First time planning a wedding? You aren’t alone. Most couples planning their day have no idea of the cost of wedding suppliers until they start looking, and it can come as quite a surprise. Why is there such a difference in the cost of wedding photographers? Why is wedding photography SO expensive? Why do photographers charge more for weddings than portrait sessions? Posts like this pop up in wedding groups and blogs regularly, and after ten years working as a wedding photographer in the UK and abroad, I figured I’d share my thoughts on this subject.
First off, what is the average cost of wedding photography in the UK?
The most recent studies show that the average cost of wedding photography in the UK is approximately £1500 (for a full day package). These studies show that this number has stayed fairly consistent over the past three years, with only very minimal changes. (click here to check out this article by Your Perfect Wedding Photographer for a breakdown).
Okay, but why is there such a wide range of costs amongst wedding photographers?
It’s a complicated question. We know the average cost is £1500, but there are photographers advertising full day packages way below that average at £500, and others way over at £3000+.
Let’s remember that there is a range of prices in almost everything we buy. From everyday things like groceries or beauty services, to “status symbol” items like cars and handbags there will always be a cheap, a mid level and luxury option to the things we buy (and everything in between). Just like you can buy a handbag from Burberry for £2000, from Ted Baker for £200, or from Primark for less than £20 there are a lot of factors that play into the pricing of wedding photography. Like most products and services, the biggest differences that I see between these price points are in quality, experience/reputation and in customer service/experience. Typically the photographers in the more expensive end of that price range have a lot of experience, a great reputation, and produce consistently beautiful work. Photographers at the bottom end tend to have a lot less experience, are still building their brand and reputation, and have not yet developed a consistent style and approach to their work.
Does that mean that there are no good photographers at the cheaper end of that scale? Absolutely not. You may find a great photographer who is just starting out in their career and looking to build a portfolio. You may also find someone who does photography part time or more as a hobby, and can charge less as it isn’t their main job or income. Where couples are left guessing though, is why there are some experienced and well established photographers offering packages at the very bottom end of the price scale?
The simple answer is because it works for them. They get a lot of bookings this way as it seems to be an appealing choice for couples. But never mind their reasons for it, more importantly: what does it mean for the couples that book them?
If someone is charging £500 a wedding, they need to shoot a lot more weddings than someone who is charging £1500- three times as many to be exact. So instead of taking on one wedding per week, they probably need to take on three. There is nothing wrong with working hard at something you love, but this begs the question- can these photographers honestly say they put in the same amount of effort into their third wedding of the week as their first one? We are talking 10-12 hour shooting days plus travel (often 14-16 hour days), running around on your feet carrying heavy equipment. I know I couldn’t- I am exhausted after a full day wedding, both and I know that I won’t have the same energy the day after- so I just don’t do it. Further to that, there is the question of the care put into editing each wedding: it’s a time consuming process, and if care is being taken to choose the best images, edit them carefully and provide a beautiful finished gallery it would be incredibly difficult to stay on top of a workload of three weddings a week on top of everything else. And turnaround time for sending clients their images is likely to be longer than promised, a common complaint in wedding blogs and groups.
In short- it all boils down to priorities. Financially, as a small business, of course it makes sense to take on as much work as possible. But if customer service is your top priority, it’s just not feasible to take on every booking request that comes though the door.
Okay, I get why there’s a range in prices. But why is hiring a professional wedding photographer SO expensive?
