Photography Budgets

Jay&Marissa

Curious--what is/was your photography budget?

We spent $1800 (all day coverage, bridal session, photos on disc, no prints or album) and I was willing to go up to $2400, but that really would have been pushing it.

I felt like I was pretty much in the same range as a lot of people on this board, but now I'm wondering (for different reasons) if I was a cheapskate? I did love my photographer and she provided WONDERFUL work--this isn't a "regretful" post, I swear!

DFWIndian

Hey Marissa!! What's up?
I spent $2,500
I got:
One e-session
One Bridal - I changed to an e-session
All the editing and rights to these pictures right after the sessions
Two blow up 16X20 from each the shoots
2 photographers for the full day of the event
One bigger Album
Two Parent Albums
CD with edited pictures and rights after the wedding.

I think I got a lot for my money. I love her work and she's been awesome to work with! I honestly couldn't be happier with her.

KendallandAlbert

We are spending $3750 -

-Engagement Session - Set of DVDs including digital negative and 30-40 retouched images
-Bridal Session - set of DVDs including digital negatives and 30-40 retouched images
-Wedding Day - 7 hours of coverage with two photographers, set of DVDs including -Digital negatives and 200 + Retouched images
-Four 6x6 parent copies of our main album
-12x12 flush mount album
- The awesome chance to work with Chelsea and Mack :P

meghanttu08

Mine is 2695


with that I get:
-engagement session with 1 8x10 portrait and a 16x20 signature mat
-bridal session with 1 16x20 canvas portrait
-wedding day coverage
-album for us up to 100 images
-personalized website with online proofing and a proofing magazine
-2 parent albums

NathanandJordan

wow.......I spent $717. 
I get 5 hours of coverage and a cd with all the edited pics.  That's all I felt I needed.

angelsong21

Initially was going to spend $850 for e-pics and 6 hours wedding day coverage with a budget photographer because I thought it was crazy to pay more.  Unfortunately, $850 got me someone entirely unprofessional so we changed up and went with McGowans for a $2400 package.  Way more than we initially wanted to spend but after our first experience with the budget photographer, I am more than happy to pay the additional money.

MarieSD

I did not intend to spend more than 1k on my photographer, but I found a photographer I loved and she charged more than that, so I adjusted my budget. I definitely wasn't looking for any particular price point -- I didn't know what photographers charged when I was looking at all the websites to find one I liked.

I don't think price always reflects quality -- some of my vendors were outragiously inexpensive, but not sub-par in any way. We've all heard examples of vendors that are great for a low, low price -- Melody and Memories for DJ, Black Eyed Pea for catering, etc. I believe there are photographers out there charging a low price for amazing pictures.

I originally opted for a $2000 package (six hours of wedding day coverage) with my photographer (Stacie Tatum), but ended up adding enough things on to make the total cost, everything included, about $3000. I added an engagement session, coverage on Friday night for the rehearsal dinner, and an extra hour of wedding day coverage.

I got all the photographs on DVD. She also threw in a framed printed e-pic.

professorscience

We're spending 3,225.  We get two photographers, 8 hours of coverage, an online gallery, all the digital negatives, and a "platinum level" 12x12 album.  It's a little more than we thought we'd spend, but I really loved the photographer's work and I feel like photography is one of those places you can afford to splurge.

texaggie07

In the end we're spending around $2400. That includes an e-session (all photos edited and rights to photos on CD), Bridal session (all photos edited and rights to photos on CD), 8 hours of photography the day of (all photos edited (400-600+) and rights to photos on CD), 2 photographers the day of as well, and some prints but I don't remember the sizes.

bobbileighb

We paid 3,400 for:
epic session
10 hours of coverage with 2 photogs
40 page 12x12 flushmount album
2 8x8 parents albums (we traded these in for more pages in our album)
All digital negative plus an insane amount of edited pics

Marissa, also keep in mind that most of these prices are either 2011 or 2012 which will be increased from your 2010 wedding.

bsn1752

Marissa - Are you planning another wedding?!!   

sparklingdiamond

We paid $1400 for the wedding day, which included all the pictures on CD along with the rights and a photo album.

Then (this wasn't included in the package), we paid $200 for e-pics and $200 for bridals. 

I also paid for boudoir pics seperately, but they were with a different photographer.

fallbride1109

Sarah, I think you got the best deal by far--your pictures were lovely for what I consider a budget price.

I have you all beat so far so I'll just leave it at that.   I got an E-pic session with DVD/rights, 8+ hours of wedding photography with 3 shooters, DVD/rights, and a beautiful 40 page flush mount album.  I had my online gallery of pictures when I got back from my HM and my DVD (with over 800 photos) in the mail within a month.  My photographer showed up almost an hour early and started shooting and acted as my coordinator, sounding board, you name it.  I'd do it all again.  You just can't put a price on great wedding photography as far as I'm concerned.

bsn1752

We spent $900 and we got:

All day wedding coverage.  She arrived at 2 pm at the reception venue to begin taking pictures and then came over the ceremony site and continued.

