Let’s be honest- weddings are expensive. From cars to flowers to dresses to DJ’s the costs can all mount up.
I recently saw a post on a Facebook wedding swap shop group from a worried Bride-to-be saying “We booked our wedding photographer a while ago for a great price but now he’s had to cancel last minute because a family event has come up for him on the same date as our wedding, can anyone help us with our photography?” The lady was asked how much she spent on her photographer. She said “£150”.
It’s an obvious thing to say but nine times out of ten you really do get what you pay for. The photographer in this story wasn’t a professional, he just did photography as a hobby and wasn’t even insured. On the other side of the coin there are those photographers who don’t have much talent but just try to fleece customers by charging through the roof! I saw one such company on Facebook just this morning charging from £3000-£8500 and their photos were some of the worst I’ve ever seen (I won’t name and shame publicly!!)
In the UK professional wedding photographers tend to fall into three categories
£500-£1000- low cost wedding photographers
£1000-£2000- mid range wedding photographers
£2000-£4000- high cost wedding photographers
Most couples will budget for a low cost or mid range wedding photographer. Consider these questions that can influence the price of your wedding photographer…
– Does the quality of the images on the photographer’s website meet your expectations?
– Does the price include a pre wedding meet up or a pre wedding shoot? It’s always nice to meet your photographer ahead of the day. If your photographer is far away geographically why not Skype before the big day?
– Is your wedding on a weekday? I’m often able to offer a sightly discounted rate for Monday-Thursday weddings as these are uncommon days to get married on (although Thursdays are becoming increasingly popular).
– How many hours coverage will you get on the day? I tend to work to an 8 hour day from prep until first dance but you could save money by just covering the ceremony and afternoon reception.
– Will you get one photographer or two photographers on the day?
– Will you get a flash drive of your images or will the photographer keep the images and just send you a handful?
– Will you get a wedding album included in the price or are these extra? What kind of album is it? Real photos or ones printed onto the pages?
Hopefully these questions should be able to help you as you consider your wedding photographer. As a general rule I wouldn’t try and spend the least amount of money possible, you generally get what you pay for. You want to be able to treasure your wedding photos for the rest of your life so invest wisely and hopefully you’ll be over the moon with the results!
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