Turn Around Time for Weddings

[dsze]

For all you Pro Wedding guys & gals.... about how much time elapses from the wedding day until you have proofs ready to show? I'm curious as to what the accepted norm is, if there is one.

thanks,
daniel

[robertwgross]

It depends. When my partner and I do weddings, he shoots medium format film. The pro lab courier picks up the exposed film and the lab runs it. Then they scan it and give him a web link to viewing the "electronic proofs." He chooses which ones he wants to show to the B&G, and the others are hidden. Then he sends the web link to the B&G about 10 days after the ceremony.

In the past, when he was not using the scanning service, the lab would have to produce small contact prints and deliver those, and then he would send them to the B&G, and all of that would be 10-20 days after the ceremony.

Personally, I don't think much of that. It is too much trouble and too much expense. Too many couriers delivering stuff back and forth.

Since I shoot the same ceremony digitally, I rotate, edit, crop, and refine my 150-200 images and burn them to a CD, then drop it off with my partner about 36 hours after the ceremony. What he chooses to print for the B&G is his decision, but they go with all of his film proofs.

By the time the whole album gets turned over, it is typically 2-3 months, and that seems far too long for me.

A typical B&G is leaving on a honeymoon right after the ceremony and receptioni. Then they are gone for a week or two. IMHO, the best time to deliver the first round of goods is immediately upon their arrival back in town, while it is fresh in their mind.

My partner was very late delivering an album to one couple (like, six months?), and they had already broken up by then. Hint: Get the money up front.

---Bob Gross---

[dsze]

Yes, I've been paid upfront, and am shooting to have their proofs ready in a week or so, then I can get prints based on what they & the family choose. It sounds like 1-3 weeks should be pretty acceptable.

thanks,
daniel

[Vegas Poboy]

My contracts states 5 business days for proofs & 10 business for photos after selection of prints has been made. Thats only because I'm not real busy right now. I have friends who shoots daily and states three to four weeks for delivery on prints but proofs is around five to ten days. Only a rough edit, crop & color balance. when the bride & groom order the big prints then he cleans up all the details. Why waste time on prints they don't order.

[Gokulananda Hari]

Usually the couple trust in our criteria, for this reason we do not show any proofs.
We are finishing a digital album, printed with a chemical process, in 3 weeks.

regards,
GH

[dsze]

No proofs? Hmm? I have to say that I haven't heard of many wedding photographers not showing proofs in some format. I know that as photographers we often see things or like things that non-photographers don't and we also discard images that the non-photographer sometimes likes anyway. I would think that showing proofs would be worthwhile.. Maybe not. What if the couple wants certain photos in certain sizes? Do you accomodate that after you deliver the digital album?

-daniel

[Gokulananda Hari]

We allways say something like this: We´ll finish the album in 3 weeks. Do you want to check the photos before? And they usually say: no we trust in you... it is important from the begining to make feel sure about us, and to they need to know we going to take photos to the most important persons. And if at the end they do not find the person that are looking for, they just come to my place and look at the images, after this they order more...

[dsze]

....Yeah, I understand all of that, but how do you know which photos they want at which sizes? Do they leave that up to you to determine also?

-daniel

[Gokulananda Hari]

Sorry for delay...
Now I understand .. Our albums are a kind a graphic design pice...
The sizes are determinated by importance of the picture, in the album we include photos of 2x, 6x 8x and 8x10 inches...
you can se an example here:

http://www.portfoliofotografia.co.nr/

[dsze]

Ahh..Ok, now I got ya. Nice site...some very nice wedding shots too. Good work. I would imagine that the albums are alot of work though, and you don't make any $$ from the prints that would have been ordered. Are you able to build enough $$into the cost to compensate that?

-daniel

[Gokulananda Hari]

Thanks!

Do not forget that i live in Mexico, although I am from Argentina (far far away to south)... you can see in www.photograper.com that they bill from 1000 to 3000 u$ for a wedding...
Mexico is much cheaper than that.. one can say that a good photographer can bill 1,500 u$ per wedding. In my case i am very new in the city and my fee is 800 u$ for 2 sesions, the event, and a album of 160 photos, plus 4 8x10" and 6 6x8" (yes the couple choose these photos :-)
My expenses are 110 u$ aprox. for a wedding

regards
GHD

[dsze]

Got ya. Well, it looks like you do a good job with weddings... keep up the good work.

-daniel