What % of your expected 2012 weddings have you already booked?

So 2012 will be my first full year as a professional photographer. Since I started my website in mid October i've booked 5 weddings for next year.

Would you say that at this point in the year you have booked half of the weddings you would expect for 2012? Less? More? I know since i'm just starting out my timeline for things will probably be different than most, but for you experienced photographers, how does the timeline for your bookings usually go?

I have 9 on the books for next year with another 4 very possible bookings coming in this week. I tend to book a lot same year weddings in January and Feb. as people get engaged over the holidays. My norm is around 20 weddings per year. I would like to get that up to about 25 a year.

Edit: Now I have 12. Still waiting on confirmation on the next one.

I have 12 booked and 3 on the table at this point for 2012...and much like Jim...I usually see a pretty big increase in inquiries and bookings in January and February after the holidays.

In 2011 I shot 32 weddings, which was about the max I would ever want to shoot. This year I am hoping to keep it in the 24-26 range...so based on that I am about halfway there.

17 on the books for 2012, 2 for 2013. Jan and February bridal shows coming so i think we will hit our goal of 25. Jesus is being very good to us.

I have 11 for 2012 and 2 for 2013. I shot 21 in 2011 and expect 2012 to get up to about that level. My September and October are still very open and I'm sure both of them will fill in. In the past, the holidays have been a very busy booking season for me so we'll see.

Between end of May and end of Sept, 16 of 19 Saturdays (84%) are booked... 3 Fridays and 2 Sundays as well in that same time period...
The 1st 4 months of 2012: 2 weddings.
Last 3 months of the year: 3 weddings - Based on last couple of years, I suspect this will grow to 8 or 9

70%, but i'm in the southern hemisphere and we're coming into summer. Most of my work is Jan-April.

You should put your location in your profile.

40-50% at this point. Majority of my work May - September. Many people seem to get engaged and plan to marry over Xmas and the 6 weeks after. I get many queries around this time.

100% of 0 bookings for 2012, 2013 and beyond... no interest... i envy you guys though.. i just dont have the skill (well i could.. but choose not to..)

I have only 3 weddings so far, but haven't been booking for summer because I have something going on. I have a bridal show on January 8th and hope to fill my fall schedule there. I'm only aiming for 10 weddings next year since I'm not shooting any as a primary June-August.

I have 28 booked for 2012 and will only take 7 more. Expect to be fully booked by the end of January.

Oh and to give you an idea how my bookings increased overtime, may help may not.

2007 - 1 (half year)
2008 - 5
2009 - 15
2010 - 24
2011 - 25 (moved 300km mid 2010 which had an impact on 2011 booking rates)
2012 - 28 (will take max 35)

Thanks everyone for the responses, very helpful. Peter, have you also been raising your rates over that time period?

Yes, although the packages have changed along the way as well so it isn't quite that strightforward.

Average package cost (based on purchases)

2007 - $ 1750
2008 - $ 1910
2009 - $ 2221
2010 - $ 2395
2011 - $ 3116
2012 - $ 3295

I target 12 weddings a year. But I'm already at 10, which is actually a bad sign. That means my pricing is too low for the amount of weddings I want to do. I should be around 7 bookings for this time of year.

But so far, my average package price for 2012 lower than 2011. I might have to take on a couple extra weddings to make up the difference.

Getting bookings shouldn't be easy. If it is, you're priced too low.