Yes, there is a wedding photographer for EVERY budget
While you going through the motions of planning the wedding, one thing tends to pop into most couple’s minds, funding the wedding and how to best go about it.
Regular followers of the blog already know about the wedding budget, how to make it and stick to it, but we’ve really never chatted about you being able to truly afford a photographer.
Today, we will expose some unspoken truths about our industry.
CAN you find a wedding photographer within YOUR Budget?
The simple answer is yes you can.
If you only have a couple of hundred bucks or you have $25,000 to spend on a wedding photographer, chances are you will be able to secure someone for your wedding day.
However, that being said, there is a huge disconnect between someone that charges a couple of hundred bucks and someone that charges a few thousand.
That my friends are quality, the experience, equipment and results that you will get at the end of the wedding. Well, I’m not getting into quality today, but know there is a huge difference.
What I do want to do is break down those 4 wedding vendor’s classifications with regards to photography to help you better understand what is it that you can normally expect.
I will tell you that some vendors tend to overlap these depending on their talents, pricing, and the like too.
The 4 Types of Wedding Photographers
Budget Wedding Photographers
We all have to start somewhere, right?
Truthfully, in years past, if you wanted to get into the wedding industry you would work for someone for a while, shadow them, be a second shooter, and the like.
Today, only a handful of people do this, many just run out and buy what’s called a starter camera kit or educational camera, sometimes called a starter kit, and off they go into the wedding business.
These budget photographers are going to range under $1,000 usually with more in the $500 range.
They usually have the following:
Limited experience in weddings
Lower quality gear, a limited amount of gear, typically not suited for low light or redundancy.
A limited understanding of their tech and wedding workflows
They are still in the learning process
Now, there is nothing wrong with that, in fact, I see a lot of people in the classification with great potential.
Some will take a year to get into the Mid-Range market, others, well, let’s just say they will remain at this level.
In part, it’s not their work as it is more about running a business and being successful at it.
With photographers in this category, you should be able to expect average images, you will get a limited ‘experience’ with their services.
Is there anything wrong with hiring a budget photographer?
No, there isn’t, but, don’t expect filet mignon when you’re going to get a hamburger.
Mid-Range Wedding Photographers
This is the most popular range of photographers in the industry.
They are more times going to have professional-grade gear with extras that a budget photographer might not have or think about, many times they will create an experience as a client through their business model and they are going to have some good talent in this category.
Most will be priced in the $1,500 to $3,500 range and they will offer value in their services, sometimes with second shooters or lots of value-added bolt on’s like USBs, warranties, engagement sessions, etc.
Couples that book within the category tend to be much happier with the work they receive and most have a great deal of experience in what they are doing both behind the camera and at the wedding too.
High-End Wedding Photographers
A step above the mid-range market, these are usually much more ‘creative’ people that offer good imagery like the mid-range counterparts, but they also are great at offering what millennials like to call “the experience”.
You’ll normally find pricing from $3,000 to $6,000+ and many of these professionals will tailor themselves to a demographic with more disposable income than the mid-range pros.
The primary difference between the two categories, high-end vendors will be more personable and offer clients more of that ‘dreamy’ vision the bride had as a little girl.
You’ll typically see these pros in many magazines and speaking events.
Luxury Wedding Photographers
In a class by itself, this is the rarest and most expensive category, usually ranging in the $10,000-25,000+ price range. I want you to think celebrities, people of influence, and those that can easily afford top-shelf vendors.
In fact, it’s extremely hard to book one of these professionals and they make up just under 3% (2.6%) of the wedding photographers.
Most of these wedding photogs will not even work with you unless you were referred by other important people or celebrities.
Even as a professional, I only know of two of them personally and they travel the world for these clients.
Which Wedding Photographer Type Is BEST For You?
Whichever falls into your wedding budget of course!
The great thing about our industry is that there is usually a photographer for just about every budget in the marketplace. If you don’t know approximately how much you should be spending, use our online wedding photography budget tool below.
If you’re seeking an average cost that couples tend to spend, well it depends.
Of the nearly 90% of couples that hired a wedding photographer in 2019, the average cost was $2,400.
Average Cost of Wedding Photographers
Now, that doesn’t mean you need to spend $2,400 or even should unless your budget calls for it.
There is this huge disconnect between wanting to know what others paid for their wedding photographer and the reality of your own budget.
It’s a psychology process called the social comparison and in a nutshell, it means this:
You see what others have or did and by nature, you want the same thing.
We see this all the time on social media with brands like Nike, Apple, or Amazon.
The truth is you can get by without any of these things, but through social comparison, you too want to be that cool kid on the street so to speak.
Getting back to weddings, couples will often ask, “who did you use for wedding XYZ?” or “what’s a good wedding _____ vendor that I should hire?”.
Instead, the question you should be asking yourself is this:
“Can my wedding photographer budget of (amount) provide me with the level of services I want for my wedding day?”
The Cost to Experience Trade-Off
Generally speaking, the more you pay for a vendor’s services, the more experience they have. Sure, there are always exceptions to the rule, but more times, the more you pay, the better overall your wedding is going to be.
Let me show you an example.
Price vs Experience
This chart shows the cost of the professionals and their experience level.
The longer the wedding photographer has been in the business, the more experience they have, in turn, that experience results in better images, a better overall experience with them, and the happier you will generally become with those results.
The sweet spot is just about anyone after the 10-year mark in the industry.
When searching for a company (person) that is going to check off all your wedding photographer boxes, you need to do the following:
Make sure they are within the budget you have set aside for them. I generally tell couples to have a plus-minus of about 10% to 15% and those that fall within that range should be considered.
Make sure that your expectations are understood upfront. Paying someone $500 for wedding photos will not result in magazine cover quality images, so just know that before booking.
Don’t overspend. I see many couples book a $4,000 or $5,000 photographer when they could have selected an equally capable one for $3,000 with the same quality, style, and experience. The wedding industry is emotionally driven (similar to the car industry believe it or not) and you need to set your emotions aside before you book with any vendor.
Sure, but I REALLY like this photographer that’s out of our budget, what can I do?
Listen, we get it. You found a wedding photographer’s work that you love and you will do anything to book them.
Okay, my question is this, what are you going to sacrifice within your wedding to hire them?
You have three choices in the matter.
You can pay for them and fork out more money. That means you have to figure out where that additional money is going to come from and who is going to pay for it?
You can pay for them and adjust something on the budget in order to hire them. That means maybe have a lesser quality dinner, perhaps skip out on something like a DJ or cut back on the amount of alcohol you plan to have.
You can skip them and find someone else that is better suited to your budget.
I can tell you that wedding photographers hate it when we talk about this subject because it hurts their bottom line.
Advertising is about the only line of business that doesn’t want your money, they charge others for the medium to help you decide, besides that, every other business does, including the wedding industry.
We tell couples all the time that if they don’t have a budget that matches our services, don’t hire us. We’d rather have you happy than worrying about being in debt over your wedding and not everyone likes what we have to offer.
That’s perfectly okay.
So, yes, there is a wedding vendor for just about every budget, you need to find the right professionals that will give you the best bang for your buck and stop looking/asking who everyone else is using for their big day.
