Asked to do formals only

I was recently asked to do a wedding, but the couple only wants me to do the "formal posed" photos. They will be shooting them all before the wedding. They said they are having disposable cameras at the reception.So they would have photos from there. I felt a little uneasy about the whole thing. The reception and candids are my favorite things to shoot. They never said, but, I hope they don't expect a price cut.
Just wondering your thoughts. And if you have ever run into this.

BTW: This is my first post here. I love looking around. You guys have great talent!

Of course they expect a price cut. They're asking for "formals only" - which is a pretty common request from couples who are trying to save money.

If you're uncomfortable with the idea, then don't do it. Or offer them a "happy price" - which will probably be higher than they're willing to pay - and be done with it. It's really a simple thing and not worth agonizing over.

Karen

No doubt they are looking for a very low cost shoot. I might consider it if there was no other weddings to do. My mentor has 2 lower end packages in his pricing that he offers but when choosing those there is no guarantee the b&g will get him as the photog for that price. He is up front with it. He did this in the past and would end up having to lose out on an 8K package since he was committed to a 1K deal. He is very up front about it and most don't seem to have an issue with it. Something to consider.

Welcome to the forum. Please use black ink when writing on the forum. Multicolor inks are sometimes (always) hard to read.

Unless you are really beginning in the business, I would propose a small package (on your website/publicity) and wouldn't go below it. After a while, if you cut it down too much, it's just not worth your time and effort.

That doesn't sound too uncommon to me either. A lot of people I know, only hire a photographer for the ceremony & formals...so formals only isn't much of a stretch.

Last year I did a shoot for an older couple, in their 50s, who were married in a civil service at city hall and just wanted me to shoot some formals for them....mostly because some of their family was there and dressed up. It was more of a large family portrait shoot than a wedding but they were happy and I was happy to do it for them...it has already earned me a baby portrait shoot (not the old couple's baby) and I may get more work from them this summer.

sblais wrote in post #2977795
Welcome to the forum. Please use black ink when writing on the forum. Multicolor inks are sometimes (always) hard to read.

Unless you are really beginning in the business, I would propose a small package (on your website/publicity) and wouldn't go below it. After a while, if you cut it down too much, it's just not worth your time and effort.

Sorry...
Thanks for the advice. I am in the beginning stage. And I feel that the hardest part of the wedding are formals. Telling who do what and where to go. I guess this may be whinning, but I feel I would have to do the "hard" part and get left out on the fun things. And you are right if I lower my price any more it wouldn't be worth my time. It's just hard, for me, to tell someone that.
Thank you!!

I charge my standard rate for any weekend wedding. Doesn't matter if it's 1 hour or 12. What happens if you give them a huge price cut and then a month later a fantastic couple comes along wanting to pay your full price for the same day?

picturecrazy wrote in post #2977842
I charge my standard rate for any weekend wedding. Doesn't matter if it's 1 hour or 12. What happens if you give them a huge price cut and then a month later a fantastic couple comes along wanting to pay your full price for the same day?

Thank you.That is exactly how I feel. I guess sometimes you just need to hear (read) someone else saying it to make yourself feel better.

They want a $500 shoot. Do a shoot worthy of a $2000 price tag. They'll pay for what they like. Don't give them a CD - prints. They'll buy your quality prints once the disposables come back.

k20girl wrote in post #2977840
Sorry...
Thanks for the advice. I am in the beginning stage. And I feel that the hardest part of the wedding are formals. Telling who do what and where to go. I guess this may be whinning, but I feel I would have to do the "hard" part and get left out on the fun things. And you are right if I lower my price any more it wouldn't be worth my time. It's just hard, for me, to tell someone that.
Thank you!!

I understand how you feel as it's not easy to start a business. Just don't forget that it is a business. It's not a charity. In my area, there are many couples looking for the minimalist package. When I receive such a demand, I now just say that I'm currently not available. Remember, you don't have to take every wedding that swings your way. Plus, consider this: if you book this lady for 1-2 hours, is it possible that you will lose out on another bride that would be looking for a full day coverage?

Just my $0.02

We started advertising very cheap last year because this is our first year and we had a couple of enquiries from brides who were obviously looking for prices even cheaper than what we were offering as our standard package which includes 2 photographers for the day, one was after just formals for 1 hour and the other was after just one photographer rather than 2 ... in both cases we respectfully declined to budge on our price and coverage because thats not how we want to shoot weddings.

Dont think we have booked either of the dates we declined as of yet, but we have exceeded our target of 20 bookings for this year already anyway so tbh if those days do stay open then they will be a welcome break or chance to catch up with PP !

My friend did this, he saved about £300 by asking the photographer to do formals only, and had disposable cameras for the reception.

the Photog' didnt really have his whole heart in as he felt that the candids in the church and out side plus the reception was a way of getting some really good shots (and i agree) when it came to paying for the disposables (100+) it worked out at about £150 plus another £75 for processing, so the saving was only £75, and then they moaned that the reception photos were rubbish as the cameras flashes either didnt work properly, wernt powerful enough, or the person using it was too drunk to realsie what they were doing and the whole heartidly wished that they payed the full price for the photographer for a full day.

IMO lesson learned, but i do feel for them

I think the idea of having soley disposables at a reception is one of the worse wedding trends to date. I know two people that have went this route and both were very disapointed that they didn't keep the pro shooter around.

Even if I was sticking around after the wedding when it was optional, it would be a nightmare if I saw every table armed with a disposable. I'm trying to talk my friend that's getting married out of having disposables and cutting loose the pro. He thinks the photos are just all about the formals and thinks shooting a wedding photojounalistically is rubbish. But he's an IT guy so I don't question his lack of appreciation for the art that goes into photography.