CD of entire gallery of edited pics (about 900 pictures total), and rights.

Engagement pictures with the CD and rights.

Boudior pictures with CD and rights (part of a Marathon).

My photographer was fairly new to weddings, but she has some under her belt now.  My only complaint was she only got 1 pic of me walking down the aisle... and my tounge was out.  I was majorly upset about that.

sparklingdiamond

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/local-wedding-boards_texas-dallas-ft-worth_photography-budgets?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Local Wedding BoardsForum:102Discussion:19490b20-0224-44f9-b0ed-3b67d8a4359bPost:5b18c820-992b-4ec3-ae69-a2972ff0d3e3">Re: Photography Budgets</a>:
[QUOTE]Sarah, I think you got the best deal by far--your pictures were lovely for what I consider a budget price. Posted by stephiehall[/QUOTE]

Thank you!  :-)  The only thing is that I definitely didn't get nearly as many pictures as everyone else.  I think it ended up being around 485 total.

KendallandAlbert

[QUOTE]You just can't put a price on great wedding photography as far as I'm concerned.
Posted by stephiehall[/QUOTE]

This. :)

FebDallasBride

I spent $170/hour ($1120 for six hours) and that included an e-session or bridal session, plus print credits. I'm sure when It's all said and done I will be adding on more time though.

mandaroo7

We paid $1000 for the wedding day (from 2-11pm), which included all pictures on CD along with the rights in a cute lil cd album.  

Then (this wasn't included in the package), we paid $150 for e-pics.

We received over 1500 edited pictures total.

bobbileighb

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/local-wedding-boards_texas-dallas-ft-worth_photography-budgets?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Local Wedding BoardsForum:102Discussion:19490b20-0224-44f9-b0ed-3b67d8a4359bPost:5b18c820-992b-4ec3-ae69-a2972ff0d3e3">Re: Photography Budgets</a>:
[QUOTE]<strong>Sarah, I think you got the best deal by far--your pictures were lovely for what I consider a budget price. I have you all beat so far so I'll just leave it at that.</strong>   I got an E-pic session with DVD/rights, 8+ hours of wedding photography with 3 shooters, DVD/rights, and a beautiful 40 page flush mount album.  I had my online gallery of pictures when I got back from my HM and my DVD (with over 800 photos) in the mail within a month.  My photographer showed up almost an hour early and started shooting and acted as my coordinator, sounding board, you name it.  I'd do it all again.  You just can't put a price on great wedding photography as far as I'm concerned.
Posted by stephiehall[/QUOTE]

I agree you got one heck of a deal for the quality.
I also agree that I would do it all over again (and pay more if necessary) because we just clicked with our photogs and I feel we were very taken care of by them.

mandaroo7

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/local-wedding-boards_texas-dallas-ft-worth_photography-budgets?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Local Wedding BoardsForum:102Discussion:19490b20-0224-44f9-b0ed-3b67d8a4359bPost:5b18c820-992b-4ec3-ae69-a2972ff0d3e3">Re: Photography Budgets</a>:
[QUOTE] I have you all beat so far so I'll just leave it at that.   I got an E-pic session with DVD/rights, 8+ hours of wedding photography with 3 shooters, DVD/rights, and a beautiful 40 page flush mount album.  I had my online gallery of pictures when I got back from my HM and my DVD (with over 800 photos) in the mail within a month.  My photographer showed up almost an hour early and started shooting and acted as my coordinator, sounding board, you name it.  I'd do it all again.  You just can't put a price on great wedding photography as far as I'm concerned.
Posted by stephiehall[/QUOTE]

Stephie, I had to go look at all of your pictures again.  Love them all, Lynn Michelle does awesome work!

candacenicoleb

Wow! These are some great values! Who is everyone using? I am still looking for a photographer.

meghanttu08

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/local-wedding-boards_texas-dallas-ft-worth_photography-budgets?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Local Wedding BoardsForum:102Discussion:19490b20-0224-44f9-b0ed-3b67d8a4359bPost:fc8d58ff-0d46-468f-b9b4-96f692792a79">Re: Photography Budgets</a>:
[QUOTE]Wow! These are some great values! Who is everyone using? I am still looking for a photographer.
Posted by candacenicoleb[/QUOTE]

look at our sticky at the top with all the photographers. The one that is on weebly has the photographer and the knottie who is using them. :-)

KendallandAlbert

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/local-wedding-boards_texas-dallas-ft-worth_photography-budgets?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Local%20Wedding%20BoardsForum:102Discussion:19490b20-0224-44f9-b0ed-3b67d8a4359bPost:fc8d58ff-0d46-468f-b9b4-96f692792a79">Re: Photography Budgets</a>:
[QUOTE]Wow! These are some great values! Who is everyone using? I am still looking for a photographer.
Posted by candacenicoleb[/QUOTE]

I know Angel, Crash, Niki, TexanTreasure, Bobbileighb, and I are all using/used McGowan Images.

