My biggest suggestion on destination weddings is “don’t do them for the price of the trip and a hotel room.”
I get offered that all the time, and I just think hmm so that would cost them around $1800. In return they would like a $6,000 package. That means I am actually paying $4,200 to shoot a wedding. Not a smart idea if you want to stay in business.
You also have to think about how much time you have to invest in a destination wedding. For instance you are talking 3 days minimum out of your studio. A nice little vacation but, it’s not really a vacation for you. Destination wedding are hard work, not fun in the sun.
I charge for travel, accommodations (3 days min), and a rental car if need be. I also charge them for the package they select. Then I tack on a destination wedding fee, since I will be away from my business for 3 days.
I implemented anchor pricing after reading an article about how menus are structure in a very specific way to make you buy what they want. It is a very effective technique. Another thing menus do is they never use dollar signs or leading dots and they never arrange their products in the order of lowest to highest or vice versa. I have used all of these techniques in my new pricing setup as far as displaying my packages.
Great article and I will be looking at it again I just know it. Thanks!
how can I go about pricing a photo shoot if I’m not a professional photographer???? I have friends asking me to take photos of their wedding, family portraits and such but I’m not really clear on what to charge. I dont want to do it for free or undercharge but I also dont want to over charge them…any tips???? thanks!
Question… Why even bother with an hourly rate for a wedding day coverage? Isn’t it true that your post-processing will be similar if your shoot for 10 hours or if you shoot for 8?
Jerry Ghionis recommends just pricing yourself at a happy rate for a full day of coverage, thus giving you ample opportunity to get more photos to grow the album sale on the back end. Thoughts?
Chris, great question! I have always been against offering full day coverage. I cannot tell you how many times I have made a extra $350 or $700 when a wedding runs a little late. It’s nice to walk away from a wedding with some extra cash you didn’t expect. This is just impossible to do if you offer a day rate.
As far as images for the album. Well, you don’t necessarily need “more” images to up-sell an album. That’s all in the design of the album.
I’m not saying it’s wrong to charge a day rate for a wedding, I’m just saying it doesn’t work for me.
Jenny,
My suggestion is, don’t. Start out by working with another local photographer. Find out what it takes to shoot a wedding, then you and only you will be able to know what to charge.
Great advice, I just hope more and more photographers read and understand this article. It will make people understand the time photography takes before going bankrupt or haphazardly completing weddings just to keep their head above water.
Also in terms of timing, we constantly get e-mails from clients who have questions, it always makes the photography that much better but from contract to close we probably spend 4-5 hours on the phone or answering e-mails per client. I think a more realistic number is 400-45 hours but again that my be just me.
great insight! thanks so much. I will be redoing my pricing page now!
Hi, any suggestions for pricing for destination weddings?
My biggest suggestion on destination weddings is “don’t do them for the price of the trip and a hotel room.”
I get offered that all the time, and I just think hmm so that would cost them around $1800. In return they would like a $6,000 package. That means I am actually paying $4,200 to shoot a wedding. Not a smart idea if you want to stay in business.
You also have to think about how much time you have to invest in a destination wedding. For instance you are talking 3 days minimum out of your studio. A nice little vacation but, it’s not really a vacation for you. Destination wedding are hard work, not fun in the sun.
I charge for travel, accommodations (3 days min), and a rental car if need be. I also charge them for the package they select. Then I tack on a destination wedding fee, since I will be away from my business for 3 days.
Travis
Glad to have helped Mike!
I implemented anchor pricing after reading an article about how menus are structure in a very specific way to make you buy what they want. It is a very effective technique. Another thing menus do is they never use dollar signs or leading dots and they never arrange their products in the order of lowest to highest or vice versa. I have used all of these techniques in my new pricing setup as far as displaying my packages.
Great article and I will be looking at it again I just know it. Thanks!
Great insight into pricing. This seems to be an ongoing conundrum for us wedding and portrait photographers. Thanks for clarifying and inspiring!
Curtis
Wedding Photography Miami Fort Lauderdale
Thats right Liz, I always say “No reason to reinvent the wheel” If it works great, then go with it!
how can I go about pricing a photo shoot if I’m not a professional photographer???? I have friends asking me to take photos of their wedding, family portraits and such but I’m not really clear on what to charge. I dont want to do it for free or undercharge but I also dont want to over charge them…any tips???? thanks!
Great lesson and value for information.I will stick to my price’s.
Question… Why even bother with an hourly rate for a wedding day coverage? Isn’t it true that your post-processing will be similar if your shoot for 10 hours or if you shoot for 8?
Jerry Ghionis recommends just pricing yourself at a happy rate for a full day of coverage, thus giving you ample opportunity to get more photos to grow the album sale on the back end. Thoughts?
Chris, great question! I have always been against offering full day coverage. I cannot tell you how many times I have made a extra $350 or $700 when a wedding runs a little late. It’s nice to walk away from a wedding with some extra cash you didn’t expect. This is just impossible to do if you offer a day rate.
As far as images for the album. Well, you don’t necessarily need “more” images to up-sell an album. That’s all in the design of the album.
I’m not saying it’s wrong to charge a day rate for a wedding, I’m just saying it doesn’t work for me.
Travis
Jenny,
My suggestion is, don’t. Start out by working with another local photographer. Find out what it takes to shoot a wedding, then you and only you will be able to know what to charge.
Great advice, I just hope more and more photographers read and understand this article. It will make people understand the time photography takes before going bankrupt or haphazardly completing weddings just to keep their head above water.
Also in terms of timing, we constantly get e-mails from clients who have questions, it always makes the photography that much better but from contract to close we probably spend 4-5 hours on the phone or answering e-mails per client. I think a more realistic number is 400-45 hours but again that my be just me.
Hey Photographick,
Thanks for the comment! Please feel free to pass along the information!
Thank You Everything; the whole concept of your web site is beautiful.
Thanks Sarah, we appreciate the compliment. Come back anytime, and feel free to ask us anything.
Travis