Family event turns out to be a wedding

no longer applicable

I would not service them simply because of the principal. They can use their Iphones

equetefue wrote in post #18857744
I would not service them simply because of the principal. They can use their Iphones

Let say you arrive at the location, after 10min or so you realize its a wedding, you go tell the bride/groom that you are leaving?

Are you doing more work because was a wedding?

more time on site?

more editing time?

I would cover it like it was an event. If they ask for posed portraits and family shots, tell them that is an additional fee due to the involved time for editing.

Whatever happens this time, you change your advertising and/or contract template to prevent being taken advantage of again.

It's all about etiquette and not just from the photographer to the party. They knew what they were doing to "save" money.

If you explain why you charge double for a wedding, you might get better advice.

Did you first have the client SIGN A CONTRACT for a 'family event' coverage (vs. the defined term 'wedding coverage')?

If you made a clear distinction between the two, and the client signed the contract for 'family event', then legally the court would rule that there WAS NO CONTRACT to enforce, because there was not a 'meeting of the minds' between the two parties in the contract.
As a result, you could WALK AWAY from performing the coverage...no contract made, no contract broken.

It would help for there to be identifiable differences in the 'product' provided, for you to justify the higher price for 'wedding coverage'.
I know that I would routinely spend much more time (10-12 hours on the job) just to shoot a wedding; I would never be 'on the job' for that long simply for a typical 'family event'. But 10hr vs. 2hr hardly seems to be a reason alone to justify double the price...what else makes 'wedding' have greater 'deliverables'?

I got burned once in a similar situation. A friend emailed me and said her friend was setting up a casual wedding at a local park and could I take a couple photos of the ceremony. It seemed a bit dubious but we agreed that I would show up to help my "friend" out. We agreed on one hour of work and fifty photos for 250 dollars. I figured an hour at the park and an hour at home processing would be fine and it was a casual arrangement because (yep) we were friends.

When I showed up the groom was in fine military uniform and the bride had an incredible (and long) gown, and I realized quickly that it wasn't going to be a casual affair. Thank goodness I kept an extra shirt and tie in the car.

I ended up shooting for three hours and processing for more. The bride only knew that the photography was paid for, so she had no idea what the deal was. She was kind (the bride) and was given my email/phone number by my so-called "friend" and proceeded to contact me daily for a week and, unfortunately, had a photographic memory of every single shot (seriously, she remembered every single shot).

It was also challenging because she had darker skin (which is not a problem at all unless....) and he had the palest skin I'd every seen. So I had to really bracket a lot and push/pull the raw files a bit in lightroom. She would get a batch and say his skin was too dark or hers was too light, or vice versa. He also had a sunburned neck but a very white face.

Obviously I don't care about someone's skin color. God loves us all equally so who am I to not follow that example? But I had a very difficult time getting the lighting correct while honoring proper skin color.

That was the last wedding I ever did and ever will do.

I was happy for her and worked hard for her, however, and I didn't fight her in any way over all that because she was a newlywed young bride and I was NOT going to be a negative element as she started this new life journey. So I cheerfully complied with every request, made her very happy, and walked away having made far less than minimum wage for all that work.

They better still be married.

Charge for scope of work, not for type of event. A low key wedding should be no different than a low key family event. Now you book and change things, that's different. You want to add to the project scope, we renegotiate the contract. Detailed shot list, more shots requested, more complicated set ups (i.e. more labor hours), more post work, these are all examples of scope creep and should be be discussed at the creation of the initial contract. Time and expertise on a stunning bride portrait shouldn't carry any more weight than a stunning dog portrait. Both require great talent. Likewise, a casual family event shoot should bill the same as a casual wedding shoot, for the scope of work should be similar.

Shoot anyway and charge your wedding fees for the delivery, or send non-wedding related photos

I would pull the person that booked me aside and tell them a Wedding is shot quite differently than a Family Event. If they persist, I'd tell them that their description was deceptive and if they want me to stay I would need to adjust my rate to reflect the actual job. Otherwise, I'd have no problem spending the day doing anything else. What did your paperwork state?

Kenwood,

A few folks have taken the time to respond to your thread, and have asked you some questions, so that they can better understand the situation that you told us about.

It is somewhat surprising that after a few weeks, you still have not answered these members' questions, nor have even acknowledged that they made contributions to your thread. . I've seen that you've been logging in to the forum regularly during the past few weeks. . So, since you are here anyway, I think that the least you can do would be to answer the questions that these people have asked of you, and provide the additional information that they have asked for.
.

Left Handed Brisket wrote in post #18857749
Are you doing more work because was a wedding?

more time on site?

more editing time?

Wilt wrote in post #18858054
Did you first have the client SIGN A CONTRACT for a 'family event' coverage (vs. the defined term 'wedding coverage')?
...
But 10hr vs. 2hr hardly seems to be a reason alone to justify double the price...what else makes 'wedding' have greater 'deliverables'?

tcphoto1 wrote in post #18862298
I would pull the person that booked me aside and tell them a Wedding is shot quite differently than a Family Event.
...
What did your paperwork state?

.

I would do it like any other event. For me, I usually just tell people how long I will be there. If I told them that we will do a family shoot, and it will take an hour. I will perform the event for an hour. Whatever that entails. I would do the portraits, the ceremony, whatever. As long as its about an hour.

At the end of the day, does it matter what it is? My editing time for an hour of family photos, and an hour of wedding photos is the same.

Chances are, its a couple that are either really young and doesn't really know what's going on. Or a couple that is broke and can't afford to hire a good photographer. So they hire you, because you are good. Is it worth a couple not having any photos of their wedding day? It might be annoying to you, but your going to be upset for like what? like 12 hours. This is (hopefully) the rest of their lives.

I think sometimes in business, people forget that people are people...