Average Cost of a Wedding Photographer ADVICE & INSPIRATION
What is The Average Price of Wedding Photography?
If the question of "how much should I spend on wedding photography?" has come to your mind, you already know how confusing and stressful finding the answer can be.
If you Google Search: 'Average Cost of a Wedding Photographer', WeddingWire will tell you it's "around $2000" but they don't tell you anything else.
What type of photographers are in that price range? Are they beginners? Are they professionals? How much experience do they have? What is their style? These are important questions you have and need answers for.
Also if that's the average, is that how much you should invest in wedding photography?
Well, I'm here to save the day. In this article I'm going to show you:
The different types of wedding photographers there are.
How much they each charge on average.
How much you should invest in wedding photography based on your wedding, desires, budget, and ideal experience.
How Much Do Wedding Photographers Cost
The average cost of a wedding photographer is SUPER theoretical. To ensure that you book the RIGHT photographer instead of just the AVERAGE, you want to know not just “how much does a wedding photographer cost”, but more specifically, “how much does a wedding photographer cost, that also focuses on what I value most”.
When you think that way, you’ll begin finding photographers that you LOVE instead of just figuring out what everyone else is spending. Then you can ensure a good experience while also sticking to a price range, or even adjusting your overall spending capacity to fit your photography.
To help you overall gauge how much YOUR average photographer should cost, let’s break the average cost of a wedding photographer into distinct groups:
•Brand New: $0-500 (Just starting, may have not shot a wedding yet)
-How they’ll likely make you feel: This is risky territory and they likely cannot make you feel confident that they are able to shoot in a way that you’ll receive the photographs you may expect.
•Beginner: $500-1200 (May have shot some weddings, may not have a high demand and/or may not have a style that demands a higher price tag)
-How they’ll likely make you feel: You may have seen some examples of other weddings they’ve shot, so you can possibly feel comfortable that they can pull it off. They likely will not possess the ability to provide natural posing and other more developed skills you see in higher level photographers.
•Amateur: $1200-2000 (Probably photographs weddings fairly regularly, may not have a high demand due to style, may not be considered full-time)
-How they’ll likely make you feel: At this level, the photographer may be seeking to provide a solid service as a sustainable pricepoint for maintaining quality gear.
•Growing Amateur: $2000-3000 (Probably has a bit higher demand for style, probably shoots a few less weddings while focusing on providing each client more support, beginning to get into the “professional” category)
-How they’ll likely make you feel: At this level, it’s not uncommon for photographers to be investing in good gear, backups, and even furthering education that will help them grow their business. They probably have some level of portfolio and can help you have a clear idea of the level of consistency they can provide.
•Professional: $4000-$5000 (typically considered full-time professionals, have the demand based on style, expertise, etc.)
-How they’ll likely make you feel: Very established with a solid style. Has structured their business to make sure you feel well cared for with an emphasis on incredibly high quality photographs.
•Luxury: $5000-$6000 and beyond starting prices, e.g., may start at $8k, $10k, $20k, or higher (Typically more established, refined style, and luxury offerings)
-How they’ll likely make you feel: Can handle high-profile events with ease. Usually possesses an industry sought-after style with refined taste.
How Much Do Wedding Photographers Cost?
If you and I are anything alike, you would love a quick and to-the-point answer to the question “how much should I spend on wedding photos?”. So, how much do wedding photographers cost?
The short answer is $0-$20k, or maybe more!
Now, I get it—that’s a huge window. But I promise, I’m not trying to be cute. There are just so many factors that play into how much demand any given photographer has, and correspondingly how much you’ll need to pay for a wedding photographer.
What I want most for you is to focus on the value that you really want and will be happy with in the long run, and then after that, determining your price range. That way, you get what you really want!
A few of the factors that affect how much wedding photographers costs are:
Lifestyle:
A photographer who is between mid 20s and single won't charge the same amount as a photographer who is older and married with kids. Does the photographer has a high end lifestyle with travelings You will find yourself drawn to certain types of photographers because you can relate to them based of where they are in their lives and their lifestyles.
Location :
This is one of the most important factors. For example, I live in California, but we also shoot destination weddings. Our local prices for cities around us are much less than weddings we book in Mexico, French, Iceland, and other countries because of the length we have to go to to travel there, ensure safety for us and our gear, and plan everything.
Cost of living is also a huge factor for photographers who don't travel. Prices for wedding photography vary dramatically from city to city. You can probably look up average prices for wedding photography were you live. In the Phoenix metro area, for instance, the average price of wedding photography hovers right around $2,500-5,000. You might find that prices where you live are double what couples pay in other cities. for example, San Francisco wedding photographer may charge from $4,500-$5000 ! No matter where you live, though, you'll discover that professional quality wedding photography is going to be a significant investment.
Expertise:
Different than experience, a photographer with top notch skills not only in photography but also in client experience, wedding planning, problem solving, and business ownership is invaluable compared to a photographer who does not have those skills. We see many photographers who may have shot a few dozen weddings, but still don't know much about how to deliver an amazing experience or fix fundamental problems in their images.
