African American Weddings

My Photog Experience(kinda long)

Alright ladies. I went to meet with a photographer today, and OMG WTF!!! I know some people are made out of money but me and my Fi are not. I am a stay at home mom so we working with one income. With that said here's what he told me for 6 hours 2 photogse-pics 1(5x8 each)bridals and family picalbum(smallest available)dvd with rights40 walletsIs 4995.00. I know in some places this might be a steal but for houston tx and my house this is outrageous. I told the FI that we must gon eat sandwiches at the wedding lol.  I talked to another photog after that and set up a meeting with him for friday. I asked him beforehand how much was his basic package and he said 1800 which included everything except the family pic and wallets(which is fine). Plus  they will stay 8 hours instead of 6. I really only need 6 hours so I'm going to see what kinda discount I can get. LOL. Pray for this mtg. I really wanted to find a photog before Fi went back to work.

Re: My Photog Experience(kinda long)

  • edited December 2011
    Good Lord! People need to eat...I swear some photogs are great but their prices are reedunkulous....
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  • viccimarieviccimarie member
    10 Comments
    edited December 2011
    I will pray for you and this meeting girl! I got married this past weekend and I found a photographer that was awesome and her prices were unbelievable. In my package I got 6 hrs coverage, CD with all rights, 8x10, 40 4x6, digital editing, e-pics all for $250!! Before I found her I already had put a deposit down on another photog that was 1200. I did a lot lot research and google is amazing. If you don't find one you absolutely love don't get it. I hope your meeting goes well! Keep us posted
  • edited December 2011
    Those prices are ridiculous. As soon as he said FOUR THOUSAND.....I would have grabbed FI and headed out the door. I would continue to search. Also look into the local colleges for photography students. You can also go to www.modelmayhem.com to look. I found a photographer there in the area where we are getting married and she will charge me $450 for just a CD w/print rights & digital editing. I don't care to have an album since I plan to DIY my own. See what you can negotiate out of a package if you don't really need it.
  • edited December 2011
    $5K is outrageous. Try and play up your need for only 6 hours. (I did this with a photobooth vendor and ended up getting 2 hours of service for his hourly rate and don't have to pay for him to travel to Gboro...all by just asking). Are you willing to do your own printing because if so that can drop the cost too.  Just ask for printing rights and print whenever you want. Also if your wedding day/time/venue is a lil different from the norm then ask for a discount that way too. For example, our photog was very motivated to shoot at Kress since he never did a wedding there. Our wedding is on a Thursday which is an off day too. We used this to our advantage. It never hurts to ask for a discounted rate.  In this economic environment, the consumer is actually in a lot of power to get service providers to work with us.  They need clients and I have seen lately have been bending a lil on deposits, price, payment plan, etc. in order to get the work in.
  • braxtongirlbraxtongirl member
    Eighth Anniversary 100 Comments
    edited December 2011
    Ridiculous! I live in the DMV area where you know that everything is inflated. I paid $5500 for photography, video, invitations, programs, Wall size (16x20 or the next size up) framed photo, photo album (the nice one where pictures are pages (not matted), love story video, slideshow, she was there from 2 to 10:30. Engagement session and b-pics. So please shop around.
  • edited December 2011
    Kristi,You might need more than 6 hours if you want the photog getting you or your FI as you are getting dressed.  Just a thought.
  • edited December 2011
    Thanks for the support ladies. @Deidra I was thinking the wedding won't start until 630 and I was thinking that if the Photog got there by 430 or 5 they could catch me putting on my dress and we could take a few pictures with me and the girls first then him and the guys. We have to be out of the building by 12. So I am thinking that 5 or 6 hours will be sufficient. Thank You for the advice.@viccimarie Where did you find your photog. LOL.
  • edited December 2011
    Kristi girl who the heck shooting your wedding? That is a lot for a photographer. We got a deal thru our WC. He will be with us for 6 hrs. We will have all of our photos on DVD with rights exclusively ours. He is doing our album, we will also get wallets (forgot how many and I am not going to guess-to-mate or lie but I know we get quite a few lol), 5x8's and I am paying extra for the 16 x 20 and all of that for a whopping $400. As all the other ladies said, please shop around. Look on craigslist in your area. Everything. You can find deals out there. GL
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