How Much to Invest in Your Wedding Photography?

“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.

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.