reprint pricing for wedding question

im not a full time wedding photog but have shot 2 weddings in the last 2 weeks and have another wedding this upcoming weekend.

tuesday i will be mailing out the proof cd to the couple whose wedding i shot 2 weekends ago, along w/ an excel spreadhseet for them to fill out and email / mail back to me.

their package is 100 4x6's and twelve 8x12 prints, no album. total number of files im sending on cd is 363. we had agreed (partly because the bride is a friend) that i would let her pick the 100 4x6's and 8x12's from the proof cd and they can then order the rest ala carte. in all the speediness and whatever other excuess i can come up w/, i never gave them a reprint price for anything more then 100 4x6's.

now... i can and should clearly charge going rate, but i did give them a slight discount on the wedding since they were friends, they did provide places for my gf and i to sit at the reception and did give us food, and because it was only my third wedding to shoot. that being said, here is my rock and a hard place position.

i don't want my prices to be so low that they tell their friends then im somewhat shoe-horned into staying that low. the other side of the coin says, don't go too high because i do want them to be able to order as many photos as they want w/out having to get too concerned about pricing; to get to the point where they are like, we already spent XXX on reprints, we really like this shot but don't want to get it and get picky

around here most wedding packages w/out an album go for $750-3000. most 4x6 ala carte prints go for $2-8 each.

i was thinking of taking the somewhat lower route of $2.50 or $3/photo and in the letter i send them ask that they not disclose these prices as they are special to them and bla bla bla

thoughts?

Sounds like a good plan to me.

Mike. I'll tell you how I work and it may give you an idea. Let me start by saying that I live in a (small) city - pop 40,000 that has about a dozen or so wedding photographers. Prices vary from $600 to $3,000 for a wedding. The $3,000 guy has his own studio etc and this is his only business. His work isn't bad but he is an arrogant sh!t and very rude to people. He charges $20 for a 6x4 reprint ! (Now, that's rude). I'm at the bottom end of the scale with most of the other photographers. Some charge an hourly rate regardless of the number of photos taken. I work on a flat rate of $3 per photo. That's it. I wll take a lot more than say 200 photos for a $600 wedding, but I cull and pull the best 200! That includes an album and all images burned onto a CD (or 2) to go with the album full of photos. End of story. That's my package, and the main reason why I'm getting so much work. It's a bit like running a K-Mart or Walmart store. Lots of turnover, lots of work without ripping people off - and still making a comfortable (second) wage. Having said that, I don't walk out the door for under $600, so the couple gets at least 200 photos in the album. I might spend up to 8 hours doing a full wedding from the bride's home to the end of the reception, then I spend as much time or more again running EVERY shot through Photoshop to correct and tweak where necessary. I do a few special effects with a couple of the photos to show the couple what I can do for them if they want post-production done on any other shots. They get an idea of my 'talents' anyway when we meet first and they have a look through my portfolio. I could charge more for my work but I'm a bit of a philanthropist, and like to help people. And what's very important is that I love photography and have built up a great reputation in my local area where nearly every job is word-of-mouth and repeat family business. I also do other functions like family celebrations (birthdays, anniversaries) that vary in price obviously - as well as other commercial work. Anyway, your question was re weddings so there you have it. Yes, by all means, give your friends a 'deal' but don't prostitute yourself. Cheers.

thanks for your insight steve... the problem w/ the way you are currently working, based in your small town, is that you will almost never be able to raise your rates because you are well known as the cheaper (not the lesser quality) guy.

personally, i try to make at least $100 / hour when i shoot a wedding, no less.

the other thing is, if you give them a cd of high rez images, you loose all possibilities of making money on reprints later as they can now go to walmart

I'm probably on the cheaper side, I charge approx $193 USD for an hours shoot, and if they opt for more than an hour my hourly rate is $129 USD an hour (we often get only 1 hour shoots). Then I charge for the prints that they pick out ala carte. The price on the prints depends on the size of course. More advance on larger prints than on smaller (even if it's the same work for me).

Just tell them "normally my charges would be X, but since you are close friends and I was a guest at your wedding, I'll offer the prints to you at Y". That let's them know what your usual prices are, and the fact that you are giving them a great deal only due to your close relationship to them. The 'do not disclose' is unnecessary since few they would refer are likely to be 'special friends' like they are.

thats exactly what i did wilt

While not exactly the wedding photographer yet, mostly only portraitures, i have a single page a4 brochure which lays out the guide print costs (for each print size). These prices include factors for my time, original print cost, multipling factor based based on size of print diffuculty (ie upresing etc that might be required). Sort of a system of costing i developed to make sense of my time required.

Heres how i do it... i say
4"x___ 5m post editing
5"x___ 10m post editing
8"x___ 10m post editing
11"x___ 10m post editing
14" x___

etc
to 30"x___ 30-45m post editing

Then i take original print lab print costings, multiply this by

time editing (above) / 60 X my hourly rate. Say $xx / hour
ie typical starting costs for 5"x7" would be 10/60 x $xx(hourly rate) + original print costs.

To get to my final print costs i multiply this figure (or original print costs) by a general markup of about 15% or so, covers admin and toing and froing from lab and home) + a scale factor between 0.8 - 1.3 depending on print size.

Sounds rather complicated but its not when you create columns of oringal print costs, your hourly rate, scale factors, mark ups etc in excel and play with figures till you reach your happy level.

Then reprint costs are just the same except i get rid of my time from price so part with time editig / 60 x hourly rate is not included. I still retain the 15% markup as i will still be driving to and from the pro lab to pick up and drop of prints /cds.

Of course, these prices are really my upper limit. The more prints they select they cheaper pricing gets. (starting guide prices)

Ie. 20-30 prints 5% discount on overall print pricing
30-50 prints 7.5%
etc
etc

But when customers see these and then look at the package pricing i provide, they are generally at ease knowing that they havent been ripped off.

I say have it in paper that can be shown to customers (via brochure) but not left with them.....