Post - Rachel Abi Photography

It is tough to get a good idea of how much to spend. So many blogs and people have their insights for you telling you to invest some % of your budget or a specific amount even.

My suggestion in this article will be for you to self assess what you feel like is priority to you as an individual. It is a lot more open ended than people think.

After reading this article you get understanding of:

- "Average wedding photographer costs”

-“The truth or myth of “spend 10% of your budget”

-How much wedding photography costs?

-What aspects of a photographer influence their costs

-Is the wedding industry over priced?

“Average wedding photographer costs”:

Average is just that: average. This doesn’t give you all the information that fills in what matters to you. On an average, you get the pricing of one photographer whose experience is nothing and quality of camera and product is nonexistent to that of a person who has years of experience, high end equipment with endless testimonials to their experience.

When looking for a wedding photographer in Raleigh NC, you don’t want AVERAGE but the RIGHT one for you! When looking for the RIGHT photographer the question shifts to “How much does a wedding photographer who focuses on what you value most cost?”

It is with this question you will switch from a focus on what others are spending to finding a wedding photographer you LOVE and will end up with an amazing experience.

But how do you know the costs and their value vs what I can afford? This is where I will break down costs of average and what you get with each benchmark

Brand New ($0-500)

These are photographers who are brand new and have never shot a wedding, probably never have worked as second shooters either and have little to no wedding experience at all.

This is a risky situation to place yourself in. They will have no ability to instill confidence in you about their ability to deliver or capture your event.

New/Beginner ($500-1500)

These are photographers who may have shot some weddings but do not likely have high demand or the quality to beget higher pricing.

You will likely feel with these photographers an ability to make sure global coverage is gotten in a base level way. You will not feel confident in front of their camera or the photos you receive might be a let down from what you hoped. They will likely not have the skills to give you natural poses that make you feel both confident and relaxed in your photos while still giving you the editorial flare of knowing what works best for you. Or other skills that a higher end photographer might gain you.

Grind ($1500-2000)

Photographers who have shot a decent number of weddings but due to stylizing they do not have high demand. Likely not full time photographers.

You will likely feel perfectly fine. Agreeable and quality matched to their price point. They are giving you pretty solid services, priced enough to maintain their gear. Their service might be erratic as they haven’t figured out streamlining their process and thus get bogged down.

Growing Photographer ($2000-3000)

These photographers are likely in high demand than others. Likely photographing less weddings to try and give clients more of a service, this is the start of more the “professional” feel.

You will likely feel pretty confident about what they can provide for you. They will at this point be invested in pretty good gear and have a wide enough portfolio for you to feel confident in what they will provide.

Professional ($3000-4000)

Photographers in this category are in high demand. Their artistry shows in their consistent work.

You will likely feel very confident in their ability to produce and provide artist comprehensive coverage of your wedding day. Their structured business allows you to be sure that your care will be consistent and high quality photographs.

Luxury ($4000-7000 and beyond)

These photographers have very established and refined styles and skills as well as luxurious service or options.

You will likely feel extremely confident and at complete ease at their ability to take on any event even extreme high profile events with ease. Delivering artistic and cultivated stories with refined styles that are highly sought after.

“The truth or myth of “spend 10% of your budget”

This is a statement that became popular to give you a baseline to your question of “how much to spend”. Photography should be 10% of your wedding cost. While this isn’t a bad baseline or thought there is a large error in it because this takes nothing about you as a person into account.

What you need to focus on is what is going to be of value to you years down the road.

While 10% might be perfectly fitting for some people, I have seen many people who decide to move their numbers around in their wedding budget because they desire to have long lasting artistic and editorial style wedding photos that they would not get on this “10% of budget” plan.

This is a very personal question. I suggest you start with what is most important to you for your wedding. If it is having photographs that capture the emotions of the day and not just check the box… then focus on finding a Raleigh wedding photographer who you LOVE and then work your other budgetary costs around that. In this line of thinking you make a list of top priorities for your wedding day and then work from that to get where they fit in your budget. If your wants are getting to a place that’s not fitting your budget, start cutting costs at the bottom of your priorities list.

One of the only things that you will walk away from your wedding day still having are your memories and the photographs that help you recall them.

If you want more help with trying to figure out a budget check out this article on Personalized Budget: how do I even begin?!

How much do wedding photographers cost?

Short answer… huge range from free from a friend to upwards of 10K!

The short answer, while frustrating, is very true. There are so many factors that play into the costs, their demand and honestly how much you’re willing to pay.

For your best wedding experience, no matter who you chose, I hope you focus on the wedding photographer's value rather than their costs. If you focus there you will be much happier in the long run starting there then looking for costs.

What aspects of a photographer influence their costs?

Lifestyle

Location

Experience

Expertise

Style

Demand

What they include in their standard packages?

Lifestyle

This seems pretty basic to mention but it does actively play a part in their costs. A person who is single with very little overhead costs and has no one depending upon them will have a greatly different focus, pricing and life than a photographer with a family.

More than likely you will be drawn to someone who is similar to you or someone who you feel invested in or desire to emulate. This may or may not be a photographer with a luxury price point, that’s greatly influenced by you.

But a caution I would say is anyone who has not figured out a work life balance out put, service and work will be inconsistent. This can quickly unravel in its effects in your photos and experience. When you choose your photographer their price will be paying for both their lifestyle and their stability of their work.

Location

Location location LOCATION! Pricing greatly will be affected by where you live. If you live in an area with higher expenses the costs of photographers will also be higher. For example LA costs of photographers will be likely double or triple what the costs of a wedding photographer in Raleigh NC or surrounding rural areas.

