Your Wedding Photo Budget

[jthrasher]

hey everyone!

 

I'm a photographer so I'm particularly interested in what brides are budgeting for photographers for their destination weddings.

 

Are most of you using photographers that are provided by or are preferred vendors of the venue you are getting married? It seems that many of your budgets for photography is unusually low for destination weddings, which is why I was curious.

 

Just a reminder that your photographs (along with your new spouse) is the only thing you are going to have to take with you from you wedding that wil last a lifetime. Flowers die, food is eaten, drinks are drank, but your photos will last forever. Keep that in mind when you are budgeting for your photography.

 

Regards,

 

Jonathan

[TammyWright]

let's see if i can answer from my experience

 

Quote:

Originally Posted by jthrasherphoto.com hey everyone. I'm a vendor and this is an interesting thread for me to read.   as a photographer so I'm particularly interested in what brides are budgeting for photographers for their destination weddings. the photog i used does do alot of weddings at my resort but was not actually referred by them...Dreams does not force you to use their vendors unlike alot of other resorts.   Are most of you using photographers that are provided by or are preferred vendors of the venue you are getting married? It seems that many of your budgets for photography is unusually low for destination weddings, which is why I was curious. i don't think people budgetted low for their photography but you have to realize alot ofthe local talent does not charge US prices. $300-500 per hour is sort of a standard rate for DW photogs.   Just a reminder that your photographs (along with your new spouse) is the only thing you are going to have to take with you from you wedding that wil last a lifetime. Flowers die, food is eaten, drinks are drank, but your photos will last forever. Keep that in mind when you are budgeting for your photography. this is very true...i try to remind brides not to skimp on their photo budget   Regards,   Jonathan

[JPMO]

Quote:

Originally Posted by jthrasherphoto.com hey everyone. I'm a vendor and this is an interesting thread for me to read. as a photographer so I'm particularly interested in what brides are budgeting for photographers for their destination weddings. Are most of you using photographers that are provided by or are preferred vendors of the venue you are getting married? It seems that many of your budgets for photography is unusually low for destination weddings, which is why I was curious. Just a reminder that your photographs (along with your new spouse) is the only thing you are going to have to take with you from you wedding that wil last a lifetime. Flowers die, food is eaten, drinks are drank, but your photos will last forever. Keep that in mind when you are budgeting for your photography. Regards, Jonathan

Jonathan,

Hi there! I totally agree with Tammy's response but I 'd also like to mention that it's relatively hard to convince our FI's that we should spend 3-5k on photography. Especially when that is half of many brides budget.

If you continue to read many posts, many past brides wish that they had taken more pics. I think that as time passes, photo budgets will soon increase, but initially the large price tag of a DW photographer is enough to give a bride a heart attack.

[jthrasher]

First, I don't want to or mean to hijack this thread so if I need to start a new thread to continue this discussion, please let me know Tammy.

 

I guess what surprises me is the number of people who have posted budgets for photographer in the $600-$2000 range. In my experience as a wedding photographer most of the couples I meet, are looking to spend at least twice that for photography and those are for regular weddings. Couples I meet who are looking for DW weddings are looking to spend even more in my experience.

 

Most couples in my area where I live spend at least $2000 on their photographer, and I'm not in a very large market. Typically more is spent on photography for DW weddings.

 

Quote:

$300-500 per hour is sort of a standard rate for DW photogs.

I completely understand that. So, are the prices budgeted total prices or just per hour? Or, are most of you flying your photographer down only to shoot 2-3 hours? If so, why? In my experience most brides want the PJ style and want 8-12 hours of coverage to completely capture their day. I would think that would be more the case with DW weddings because the couple has put so much time and money into finding the perfect place, it would be a shame if the photographer couldn't fully capture the entire day or weekend because he was only hired for a few hours.

 

again, don't mean to hijack this thread or cause a big debate, just curious as to how couples here are planning their DW weddings.

 

Thanks

 

Jonathan

[TammyWright]

jonathan, I will move these posts and start it as another thread. ...just kidding about the pirate smilie...i look for reasons to use them. i also answered below

 

Quote:

Originally Posted by jthrasherphoto.com First, I don't want to or mean to hijack this thread so if I need to start a new thread to continue this discussion, please let me know Tammy.   I guess what surprises me is the number of people who have posted budgets for photographer in the $600-$2000 range. In my experience as a wedding photographer most of the couples I meet, are looking to spend at least twice that for photography and those are for regular weddings. Couples I meet who are looking for DW weddings are looking to spend even more in my experience.   Most couples in my area where I live spend at least $2000 on their photographer, and I'm not in a very large market. Typically more is spent on photography for DW weddings. i think it is pretty common that most couples having a DW do to save $$...they will spend less on flowers, musicians, AND photogs...they have had that luxury because alot of the local talent is pretty good.     I completely understand that. So, are the prices budgeted total prices or just per hour? Or, are most of you flying your photographer down only to shoot 2-3 hours? If so, why? In my experience most brides want the PJ style and want 8-12 hours of coverage to completely capture their day. I would think that would be more the case with DW weddings because the couple has put so much time and money into finding the perfect place, it would be a shame if the photographer couldn't fully capture the entire day or weekend because he was only hired for a few hours. when people do 2-3 hours, they are usually using photogs locally who have a low min. i think i know the case you are speaking of and in that situation the bride had a relative who was a fantastic professional photog that offered his services as a gift to her....initially brides wanted to keep their budget as low as possible and this usually meant trimming 1-2 hours off their photog time. if you read throughout the forum, i try to tell brides to keep that extra hour or have a 6 hour min.   again, don't mean to hijack this thread or cause a big debate, just curious as to how couples here are planning their DW weddings.   Thanks   Jonathan

[deleted]

Hi Jonathan,

 

I think one of the main differences among those who are budgeting in the hundreds and those who are budgeting in the thousands is that not all of us flew someone down for our DW. Cabo actually has lots of good photogs at reasonable hourly rates.

 

If I was going to fly someone to Cabo for my wedding, my guess is it would have been $2.5K or more. Instead I was able to hire someone in Cabo for $260/hour. Now, I realize that is really low (his prices have since gone up) and that I maybe didn't get THE #1 BEST photog around, but I was happy to spend $800 for my photography and I love my photos.

[deleted]

Quote:

Originally Posted by host jonathan, I will move these posts and start it as another thread. ...just kidding about the pirate smilie...i look for reasons to use them.

oops tammy, can you move my comment over too? thanks!

[TammyWright]

Quote:

Originally Posted by JANET1111 oops tammy, can you move my comment over too? thanks!

i already moved it as a new thread.

[-Kate-]

We are spending $2900 for 8 hours.

I think we are just lucky that cabo has good photogs that are relatively cheap.

 

We are having a DW so that we can keep the guest list small. Not so much to save money, but more because we want to be able to treat the guests that do come really well. The pics are all we have in the end, but I don't want them to be full of miserable faces bc we spent more on the photog than we did on caring for our guests.

[TammyWright]

Quote:

Originally Posted by LALA We are spending $2900 for 8 hours. I think we are just lucky that cabo has good photogs that are relatively cheap. We are having a DW so that we can keep the guest list small. Not so much to save money, but more because we want to be able to treat the guests that do come really well. The pics are all we have in the end, but I don't want them to be full of miserable faces bc we spent more on the photog than we did on caring for our guests.

so true kate, i guess i didn't explain myself too clearly in the post above...i would rather spend $15k on 60 people than $30k on 200...and alot of the $15k budget i had was towards things to make the week great (welcome dinner, spa party, snorkel/sail trip), not just my wedding day.