[Closed] Wedding photograpy cost?

As with most things, there's a huge range of prices and you will get what you pay for. Maybe try a few Indian wedding photography specialists as they'll be used to quoting for two or three day coverage.

Its not actually for me! My GF has been roped into shooting her (not very close) friends wedding. Its not the first time she has done weddings but she is not a pro photograoher either. Couple only want to pay her £400 which if it was for 1 day would be ok but for 2 6-8 hour days + endless hours of processing time after the event is a bit weak.

Im just looking for insight into what people have paid in the past really so we can work out something reasonable.

Ours was £1500 ish for a days wedding. Excellent photos though.

I reckon she should ask for £1k minimum.

£1,000 as mentioned above.
Ours cost more than £1,000 for a small wedding, this was nearly 10 years ago.

£900 standard fee.

Ours was £1500 including all albums and rights to photos etc. for one day

We are paying £1000 for 10 hours (i.e. 1 day), processing etc and pre wedding shoot. No album.

Difficult one. You pay for the photographer's experience. What's minimum wage? About £6 an hour? £50 a day. Then you can triple that for some good processing time, dealing with people, etc....

£300. At minimum wage. Ish.

I'd double that, and you'd probably be in the ball park.

Unless she's really good.

Interesting reading (for me anyway 😉 )

http://www.petapixel.com/2012/01/26/why-wedding-photographers-prices-are-wack/

If she's not a pro, does she have PL insurance, backup gear etc?

In that case, £320. 16 hours shooting, 16 hours tops processing. She already has a camera, a lens and a computer; perhaps even a flash and a spare lens. I'm guessing she won't be telling the taxman and as Grum mentioned, won't have to worry about insurance. She won't need to factor in the years spent building a network of friendly pros to call on if she wakes up with a nasty virus.... So a tenner an hour really isn't bad 🙂

I charged about that for my first ever wedding (eight years ago, also for a friend, also a two day job). I had no insurance, paid no taxes and had to borrow a backup camera body. But they were close friends.

Oh and Grum - that dude in your link is doing it all wrong!

My advice to the guy in grums link - diversify or move somewhere else 🙂

Sort of good explanation but let down by the opening bit of maths

After looking into one myself I am so glad my uncle is doing my day for free! Average quotes round here for a one day jobbie is about 800-1k

Was £500 for ours including album and a collection of photos for one day. He the gave us all the photos he produced that we didn't pick a few weeks later as were no use to him. Great quality photos too but again this was over 10 years ago and not sure what he charges now.

Meet a few and see what the actual photographer is like, personality wise as well as Photography style.

Pay for the one you want and like the best and think you'll get along with. I always thing the photographer should almost fit in to the wedding and get on with the guests too.

There are some old fussy (probably smelly) photographers out there who think you are there for their photographs rather than the nice hip clean trendy ones who know they are there to record your big day.

I used to do wedding photography part time a few years ago. The album I supplied cost me £160, printing IRO £80 and I'd spend a day at the wedding, a day processing, a good few hours designing the wedding album on the computer (one of them trendy coffee table albums) and then a few hours communicating with the bride usually, to get the album design she liked followed by a few hours constructing it after all the stuff arrived.

All told probably 25 to 30 hours work.

It's not a day its more like three.

£400 for a couple of days work, doing something that is essentially a Hobby (as she is not a professional) seems pretty good money to me.

If she were a pro, starting out in the business and building up a portfolio etc, she would be doing it for less than that.

Meet a few and see what the actual photographer is like, personality wise as well as Photography style.
Pay for the one you want and like the best and think you'll get along with. I always thing the photographer should almost fit in to the wedding and get on with the guests too.
There are some old fussy (probably smelly) photographers out there who think you are there for their photographs rather than the nice hip clean trendy ones who know they are there to record your big day.

Don't think you have read enough of the thread 😉

Thanks for the replies, it makes interesting reading.

She is a good photographer and its more than a hobby, its just that she has never really intended to or wanted to go down the wedding photographer route. Its more of a case of friends know her and that she is good with a camera and want a cheaper option that the
£1k + "proper" wedding photographer.

I know the price tag on these things seems expensive but after helping her out on her last wedding I realise there is so much more work involved than just taking a few pics!

There's also huge pressure to get the shots perfect at a wedding and the possibility of screwing up a friendship if it goes wrong. I turned down being the photographer for my best mate's wedding - I just didn't want the pressure, so instead did a reportage style set of photos whilst a pro did the standard package. I think people underestimate the difficulty of getting perfect shots in tough light conditions with effectively one chance for a lot of the shots.

If she were a pro, starting out in the business and building up a portfolio etc, she would be doing it for less than that.

what makes you say that? why would a professional presumably with all the right equipment (and back-ups) and the skills needed to become a full time wedding photographer charge less than a weekend warrior amateur?

charge less than a weekend warrior amateur?

Firstly, i dont think a "weekend warrior amatuer" should be getting £400 for a couple of days work (but thats not what the OP's other half is anyway by the sound of it)

And as i said earlier, starting out in business can be hard, and building up a portfolio of successful wedding shoots can be hard (as nobody goes to you if you dont have a portfolio of shoots to look at)

So as a professional photographer, new to weddings, pricing yourself cheaper than everyone else for a short while, until you have your portfolio sorted, is a good way to build credibility.

(this is exactly what the photographer who did my brothers wedding was doing)

He essentially was doing it at "cost price" to cover his expenses and build his reputation as a wedding photographer.

Cheap advertising.

There is a reason that "proper" wedding photographers cost so much.

If your GF is a "proper" profesional photographer who normally doesn't do weddings then she should charge the proper price which reflects not only the time taken but also the quality of the work and the assurance that the photos will be worthy of being a permanent record of the event. Preumably the happy couple chose her over another pro as they like her photos, rather than them just being cheap (If they are being cheap then your GF is being taken for a ride)

If she isn't a "proper" profesional photographer, just a good hobbyest, who sold a few prints maybe, then I would question the wisdom of doing it at all. No backup, no proper gear etc and it could turn into a disaster and all though it is only a loose friend your GF would still feel very guilty is she f'ed up.

But if it's a favour (as the couple can't afford a pro, not them being cheap) rather than a business then she should be looking cover her costs and nothing else. Maybe consider it as an althernative to a wedding gift. This takes the presure off being a pro as it is clear in the renumeration that they are getting a mate to do a favour with the potential consequences, rather than a pro photographer on the cheap.

weekend warrior amateur

never heard that before for a photographer!

I photographed my future brother in law's wedding 2 weeks ago. I am an ok amateur at best and I made this clear to them but and they were happy with this as they didn't want to pay.
The photos came out well with only one issue around the exchange of rings because I don't speak Danish (yet) so didn't know it was coming and wasn't standing in the correct place. It was however a very tiring and stressful day, you don't get to enjoy the wedding much either. Unless your GF wants to go into wedding photography I would advise her not to do it.

Ours 5 years ago cost around £1000 all in where we got a full disk of every photo and the copyright + album. I checked over loads of photographers and was really picky as many are really not that good. What we ended up we were really pleased with as many of them I would not have had a clue how they got the lighting and composition so spot on. It really is something that you get way you pay for. If you like photography then I would pay more and get someone really good. In the long run it is certainly worth it. I have seen many family and friends photos that are quite poor and boring.

ours was £500 a couple of years ago
including albums and a couple of discs of all of them
despite being cheaper this guy was considerably better than some that wanted to charge double

shop around check through their previous stuff etc