The Average Cost of a Wedding Photographer
After so many months of planning and dreaming, your wedding day will fly by in an instant. That’s why photographers are one of the most important vendors. They capture every moment so you can hold onto the memories for a lifetime, which is why it's such an important investment to make, and why you might increase your photography budget.
So what type of investment are you looking at?
The price of wedding photography varies from $1,000 to $10,000 or higher in the U.S.
According to the knot, and based on an internal study including over 15,000 couples who got married in 2021, the average wedding photographer cost is $2,500. Almost 90 percent of couples hired a photographer, making them one of the most popular wedding vendors.
Photography is one of the most common areas where a couple is willing to spend more, and for a very good reason. Over half of all couples increased their original budget once they started planning their wedding—of that, 47 percent admitted to spending more on their photographer.
What effects a photographers pricing?
Experience, demand, time required to capture the event and to edit it.
The more experience the photographer has in the industry, they more they charge. The more time they spend shooting weddings, the more they learn the best time of day to shoot for that golden hour, the best poses for a couple, how to style details for photos, the best lighting effects, how to interact with different couples and their weddings parties, and how to best capture candid moments that you'll cherish forever. The more they know, the more their services will be desired, so they will raise their prices.
Most photographers also edit the photos so that you can get that high quality "finished" look. Whether it's light and airy, or dark and moody, they are photos you can print out and hang right on your wall ready to show off, and the time they spend editing the photos will be factored into the pricing. There are a select few who will offer you pricing for unedited photos in addition to the edited photos, which would raise your cost overall if this is something you're looking for, these are typically up and coming photographers though.
Now most photographers will offer different packages, they will set these up different with different time allotments so you can book them for only a certain amount of time during the wedding rather than having them there for the whole event, and some will offer a bridal or engagement shoot for free before the wedding or maybe lower the overall price if you go with a higher cost/inclusive package. Some will also offer you add on's, such as: raw files, engagement shoots, boudoir shoots, bridals, drone, photo albums, printed photos, storage device for the edited digital photos. An example of a typical wedding package booked includes: 10 to 12 hours of wedding day coverage with a second shooter, an online gallery with digital downloads and options for printing, and an engagement photo session. It also includes travel within about four hours and photo editing.
Check out my blog "Wedding Photographer F.A.Q's"
for answers to questions such as:
- When should you hire your photographer?
- How can you find the right photographer?
- What is a typical payment schedule with photography vendors?
- How much should you tip?
- Should you negotiate? If you are looking for a wedding photographer with an all inclusive package for your wedding day, I'd love to chat! I also have packages for just engagement sessions, bridals, Intimate weddings, and also adventure elopements. Click the button below to get in contact with me :)
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