Why is wedding photography so bloomin’ expensive?!

This is a subject that’s come up recently and I believe that some people genuinely don’t realise how much wedding photography actually costs and why photographers charge what they do. So I thought I’d explain!

Generally, you get what you pay for in the wedding industry

Photographers prices do vary quite a bit, but to put it simply, the ones who are charging less usually are less experienced. That’s not to say they’re not as talented, but the longer I’m in business the more I’m realising how much things cost over time.

What you’re really paying for…

Experience

I’ve been shooting weddings for nearly 10 years now, and I’ve learnt a lot on the way. I know what to look out for, learnt from little mistakes (thankfully no big ones!), what to expect and how to deal with different lighting situations, and generally what works best in any situation.

I also go to workshops every year to inspire me, keep my creative juices flowing, and learn new things. These workshops sometimes cost as much as, if not more than, a holiday!

Time

Apart from working a good 10-12 hour day on the wedding day itself, I spend a lot of other time working that people don’t see – there are meetings, correspondence, admin, travel and preparation, not to mention the editing time and post production, downloading and uploading images, packaging and posting orders…

Equipment

Photography equipment costs a lot. Each of my lenses costs between £1000-2000. The latest camera that’s come out – the Canon EOS 5D MkIV – is nearly £4000 without the lens! And it’s not just keeping up to date with the latest professional technology, but also maintaining equipment and getting it serviced or repaired.

Even things like hard drives cost a lot – the amount of data storage I need is ridiculous, and when you’ve got that much being stored and backed up, hard drives sometimes fail and need to get replaced or upgraded.

Insurance

As all my equipment is worth a lot, I’ve got to make sure it’s all insured. I also have professional indemnity, public liability, and employers liability insurance.

Advertising and Marketing

It would be great if all of our lovely clients would pass on our details to all their friends and family, and we’d get booked by word of mouth that way. But sometimes, we just need to spend (quite a lot of) money to find our ideal clients, who wouldn’t normally come across us through word of mouth. That money has to come from the photography we do.

Overheads

To have a professional space and somewhere for clients to visit, especially running a studio, costs quite a lot! If you’re happy to go to your photographers house, or have them come to yours, then great, but it really does help to have a nice professional space for clients to visit. Plus I have to pay staff and sub-contractors to make sure I can provide a good service.

I’ll shortly be moving into an office in Farnham town centre, because I’d rather my clients didn’t come to my current place of work (you can never tell who will be around or what noise or mess there will be!) and I can’t physically bring all my albums and products with me to peoples houses or coffee shops etc. Plus I want to be able to offer my clients nice things like coffee and biscuits!

The Average cost of wedding photography…

How much you should spend on your wedding photography really depends on how important it is to you. Apparently you should aim to spend 10-15% of your wedding budget on your photography… After googleing the average cost of wedding photography even that isn’t very straight forward and results really vary, but from all the photographers I know, it’s around £1500. With me, you can spend anything from £925 to £3000+

Telling a photographer you’ve found a cheaper package elsewhere is like saying you’d rather get your dinner at your local burger van…

…That’s fine if you’re not bothered about the quality of the food, and the same goes for photography. You generally get what you pay for – it depends how important it is to you. But please remember, you only get one chance to capture (hopefully!) one of the most important days of your life.

More is not always better with wedding photography packages…

You don’t have to sacrifice quality if you’ve got a small budget. It’s much better to pay for as much time coverage as you can afford, rather than who’s including the most in the package for the same amount of money. I always tell my clients, they can always buy an album after the wedding if it’s a bit too much to include in their package.

Ultimately, go with your gut instinct and book the photographer you feel most comfortable with and can imagine yourself in their images.

Just remember, the cake gets eaten, the flowers will die, but your wedding images will last forever.

Many thanks for taking the time to read this blog, I hope it’s been helpful! Please share with anyone you know who’s getting married and might benefit from this information.

Ginny x