Sorry not much help today but back than I thought it was high.  I can't even remember what all it included but I did get a photo album and they were very nice.

Good luck.

Answer 10

Ours was $400.00 We got a great deal!  She devolped all of our pics (4x6) and put them in a pretty album, she also gave us all of our negatives and a CD......We were very happy with our pictures.

Answer 11

We are paying $1000 for a husband and wife team. The price includes full coverage all day and cds with all the photos so that we own the copyright to them after.

The price is very reasonable for the service we will get.

Answer 12

I'm paying about $5,000 for wedding day and it includes my photographer, an assistant photographer, 8hours of service, album, parent albums, retouching and more. My videographer is $19,000 because I'm doing it all in super 8mm and 16mm for that old fashioned JFK look. Good luck with your business :)

Answer 13

It cost me $1600 for mine, she was excellent too (and one of the cheapest in the area)

here is her website so you can see what she included in the package.

http://www.allureportraits.com/

hope this helps.. :D

Answer 14

Our wedding photos were done by my Uncle for free; as a gift. We checked with others before my Uncle agreed. I suggest looking locally on websites to compare what is common around your area. You will want to also google this, and make sure you start a website for yourself to get the word out. Good LUCK, IM me if you need to. Below is a place here in Chicago area, and this is the normal price for here.

Answer 15

Congrats on getting hitched!!!  

I paid 2K for ours for a 15K wedding.  He was a fairly new to the photography business and that is why we saved money.  Yes, I was happy, mostly because he gave me all the proofs.  Usually people pay about 3-6% of their wedding budget towards photography. Pictures are important.  Your pictures will be how the day is remembered for prosperity, your grandchildren will look at them.

Answer 16

We're paying $3395 for:

Full-day coverage

Two photographers

Unlimited locations

Unlimited photos

Engagement session

Online highlight album

Renaissance Custom Storybook album

All proofs and digital negatives

3 parent albums

The company does ONLY wedding photography and one event per day to ensure you get your full time. In our area, this package is an absolute STEAL for the quality!

Answer 17

I paid about $2500 which included 2 photographers, my proofs, a 16x20, mother's albums, our album and copies of a large group picture we'd had taken of all of our wedding guests.  This seems a little bit pricey but the photographer sat down with me for a few hours for an initial consultation and then had me come back with some wedding photographs I liked form other weddings and he and I compiled a "must have shot list". He had tons of previous wedding pictures to look at and I never felt rushed. I liked knowing that he paid attention to my requests and was not nervous about the quality of the photography on my wedding day. He was so friendly and encouraging.  I am thrilled with my pictures and would use him over and over again.