Experience
This is a biggie! You may find two photographers in the same city, offering the same products and services, whose prices differ by several thousand dollars. How can that be? Usually, the answer comes down to skill and experience. When I was just starting out in wedding photography, I didn't have much experience, and my prices reflected that. As the quality, consistency, and artistry of a photographer's work increases, their pricing does as well. The phrase "You get what you pay for" typically rings true when it comes to wedding photographers. Remember, just because you see a handful of photos on a photographer's site that you love, that doesn't mean you will see that level of quality throughout a full wedding gallery. Every photographer can probably show you a few stellar images. The difference in a higher priced photographer is that you will likely get many morephotos that you will cherish from your wedding day than you will if you opt for a budget-photographer. There is a HUGE RANGE of skill and overall quality between low-end and higher-end photographers.
Packages Structure (album, engagement session, etc.) : It can be difficult to compare apples to apples in wedding photography, because there is no "standard package" that all photographers offer. For example, some photographers charge an extra fee for having a second photographer, while others include that in their pricing. Some include an album in every package, and others do not. When considering photographers, remember that every one will structure their pricing and packages differently. So make sure that you don't make assumptions based on a price listed on a website. Find out what that price includes. If you are comparing photographers, make sure you are comparing the same set of products and services side by side. Ask the questions that need to be asked in order to approximate an apples-to-apples comparison.
Some photographers will include certain things and begin at a higher price point, offering more value, while others may include almost nothing, allowing you to up the price by adding more onto the basic package.
One photographer may begin at a lower price point, but quickly becomes as expensive or moreso than another because of the manner in which they craft their packages.
Some examples of what to look for as being included or not are:
Do they include one shooter only, one shooter + second shooter, or two professional shooters (like a husband wife wedding photography team)
Do they include a heirloom quality album?
Do they include an engagement session?
Do they include any timeline review sessions and/or venue walk-thoughs?
Do Wedding Photographers Over-Charge?
A couple years ago Adam Ruins Everything posted a video about how wedding vendors charge a lot more “simply” because it’s a wedding.
But, is a birthday party really the same as a wedding? Is it:
•a once in a lifetime event?
•an event that requires hours of pre and post labor?
•an often multi-location event?
•a full day event for your vendors, lasting up to 20 hours of labor?
Lots of what we’re talking about here can be applied to any vendor. Weddings are NOT the same as a birthday party or some other event that doesn’t carry as heavy as a mental and physical workload.
Every photographer is different, but a single wedding photographer work can be broken down such as
•1-3 hours of initial emails/meetings
•2-3 hours of engagement session (local travel, shooting time)
•1-3 hours engagement session upload, edit, export, delivery
•2-3 hours of timeline prep/pre-wedding planning
•10-20 hours of day of work (set up, local travel, coverage during day, tear down, photo transfer/backup)
•7-30 hours of editing time
•1 hour backup/miscellaneous activities
So that’s potentially 60+ hours per wedding of actual labor, not counting expenses.
Keep in mind that doesn’t include the time and $$$ that goes into paying a second shooter, gas money, gear, education/improvements, business insurance, keeping software and everything up to date, advertising rates, etc.
I think it’s safe to say that any given professional photographer possibly spends at least 75-100 hours per wedding, counting all above mentioned activities.
As a simple example, if a photographer needs to make $50k per year after business expenses (say maybe $20k worth of expenses per year), and they’re willing to shoot 40 weddings a year, they need to charge $1,750 per wedding on average.
That comes out to about $15 per hour (possibly less). And don’t forget, we still have taxes after all that (self employment tax is 15.3%).
So, if you’re paying $1,750 for a main and second shooter, I’d wager to say you either have a photographer that’s investing very little in their business, or someone that’s working really hard for $15ish per hour (before taxes).
I’m not trying to be judgy, but $15 per hour seems pretty cheap for being a specialist and an artist for one of the most important days of your life that you can’t recreate, doesn’t it?
Conclusion
So how much does wedding photography cost? In the end, you’ll need to spend what you can and then among the budget you can afford, you’ll want to find out who fits most with YOU.
Mostly, a wedding photographer is worth whatever you’re willing to invest. If they have a solid reputation, you love their photos (from throughout the day!), their personality, and they make you feel comfortable, then book them whatever their price is (as long as it’s in budget, right?).
For some, this is $500. For others is $5k, $10k, or even $20K+. As a rule, your higher priced photographers have more demand for various reasons, usually associated with skill, style, etc. You can find cheaper photographers that are “worth” above their current price range, but that’s gamble.
Regardless, what cannot be undervalued is a wedding photographer that helps preserve your wedding memories for your kids and Grand-kids. Any photographer you choose is likely going to be working incredibly hard and under lots of pressure, so love and cherish them dearly. They should do the same for you.
