A Friend is doing the photography. How much?!

samandmatt91011

We're having a friend of ours do the photography for our wedding. He does it on the side. He's done weddings before, but he's not a professional. We're not sure what's fair to offer to him.

We're paying for the entire wedding ourselves, and he's aware of that. We were thinking of maybe paying for his hotel room that night and then paying him a fee for taking the pictures. He's going to be included in the seating chart for dinner...any thoughts of what is fair?

KristenPhotography

There are several schools of thought on this:

1. Hire an amateur and receive amateur photography
2. Pay him lower wages and decrease the integrity of the profession.

He should already know what he wants to charge, it's like going into a restaurant and having the chef ask you how much you think you should pay for a meal.

For professionals, hotel should be included if it's out of town.

All that said, there really is no set rule for fees. I currently charge $1600 for 6 hours, but I've seen as high as $3000 or more. You must also count the hours he's not at your wedding, sitting in front of a computer for hours on end, editing your images. plus prep work, expertise, travel time, and equipment he may have to rent.

Finally, I recently read an article on Martha Stewart which says you should allocate 10% of your budget for each vendor. You have a $5000 budget, this means the photographer gets $500.

Hope that helps!

jerbran2011

I am in the exact same situation.  My photographer and I have been kind of going back and forth over price.  It seems that neither of us want to make the first move and suggest a price.  I feel for someone not being a professional $500 would be a safe move.  Ovbiously the friend knows he is not a professional so he shouldn't expect professional prices.  I think I am going to try and offer $500 and see where it goes from there. 

younge bride 101

I am paying my non perfessional (like he has never done a wedding) 500

lana2007

Is your wedding going to add greatly to his portfolio? Meaning is it unique with beautiful details and pretty people? If not, then you have to pay him more, if so, that addition to the portfolio is worth a lot. I think 500 + hotel room  is a good starting point too.