Wedding Packages

fredjclaus · August 18, 2011

I've been looking at a lot of websites for wedding packages. Just trying to help a friend of mine judge what she's going to be paying for her photographer. It seems a lot of people build a package around offering a digital copy (some state high res) of all the images and a copyright release. Is that the norm these days or do people still offer brag books and extra prints at a price?

Would anyone care to share a link to their wedding package prices, or tell me what they are charging and what the client gets? She's just in the beginning stages of planning her wedding but since they are paying for it all themselves they asked me to help them figure out how much it will cost them.

ShepsMom · August 18, 2011

I have 4 packages, 1 includes 10 hours, 2 include 8 hours and 1 very basic include 6 hours, all of them include an album or a book, i do give DVD with 30 to 50 images/per hour of shooting. I also let them create their own collection, but it's mostly a la carte pricing.
Also, photographer pricing will vary drastically by location, experience, products, and of course customer service.

shming · August 18, 2011

There is no average price, some charge a lot and are not so good and some charge too little and are great.
Some do proof books while some do on-line galleries. some give away amazing jpgs and some give away horrible jpgs.

Best advice: Meet with as many photographers as it takes until you find one you "like" --- then talk $.
Do not talk money and then meet. That's never good.
You want to see and touch what the photographer has to offer first.
It's like this: We all enjoy walking through beautiful showrooms right? It doesn't mean we have to buy anything, we are just enjoying the view
and getting accustomed to what we want.

Have fun with it

and don't ask "hi how much for your wedding photography?"
instead say:
I've been to your website and I like what I see. I would like to see your products and what you offer - would it be possible to set up a meeting?

nice, friendly and to the point.

Good luck to your friend
KLinh

Sam · August 18, 2011

fredjclaus wrote: »

I've been looking at a lot of websites for wedding packages. Just trying to help a friend of mine judge what she's going to be paying for her photographer. It seems a lot of people build a package around offering a digital copy (some state high res) of all the images and a copyright release. Is that the norm these days or do people still offer brag books and extra prints at a price?

Would anyone care to share a link to their wedding package prices, or tell me what they are charging and what the client gets? She's just in the beginning stages of planning her wedding but since they are paying for it all themselves they asked me to help them figure out how much it will cost them.

Fred,

I think I would approach this a little differently. Ask her / them what kind of a $ figure they have in mind? If they balk and say they don't know, which can be legitimate at this point, ask what the budget is for her dress, the cake, flowers, and or the total amount they are going to spend on the wedding.

Ask what amount she would be comfortable with. It might be tough, but get a number! It' important!

Then talk to her and see if you can ferret out what she would like to get as deliverable. Does she want a nice fancy album? A nice 16X20 or so framed print to hang on the wall? A number of 8X10? A CD / DVD with full res processed images? I wouldn't worry about getting every photo taken, just the keepers. She doesn't want or need the copyright. She just needs rights to print and use the images for personal use.

She will probably want more than she can afford, don't we all? So once you have an idea of the most she can or will spend and you prioritize what's important you can get down to business.

In my opinion I would recomend she get the best photographer she can afford and if necessary forgo or put off the albums and prints. I also dislike a time limit. No one wants to deal with additions at the wedding. And please don't hire a $500.00 shoot and burn.

As a general statement I would think for a small wedding you could get a good solid experienced photographer for about $2000.00 to $2600.00. If you have $3000.00 to $5000.00 you should be able to get an outstanding photographer.

Again there are so many details that are unknown at this point.

Sam

fredjclaus · August 19, 2011

These are all great ideas, thanks. Sam, as usual awesome thoughts.

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I am here: http://maps.google.com/maps?ll=42.992621,-78.962375

Wedding Packages

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