The short answer is that shooting a wedding is a LOT of work. Often people think of it as just one day of work, but there are an incredible amount of hours that go into shooting a wedding both before and after the day itself. For me, this is how it times out:
Correspondence over their planning process: 2 hours
Engagement session: 2-3 hours
Editing of engagement session: 2 hours
Meeting to finalize details: 2 hours
Location scouting of venue and surrounding area: 2-3 hours
Wedding day: 10-12 hours shooting
Travel to and from wedding: anywhere from 1-4 hours
Editing of wedding photos: 15-20 hours
USB/prints/etc: 1-2 hours
Packaging & delivery: 1-2 hours
In total, that works out to anywhere from 38- 52 hours work for each full day wedding. If we average that out to 45, and take the UK average of £1500, it works out to just over £33 per hour. Sounds like a pretty great wage right? It would be, however we have yet to factor in the costs of equipment, insurance, software, marketing, training and administrative costs, which brings that number down quite significantly. Believe it or not you can’t just buy a fancy camera and call it a day! Without boring you with too much detail, we need to update our equipment regularly which equates to several thousand pounds annually, and we need to maintain it and sometimes repair it too- I spent over £900 in 2018 just on repairs and maintenance for my gear. We need backup equipment (extra camera bodies, batteries, memory cards, etc) , software and insurance. We need to keep our skills up to date (and keep improving) with training. We have costs for marketing, admin and for some of us, premises. I have worked out a cost of doing business that equates to paying myself a fair living wage and it’s a modest one. I have yet to meet a wedding photographer who drives a Maserati around, or who sports a collection of Burberry handbags for that matter. Most of us are simply just trying to make a living doing something that we love.
Do wedding photographers overcharge as soon as they hear the word ‘wedding’?
Nope. The reason wedding photography costs more than portrait photography is because it takes up a heck of a lot more time.
As I worked out above, an average wedding equates to about 45 hours of work, more than a full working week of my time. A family portrait session however, takes much less. There are no meetings or pre shoots, and the correspondence is usually quite minimal. The shoot itself last about one hour (massive difference from a 10-12 hour wedding day!) and my travel time is usually about the same. Editing time is around 2 hours, and then the gallery prep and upload works out to another hour max. Add all of that up and a family session takes up about 4-5 hours, or half of a working day. That works out to about a tenth of the time a wedding takes me, and it’s priced accordingly!
Wedding photography costs more than portrait photography because it takes up a LOT more time, end of story.
Is experience really worth paying that much more for?
Experience may not sound like a big deal, but it is SO important, especially when it comes to an uncontrolled, one time event like a wedding. If you hire a photographer to shoot your wedding and something goes wrong, there is no chance for a reshoot. Like any job, the more time you spend doing it the more challenges that come up and the more you learn about how to handle those things. You learn to work in difficult lighting conditions, challenging weather, with all types of people and with varying restrictions. You react quickly and you have developed the confidence to handle any situation that might arise. Being a great wedding photographer is about so much more than having a fancy camera, or even taking beautiful photos- it’s about providing a relaxed and calm experience, from the planning stages to the wedding day to delivering the final product, so that the couple can just enjoy their day, stress free.
How important is photography when planning my wedding budget?
If you break down a wedding budget, your biggest cost is typically the venue (including food & alcohol), followed by things like decor, flowers, cake, entertainment, photography etc. While all of those details play a part in your wedding, there is only one thing on that list that isn’t gone at the end of the night. The photos (and video if you decide to have one, which I highly recommend!) are the only things you will have left to remember your day by when it’s over. The only thing you’ll have left to share with those who couldn’t be there, or with the children you might have one day. Every couple has different priorities- for some having amazing centrepieces is top priority, for others it may be a massive cake, or the top rated band- and that’s okay! We are all different people and different things are important to us. But don’t stick photography at the bottom of your budget, because after the cake has been eaten and the flowers have wilted you’ll want to be left with something beautiful to remember your day by.
If you follow any of the wedding blogs or groups online, you’ll often see past brides admit that not hiring a professional to do their photos was their biggest regret. There are a multitude of horror stories about photographers not showing up on the day, not sending the couple their images, or sending them photos that they are very unhappy with. There is only one chance to get wedding photos you love, and the best way to guarantee that is to hire someone not only whose style you like, but who is professional, reputable and experienced enough to handle anything that can happen on your day. Remember that if a deal seems too good to be true, it almost always is!
Are you planning your wedding in Scotland and still to book your wedding photographer? I’d love to hear more about your plans! Get in touch at hello@rhiannoneale.com.
