Pricing - Choosing Your Wedding Photographer (Part 3)

Buckle up,  it's Part 3 of 4 in our Choosing Your Wedding Photographer Series. 

Today we are talking about the part that makes a lot of people most uncomfortable - Pricing! 

A lot of people advise that your photography should be about 10% of your overall budget, and while that's a good starting point for some, it's not the whole story. Let's take a look at what goes into pricing.

After you're done, don't forget to mark it down and join me tonight at 4:30pm on live video to learn more (i'm even going to share what my wedding cost and what our photography cost too) and have your pricing questions answered!

I'd love to say budget doesn't matter but I live in the real world too!

I would love to sit here and say price should be no object ‐ if you love a photographers portfolio, personality, and products book them right away and to heck with the consequences ‐ but, like you I live in the real world.

The investment in photography is definitely a factor in your decision, but don’t make it the only factor. More often than not, you get what you pay for in images, products and service.

Consider your wedding budget, take a look at the advice in wedding magazines, but then take a moment to look at your priorities. The budgets you find in wedding magazines are meant to give you are starting point, but only you can decide what is most important to you. Put the items on your budget in priority order and spend your money on the things that mean the most to you. (I spent more than half my total wedding budget on my photography ‐ I knew how I wanted my day remembered)

Do you come from a big traditional Italian family for example? Then catering is likely a priority in the planning of your wedding day. Are you excited to dance the night away with your nearest and dearest? Than your DJ and entertainment are likely a priority for you. When the night is over, the food eaten, the dancing done, do you want to have something special to remember your wedding day by? Than maybe photography should be your priority.

Don’t be afraid to ask your photographer about working together. Many photographers are willing to work out custom payment plans to break the cost down into more manageable chunks. Don’t forget to talk to your family too, you might be surprised how willing they may be to help with your photography costs when they really know how important it is to you.