Event Photography - what to charge?

Some of my wedding clients have referred me to people who want me to shoot their b-day, work, or anniversary parties. I shot an anniversary party a few weeks ago, and have a holiday party and b-day party coming up. Anyway, what I'm wondering is, do you charge less for events like these? The holiday party people want me to set up my AB and take a formal pic of each couple at the party (about 50 couples) and do candids of the dancing and gambling. They want a 4x6 of each couple and a disc w/all the images. I didn't feel I should charge as much as I do for a wedding. What do you guys and ladies do? Thanks!

I would charge whatever you feel your "time" is worth and use the opportunity to get exposure to possible future "wedding" jobs........Maybe a flat fee of $200-$300 for 2 hrs and then $X each additional hr....to profit $300+ from a non wedding event sounds good to me!.......If the events are on Saturdays where you could have booked a wedding then charge a little more???

I charge $100. an hour with a 2 hour minimum, $5.00 per 4x6 formal print and for the disc it's $1.00 per image. The rates go up, or I apply a travel fee if I have to travel more than 15 miles from my home base.

I'm always happy to get rid of the disc because I hate reprint orders on these type of events!

I'm sure others will have ideas on how to charge for these events too, but this way works for me.

Consider this question, "What are the customers paying for?" A: They are paying for professional photographic SERVICE. The event doesn't much enter into the equation. Yeah, you can charge more for a wedding cause of the pressure and because it's a one-time deal for the B&G and because ... but events, like parties don't have the same emotional "baggage" associated with them.

So, they are paying for your service and your expertise with photographic tools (camera, computer, post processing, etc). Charge what you believe your time is worth. Charge a premium (above cost) for the convienence getting proofs/prints in the mail etc.

I'm tihinking that, for the most part, re-prints on events like this are rare. The disc is just extra baggage. Sell the disc for cost + premium (see above) and be done with it. This really cuts down on the implied responsibility to maintain reliable backups (though we all do this, it just cuts down on the OMG pressure).

Thanks for the advice everyone!

My thoughts are pretty much in line with Scott's. If you're a wedding shooter then you probably can guess pretty close on how much time and expense is involved.

If you're mostly an amateur with the occasional opportunity to do something like this, sit down with pencil & paper and add things up. Think of the time, including post-processing, travel, CD burning, ordering & picking up prints, mailing/delivery, etc. There's a lot of little things that add up. Calculate expenses the same way.

When you put a price on your time, don't use your day job hourly wage for reference. Triple it, at least. Your day job comes with a multitude of benefits that a self-employed person must pay for himself. You also need to factor in mileage, equipment depreciation, insurance, and all the overhead costs of doing business. Don't sell yourself short.

Good points, Curtis, thanks!

the company i work for does event photography....we work FOR them though so we would go around to the tables (And by the way this is sometimes 2000 people) take couple and group shots, get them printed on the same night then go back and sell them. We sell 5x7" for $10 each and then we get 20% commission on anything we sell!

BUT....for an individual person who does not have access to a chemical printer...i would charge $250 for my time, and then give out pricelists for the prints, and also an offer the negs for an extra $100 so they have choice!