Wedding Photography poll

topchef33

I had originally thought $2500 would be a good budget.....then I found an amazing photographer with the lowest package being $3500 (w/o travel costs), which is doable....But the package I'd really like is over $5k.

Did you go over what you originally budgeted? Did you have to cut certain things in order to afford it?

RachNRich

Our photog was $798. And he was with us for 10 hours. I couldn't justify spending much more than that.

squirrelly29

Planned on between 3 and 4k. The package we chose is 3400 so right in budget. There is a higher package but dont think we would get enough extras to justify it.

sweetpea0911

I'm planning between 1000-2500, but the closer to 1000 I can get, the better.  The photog I really like has some decent packages for that rate, and as much as I want good photos, I can't spend much more.

julezlee

Ours was $2,800 for two photogs.  We looked around at a lot of people and found that 3k was the range for the style and level we wanted. Also, photography was one of our big priorities (and it's NYC). 

K Byte

Ours was $3000 with all day coverage, 2 photographers. We get all the photos high resolution on a DVD; that was actually my only must-have. $3000 was our limit, but photographers go A LOT higher in my area (and some are incredibly overpriced, but that's another topic).

squirrly

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/wedding-boards_etiquette_wedding-photography-poll?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Wedding%20BoardsForum:9Discussion:c46ca48b-fa1e-46a1-8815-ffa3cd780947Post:6194f90f-47c8-46b0-bec6-d15607e05a20">Re: Wedding Photography poll</a>:
[QUOTE]Ours was $2,800 for two photogs.  We looked around at a lot of people and found that 3k was the range for the style and level we wanted. Also, photography was one of our big priorities (and it's NYC). 
Posted by julezlee[/QUOTE]

This.  Except, in Kentucky.

mags0607

I am spending around $1300 for photography day of, wedding book and engagement photos. We got ridiculously lucky though, as I was planing to spend around 2500 for everything.

katiewhompus

My photog was actually a friend of my dads. We paid him with a new flash for his camera. I think a professional could have probably posed the pictures better or been a bit more creative but I still absolutely loved them.

mrsamyjones

Our photographer is $800 dollars for all day coverage with an assistant and a free engagement session. Took me forever to find him, but I'm extremely happy with his work. The easiest photographers to find are always the most expensive.

scoetto

J's boyfriend (bff/bromance, whatever) did ours. We paid him $400. We also paid for a hotel room for the night for him so he could party with us later (but we did that as a thank you). And continued to shoot while we were all drinking and having fun. He shot for at least 9 hours. He did a really good job - could've been slightly more creative, but he's just starting out.

amagwire

It depends on your area, like with any vendor.  It's one of the areas I would alway suggest spending a little extra $ on that you anticipated.  You truly do get what you pay for.  People do luck out for cheap, but I certainly would never bet on it.  It is a time consuming and labor intensive process, if you do it right, so I have no issue with spending my nearly $4K.

baystateapple

The day we got engaged, a friend of ours who is a photographer and opening up her own studio offered to take our pictures for us.  She's charging us $800.  We get her all day the day of the wedding, and she's giving us the high-res photos on CD.  We haven't talked about doing an album or anything yet.

fallbride1109

The photographer I wanted was a little over what we originally planned.  I was honest and told her what we wanted and although it ended up being more than what we originally budgeted for, she helped us make it work and it was totally worth it in the end.  Wedding photographers in Dallas run the gamut from just starting to really high end and ours was somewhere in the upper middle I would say.  I would say go with who you really want, but maybe just get a smaller package--be honest and tell them what you want/need and what your budget is and see what they can do.  That advice was given to me and I'm glad I followed it.

Islamorada14

We paid $1400 for full-day (8+ hours)  of coverage and a DVD of digital negatives.  This was for a photographer with all 5 star ratings on Wedding Wire, so we thought we were safe.  She ended up being very late (3 pm arrival when ceremony starts at 4), brought her boyfriend as a second shooter, and only stayed until we cut the cake. Our photos were meh.

I SO WISH we hadn't cheaped out.  Our favorite photographer's starting package was $2900.  I'm 100% sure she would have been well worth the money and I truly regret not booking her.

