Weddings - Your advice?

[PASHN8]

Have been lurking for a while, and reading the loads of great info on here, and decided to post with my first question (hope it's in the right place - Mods feel free to put it where it should be otherwise)

A question for those who do weddings regularly or have done them, what sort of costs do you charge for a standard type deal?

Do you charge a flat fee for the whole wedding, and what does that cover?
Do you charge an 'attendance' fee, then charge by print?

What do you include in your packages and whats sort of relevant costs are involved?
What is included in the final result? Bound book? DVD? etc?

Any info most appreciated!

Thanks,
Dino.

[phillipb]

Hi Dino, welcome to the forum.
Sorry I can't help you with your question, I've been out of the game too long.
Look forward to seeing a lot more of your posts though, just don't change that avatar.

[PASHN8]

Hey Phil

Thanks for the welcome, have had a chat with Leigh (NNNSIC) and it seems to be a pretty friendly atmosphere here, and best of all, it's Aussie-centric, unlike a lot of the O/S forums!

You are never out of the game, just on break... the game is only a shutter press away!

Yes, I quite like the avatar myself, hope you noticed the gun?

[phillipb]

What gun?

The last wedding I did, I charged $150 attendance fee, for that they got a set of proof sheets (superproof) to keep and they ordered whatever photos they wanted.
That was about 20 years ago.

[land-lubber]

hey
I just got married myself, and i reckon we visited every photographer in our area be4 we chose 1 we liked. Most photographers are charging on a plan baisis. eg, $900 will get u 1big blow up (whatever size that is forgotten dimentions, a big wall hanging type, a couple of 12x and goes down from there. most offer a variety of packages from 500- 1500 bucks depending on the package, if it includes a dvd, photo album etc.
However, we chose a photographer that charged us per hour by the types of proofs we ordered. eg thumnails were the cheapest, but we opted for every photo he took on cd in 6x4 format so we could print and copy the cd as much as we liked, just had to order larger sizes thro him. He also gave a 20% voucher for reprints on what we paid. ended up at around 1050 bucks for 11hrs of photography and around 1000 photos
hope that helps
cheers

[padey]

There are two categories of wedding photographer; Sub $2k and $3k-$5k+. I’m in the later group and as such have one all inclusive price. By your question I gather you’re looking at the cheaper end of the market?

The problem I see with most wedding photographers is that they don’t treat is as a business. First thing you should be looking at is margin. How much do you want to make for what you’re willing to put in, and then structure your costs around that. How you do that is up to you, but this should be your starting point.

Equipment is a totally different matter. Your equipment is going from hobby/interest into working gear. If it’s paying you, then you don’t skimp on cost. You don’t see top tradesmen buying cheap tools at bunnings. It’s the same principle.

We get a lot of emails from people looking to get into weddings. To be honest with you, most of them aren’t really ready to commit the time it takes. Sacrifice weekends, or the time to run a business. If you are really keen and willing to put in the time to run a business, give up your weekends, then the rewards are there.

I recommend becoming an assistant with a working photographer. You’ll get to see how he/she works and how you can make it better, while getting paid. Put all that cash into top shelf glass or toward business preparation and then when you’re comfortable, launch out. Keep in mind it may take 12months to do a wedding that you book, which means expect a 12month lag on work/payment. It’s the nature of the industry; people book you usually a year in advance. Kick off in Spring, that’s the high tide of the wedding season.

[myarhidia]

I recommend becoming an assistant with a working photographer. You’ll get to see how he/she works and how you can make it better, while getting paid.

Just to add to this, you will also need to build a portfolio to show your prospective clients, this will provide a great opportunity to do so.

[shutterbug]

I 2nd and 3rd the above comments.
What I think is important
1. Portfolio....assist someone/style
2. Target Market....price
3. Marketing....exposure

[gstark]

And of course, let's not forget one underlying, but oft-ignore concept: quality images.

[TonyH]

I agree with what Gary has said, but let's not forget that the client will get what they are prepared to pay for.

In my opinion if the client has a budget of $500 then they will get a $500 photographer and if they are unhappy with the results then there is no reason for complaint.....

The high end guys service a certain sector of the marketplace where their style of photography is really what the client is paying for. At the budget end the client is really paying to get the event recorded and any "style" from the photographer is a bonus.

I know some members may be outraged by these comments, but, you do get what you pay for. For example a 70-300 4-5.6g lens compared to a 70-200 2.8 VR lens. They will both take shots but are worlds apart in quality.

That doesn't mean the 70-300 is unacceptable to all areas of the marketplace otherwise they wouldn't sell any. Clearly it is a matter you get what you are prepared to pay for.......

I suggest you consider this when thinking about your pricing Some cheaper jobs initially to establish a portfolio may be prudent for a limited time if you are looking for medium to high end work.

[shutterbug]

Yep, agree