How much should you pay for a photographer?

TheFutureMrsBellon · April 2010

I'm looking for a estimated range for how much a wedding photographer should cost. I'd like full-day coverage, meaning time before the ceremony, the ceremony, and the reception.

sdump1 · April 2010

There is no "set price". You can go with a cheap craiglist photographer for a few couple hundred bucks or you can hire a superstar for more than 10K.

It all depends on what your budget it. Usually though photographers run around 15-50% of your wedding budget depending on how important photos are for you.

As in everything in life, you do get what you pay for.

ceilidhsaunders · April 2010

Around where I live, the average price is $3500 for a decent photographer...you can definitely get them much cheaper (I think as low as $800) but you can tell the pictures aren't as good quality. Personally, photographs are VERY important to me...I'm paying $4300 for ~12 hours of photography, a wedding album with 70 pictures, rights to all the photos, and editing to 500 photos

amyweethee · April 2010

the average around here is about $2,500.00 for a good photographer

FutureMrsJRoberts · April 2010

try www.costofwedding.com, I found this helpful

you enter the zip of your wedding location and can then choose different vendors on the left menu - kind of handy!

liacin · April 2010

I've found that the average for larger cities for a decent photographer seems to be around 3500.. but that price can be tricky because what varies much more than price is what you GET for that price.

Typically that price is just for taking the photos on the day of the wedding (before the ceremony, during, and at the reception), and for access to the digital files. Sometimes they'll throw in an album in that price.

What really adds up are ordering the albums and pictures, which can run you up very high, so keep that in mind when you choose your photographer. A price may seem low, but look carefully at what you get for your money!

hoopitup4e · April 2010

We are in NY and seem to be finding good photographer in the range of 6000-6500. Our day of coordinator refered someone who was $11,500 I thought she was crazy. I read in a wedding book you shoudl budget 6-8% for photography.

Krystal Lee Sousa · April 2010

$700

I ended up winning a 500 discount on a package from a photographer that I liked while at bridal show. 10 hours of coverage, engagement session, etc

lesliewest37 · April 2010

our photographer http://www.gavinhartphotography.co.uk cost 1,500 (UK pounds). (about 2300 US dollars)

he agreed to give us all the photos (high resolution) on a CD.

we got our own wedding album photobook via http://www.photoproductions.com

(cost: 289 pounds, - about 440 US dollars) which was far far cheaper than any of the competitors, (such as graphi)

we had the video by diamond films (london) which was about 1800 pounds.

hope my london pricing guide acts as a good comparison for you

)

staryand · April 2010

Mine is about $2300 for an average photographer but I get the rights to the pictures... so i can get albums created later on in addition to the one that comes with the package...

I think most importantly are rights to the pictures and how many hours.... I get 10 hours... some photographers only start at 8

Futmrsmas8 · April 2010

You should look into www.aliciafoto.com she has great prices and was willing to work within a budget.

ElleTR13 · April 2010

I am paying $3900 for 2 photographers, unlimited shooting time, engagement session, bridal session, photo guestbook made from engagement pics, 12 x 12 wedding album and a disk will full printing rights. This is with a photog who has been shooting weddings for about a year, in a small city/large town in northwest Georgia. My other option was the "it" photog to use in town--and to get what I wanted it would have been $5700! And that's with only 7 hours of shooting!

sheelamarie408 · May 2010

You can pay as little or as much as you want, and it depends on how improtant you think photos are.

like mentioned before, Craigslist photographers (i highly discourage!!) to 10k+. I'd say a good range is $3500, but just make sure they are worth it. Some charge that or more but aren't worth it, others charge less and are worth more.

loveweddings2 · May 2010

I'm in the Charleston, SC area. My unlimited time packages range $2000 - $2700. That's with 2 photographers. I have over 16 years experience and have photographed over 1100 weddings. Most people with this much experience and this much time and coverage in a package charge alot more, but we really enjoy doing weddings and want to be booked every weekend. For this reason I hold my prices down.

cookdt5312014 · July 2014

Im paying 3000.00

photokitty · July 2014

@knotporscha zombie

How much should you pay for a photographer?

Re: How much should you pay for a photographer?

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