Travel expense quote for a wedding

I know answers will vary depending on region but just looking for ideas. I was asked to provide a travel expense quote for a wedding/reception that'll be held approx. 4 hours away from my studio (one way). Since this is my first offer to work a wedding other than a typical 50 mile radius, just wondering how to charge....flat hourly fee?....hotel expenses?...thanks for the feedback.

First off calculate the actual cost of travel, accommodation and subsistence (food) so that your actual costs are covered. Then decide if you want to charge for your time spent travelling and if so what % of your normal hourly rate.

Dan Marchant wrote in post #15521706
First off calculate the actual cost of travel, accommodation and subsistence (food) so that your actual costs are covered. Then decide if you want to charge for your time spent travelling and if so what % of your normal hourly rate.

Thanks!...that gives me a good starting point....appreciate!

in that situation when it's not that far we just charge for gas and the hotel room.

Jack up your regular price and tell them transportation is free to them as Special.
People love special deals...

Gas, hotel, and meals is a given...leaning towards adding a small % for travel time (8 hours)

I have a set rate for accommodation/food per night. The number of nights accommodation is determined by the distance I will have to travel and the length of the shoot. The easiest way to do travel costs is work them out on a per km basis at a set rate.

Quoting for accommodation/travel should be easy for most jobs if you follow that formula. You are simply saying that is what you charge. If they aren't happy with paying those things then the job isn't worth doing on the whole.

Come up with a per-diem charge per day for food and incidentals, add in the price of the accommodations you will require (YOU determine where you want to stay and its price), add direct costs of travel and then put a 10% addition on that.

I travel for business purposes pretty regularly and have for three decades. I refuse to quote flat-rate irrespective of location as WHERE matters a lot. Washington DC is an entirely different world than Paducah in terms of cost, particularly when it comes to hotels!

When someone calls and wants a price for a professional engagement I run the numbers on hard costs (actual travel expense including lodging), add my per-diem for food and incidentals, and then quote 110% of that figure. That's the number. My price for my professional services includes the time I spend away from the office end-to-end to begin with, so travel is exactly that -- travel.

It is VERY rare that I will entertain the client prepaying travel. There are exceptions -- I did a professional conference last year where I both knew the people and the location, and allowed them to book the room and flight on their dime while back-billing them after the conference for incidentals. I will only do that for clients I know both by personal experience and professional reputation -- "one offs" such as are the case for someone being hired to shoot a wedding get a flat travel quote and it is paid with the up-front deposit for the job, with my professional fee being paid in full at or before I arrive.

I only did it once, I gave them a straight pass through for the airline ticket and the hotel room, but it was because I used it as a jumpoff for a vacation.

DD974 wrote in post #15521902
Gas, hotel, and meals is a given...leaning towards adding a small % for travel time (8 hours)

This sounds like something I would do in this situation.

I was asked how much I would charge to do a wedding in Cancun. They were shocked when I told them I'd need all of the above AND Passport fees because I don't have one. And the air travel fees since I'll be traveling with 2 check in bags and my camera equipment as carry on. Needless to say, they decided to go with a local Cancun Photographer. MUCH cheaper for them! Although I would have loved to have gone to Cancun for a week.

4 hours each way = 1 day of your time that you could be spending in a more productive way. Be careful not to underbid this. Time is money.

As for the mileage, I would use google maps or mapquest or something to get the miles and quote the current IRS rate.

My dilemma has been this, is it better to loose a little profit and book the job at your normal rate or quote a price including travel expenses, have them turn down the job based on the extra fees and loose the shoot entirely. If they agree to my normal $2600 package price and balk at paying an extra 250 or so for expenses is it better to turn down the job and stand your ground or book it at your normal rate and make a little less profit?

Curtis N wrote in post #15524325
As for the mileage, I would use google maps or mapquest or something to get the miles and quote the current IRS rate.

This is what I do. I believe the current IRS rate is $0.565 / mile.

gh patriot wrote in post #15524539
My dilemma has been this, is it better to loose a little profit and book the job at your normal rate or quote a price including travel expenses, have them turn down the job based on the extra fees and loose the shoot entirely. If they agree to my normal $2600 package price and balk at paying an extra 250 or so for expenses is it better to turn down the job and stand your ground or book it at your normal rate and make a little less profit?

I think only you can answer this. You know your cost of doing business, if you eat the $250 what does that do to your profit margin? You've talked to the client, do you have the rapport to know if you give them a price thats a little too high if they will negotiate with you or just walk?

The answers to this question will depend on every business and the customer involved.

With that out of the way I'd have to believe your pricing model isn't so delicate that the $250 is the difference between feast and famine. So I'd say its better to work for less money than it is to not work for no money.

Thanks, I was leaning towards your assessment of being better to work for less money than to work for no money.