why is wedding photography so expensive?

October 25, 2016

Hannah Higgins

I've done it, myself. I've planned a wedding. I've cried heavy tears as thousands of dollars slipped through my fingers to plan a day I had dreamed of my entire life. Even when trying to be incredibly frugal, an inexpensive solution was nowhere to be found.

It was difficult, it was exhausting, and I made sacrifices. I gave up things that didn't matter in the long run. I let go of details that had no true value. The day came and went, and now (over 6 months later) I can look back and reflect on the decisions I made. While I may wish I had made just a little more time to enjoy dress shopping or that I'd gotten a better quality pedicure that didn't smudge within minutes of leaving the salon on the afternoon of my rehearsal dinner, there is one decision I made while planning our wedding that I will never, ever, EVER regret:

I never once considered settling for a "cheap" photographer.

HORROR STORIES

As a wedding photographer myself, I'm in tons of online groups for photographers around Texas, the U.S., and the world. I spend time every day reading and learning from what other people are doing with their art and with their business. You can imagine the amazing photographs I've seen....and the horror stories I've read about.

The worst ones always sound a little something like this:

"This rad couple inquired with me last week, and I got SO PUMPED about their wedding, but I just found out they decided to go with a family friend because they're on a really tight budget. I tried to give them a small discount on my pricing to help them out, and they said I was still charging too much. I'm so nervous for them, and I hope that this family friend is surprisingly awesome. They're such a cool couple, and they deserve the best."

***fast forward 9 months***

"Y'ALL. I just got an e-mail from that couple I told y'all about last year. They got their photos back from their wedding and absolutely hate them. They want to do a portrait session with me in their wedding clothes so that they'll have good photos to hang around their house and show their kids. They told me they'd pay whatever I think is fair because they're desperate to document this season of their lives with quality photos they'll love forever, and they never realized how much they valued those keepsakes until their wedding had already come and gone. :("

This happens WAY too often, y'all! So I decided I was going to come out from behind the curtain and be REALLY transparent about my own pricing so that people will know where their money really goes.

LET'S BREAK IT DOWN

I'm going to break down my most expensive package, the diamond package, which costs $3600.

This package includes:

-a personal consultation

-unlimited e-mail correspondence

-a custom wedding day timeline

-full wedding day coverage (8-12 hours)

-the assistance of a hired second shooter

-professional and timely editing (portraits returned within 2 weeks, wedding photos returned within a month!)

-a personal online gallery

-a custom USB

-access to professional printing services

-all printing rights

-PLUS an engagement session

-AND a bridal session

PHEW. That's a lot of stuff. Ok, here's the breakdown.

PACKAGE TOTAL: $3600

HIRED SECOND SHOOTER: $400

PROFESSIONAL EDITING: $300

DELIVERABLES/GIFTS: $150

MONEY SET ASIDE FOR TAXES: $720

PROFIT PER DIAMOND PACKAGE: $2030

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Now let's break down my least expensive package, the gold package without a second shooter, which costs $2500.

This package includes:

-a personal consultation

-unlimited e-mail correspondence

-a custom wedding day timeline

-full wedding day coverage (8-12 hours)

-professional editing (wedding photos returned within a month!)

-a personal online gallery

-a custom USB

-access to professional printing services

-all printing rights

PACKAGE TOTAL: $2500

PROFESSIONAL EDITING: $300

DELIVERABLES/GIFTS: $150

MONEY SET ASIDE FOR TAXES: $500

PROFIT FOR SHOOTING A GOLD PACKAGE WEDDING WITHOUT A SECOND SHOOTER: $1550

PROFESSIONAL EDITING

I recently made the decision to start outsourcing my wedding edits (my wedditing, if you will). In the last couple of years, I have had to turn down far too many inquiries just because I knew I had reached my editing capacity. In my contract, I promise to return all weddings within 8 weeks of the wedding date. However, I like to return them much sooner than that when possible. After all, who wants to wait TWO MONTHS to see their wedding photos?! No one. Taking on more weddings used to mean longer waiting periods for my clients. Now that I have hired someone to work for me in this area (under my direction and stylistic preferences), I can be confident that I will not only fulfill what I've promised to my clients but beat it by a mile.