Speaking in generalities: the larger the city the larger the cost.

Experience

This is not something to be overlooked. Years of photographing weddings and many weddings under their belt allows you to know they have had much time to create their process through trial and error. That you will be receiving the best care based on past weddings and how they have cultivated an even better experience as a result. While experience alone doesn’t allow you to get a full understanding of their services it can give you a baseline to know that they have put in the leg work for keeping their business running for those years and that they will be more consistent and stable than someone just starting out.

An experienced photographer who is being asked to photograph in a new to them venue will be likely to go to this venue in advance. Have taken the time to look at it during the time and light that they will be shooting. You should be confident in a photographer taking the time to have picked out ideal locations for things like first looks, family formals, bridal portraits. But this investment and forethought also comes with it’s cost, which will generally be above the “average”.

Expertise

While similar to experience, expertise is not the same thing. Experience simply refers to years of having been in the position but not necessarily acquisition of skills and mastery. This is the idea that in any given wedding situation they will know how to handle what’s coming.

Expertise is photographic skills. Handling different lighting situations being a key thing that can be often overlooked

Interpersonal skills. Conflict and how to handle them. In your wedding day there are many needs that will arise between timelines adjusting, handling group situations like family formals and making sure this is a streamlined process. This includes emotional cues and how to handle them, the day can be filled with stressors that can be avoided and diffused in skilled hands.

Business skills: providing consistent and stable service and product

These skills directly affect and drive up prices because of demand. Reviews and full galleries are a good way to get a good idea of the expertise level of your photographer.

Style

Style is a subjective idea. However their style will affect your philosophy and their edits of your photographs. Higher end photographers' styles have been cultivated and honed till a point of very refined to be that of a style in high demand. Style often directly correlates to demand for the market's desire.

Style can be light and airy, original/true to nature, dark and moody to name a few.

The demand of that style mixed with their experience and expertise in that particular style will greatly affect their pricing.

What is included in their standard packages?

This is a fairly simple idea: Some photographers will include more things for their clients in their standards while others will have it down to only the basics and then the price is driven up with each thing that is added.

A photographer might start off with a lesser price but they don’t include photos with their hours of coverage, so for you to get the ability to print or own your photos that is an added cost. If you want a wedding album it has additional costs. If you want a second shooter it is an added cost. If you want an engagement session that is added costs. While you were first excited at how little they cost, the price drives up quickly.

Things to pay attention to if they include:

-Do they include 1 photographer or 2 photographers?

-Is an engagement session included?

-Is a wedding album included?

-Do they include consultations for reacting custom timelines and consultations and availability to help you on venues or other vendors?

Is the wedding industry over priced?

An article came out and blew up about how don’t say it is a wedding and your costs will be less.

Something you need to keep in mind… is a wedding really like any other event? Is it:

A once in a lifetime event?

Does the event require pre and post investment of time and energy?

Is your wedding a multi location event?

A full day of labor, often lasting way longer than just the preset hours of coverage?

These questions can apply to many vendors on your wedding day. The physical, emotional and psychological weight of a wedding is greatly different than just another event… AND IT SHOULD BE.

To give you a perspective on investment of a photographer on a wedding:

1-4 hours of emails and meetings in the initialization of services

2-3 hours of engagement session (travel time and photographing time)

1-3 hours of post editing and gallery upload of engagement session photos

10-20 hours of work on the wedding day (travel to/from, setting up/tear down of equipment, actual coverage of the wedding day, uploading and transferring of photos)

10-30 hours of editing

1-3 hours of miscellaneous tasks to make the wedding day and post work function consistent with no stress for couple

That’s over 60 hours of wedding day work, not including all the other costs associated with this process such as:

Gas, gear costs, maintenance and updating of gear, education/improvement costs, business insurance and other business expenses, keeping software and hardware up to date, advertising costs, etc.

It is pretty safe to say that most photographers will be investing near 100+ hours on your wedding day experience to be what it is.

Example: say a photographer needs to make $60K a year to make their bills. They have an additional $20K in costs of gear and business expenses. And let’s say they shoot 40 weddings a year. That means they would need to charge $2,000.

Cost per hour works out to be less than $20hr and that doesn’t keep in mind that they will have to pay self-employment taxes which are about 15%.

If you are getting a photographer who is willing to get paid $20 an hour they are likely not investing in their business because they cannot.

Could you imagine what the services of a CPA would look like at $20 an hour? But this isn’t just an event but a once in a lifetime event. Paying $20 an hour expertise and artistry to cover your once in a lifetime event that you cannot be recreated…

Bottom Line

Your budget for wedding photography is based more in your priority and value than an easy plug in number. It is what you invest in it.

If they have a good reputation and you love their photos throughout the day, you like their personality and they make you feel confident then book them!

This might look different to different people. If you are booking a higher end photographer you are working in what is higher expertise and demand. You can find photographers who are worth more than their price suggests but this is a risk. That is up to you on if it is worth that risk for you and your priorities.

No matter what you choose, it cannot be overlooked the importance of photography on your wedding day as the means to preserve your memories for you, and any generations to come. No matter who you choose for your wedding day they will be working incredibly hard for your wedding day and cherish that investment in your life and show of love that it is.

Thank you so much for taking the time to read my thoughts and please feel free to contact me and tell me your thoughts!

LETS TALK!

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Rachel Abi Photography

Wedding Photographer in Raleigh NC| 919.694.7070 | hello@rachelabi.com