Table of Contents

• What is your budget?
• Why are photographers expensive?
• Family Friend Photographers: Should I hire them?
• Facebook Photographers: Should I hire them?
• What's a healthy Budget?
• Our Starting Price?
• How to book a photographer?
• What happens after booking?
• Wedding Day
• FAQ

YASSS Newly Engaged Kings and Queens!!

I know how overwhelming wedding planning can be!

Especially when websites don't offer to show their prices online. (We always want to give our clients the best experience!)

Which can be very difficult to get a feel for a budget.

So here, I will talk about how to tackle vendors in 2023 and 2024

The Question of the year

What is your budget?

99% aren't sure what their budget is because every photographers come in all shapes and sizes, from cheap to luxurious, single, duo, or studio, with that being said, let's talk about the most obvious.

"Why are wedding photographers expensive? They're only taking photos, right?"

Truth is, it's 10% Yes and 90% no.

1. Equipments are expensive
2. Editing is extremely time consuming
3. We have expensive overheads
4. Having the "eye" takes years to master
5. Knowing when to press the shutter takes a while to learn.
6. Hiring Second Photographers are the most expensive overheads for photographers

"Couldn't I just hire a family friend to take photos of us?"

Absolutely! Hire a family friend if it fits you.

But hiring someone new or unexperienced, they are likely to miss the moments.

• Miss out on your wedding. Even if they are front and center, they're under pressure trying to not miss the moments, your first kiss, first dance, those key moments that says, "this is our milestone."
• Entry Level Cameras don't last long on the wedding. This is gonna be your biggest concern.
• You won't have any guarantees. A friend in Asheville got married and hired a family photographer for their wedding. Their friend took 8 months to get their photos back. Big yikes!
• Entry Level Cameras are grainy and aren't made for low-light situations especially during the reception.
• New photographers are likely to oversaturate your photos, add that "instagram editing" look, follow a trend that doesn't last long, and make your photos look too yellow/orange/too bright and airy/too dark and moody.
• Will your entry level photographer sustain their days until your wedding? Do you pay them on the day of? Will they be able to hold off on other projects on your day?
• Any Back Up Cameras? Are they dual slotted SD cards?
• Delivery 2000+ photos? Imagine finding that one photo that you really really want but is buried under a mountain of them.
• Might even forget that they have a family shot list, or even a general one
• Highly will even ruin your relationship with them

"Okay, no more family friend!

BUT GLENN,

I GOT OFFERED "$800 FOR 8 HOURS WHEN I TYPED LOOKING FOR WEDDING PHOTOGRAPHERS IN WILMINGTON" ON FACEBOOK

SHOULD I HIRE THEM?

Sure!

$800 seems reasonable.

Quick Disclaimer: I am not bashing photographers who are starting out because I once also had a beginning. However, I started as a real estate photographer that saved up enough to get high end gear. I worked with models so I can learn how to pose people. Eventually, I got comfortable enough that I can direct people who don't know how to stand in front of the camera. Please take this with a grain of salt.

Why this is a good idea:

• Great for small intimate weddings.
• This will cover the day of wedding + editing if the wedding is around the corner.
• Guaranteed supporting a small business or someone whose starting out.

Why this is a bad idea for the bride:

• You'll experience burn out.
• Too many comments and photographers to pick and choose.
• The normal budget for a photographer is NOT sustainable, they might not make it until your wedding day
• Inconsistent portfolio.

Why is this a bad idea for the photographer to charge so low:

• Photographers wont be able to sustain 1 year of living.
• If they took 54 weddings per year(oh god) they'll make $43,200 before income tax.
• They will need to pay for a decent camera at $1400, then at least 2 decent lenses at $800, and a back up camera (x2) $2200. A website, online storage for your gallery, monthly subscription to Photoshop + Lightroom, a laptop, local storage, a logo, a car to get your wedding, insurance, a business license to do business in NC, taxes, other overheads like Spotify Premium, continuing education, etc.

THEN, WHAT IS A HEALTHY BUDGET FOR WEDDING PHOTOGRAPHY?

$2400

According to Wedding.Report, $2400 was the average spent in 2022. This makes sense,

This will take care of most overheads but not all. The cost of doing business for any wedding photographers, 2 mid-range Mirrorless Cameras, lens, and extra batteries.

HOW MUCH IS YOUR STARTING PRICE?

$3400 is my starting price.

• Wedding Consultations - We will talk about our shot list, must haves, family list
• 6 Hour Coverage - Up until the dance or cake cutting
• Second Photographer
• Signature Edits
• High-Res Files
• Online Gallery
• Unlimited Downloads
• 2 Week Turn Around

You're Guaranteed these Experience

• Exclusive Tips and updates. Our couples don't instantaneously get beautiful photos on the day of right? I will be your exclusive guide between from the moment you inquire to your wedding day. My clients will receive be joining my monthly emails so that we stay in touch.
• Priority Calls and Texts.
• You're guaranteed that when you book that day, no-one else will have that time slot besides you. It's in my contract.
• You're guaranteed curated, high quality photos, on-time delivery, professional online gallery, online store, with a highly experienced photographer.
• Our edits are exclusive. Sure you can get another photographer to photograph identically like myself. But how much discipline do they have to edit your wedding?

Ask your photographer

If your wedding is in a year from now, how will you sustain that $800 until the next year?

PHOTOGRAPHERS ARE EXPENSIVE BECAUSE ITS A LUXURY EXPERIENCE

This is true all around.

• We can only shoot so many weddings each year.
• Commercial photography will only take less clients.
• Our cameras are expensive and will need to a regular maintenance
• Each Photographer has an "eye" ask us, what makes us different by texting, "EYE" to 240-870-0261