Wedding Photography For $400 Complete?

Brides... please!

I can't even purchase a quality wedding album for $400 at wholesale! And, I'm supposed to photograph the wedding as well?

For many months now, one of the on-line wedding "planning" sites has been sending me brides who have been requesting photographers who can photograph their weddings for $400 or less. I've been turning them all down.

Can quality photography work be done at this price range? Well, yes... if the photographer is independently wealthy and is only photographing weddings for the fun of it. Plus, he'd have to want to pay the bride to photograph her wedding because the cost of the album will be more than the bride is paying him for his service.

I don't think there are too many professional photographers out there who fit in this catagory. But you can easily find amateur photographers who would jump at the chance to make $400 for the day. You may not get a wedding album for this price though. Well, I suppose if you are interested in the kind of album that you can buy at department stores, you can do it.

Sorry to be so cynical on this post, but I just can't help wondering what some brides are thinking when they are looking for a photographer in this price range. A wedding photographer can only really photograph up to three weddings per weekend if he is willing to work on Friday, Saturday and Sunday. And, this is if he is lucky enough to find three weddings in a row to fit those dates. Realistically, he's lucky to shoot one wedding per week and most likely, it's not every weekend that he's working either.

But let's say he gets paid $400 for his work, per day. Let's also suppose he can buy some lower quality albums for $200 each (impossible, but let's say he can.) That leaves him with a profit of $200 for the weekend. Let's also say he is lucky enough to do this for 52 weeks a year. That means he earns $10,400 per year. Don't forget he needs to pay taxes on this. And, even though he may spend 10-12 hours at your wedding, he's not done yet... because during the week, he has to work on the computer to Photoshop perhaps over 1000+ images he shot at the wedding. Oh, and he's got to design the album layouts as well. Then he has to get his album design approved by the bride and that could take several revisions. After that, he's got to send in the order to the album company for printing and pay for the shipping costs to get it.

He'll meet with the bride again to deliver the album and any loose prints ordered.

Can he survive as a professional photographer if he earns $10,400 gross (before taxes, gas money, rent, equipment costs, repairs and general maintenance, insurance, etc.)?

I don't think so.

Really, if you are looking to hire a professional wedding photographer to photograph this important day in your life, plan on spending on average about $3500 on your wedding photography. I know, some wedding guides say you can do it for about $2500. But really, if you want an experienced photographer and a quality album that has been custom designed, it's going to cost you at least $3500 to find a professional. Packages can vary of course, but really, most brides should budget at least $3500 today to secure a quality photographer and a quality album. Let's get real. What are my package prices? They vary, but on average, most brides hire me in the $3500 to $4000 range. Some more, some less.

$400 complete? Yeah... the photographer would be paying you for the privilege of photographing your wedding. Yet, I'm sure you'll find someone who will be willing to do it for $400. But this might be the first wedding he's ever shot. And you'll get an album that probably cost him $20 from a department store. Professional? No way. Can you find someone to do it? I'm sure you can if you look around.