fees for shooting a wedding - Help needed urgently

[skiphoto]

Hi,

I have been asked to shoot a wedding this October, and have never done that before. I am a pro shooter but in the sports world, so I have no idea what to charge. Can someone enlighten me on what would be a fair charge for a wedding? and how the sales work to the bride groom etc? Also I have mainly sports lenses 100 - 400 L 50 - 500 etc. I guess I would need to get some kind of L series wide angle...any suggestions?

Thanks

J

[Andy_T]

Hi Skiphoto,

good luck with your venture!

Be sure to read up all the great threads on what you'll need to photograph a wedding on this and other forums...

Best regards,
Andy

[robertwgross]

I agree with Andy. Read up on everything here first. There has been a lot scribbled through the ages.

Besides everything else written, I would add that no two photographers will price a wedding shoot the same way. My partner offers four standard "packages" to the bride and groom that are based mostly on hours at the site, and the packages go from $1500 to $4500. To a lot of folks, this seems very high. Well, it is because the partner is shooting medium format film, yada yada ... I shoot digitally alongside him.

You want to know something? There isn't so much business coming our way as there used to be. My theory is that the price is too high. My theory is that there are many couples who want to buy a wedding photographer for the $1000 to $1500 range. They might not get the exact same class of work done, but I just think that is where the market is. There are also many photographers out there who offer $500 wedding jobs, but they don't offer much of a quality guarantee at all.

Then there was the mother of the bride who contacted me to shoot a wedding that was five days off. She wanted a one-hour job, all digital, for $250. Then she thought about it again and decided to have old Uncle Fred just take some snapshots instead.

---Bob Gross---

[dn7elson]

Then there was the mother of the bride who contacted me to shoot a wedding that was five days off. She wanted a one-hour job, all digital, for $250. Then she thought about it again and decided to have old Uncle Fred just take some snapshots instead.

Looks like you made out just fine in that :D I just feel sorry for the local Wal-Mart who is going to be "responsible" for all those lousy snapshots that Uncle Fred took :lol: :lol:

[robertwgross]

I'll bet that the kind of person who wants to pay $250 for a wedding photographer will be quite happy with what comes back from Wal-Mart printing.

---Bob Gross---

[dn7elson]

I'll bet that the kind of person who wants to pay $250 for a wedding photographer will be quite happy with what comes back from Wal-Mart printing.

Scarey thought. :)

[G3]

My minimum is $1,500.00 and I've had a couple that came to around $4,500.00. Until last year all I shot was film, 35mm and 6x4.5. I now shoot a mix of Digital and film. Price all depends on what they want, and that should be agreed upon in the very beginning. I use a checklist of standard shots and give the couple a copy of it at our initial consultation. They check off the shots they want and there is additional space for them to specify additional shots they want, as well as if they want traditional photography, PJ style photography or a mix.

They sign a contract with me and they put down 1/3 of the total agreed-upon price when the contract is signed. Then another 1/3 is due at least 2 weeks before the wedding date, and the final payment is due when I deliver the proofs. Another thing that you need to agree upon in the very beginning is the style of Albums they want and what kind, such as one Bridal Album and one Parents album or a Bridal Album and two Parent's albums, etc. The Albums can be a major expense...generally running from $100.00 on up to $500.00 or more. They need to decide if the want 5x7's or 8x10's or whatever in the albums. Once they have the proofs in their hands, then they will fill out another form that I provide to tell me which of the proofs they want printed for which albums.

The actual shooting of the wedding is only half the work. You then have literally hundreds of shots to sort through, post-process, cull, catalog, etc. Usually I end up with around 300 shots from each wedding. Once the proof books are made and the choices for prints made, you have to put the albums together...another tedious job.

You need to have every detail laid out and agreed upon when they sign the contract.

As far as profit goes, well....from a $2,000.00 job, I'll have $300.00 to $400.00 tied up in film and processing and printing, another $200.00 to $250.00 tied up in albums and $150.00 for my assistant. Then there's the wear and tear on my equipment, expenses such a gasoline, batteries, etc. I'll also have about 40 hours of my own labor invested in it. I'm not getting rich at it.

[robertwgross]

The actual shooting of the wedding is only half the work.

We figure that the actual shooting is only a quarter of the work... for film. We figure that the actual shooting is a third of the work ... for digital (less overhead).

---Bob Gross---

[Vegas Poboy]

Skiphoto, I agree with everyone on pricing but just a little bit more info for you. I've shot a couple of weddings on my own & just completed a course in wedding photography & $$$ always came up and never really resolved. I would suggest looking on the web for photographers in your area & see what they offer & charge. Find out what your friends is looking for & for how long they will need you. Also look @ what extras they want such as Albums, folios etc. I have pricing starting @ $300.00 for two hours 50 pics in aproof book or low res CD and it goes up from there.
Go to the local bookstore & look at or purchase some books on wedding photography to give you ideas on composition & posing to me thats the hardest to remember. A checklist on family members & posing is helpfull also. Not sure if you've done big groups but start early, with the big groups get them out of the way & then you'll have more time to shoot the bride & groom & thats whats really counts.

Good Luck :)

[robertwgross]

Typically, a bride and groom will call to inquire about a wedding photographer about 6-10 months in advance (unless it is a shotgun wedding).

At the time of the first inquiry, it can be explained what you offer in photography packages and how much each one costs.

I suggest that you do not offer an infinite assortment of packages. They will be frozen in indecision. My partner and I offer four packages, and then other services are extra.

If you can invite them over to your place of business, then show them what they get in each package. Show them examples of your past wedding work. Tell them how many shooting hours are involved for each package. Explain that you will do "extras" and what the price is. Let them choose one from column A and one from column B, because it is their purchase. Show them all of the legal fine print in the agreement. Then let them think about it. Once they sign, they are on the hook for some portion of the total cost.

If you don't have any professional wedding photography examples, then show them the wedding photo of your kid sister or your cousin that you photographed for fun. Or show them some ordinary portraits to show you aren't a complete fool.

---Bob Gross---

[G3]

Yeah, I have changed the structure of my pricing now so that I have 3 different packages and then a list of "add-ons". This sort of structure is definitely less intimidating for them.

Also, one thing to avoid is any discussions with the clients about "Well, it cost me x dollars to do this and x dollars to do that..." Just present your pricing and stick to it. They don't need to know what your costs are, and if they do they invariably think that you are charging too much over what your costs are. They don't understand how much time and effort goes into it in the background.

The exceptions to that are when you have to travel and get reimbursed for your travel expenses and when you are doing outdoor formal wedding portraits in a separate session. I have 3 places that I regularly use for outdoor portraits and they all charge a fee ranging from $150.00 to $500.00. These type of expenses need to be made clear in the beginning and how they are going to be covered needs to be agreed upon ahead of time. For the outdoor portrait fees, what I usually try to do is to let the client handle the fee with the venue, then I add my fees into the package price as an add-on. Sometimes I can do that with travel fees, too. I shot a wedding last weekend in Murfreesboro, TN, and there were 2 nights of hotel stays for my assistant and myself, plus meals and auto expenses. The client took care of the hotel, so I just added the cost of my other expenses into the package price. Luckily, this was booked way ahead of time because there were 2 country music festivals, a car show, and a NASCAR race going on in the area at the same time...rooms were very hard to find.

A couple of weeks before that, I had to travel to South Florida....the expenses can add up quickly.

[IndyJeff]

Or show them some ordinary portraits to show you aren't a complete fool.




Bwhahahahahaha, this statement is just one of the many reasons I always read Bob's posts.