TAXES

I set aside 20% of every payment I receive so that I'm able to pay the state and federal taxes required of all small business owners every year. I don't have anyone taking it out of my paycheck every two weeks, so I have to set it aside myself. If you really know your stuff, you might wonder why I'm not saving the whopping 25% required. That's because I invest a ton of money back into my business each year (domain name, website, gallery site, printing subscription, packaging materials, business cards, camera and lighting equipment, software, consultation coffee + meals, mileage, accounting fees, shipping, etc. etc. etc - it goes on forever). Once I sit down and collect all my totals near the end of the year, I deduct the cost of all those expenses (with my CPA) and pay taxes based on what's left. Therefore, I feel good about setting aside 20% of the payments I receive throughout the year to cover what I owe.

PROJECTED 2017 TOTALS

This is where we're going to get reeeeeaaaaaaalllllllyyyyy personal, y'all. **deep breath**

Let's say I get super lucky and book 20 brides in 2017 - after all, that's my goal! (HOLLA AT ME, 2017 brides!!) And let's say I get even luckier and they all book my most expensive package - the diamond package! We've already done the breakdown, so let's do the math!

20 weddings x $3600 total diamond package cost = $72,000 (wooooo, that's a lot of money!)

20 weddings x $2200 profit after paying second shooter + editor and setting aside taxes = $40,600

Now, you'll remember I didn't include the rest of those expenses (domain name, website subscription, gallery site, printing subscription, packaging materials, business cards, camera and lighting equipment, software, consultation coffee + meals, mileage, shipping etc.) in each wedding total. I've spent about $11,000 dollars on my business this year in these areas to date (with two full months left to go!). For the sake of the illustration, let's say that I only spend $10,000 on my business next year outside of second shooters and editing costs (as I've finally come to a place where I feel that I have all the gear that I absolutely need).

$40,600 - $10,000 in other expenses = $30,600 salary

The number above is the estimated salary I will make next year if I book 20 of my highest packages. That's three shoots per bride. That's 60 shoots in a year, not including family, maternity, or senior sessions. That's more than one shoot per week, and that's a lottttt of photos to take care of, y'all! :D

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Now, let's say I'm lucky enough to book 20 brides next year but they only book me for their wedding day.

20 weddings x $2500 total gold package cost = $50,000 (still a good amount of money! sweet!)

20 weddings x $1550 profit after paying editor and setting aside taxes = $31,000

$31,000 - $10.000 in other expenses = $21,000 salary

You'll notice that in both scenarios, whether I book my highest package or my lowest package, I bring home a salary less than half of the payments I receive each year.

WHY STOP AT 20?

Some of you may be thinking --- "Hannah, there are 52 weeks in a year, which means there are just as many weekends. Why don't you have a goal to book more than 20 weddings so you can make more money?"

That's a great question! Here's my answer:

Let's say I reach my goal and book 20 diamond weddings in 2017 (huzzah!). That means I will be shooting an engagement session, a bridal session, and a wedding for 20 different couples all in one calendar year. As most of my clients are young adults in school or working full-time jobs, their schedules are often very busy during the week. Also, I prefer to shoot portraits in "golden hour" which is usually about 1.5-2 hours before sunset. During certain times of the year, the sun sets as early as 5:20pm. That means golden hour starts right around 4pm. Most couples with full-time jobs are not able to have their hair, makeup, and outfits ready and meet me at 4pm for a photo session during the week.

So, what does this mean? It means that I have to leave weekends open for portrait sessions! Let's say each of those 20 brides need to book their engagement session on a Saturday because of their job/school restrictions, but they all plan to book their bridal session on a weekday evening to accommodate their wedding venue + hair and makeup team! That means I will work 40 weekends out of the year for the 20 brides I'm working with.

52 weekends in a year - 40 weekends working = 12 free weekends = 1 free weekend a month

***Keep in mind that this does not include any maternity, family, or senior sessions I may book or any weekend consultations I may schedule**

Some of you may know I got married this year! On April 16, 2016 I said, "I do" to my best friend. It's been a wonderful experience so far, and we really enjoy being married! However, like many wedding photographers, I don't work with my spouse. **womp, womp, wommmmmmppppp** That means that for every wedding, engagement session, bridal session, family session, maternity session, and senior session I shoot, I'm away from my husband during the only time that he's home from work - evenings and weekends. You can understand how priceless free weekends are to us, as they are very, very rare in this industry. If I were to book more than 20 brides in a year, I would most likely sacrifice the rest of those weekends. In order to provide my clients with quality service and attention while making my husband a priority in my life and fulfilling the vows I made to him on our very own wedding day, I have to create boundaries with my bookings.

