Wedding Photography – Why is it so expensive?
It’s an oft-asked question and in these tough economic times, an even more common concern for couples looking to get married. The average wedding is estimated to cost just over £20,000. This price is likely to be inflated by weddings in places like London but nonetheless, weddings are a large undertaking with the potential to be expensive. There are all sorts of costs to consider including the venue, rings, catering, the dress, the flowers, the cake etc. So, why pay so much for wedding photography you may ask, after all it’s only a few hours work, is that really worthy of charging upwards of £1,000 for?
Yes, wedding photography can be expensive but there is always someone willing to take your images and offer them all to you on a disc to print for a few pounds at your local pharmacist. Just a quick Google revealed wedding photographers touting themselves as akin to a budget Irish airline – cheap and cheerful! That’s fine but a quick search for said airline revealed less than stellar feedback about its customer service! Being a good wedding photographer involves a great deal of investment, both time and money. What corners is the budget-airline wedding photographer cutting to keep their prices so low – insurance, equipment, training?
So, what exactly are you paying for? My work does not end when your wedding does and it usually starts long before! I commit time to meeting with you before your wedding to discuss what you want from your photography and to undertake an engagement shoot with you (at no extra charge), since these are both great ways to get to know each other before your wedding day, helping to put you at ease about being photographed and often leading to better results on the day.
There is of course the wedding day itself, where depending on your requirements, I can spend anywhere between 6-12+ hours. As well as the time spent with you taking images, there is off course the work going on behind the scenes, such as my preparation time, undertaking a recce of your venue, editing images, designing albums…the list goes on. I won’t bore you with an exact breakdown but as you can probably tell, there’s a lot more hours involved than you might, at first, imagine.
In addition to this, there are of course the costs involved in maintaining a wedding photography business – taxes, insurance, advertising, and training. On top of these costs, top quality, professional camera bodies, lenses, computers, software, digital storage mediums etc. can set you back in excess of £20,000 (about the average cost of a UK Wedding!). And, of course, this equipment needs replacing more often than you might think. Then there are the costs involved in using a professional photographic lab, album suppliers and framers. It is important to me that the images I produce, as well as being a document of your wedding day, stir your emotions and look fantastic hanging on your wall. The quality of high-street printers is variable and so I only use craftsmen that work to the very highest standards but of course, this costs me more than popping down to Boots.
In a survey for their forthcoming wedding issue, New York magazine asked 100 recent brides “What They Would Have Done Differently“ if they were able to go back in time and plan their wedding again. 21% of those polled responded by saying that they wished they had spent more money on their wedding photography, while only 12% wished they had spent less.
Long after your flowers have wilted, your cake has been eaten, your guests have departed and your venue swept clean, it will be your wedding photographs that help you to look back and remember the tears, the joy and the excitement of your wedding day! Ultimately, it is your wedding day and you must do what is right for you and your budget. There’s no doubt that wedding photography can seem expensive at first but bear in mind that wedding photography is not an ordinary purchase but an investment. Long after your flowers have wilted, your cake has been eaten, your guests have departed and your venue swept clean, it will be your wedding photographs that help you to look back and remember the tears, the joy and the excitement of your wedding day! If you are looking to make savings, try to cut back in other areas if you can help it. Also, bear in mind that your photographer is likely to be able to help you in some way. While I offer an all-in package that includes my time from bridal preparations, right up until your first dance (and often beyond), if you don’t have the resources to hire me on this basis, then please don’t hesitate to contact me to discuss your needs and to see what I might be able to do for you.
I hope you have found this article helpful, if you want to talk further about my photography and discuss your wedding plans, then please, don’t hesitate to get in touch.
By Rob Dodsworth
