Carole and I tend to run across this common question a lot, especially on social media like Facebook and the funny thing is that when a bride asks this question, they will literally get 100 different wedding photographers dropping their own website with pricing.

It’s like a shark feeding frenzy and that puts a sour taste in a clients mouth. (I think used car sales guy myself)

“Buy! Buy! Buy! I’m available! I’m cheaper! Book with me! We can help and we’re $X,XXX. ”

No wonder couples have such a hard time trying to get the answer to their question and honestly they are asking the question wrong to being with.

Well, today, we’re going to explore that a bit, give you the correct answer to the correct question that you should be asking!

What Should I be Paying for my Wedding Photography?

I recently came across another bride asking about wedding photography and how much she should be paying.

Well, thats like tossing out bait for a bunch of photographers, it’s not going to get your answer solved, only a bunch of ‘ads’ and what other brides have paid.

Instead, you need to turn to your wedding budget, the overall number you plan on spending to find the answer to your own question.

The answer depends on how much that number is and it’s literally going to determine how much you need to spend on a wedding photographer instead of a bunch of us just telling you to pick one of us, while you get bombarded with ton’s of “buy me and my service” answers.

Using this small tool above, you simply input how much money you want to spend for the entire wedding and it will give you a range of pricing. If you’re spending $10,000 on a wedding, then you need to look for someone in the $900-$1,300 range. Spending say $30,000, then look for someone in the $2,700-$3,900 safely.

Think About it This Way for a Moment

When you jump online and ask how much should you pay, thats a lot like walking into a car dealership and asking the same question.

Of course, you’re going to get all sorts of answers, price ranges and offers.

But the truth is maybe you only need a $2,500 moped instead of a $60,000 sports car because work is only a mile away. Paying $60 grand is far more than what you need.

Well, the wedding industry is much the same and many wedding photographer counter parts hate it when I educate couples in the right way of going about the wedding industry and saving money.

Most full-time wedding vendors WANT you to hire them and spend as much money as you can with them. I get it, I was in the same boat myself a few years back.

Take the example from earlier, when the bride was asking a question to other brides, not vendors and got mostly vendor responses.

Just look at how crazy this is.

Honestly, this does generate business to a certain point, but what vendors don’t understand is that they don’t have a clue what this brides budget is, apparently neither does she.

She needs to go back to square one and start with an overall budget and work her way downward.

How to Best Ask For a Vendor Referral on Facebook?

Believe it or not, there is a SAFE way to ask when it comes to getting the budget answers online.

Use a range and be specific.

Here is a great example to use:

“ISO a wedding photographer for Sept. 13th 2020 in the Roanoke region. My price range is $900-$1,300 and I love natural style images.”

That is going to do a couple of things for you, first, it will weed out who can operate on that day.

Second, it will also weed out those that are way over priced for your wedding and those that come way below your cost too. Finally, having a range will help keep those that are true contenders in line with your needs. Maybe $1,300 is a bit of a stretch, but they offer some value-added service that the $1,100 photographer doesn’t and maybe its worth that cost?

In either case, we recommend that you be specific in your queries online otherwise, you’ll be like a piece of fish bait in a pool of photographers waiting to chomp at you with messages, those “we can help, we’re $X,XXX and our site is blah-blah-blah…” messages or even “I sent you a PM” messages.

Click the link below if you need to give out wedding budget tool a try and start from there before asking a bunch of vendor how much you should be spending, they’ll spit out whatever they offer instead of giving you the answers you need.