Why are Wedding Photographers so Expensive?

 

First of all, one person’s idea of expensive can vary widely from another’s.

As a wedding planner, I am constantly asked why wedding vendors cost what they do.  To a Bride, everything seems so expensive and over-the-top, especially when they are trying to keep to a budget.

One vendor in particular, the Photographer, consistently gets a bad rap.

“Geeze, I have a camera!  I can do a wedding and make a quick $2,000.”  Or

“$3000 for 6 hours!  I am a lawyer and don’t make that much!”

Well, let me explain what you are paying for when you hire a PROFESSIONAL photographer to capture the day of your wedding:

1.  Your wedding day is so much more than the kiss at the end of your ceremony and your cake cutting or first dance.  A good photographer will catch your father’s tender look when he watches you hugging your mother, they will memorialize your wedding gown with the sunlight streaming in at just the right angle, they know just how to get the 2 year old flower girl to smile on cue, and they know how to capture all this without being the center of attention.  This takes skill.

2.  They are experts.  A professional photographer has a team of photographers to get the best shots from different angles.  They have backup equipment and know how to punt if they need to.  This takes preparation.

3.  What you see the day of your wedding is about 10% of the work that goes into your album.  There are hours of editing that you don’t see.  This is everything from fixing slight blemishes (like that bug that was on your dress no one saw) to getting everyone’s eyes open in a photo of 45 people.  This takes patience.

4.  They can take a drab facility on a rainy day and turn the pictures into a piece of art.  I’m not talking about editing out the rain and adding decor – I mean they can see through their “eye” the best way to pull out interesting and almost unnoticeable items.  This takes creativity.

5.  They take your wedding day, just one day of your life, and chronicle it through their eyes.  They have a creative method about them that comes out in separate photos and turns it into a story.  There are only 2 ways you have to relive that day: your memories and the photos.  A photographer knows that and pours their heart, soul, and creativity into telling your story in a way that will make you feel like you are reliving it all over again.  That takes expertise.

So why do they cost what they do?

• Skill
• Preparation
• Patience
• Creativity
• Expertise

If you want a beautiful wedding cake you do not go to Walmart.  You hire a skilled baker who prepares accordingly, has the patience to build a creative cake & the expertise to get it done just the way you want it and deliver it on time & intact.  Then you pay them for it.  It is the same for photographers and all other wedding professionals for that matter.

I have great respect for professional event photographers. They make my job as a planner easier by knowing that they are doing the job the Bride wanted them to do and doing it well.  Please keep in mind, most event photographers do NOT get paid what they are worth.  The reason:

Most Brides would not be able to afford them!

They know that and have created packages that are beneficial to them as well as their clients.

In my mind, THAT is a true professional and worth every cent.