Why are wedding photographers sooooo expensive?

Helloooo me dearies. I am back… Well, not that I’ve been away really just had a couple of weekends off not photographing any wedding-o-ramas but looking forward to the next wedding tomorrow. I do very often get emails from people saying they think wedding photography is sooooo expensive and that they don’t understand how it can cost so much. Now people I have finally found an article that explains it all really well on Ladybug Weddings. So thanks so much to Ali for writing the post!

” Have you been wondering during your search for ‘the’ wedding photographer why they all seem to cost so much? Well, let’s break it down a little bit to see if we can make it make sense!

You may have a friend who likes to do a bit of photography and you could ask them, or they may have offered to do your ‘snaps’ for you, which could be great – but, what sort of equipment do they use?

Professional photographers use professional equipment and the cost of that can run into thousands! Most have at least 2 cameras for the day (£3000+) and will have the use of about 3-4 different lenses that they will call upon during the celebrations. (£2500+)

Then there are ‘flash cards’ that hold all the images – the majority of photographers will take on average between 2-3000 shots so need a lot of memory space to hold these images (£100+) – or the capability to download them onto yet more hardware (£300)

Talking of flash, they’ll probably have a separate flash gun (at least one) as the camera’s built in flash isn’t really man enough for the job (£200+ each)

Not to mention any accessories like reflectors, tripods etc (£150)

Then there is the computer that they need to have to be able to process all the images that they’ve taken (£1600+)

And the software to work on all the images…the modern day darkroom if you will! (£1000+)

Professional photographers will also hold comprehensive insurance (their equipment is their livelihood after all!) – £100

Many worth their salt will be members of a professional body, (membership £100/year)

Good photographers will also attend training seminars to learn new processes, to discuss business ideas and techniques with fellow photographers, improving skills and ideas to keep their style fresh and up to date, (probably allowing a budget of around £250+/year)

Oh and some may have a stand at a big wedding fair or two as well (£2000) in the winter months.

Ok, so that’s the equipment side sewn up, what else should we consider?

Photographers will probably arrange an initial meeting following your enquiry to see if you click and want to work together – 2 hours

Then a pre-wedding shoot – an informal session with bride & groom to get to know each other and to enable you to relax in front of the camera – 2 hours + editing time for about 20 shots = approx 5 hours

A recce to the venue/s prior to the event (possibly combined with the pre-wedding run through chat) – 2 hours

Then to the big day – a full day’s shoot from getting ready to the first dance – 10 hours min!

Selection and pre-processing of the images taken, selecting around 150 of the best images – approx 2 hours

Processing 150 images at approx. 10 min each shot = 25 hours

Arranging website, dvd and slideshow for all images – approx 1 hour

Meeting up with you to do the presentation – 1 hour

And have we mentioned all the travel times, paperwork and planning time yet?!

So, to sum up, for basic equipment costs you’re looking at: £11,000+ most of which will need replacing and upgrading every couple of years!

Time taken for each wedding: 46+ hours

Oh, and if you want to have an album, it takes time to assemble all the images and whilst it seems like a huge expense it comes down to the quality of the album. You want something that is a family heirloom, something that will last the test of time and will keep your images fresh and protected and the highest quality albums are all hand-made and usually come half way across the world!

Well, there we have it! It doesn’t take a genius to work out that actually there is an awful lot more going on in a photographer’s input to your Big Day than just turning up and taking a few snaps – so is it any wonder after the wedding cake has been eaten, the bouquet has dried up, the dress has been dry-cleaned and is boxed up under the bed, all you have left are your memories of the most fantastic day – and your photographs…now, aren’t they priceless?!”