2-3 hrs 2nd Wedding coverage

GemGem

Hi Everyone! Happy Father's day to all Dgrin fathers and theirs!

I have been asked to cover a 2nd wedding for the father-in-law of one of my customers. At this point, I have not spoken to the bride or groom (The bride and groom saw my customer's photos and ask if I could cover her wedding). She (my customer) knows I do not have experience with weddings. Her reaction was "Don't worry, it is a small wedding outdoors at a beautiful park. It is basically what you did for my family, but with 20 people." I spent about 1.5hrs with my customer and her family of 5 at a park, she paid $150. I am not sure what to charge :dunno. She wants to hire me for 1.5-2hrs. The wedding is Sept. 5th of this year. My husband suggests a price of $750. I really think I should cover 3hrs at $600, plus milage. Thoughts?

Thank you!
GG

Jeremy Winterberg

Hello! I say $750. That covers the wedding and gas! which went up again for some reason If they'll pay that, do that. If you don't think they'll pay that much, do the $600 or less, its really up to you!

You're the one taking the pictures, if you think you're worth $750, charge 750, if you think you're worth less, you should go to a psychiotrist for self esteem issues! JK

jgoetz4

GemGem wrote:

Hi Everyone! Happy Father's day to all Dgrin fathers and theirs!

I have been asked to cover a 2nd wedding for the father-in-law of one of my customers. At this point, I have not spoken to the bride or groom (The bride and groom saw my customer's photos and ask if I could cover her wedding). She (my customer) knows I do not have experience with weddings. Her reaction was "Don't worry, it is a small wedding outdoors at a beautiful park. It is basically what you did for my family, but with 20 people." I spent about 1.5hrs with my customer and her family of 5 at a park, she paid $150. I am not sure what to charge . She wants to hire me for 1.5-2hrs. The wedding is Sept. 5th of this year. My husband suggests a price of $750. I really think I should cover 3hrs at $600, plus milage. Thoughts?

Thank you!
GG

Good Evening GG,
Because of the current economy, & lack of Wedding experience, I would charge the $600. Satisfied customer's and references not only build up your experience & confidence, but also create additional work by ''word of mouth'' advertising. As a former electronics tech, I did neighborhood repairs mainly on vcr's & tv's. ALL of my customers we're so satisfied with my reasonable prices and quick turn around time, that they referred me to their family & friends. I never spent one dime on advertising. Didn't have to. The same philosophy applies here. You can build your ''Wedding'' portfolio in no time, once word gets out. Just my 2 cents
Have a good evening
Jim...

pwp

What are your deliverables? Are you giving them a DVD/CD of the unretouched photos? Or are you going to be spending hours, if not days, retouching the images? (see what I'm getting at?)

If you're simply shooting and delivering files on a disc, charge them a simple, flat hourly rate plus a reasonable amount for full repro rights. If you are going to be spending the time on post, I'd charge the full $750, but not more. A full-time wedding photog *might* be able to get away with more, but not a lot, IMHO. (It's only a few hours = not thousands of images to sort and process.)

Just my thoughts.

GemGem

jgoetz4 wrote:

Good Evening GG,
Because of the current economy, & lack of Wedding experience, I would charge the $600. Satisfied customer's and references not only build up your experience & confidence, but also create additional work by ''word of mouth'' advertising. As a former electronics tech, I did neighborhood repairs mainly on vcr's & tv's. ALL of my customers we're so satisfied with my reasonable prices and quick turn around time, that they referred me to their family & friends. I never spent one dime on advertising. Didn't have to. The same philosophy applies here. You can build your ''Wedding'' portfolio in no time, once word gets out. Just my 2 cents
Have a good evening
Jim...

Thanks Jim!
Yes, that is what I am thinking. This is a great opportunity to build up my confidence, portfolio and referrals. I am sure, it will pay off
GG

GemGem

pwp wrote:

What are your deliverables? Are you giving them a DVD/CD of the unretouched photos? Or are you going to be spending hours, if not days, retouching the images? (see what I'm getting at?)

If you're simply shooting and delivering files on a disc, charge them a simple, flat hourly rate plus a reasonable amount for full repro rights. If you are going to be spending the time on post, I'd charge the full $750, but not more. A full-time wedding photog *might* be able to get away with more, but not a lot, IMHO. (It's only a few hours = not thousands of images to sort and process.)

Just my thoughts.

I am giving them a DVD. My proposal to them would be. Pick X number, then I will retouch those. The rest of the images, they will get (SOOC).
I just don't feel right charging $750, when I don't have the experience. My husband did suggest starting at $750 see what the customer's reaction is, then I can do add-ons say (prints, collages, etc). or go to my target of $600 I am not convinced though. This will be a great experience. Even if I make $150 after all is set and done. I can say I shot a wedding . I am sure I will get referrals from this wedding.

Thank you so much for your thoughts, this is great.
GG

jgoetz4

GemGem wrote:

Thanks Jim!
Yes, that is what I am thinking. This is a great opportunity to build up my confidence, portfolio and referrals. I am sure, it will pay off
GG

Good Evening GG,
Common sense, honesty and integrity will go along way. It will pay off for you. It looks like it has already started
Have a good evening
Jim...