Let’s chat about pricing for a second…

Have you ever noticed how the pricing, packages & experience level of photographers varies greatly? I’m sure it’s hard to try to compare photo packages (apples to apples) when you’re trying to make an important decision that you’ll have to live with the rest of your life. I remember when my husband and I got married in 2003, we flew in one of the best photographers in the world because photos were THAT important to us. We spent double what most people were charging around Indy at the time, plus his travel fees, because afterwards, photos were all that we had left to remember our big day. This year when we decided to renew our vows for our 10th wedding anniversary, we looked high and low for the perfect photographer. I remember being frustrated because many of them wouldn’t even reply (how rude!) and trying to compare packages was a nightmare, but there was one photographer that we kept coming back to because we loved her style and again, photos were the only thing we had after the event. (Well, that and an amazing video on both occasions because I believe photos and video should complement each other, not replace one another) Anyway, my point is, yes we spent more than we expected but on both occasions, it was worth it.

I hear horror stories all of the time from brides who wished that they would have booked us, ranging from “my photographer fell asleep during my reception and missed a ton of shots” (yes, this happened to an Indiana bride, not kidding) to “he missed so many important shots and wouldn’t work off of a shoot list” to “I booked one photographer but someone else different showed up the day of my wedding who I had never even met before” to “my photographer left a piece of equipment at the church and had to go back and get it, she didn’t have a 2nd shooter so she missed our intros, first dance and my dance with my dad!” No one wants to live through these nightmares, which is why referrals and online reviews are so important. Brides, do your homework. Amazing photography isn’t cheap, it’s priceless, and in a world where everyone with a digital camera calls themselves a photographer now, just know that you’ll get what you pay for.

Does the person you’re considering have back-up equipment? Liability insurance? Good online reviews? Will he or she work off of a request list? (Many will not!) Do they provide you with custom photo schedules so that everyone knows where they need to be and when? Do they have an emergency kit that they bring with them in case anything happens the day of the wedding? I can’t tell you how many of our clients appreciate our emergency kit! We’ve had to sew a bridesmaid into her dress just minutes before a wedding, steam a wrinkled veil at the last minute, use hem tape to correct a dress length that was incorrectly altered for a bridesmaid, fix falling updos with bobby pins, spray down an outdoor ceremony site with bug spray, and lots of other crazy scenarios that required the use of our emergency kit & expert advice. After photographing over 600 weddings, you know what to expect and how to prepare for just about anything. (Click HERE to see what’s in our emergency kit!)

Anyway, I really wanted to take the time to educate new brides on photography and let you know our perspective on various issues. It frustrates me when a new bride comes up with a photo budget out of nowhere that doesn’t really reflect anything other than what she thinks she might want to pay for photography. It’s much better to prioritize and make cuts in other areas than to go cheap on photos, honestly. It’s very frustrating when we see potential clients go with less experienced, cheaper (often new) photographers just to save a few bucks. You also have to be careful in your search though because some of the new photographers have figured out that the best way to look the part is to charge what the pros charge ~ a version of “fake it ’til you make it ~ in my opinion. That’s why research is key and arming yourself with knowledge, the right questions to ask, getting referrals and making sure the person you hire is truly legit is so important. I’ve been in the Indy wedding industry for over 20 years. I’ve seen businesses come and go. What I’ve seen and heard in the last 20 years is that 99% of brides who cut their photo budget end up regretting it. But as a photographer and honest business owner, how do you tactfully tell someone that you think they’re making a huge mistake?

People often wonder why we charge $3,000-$5,000 per wedding…click HERE to see another photographer’s complete breakdown of the costs associated with shooting weddings. (It’s about accurate by the way) We easily invest 50-60 hours into EVERY event from the first point of contact to the day we deliver the wedding album. Businesses who are charging less than this either haven’t figured out that they’re most likely losing money or probably won’t be in business very long. It takes a lot of overhead to run a successful photography business and there’s only so many weddings you can take on each year. We love what we do though and we’re so thankful for all of the clients who appreciate the hard work and effort that we put into making their events flawless. We’re not looking to make a killing, just an honest decent living. 🙂

I hope this blog post has helped educate you a bit on wedding photography and how to hire the right, experienced photographer. 10 years from now, we want you to look back at your images and love them as much as you did the day you got them! Honestly, my favorite part of every wedding is when I hand the bride a folio of teasers, the reactions are priceless and the effort is always worth it! Every bride should be this happy when they view their wedding photos for the first time, don’t you agree? 🙂