LaceyMK

Photos are one of the few tangible items you get to keep from your big day.
Get the very best you can afford.
An experienced photographer will be able to scout out the subtle moments as well as the obvious Kodak moments.

andyandhillary

We are paying $1600 I believe.  Our budget was quite limited.  At the same time though, I didn't need the super artsy pictures. For $1600 we are getting two photographers, a number of prints, and 6 hours of service.  Their business was also new but I was impressed with their pictures.  I guess we'll see how it goes! 

lindz221

We are paying $2,000 for all-day coverage and a cd with hi-res negatives. It is a friend of the family who is starting out, he's done some great work so far though and I'm really excited. I'm glad we booked him last year because his rates already went up this year!

momofayden

My phtog definitely has a 5000 package which I would have LOVED to have but it included alot of things i didn't want like a bridal and engagement shoot, coverage of the rehearsal.  So I told her exactly what i was looking for a she tailored a package to fit our needs.  So it came in around the middle of 4000.

wcvsb3b5

Our photographer is $600. That includes engagement pics, jack and jill party, formals, ceremony, and reception. We get the cd with the rights to all of the pics.

Samwise16

Ours is $5,000+ BUT FI's parents insisted on paying for photography.. His mom has pictures everywhere and really wanted a nice photo album and was all into the different sessions... She told me to pick whoever we wanted and get the package with the most stuff.

My mom (who has offered to pay for everything else) was super relieved.  

bcolvin10

We booked The Pros... a Best of Knot Pick actually.  Total cost: $1,860.  Includes: 9 hours coverage, digital negatives on CD-rom, an album holding up to 90 photos, 60 extra prints, 2 parent albums, and web-hosting.  Great deal for what I could find.  I'm also from the Chicago area.

lindseroo

I cannot imagine spending as much as some people are!!  Granted my entire wedding budget is $10,000.  The photographer we will most likely go with is actually someone I went to HS with.  He has been doing it for awhile though, so he's not like the horrible "friend" photographer.  Anyway he charges $600 for unlimited time and shots, with an assistant.  A week later, we get all images (most of them edited) on a CD with printing rights.  That's what I'm talking about.

ARez726

$2000 for 8 hours of coverage, 1 big album, 2 parent albums, a large framed photo I belive...and rights to all of the photos.  I considered this a good deal!!

jrksle

Our budget was $1200, but we found a photographer that we both loved whose 6 hour package was $1250.  Close enough. He's awesome!  So glad we found him.

latourelle83

We got a photographer who is by the hour.  So we are getting 8 hrs of coverage for $600.  My brother is an Amazing photographer and so he will be taking most of the pictures which the photographer said is fine.  He is in the wedding though so he can't take all of them

sjnsjnsjn

I didn't want to spend more than $1000 but found out this was completely impossible in NY.  I ended up finding a great photog who would do 5 hrs w/ second shooter for $2400... Still well worth it, I think.

LEESHY09

We are so lucky on this one! The photographer I would have loved to have was about 5k and we just couldn't swing that, so we looked at our options and realized we are blessed to know several people who would be happy to help us out. We are getting a friend to do our photography and she is amazing!  It is going to be $800 for a full day, printing and everything. She is still trying to get her business going so it was a win-win for both of us. We also got my maid of honor to take our engagement pictures and we get so many compliments on them! All she charged us for was printing so we plan on giving her a really nice thank you present closer to the wedding. It definitely pays to know people!

dibsontop

We're spending $1900 which includes the full day (no hrs restrictions), cd with full rights, some printed enlargements, and the rehersal dinner.

I saw some photographers with absolutely beautiful work and would love to have spent more, but it just wasn't in the budget.

cutie02girl

Everyone I've ever talked to that is already married said to splurge on your photographer b/c the photos will document your whole day. We are spending $2200 and that is for engagement pics/album, guestbook album made with our engagement pics, all day coverage with 2 photographers, the release to our pics, and an album. And we are adding on the extra $800 b/c my mom wants to do a photobooth. If you can afford it, I would go with whatever you wanted.  You might regret it later if you don't. 

mybestfriendsfuturemrs

We're spending a little over $2K for our photographer & videographer. Which includes a team of 4 people (2 photogs/2 video).

- Free Engagement Session w/complimentary 8x10
- Unlimited time, unlimited locations
- Slide Show Preview at the reception
- Deluxe color proof book
- Online Photo Display & Ordering
- Print CD for all Digital files (including Engagement Session)
-Full copyright release