photograpghy question

Eisel2Be

are photographers negotiable? I assumed they were since most offer custom packages, however i don't want to try to negotiate my package and look like a fool!

nay1984

To be honest..from my experience there wasnt a lot i could negotiate. my photographers gave me a deal because my family has used them before but once they got to that number that was IT. From what Ive seen I feel like their prices are quite set but for that amount you might get them to throw in more for that amount. but you can try to feel them out

ChiGirl2013

Not usually.  You can always tell them "Well, our budget is $xyz for photography, do you have anything in that price range?"  That might be enough to get them to negotiate a little but I doubt you'll get them to come down very much.  Like nay said, they will usually throw something in for free or do an upgrade before they lower their prices. 

Our photographer is taking almost half our wedding budget.  GAH!

erbear84

You might be able to negotiate with some of the add-ons photographers provide, like albums and giant prints and whatnot.  I wouldn't say that would knock a ton off the quoted price, but you never know until you ask!

vk2204

It depends on what photog you use. If you use a well known very pricey one, I doubt they will be willing to negotiate.

But if you go with a newer one I definitely think they will help you out. I have emailed a few to get a feel for them and all replied saying they would be willing to work with me. My photog is newer and she has been very accomodating to us. We opted out of an engagement session (but I am using that to do a boudoir shoot for FI). But since she doesn't have a huge portfolio yet she is throwing in a small engagement session for us because it will help her out too.

It can't hurt to try!

Winnertag1

I think they are, mine is a well known pricey one but we negotiated her price & she gave me a good deal on one of her packages otherwise she would have been way out of our price range

redjellybean128

like PP I think they are more negotiable on the extras than they are on the bottom line.  When we were looking, we found that  many of the photographers who charged extra for a disc or usb stick of the images "right released" would throw it in for us when we mentioned that other photographers were providing, but their package price/hourly rates remained the same.

shipsinthenight

Another option, if you can't get them to come down in price you might be able to save by doing some of the printing yourself. If you don't mind the extra work, as long as you have your photos on a CD and permission to reprint them, you can probably save money by doing your prints somewhere else like Target or Walmart, and your album with a service like Shutterfly and a groupon or discount code. Lots of brides on the budget and DIY boards go this rout, and I'm fairly certain we will too. Just make sure you plan the time to put together your albums and prints in a timely manner, especially for friends and family. Also, you may eleminate some of the pressure to choose your prints quickly, giving you more time to live with the photos before you print them.