Wedding Pricing

picturecrazy wrote in post #3958165
Bryan, you have shown great talent. You are NOT just like the rest. And you even know that already. So BELIEVE you are worth it and sell YOURSELF, not the # of prints.


You are going to second shoot with Toogy for 3 more weddings? That is at least 5 weddings under your belt for your clients to look at. That is plenty. When I started, I had 12 (yes TWELVE) pictures in my portfolio. I started at $999 and offered no prints, just the disc. After shooting three more weddings, I jacked my minimum price to $2000 and have settled more or less in that ballpark. You wanna keep the 'cheap photographer' phase as short as possible so you don't build a rep for that. And the quality of your first two is probably better than what I showed from my first 5.

I told the same thing to a local couple who started out last year and shot 3 weddings. I knew they had some serious talent so I told them to jack their prices WAAAAY up. They were uneasy about it and kinda surprised, but they eventually did it and the bookings are still coming in like mad, and are thinking of raising prices again. They are now one of the best teams in my local area and are really giving me a run for my money. hahaha. You can walk with it, or you can RUN with it... it's your choice.

And seriously, drop the 4x6 proofs. Offer a print credit but don't include 4x6 proofs outright. It's a PITA. In a better market, people don't feel like they need stuff like that.

Thanks for the "inspiration" Lloyd, I really do appreciate it. I thought about print credits - I think maybe I'll do that instead then!

Back to the drawing board. What are your thoughts for advertising?

i know that a lot of photogs give military discounts (usually in military towns) but maybe something like that up your way?

shannon

Great idea Shanny, thanks.

Wow lloyd! I feel like I just got a high. ( well, I think, I have never really had one) You are amazing. Can you point me in the directions I should be going. lol.

The only two problem I have with not giving proofs is - The more of my work printed the more people see it. My brides will take it to work or church. The other being.... I am afraid they are going to go to wal-mart and make prints and I want them to see it printed in the best quality.

See I really wanted to offer something along the lines of a pocket book. With maybe 20-30 of my favorite images. This is something they can carry around with them and show their friends and they'll say "Wow, that is awesome! Who took these" type thing. Whereas they won't carry 500 proofs with them.

I agree with Lloyd that you are better than most, but in this area $4500 is really a lot, is it not? I've done fairly extensive research on wedding photogs throughout the area and very few charge this amount for that kind of package, and they are the ones that are really not 'local' just based locally. It's not that I don't think you'd be worth it, but for someone starting out, no matter how good they are, that seems like a lot to me. I've seen photographers that I would consider exceptional who offer the same sort of package as what Lloyd listed for about $3-3.5K. But what do I know, if you can get takers, then go for it for sure. Obviously Lloyd and others are more experienced at this stuff than me!

Yeah, in general I find that SWO is not a higher end market for this stuff. I find that the higher packages of 90% of the local photogs are in the $2500 area.

www.niagaraweddinghelp​er.com for all local photogs who matter in the area (ish)

My only additional critique is that when you say "6 hours coverage" be more specific - say "6 hours wedding day coverage" ... and also numbers 1-10 should be written out, grammatically speaking ... so Six hours wedding day coverage.

I agree with not putting a specific number of proofs in your packages. Then if you get a crappy day, horrible venue and miserable wedding party and you only get 150 good images, they're not asking for the rest of the proofs.

Thanks for the additions Jen

Market to the entire golden horseshoe. Don't tell me you wouldn't be willing to driving to Oshawa if someone said they want to pay you $5000. Of course you would. Don't limit yourself so early on in the game. Niagara-on-the-Lake is also a place full of money.

You are already slipping into the value per dollar mentality.

Do you realize there are probably a whole bunch of brides who will specifically SKIP everyone in that niagaraweddinghelper because since everyone is maxed out at the same place, nobody must be a standout. Take the plunge and *BE* the standout!

Charge $2000 more for the top package than everyone else there! People will all see that and go... whoa, I gotta see this guy's site if he's charging that much.

When they click it, make sure they are HIT HARD with SIZZLE!! SHOW them that this is NOT your average photographer. WE DO THINGS DIFFERENT! Be ultra modern, hip and fresh! Make them go WHOA THAT'S AWESOME!

Guess what? When they go back to the other sites... they'll keep thinking of your site in the back of their head. Many will no longer be satisfied with the rest of them and will HAVE TO HAVE YOU! Many will increase their budgets to have you. And many of those upper end brides would probably just pick you by default just because you are the most expensive. And I'm serious.

I'll bet you there are at least 300 weddings in the niagara region where they hired someone bigger and more expensive out of Toronto because they didn't feel the locals gave the oomph they wanted. These brides WANT to tell people their photographer is amazing, is the most expensive, is the most hip. Well, now you can be that missing piece.

Lloyd you are so incredible! You've got me going a million miles a minute here. I think I'm going to get my prices up there like you suggested. I just want to find a way to reach all these people. I have a few more ideas:

- Newsletter - I will have a monthly newsletter to anyone who has ever e-mailed me or given me their e-mail address. I'm guessing that right now, that is 100-200 people, and it will grow over time. Good idea or bad?

- I have an upcoming Grade 12 (Senior year) HUGE basketball tournament that I am going to advertise for senior portraits. This has nothing to do with weddings, but it'll let people know that I do more than just sports.

- I am going to call and meet with as many vendors as I can in the area and see if I can leave a small 4x5 Graphi Album and a whole whack of business cards with them. What can I offer them in return?

Thanks again Lloyd for the amazing motivation.

Bryan, you are in a super enviable position where you don't have house payments and other people to support. You can do this taking risks that most would not take. I'm not guaranteeing success, I'm just saying that you want to stand out, and you want to sell yourself as super quality, and NOT quantity per dollar. And in your position, you can take that risk. You are not gonna lose your house or your kids are not gonna starve if you have a bum year. That's why if I were in your shoes I would go in GUNS A'BLAZING as agressively as I could.

That whole lake ontario area probably has more money than any other major centre in Canada. It's a great place to be...

If you want to start out lower, go for it. Maybe top your package out at $3800 or so? I dunno, I would just want to make sure it's the most expensive top package around, but also give them the option to spend less with your lower packages. And make your lowest package totally undesirable so they feel good going with the middle package.

The reason to have three packages is NOT to give options to your clients... it's all about attracting people to ONE package, the one you want to sell the most of. Usually that is the middle package.

oh and btw... there are over 200 wedding photographers in Edmonton... and the majority of them have their top package prices lower than my starting price. Some have even been shooting longer than I've been alive.

there is a high end market out there. BELIEVE IT.

Thanks again Lloyd,

I know I don't have as much as others to risk, but, I'm still paying rent, paying books, paying expenses, driving a car (gas), etc, and I've given up all my previous jobs and other full-time employment for the business, so, i do need to have some sort of income to pay for everything.

That being said, I am more than ready to take a risk and get out there big. My dream is to be the outstanding photographer that everyone talks about. I am not scared to charge the big bucks, I just want to make sure that my work is up to the quality that I am charging for, and that I am able to reach my potential market successfully.

Your work is up to it. I've seen it. And I checked out some of the sites on that niagara helper... it's a cut above.

mix in some really creative lighting and you'll scoop up tons of business. the brides here are going crazy over my unusual lighting style. they have NO idea what makes it look cool, they just know it's different than the rest and they like that. Since you got pocketwizards, you are fully equipped for some real crazy shots to WOW them.