Are Wedding Photographers Expensive?
If you are reading this, you are probably a bride to be or know someone who is getting married.
This is when you realise just how much you will need to spend to create your perfect day.
First of all you book the venue and the church then come the dress and booking a wedding photographer.
The wedding photography market is very big and very competitive.
It can be really hard to choose.
If you choose on price you may wonder why some photographers charge only £500 and others charge several thousand.
In most cases you get what you pay for and here's why.
When you book a photographer, you may not realise that you are buying almost a full week's work from your photographer.
Here's a quick summary of how the time breaks down.
5 hours! Small businesses need to charge their time based on overheads and the number of jobs they can handle.
If you book a wedding photographer who is offering the full service outlined here then he'll only do one or two weddings per weekend.
The main wedding season lasts from May to September.
This means that he has to earn a living based on around 40 weddings a year.
If he only charged £500 per wedding that would be £20,000 per year less overheads and expenses of £12,000 per year.
Net Salary before tax = £8,000 per year! The wholesale prices of a good album is several hundred pounds, which is another cost that needs to be factored in to the equation.
When you add it all up you begin to realise that the prices are actually pretty fair and the photographers are generally charging a reasonable rate based on the skill, time effort and materials required.
On the flip side, I think that it also gives a warning.
If it's too cheap there must be a reason.
Perhaps service is being compromised or your photographer isn't a full-time professional.
It all depends on how much you value the photography.
I hope this helps you when you go about choosing your wedding photographer.
Remember that once the cake is eaten, the reception is finished and your honeymoon is a distant memory, your photographs will become the best memories of your happy day, to look back on for years to come.
This is when you realise just how much you will need to spend to create your perfect day.
First of all you book the venue and the church then come the dress and booking a wedding photographer.
The wedding photography market is very big and very competitive.
It can be really hard to choose.
If you choose on price you may wonder why some photographers charge only £500 and others charge several thousand.
In most cases you get what you pay for and here's why.
- For a full professional photography service your photographer may work for 40 hours on your wedding alone!
- A good photographer will have full public indemnity and liability insurance
- The photographer will have a double set of equipment - back up lenses and cameras in case of a failure
- They will have back up hard drives and off site storage so that your precious images are safe in case he/she is burgled or there's a fire
- The photographer will regularly invest time and money in keeping their skills up to date.
Including photography, album design and Photoshop image editing to name a few. - Marketing costs can be high.
A stand hire at a major wedding show can easily cost £2,000 or more for two days.
On top of this you need to add in the cost of kitting out the stand with display banners, sample albums and literature which can push the overall cost well over the £3,000 mark.
When you book a photographer, you may not realise that you are buying almost a full week's work from your photographer.
Here's a quick summary of how the time breaks down.
- Initial photography booking meeting 1hr
- Pre wedding meeting to agree timings and photography requirements 2 hr
- Update records / send out confirmation 30 mins
- Preparation for wedding photography - cameras, shoot list maps etc 1 hr
- Wedding day travel to bridal prep - 1 hr
- Wedding photography - 11am to 8pm -9 hrs
- Travel home - 1 hr
- Download and back up images - 1 hr
- Sort and select images ready for editing (600 down to 300) 2 hr
- Edit images - brightness/ contrast / colour / cropping 5 hr
- Photoshop editing of key images 3 hr
- Create presentation slide show / upload images to web 2 hr
- Customer viewing - choosing album selection 3 hr
- Design album 4 hr
- Proofs and changes for album design 2 hr
- Upload album design to labs 1 hr
- Meet couple to deliver album 1 hr
5 hours! Small businesses need to charge their time based on overheads and the number of jobs they can handle.
If you book a wedding photographer who is offering the full service outlined here then he'll only do one or two weddings per weekend.
The main wedding season lasts from May to September.
This means that he has to earn a living based on around 40 weddings a year.
If he only charged £500 per wedding that would be £20,000 per year less overheads and expenses of £12,000 per year.
Net Salary before tax = £8,000 per year! The wholesale prices of a good album is several hundred pounds, which is another cost that needs to be factored in to the equation.
When you add it all up you begin to realise that the prices are actually pretty fair and the photographers are generally charging a reasonable rate based on the skill, time effort and materials required.
On the flip side, I think that it also gives a warning.
If it's too cheap there must be a reason.
Perhaps service is being compromised or your photographer isn't a full-time professional.
It all depends on how much you value the photography.
I hope this helps you when you go about choosing your wedding photographer.
Remember that once the cake is eaten, the reception is finished and your honeymoon is a distant memory, your photographs will become the best memories of your happy day, to look back on for years to come.