Now that you've seen my projected yearly totals, you may be wondering how I'll ever make more than $30,000 a year. TA-DA! This is why photographers raise their prices!

After 20 more weddings, I will be a much better photographer than I am now. I will have increased my level of experience. I will most likely invest in more equipment. I will be one year older, and our bills will start to include things like a mortgage and, eventually, children. If I want to book 20 weddings a year to leave room for all those separate portrait sessions and a few free weekends, there's only one solution: My prices must gradually go up.

THE HONESTY CONTINUES

In high school, I was ranked #9 academically out of the 320 students in my graduating class while playing 3 sports year-round from 7th grade to senior year. I attended The University of North Texas for 4 years on a partial academic scholarship. I graduated Summa Cum Laude after making only one B over the course of my college career, and I published a book my last semester. I have a degree in Fine Art Photography, and I am very, very proud of it.

After graduating in May of 2014, I waited tables for 6 months at a small local bistro to make enough money to feed myself, pay my rent, and get this business off the ground. When I knew I could pay myself $1000/month with my photography, I gave my boss my 2 weeks notice. I walked out that door for a $12k salary, and I was very proud to do so. (Sidenote: I start dating my husband the very next month.) <3

In 2015, I lived on a $12,000 salary.

This year, I paid myself an $18,000 salary.

If I'm able to reach my goal of 20 diamond weddings next year, I have the potential to not only break a $20,000 salary for the first time ever (in my entire life) but I would also break $30,000 in the same year.

Some of you may think a $30,000 salary is nothing to be all that excited about - especially when you take into account that I will have graduated college 3 years ago in May. I could probably make that much or more if I worked as a waitress full-time at a nice restaurant. But I don't want to work for someone else. I want to be the face of my own company. I want to work hard for every penny I earn and be very honest in the process. I want my personality and my love for people to be my brand. I want to befriend my clients and create work that I'm deeply proud of. If I'm able to make a $30k salary next year while doing allllllll that, I will be so. dang. proud.

IS IT WORTH IT? LET ME WORK IT!

I work out of a corner in my living room. I work by myself. I work evenings. I work weekends. I work hard.

I work A LOT.

I miss family events, socials, festivals, birthday dinners, and my husband - SO OFTEN.

BUT I LOVE WHAT I DO, and I'm going to continue to do it because the wedding industry needs great people. Brides deserve great service, and families everywhere deserve beautiful memories.

Have these first couple years of full-time business been difficult? Absolutely! Do I have to work extra hard to be taken seriously as a young, female entrepreneur? Sure. Does it stink that I chose the most expensive "hobby" in the world. Yep. Do I work more than 40 hours a week? Every week, y'all. But I've done the heavy lifting and late-night learning in these early years so that my business can thrive in years to come. My future clients have SO MUCH to look forward to because the best is absolutely yet to be.

If you are one of the almost 50 past brides who have trusted me with documenting your wedding day, THANK YOU SO MUCH! I love the people I have worked with so far and wouldn't be where I am today without each and every one of you.

And if you're a bride out there who is SO FED UP with how expensive it is to plan a wedding - I totally get you. If you googled the title of this blog post out of pure frustration, please hear me out: You deserve a beautiful wedding. You deserve professional and friendly service. And you deserve to remember it all for the rest of your life with incredible photos.

Hire a great photographer. Find someone who has experience, who's educated, who's social and good under pressure. Find someone who's friendly and will treat your family and friends with respect. Find someone who will get excited and celebrate with you on the dance floor. Find someone you can be yourself around so they can capture you and your sweetheart at your absolute best. You deserve a photographer like that.

And photographers like that deserve to make a living.

YOU DESERVE THE BEST

You may regret a lot of purchases you make over the course of your engagement season, but you will NEVER regret hiring a photographer who knows and loves what they're doing.