I’m so excited to have an article we wrote featured on the Professional Photographers of Canada blog!
For anyone who hasn’t read it yet, here is the whole article. It’s full of great tips for budgeting for your dream wedding photographer.
One of the biggest decisions that every bride faces is how to budget for her big day. Websites and magazines provide checklists to help you allocate your budget for all of the details of your wedding, large and small. Every one of your friends who just got married will also be more than happy to give you wedding planning advice.
While these budgets can be a great place to start, nothing is set in stone, and you have to decide what is most important for YOUR wedding. For many brides, photography is THE most important thing for their wedding. All of the details of your wedding are important, but your photos are the only permanent record of your wedding day. Here are a few tips to help ensure you have budgeted enough for your wedding photography.
Do I need a professional?
My uncle can do it for me. These days anyone with a camera thinks that they are a photographer, but a professional has the experience, equipment, personality, and backup equipment to ensure that your photos are stunning and safeguarded.
How much is too much?
A few years ago, you could hire a great wedding photographer for $2000-$3000. These days, people are spending more on their photographer, and it’s not unusual to pay $5000+ for an amazing professional photographer for full day coverage with an album and disc. Why is it ‘so expensive’? There is a difference between amazing photography and poor photography. The talent of a true professional photographer can be the difference between ho-hum photos and stunning images of your most important day. Wedding photography is one field where you do get what you pay for.
How much coverage do I need?
Gone are the days of stiff portraits after a traditional ceremony. Many brides now want documentary-style coverage of their wedding. However, not everyone wants photos of getting ready. Or, your budget might not allow for hiring a pro for the whole day. Rather than hiring a mediocre photographer for the whole day, consider spending a bit extra and hiring a professional for less time.
Do I get a disc of images?
To some brides a disc is important, to some it is not. If you are a bride who values having a digital archive of your photos and the ability to print what you want, check to see if the disc is included, or if there is an extra charge. If the initial package price is low but there are fees after the fact, this may affect how a photographer will fit into your budget. Also, understand that there is a difference between a disc of high-resolution files that you can print to a large size, or downsized files (or low resolution) that can only be used for the web or small prints.
Do I need a wedding album?
You may have intentions of printing off wedding photos for your friends and family, or putting together your own wedding album. However, many brides find that after the wedding life gets busy, priorities shift, and the disc of wedding images gets put on the shelf. Also, technologies change and that disc will eventually be obsolete or may deteriorate. A good quality album will safeguard your memories for years. You should ensure your budget has enough room for a professional wedding album.
Can I personalize my wedding with photography?
You can combine other items from your budget, such as a guest book, thank you cards, and even invitations into your photography budget. Ask your photographer to do custom extras with your engagement and wedding photos.
Shouldn’t I get a discount for getting married on a Sunday or in the winter?
A photographer works just as hard on a Saturday in the summer as on a Sunday in December. You shouldn’t necessarily expect a discount if you’re not getting married on a Saturday.
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Great article! The part about the wedding album rings true for me…I got married almost 2 years ago now and still haven’t made a wedding album. I really wish I had one but just have no time to put one together.
Thanks Jen – and hey, if you ever need a kick in the pants to do your album, you can always ask another photographer to do it for you!
It’s human nature to think that you will make the album yourself and save lots of money. But be realistic—are those vacation snaps in an album yet? As pointed out in the article, life quickly intervenes and thwarts the best of intentions. Buying a house, a car, or the car breaks down, someone gets pregnant (usually the bride
) and before you know it, your kids are asking you where your wedding album is.
And since this would be your first wedding album design, do you think you can avoid all the pitfalls and mistakes that all new designers make with their initial efforts? Will it be a kick-ass design, with a great storyline, sharp images of the correct, and matching, colors? Or might it be trite, amateurish, with poor materials, badly executed? Remember, this will be one of your most valuable family heirlooms. It’s a cliché, but people do grab their wedding albums when fleeing flood or fire.
This last year I gave in and added “stimulus packages” that had no albums or small, inexpensive ones. Those packages are off this year’s price list, as I could not bear to continue allowing people to lose their family history through misguided attempts to save a few dollars. I’ve rededicated myself to helping couples to get their priorities straight.
Cute couple and mind blowing photography…
Perfect article, nice work!
Thank you for the words of wisdom Ray. I know not everyone works the same way, but we focus on the album too. We’ll rarely shoot a wedding without one.
Great Article!!! Well put.
Very lovely work, as always! Well done
Long before Michael and Haley had ever even met, Michael’s sister was getting married. I read all sorts of articles similar to this one and really appreciated the advice that they give to the brides and grooms – and in my case, the parents. One thing that I impressed upon each of my own children as they planned their weddings, was that a good photographer was very important as the wedding day comes and goes, however the album lasts for ever.
When Doug and I were married we were young (I was 19) and the one thing that we had a say in at our wedding was the photographer – because that was the one thing that our parents weren’t doing anything about. We researched and found a professional photographer who was doing leading edge work – for the times.
It was expensive at the time, however well worth it over the years. We both enjoyed poring over our album over the years – seeing family and friends…….commenting on how young we looked………..and there was a bonus that we hadn’t thought about at the time – our children loved looking at the photos of mommy and daddy getting married!
So for us, it was a good choice to go with a professional photographer and that’s why we encouraged our children to include a professional photographer in their wedding budgets. We suggested that when they visit photographers that they ask to see an album of a whole wedding, rather than a series of pictures from multiple weddings, so that they could see what the heirloom that they would leave the family would look like.
Great post and a beautiful album!
Congrats on the studio! I just checked your blog and it looks great!
If you ever need any advice on studios I have shot in a ton of them big and small. Eva and I have a house that was converted exclusively into one and I can tell you from experience there are some tips I could pass along to you to make yours more efficient and pleasurable to work in. I learned the hard way
take care
C
Great article, I reposted a link on my Facebook page!
Fantastic article guys! You’ve clearly outlined a lot of the things that clients may not have necessarily considered and thereby have helped them make an educated decision. Not everyone thinks about the behind the scenes work that SMART and PROFESSIONAL photographers like yourselves do for their clients such as safeguarding the files, retouching, scouting locations, album prep etc etc. Keep up the good work. I’m going to share this on my facebook.
Aw, thanks Jasser!
-Haley
Good job! Not only clients can understand and learn more about wedding photography. But I gain a lot from the article too. I am going to share the goodies on my blog
I just want to echo what Ray said in his comment about the album. A quality album is a legacy, a heirloom. A cheap or poorly constructed album might last 10 – 20 years, a quality book could last hundreds. I really wish that I had an album from my wedding that I could pass down to my daughter. I spent as much as I could on photography, I wish I had spent more.
Great guideline and very educational for brides to be. This is great.
Michael, I don’t think I could ever tire of looking at your images. The next to last photo in this article – the couple in the water – wowwweee! It’s beautiful! It’s all too true that a lot of the younger generation only thinks in the ‘now’ and not about the the future… not understand just how important a wedding album is. Thanks for posting this and keep on doing what you’re doing – because you’re doing it right!
Very interesting article and very inspiring. Thanks for sharing your experience.
Great article, great images!
Very good article for soon to be brides! Great wedding photography!
Love the image on the wedding album and the images by the bridge.Good work!
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