Is this the first time you've planned a wedding? For most people, it is. But rest assured we are here to help with one of the most common questions we get asked at Jordans photography. Most couples planning there day have no idea where to start, or the cost of wedding suppliers until they start looking, and I think for most people is can come as a surprise. With so many wedding photographers around Nottingham, you may be asking yourself as to why we all charge vastly different prices. After 8 years of shooting weddings all over the UK and abroad, I wanted to share my view on this subject.
So I suppose the first question you would be asking yourself is, What is the average price of a wedding photographer in the UK?
I've done a little searching for you all to save you a little time. But in my research, I found that the average price for a wedding photographer here in the UK is approximately £1500 - £2000. This number has remained the same for the past few years with only minimal change.
The next question I can hear you all asking is, So why is there such a wide range of cost amongst wedding photographers and wedding photography packages?
This is a hard question to answer so I'm going to try and break it down into a few little sections. Firstly we know that the average wedding photographer is £1500 - £2000 but there are also photographers out there that charge £3000+ and at the other end of this we also have photographers that charge £500.
The same can be said for everyday items. Let's use cars as an example here. So we have a low range, mid-range, and high range. A low-range car might cost £2000 but for someone who's just passed their test, this would be perfect for them. A mid-range car might cost £5000-£9000 Now this might be for someone thats been driving for a few years and feels that now is the right time to get something that's in a better condition than their last car. And then we have the high end, and we are talking £100,000+. Now there are a lot of factors that come into play with wedding photography, like most services. The biggest difference I see with a lot of photographers is the experience they offer. Photographers who charge at the top end normally have a lot of experience in shooting weddings, have great reviews and are well-established in their field. Photographers at the bottom end tend to have less experience and are looking at building their portfolio.
Does this mean that they are no good photographers at the cheaper end of the scale? Absolutely not! I can tell you that when I first started doing wedding photography, I was charging £300. And the reason for this was to build up my portfolio and get my name out there as a wedding photographer. You will find that there will be a lot of new starters charging something similar to this and there's honestly nothing wrong with this at all. At the end of the day, everyone has to start somewhere right?
If someone is charging £300-£500 a wedding they need to be shooting more weddings than someone that's charging £1500. Three times as many to be exact. We also have to remember that a lot of wedding photographers out there are full-time, and this is their only income, and normally with a family to support in the process.
Should the price of a photographer be the underlying factor in booking them or not? Absolutely not! Lets not forget that this day is something that's taken maybe years to plan, and even longer dreaming about. So, if the photographer your looking at is £300, so long as you have done your research about them and most importantly love their work and personality then book them. The reason I mention personality is because you also have to remember that you will be spending all day with your photographer. The very last thing you would want is to have a photographer with you all day that makes you feel like you can't be yourselves. Trust me when I say this, it will reflect in your final images. And this goes for photographers that are charging £300 or £3000.
Wedding photography is also an art form and as we all know, not everyone likes the same art work and this is ok. Take this image below. This image is called Hotly Debated: Phanto. Now some people may like this, and there's some that won't, but if I was to tell you that this very image sold for $6,500,000 you would think I'm crazy right? Don't believe me? Google it.
The point I'm trying to make here is wedding photography is the same and what one couple might like at £3000, others might not and that's fine. So why is hiring a wedding photographer SO expensive?
Shooting a wedding is a LOT of hard work. A lot of people think that a photographer turns up, shoots the wedding and then that's it. This is a common misconception. But there are an incredible amount of hours that go into everything to do with your wedding. From the moment the enquiry comes in the weeks, if not months after the wedding itself. For me, this is how a typical wedding looks, brace yourself.
Enquiry comes in and Zoom call: 1-2 hours
Engagement shoot: 5-6 hours including travel
Editing Engagement images: 3-4 hours
Zoom call to finalise details of the wedding: 1-2 hours
Scouting the locations: 2-3 hours
The wedding Day:12-13+ hours
Travel to wedding 1-4 hours
Editing wedding images: 1-2 Days
Packing and Delivery 1 hour
Are you surprised? On top of all this, there are the emails back and forth with suppliers that may be at your wedding along with the wedding planning of the day to make sure that we are all on the same page and to ensure we all know what we are doing for the day of the wedding. In total, the hours in total for just one wedding is around 40+ hours. So if you're looking at a wedding photographer who is charging £1500, this works out at around £33 per hour, this sounds like an amazing wage doesn't it?
But then we have to remember the cost of equipment and insurance that any reliable photographer would have. Then there's marketing, software, education and administrative costs. After taking all this into the picture this brings that number down a lot. But we are still not done, there is the equipment that we use and have to maintain that can cost a small fortune in itself. With charging what I do, I can live JUST about comfortable if that. Let me ask you this, how many wedding photographers do you see driving around in a Lamborghini? I speak for myself when I say I do what I do as a living because I love what I do.
If you're still looking for a wedding photographer and would like to chat all about your day then let's connect. Click the button below and let's chat. I would love to hear all about your plans and answer any questions you may have.
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