fallbride1109

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/local-wedding-boards_texas-dallas-ft-worth_photography-budgets?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Local Wedding BoardsForum:102Discussion:19490b20-0224-44f9-b0ed-3b67d8a4359bPost:86b1422f-b9e9-434b-add6-253542953769">Re: Photography Budgets</a>:
[QUOTE]We paid $1000 for the wedding day (from 2-11pm), which included all pictures on CD along with the rights in a cute lil cd album.   Then (this wasn't included in the package), we paid $150 for e-pics. We received over 1500 edited pictures total.
Posted by mandaroo7[/QUOTE]

WHOA!  Ok, you may be rivaling Sarah for the best deal ever!!  Your pics were so beautiful too.  I would highly recommend either Sarah's or Amanda's photographers.  (The only thing is Amanda had to wait wayyyy too long for hers.)

And of course I love my photographer Lynn Michelle and highly recommend her for someone who doesn't mind paying a little more. (Thanks Amanda!)

sparklingdiamond

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/local-wedding-boards_texas-dallas-ft-worth_photography-budgets?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Local Wedding BoardsForum:102Discussion:19490b20-0224-44f9-b0ed-3b67d8a4359bPost:02663b05-75a1-4a47-a74d-4314160cd3cb">Re: Photography Budgets</a>:
[QUOTE]In Response to Re: Photography Budgets : WHOA!  Ok, you may be rivaling Sarah for the best deal ever!!  Your pics were so beautiful too.  I would highly recommend either Sarah's or Amanda's photographers.  (The only thing is Amanda had to wait wayyyy too long for hers.) And of course I love my photographer Lynn Michelle and highly recommend her for someone who doesn't mind paying a little more. (Thanks Amanda!)
Posted by stephiehall[/QUOTE]

That was another thing I loved about my photographer.  She got some sneak peeks to me while we were on our honeymoon and we got all of our pictures in less than a month after the wedding.  Plus I just love her as a person.  We got along so well! :-)  Stephie- did you see just the ones on Facebook or did I send you the link to all of them?

bsn1752

... to stand up for my photog... I thought she did a really great job and I think I got a pretty fabulous deal too! 

But yes, Amanda and Sarah had gorgeous pics! I really haven't seen anyone's pics from TK that I didn't like!

als0822

Sarah and Amanda who were your photographers? Do you have sites you are willing to share for us future brides our there?

bsn1752

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/local-wedding-boards_texas-dallas-ft-worth_photography-budgets?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Local Wedding BoardsForum:102Discussion:19490b20-0224-44f9-b0ed-3b67d8a4359bPost:ad4b856a-f262-436b-b1e5-542b450335cc">Re: Photography Budgets</a>:
[QUOTE]Sarah and Amanda who were your photographers? Do you have sites you are willing to share for us future brides our there?
Posted by als0822[/QUOTE]

<a href="http://dfwknotties.weebly.com/photographers.html">http://dfwknotties.weebly.com/photographers.html</a>

mandaroo7

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/local-wedding-boards_texas-dallas-ft-worth_photography-budgets?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Local Wedding BoardsForum:102Discussion:19490b20-0224-44f9-b0ed-3b67d8a4359bPost:02663b05-75a1-4a47-a74d-4314160cd3cb">Re: Photography Budgets</a>:
[QUOTE]In Response to Re: Photography Budgets : WHOA!  Ok, you may be rivaling Sarah for the best deal ever!!  Your pics were so beautiful too.  I would highly recommend either Sarah's or Amanda's photographers. <strong> (The only thing is Amanda had to wait wayyyy too long for hers.) </strong> Posted by stephiehall[/QUOTE]

I should have mentioned this yes, it was a long wait (almost 2 months).  Although, normally my photographer's brides receive their pics within a month.  I knew she was taking vacation and moving right after our wedding.  We did receive our e-pics in less than a month.  Both times she provided sneak peeks on FB.

marksle84

I bought a package deal with Subtle-image.

For $3000 I got:
E-pics with all proofs on disk- he edited our top favorites
Bridal Pics
Framed 16x20 bridal portrait for reception (and gift for mom)
6 hours day of w/ one photographer (its $400 for an addt. photog)
12x12 flush mount album
2- 8x8 matching parent albums
Online Gallery (promised within 2 weeks after wedding)
Disk with rights to all images

mandaroo7

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/local-wedding-boards_texas-dallas-ft-worth_photography-budgets?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Local Wedding BoardsForum:102Discussion:19490b20-0224-44f9-b0ed-3b67d8a4359bPost:ef0f053b-22b7-4cfa-a64e-825fb42ad7e1">Re: Photography Budgets</a>:
[QUOTE]... to stand up for my photog... I thought she did a really great job and I think I got a pretty fabulous deal too!  :) <strong>But yes, Amanda and Sarah had gorgeous pics! I really haven't seen anyone's pics from TK that I didn't like!
</strong>Posted by bsn1752[/QUOTE]

Ah thanks Brianna and I totally agree with you on everyone's pics from TK!