Do Wedding Photographers Charge Too Much?

Photographers equipment and work flow costs alone are huge. Then there are batteries, flash cards, an assistant, wear and tear on their vehicle, insurance coverage, and the hours of work on and after the wedding that they factor into their pricing.

On top of that you then pay for the creative talent of the photographer.

You can save money on enlargements and albums but don't penny pinch when it comes to the photographer.

After your wedding day, the only things you have left are your pictures and your video.

• Biggest tip - hire a photographer that gives you your digital high resolution files, that way you can make as many copies of pictures from your wedding day as you want without having to order them from your photographer.
• If you choose a photographer that does not give you your files, always find out how long they keep your files for, and ask if you can obtain them when they are ready to discard them. Most photographers in general don't keep digital negatives past 3 years. Be prepared that some photographers still may charge a fee for providing you with the files. If its 3 years after your wedding, you can prepare for that fee and remember again that its the only memories of your wedding day.
• £395 for a photographer is a great price but if they charge £40 for an 8 X 10, and £300 for the album, where's the saving. Don't just look at the photo packages or wedding day shoot costs, ask how much their enlargements and albums are. Seek out all inclusive packages that give you your album too.
• If a package includes a couple's album and 2 parent albums, ask how much that same package would cost without any albums. Sometimes it's worth the savings to buy your own albums elsewhere and sometimes it's better to take the albums offered by your photographer.
• Unless you're doing a formal shoot at the bride or groom's house, you don't need a photographer there. Your wedding party and family will have their cameras out anyway.
• A great idea is to not have the photographer stay for the reception. Saves a lot of coverage time. If you want to do this, simply do your first dance and cake cutting when you are introduced. The photographer can stay to capture that and leave at the point that you sit down for dinner.
• You don't need your photographer to stay until 1am. Once the bouquet and garter tosses have taken place, there are no more major events to shoot. Your 1st & last dances look the same on film.