The Cost of Wedding Photography: Real Talk

I’ve been a wedding photographer since 2007 and this question has been asked of me more times than I can count. Why is Wedding Photography so expensive? Or rather, why are SOME wedding photographers so expensive?

When I first started out, this was a question I could not answer. I was new. Even after five years, it was still an awkward one to tackle.

Why indeed, am I charging so much for what seems to be a hobby for so many?

Now after close to two decades, I can confidently charge what we charge, and tell you why. 

Caveat: We have levels as any other business: budget, midmarket, luxury, ultra lux. From as low as $1k to $10k and as of 2024, I know some studios get paid as much as $45k per wedding. Different strokes from different folks, as they say.

Let’s get one thing out of the way: Wedding photography is also considered a luxury service and not a necessity – as is getting married these days. Some folks do it lavishly, and some folks do it modestly. The end result is the same – folks get married. 

And secondly, this isn’t going to be an article spelling out the obvious like equipment cost or scarcity. You’ve heard it all before. There are dozens of articles probably that will explain all of that. 

What I’m going to share are my opinions of what the rarely shared reasons are behind why wedding photography costs what it costs. 

So why are some wedding photographers SO expensive, just like why are some bags and clothes and cars are so expensive? 

Is it just brand prestige? Yes.

But here are also six (long) reasons why. Buckle up (5 mins reading time):

EXPECTATIONS 

Can you think of any other (joyful) life celebration where expectations are as high as a wedding day? I can’t. A graduation, a christening, a blessing, a birthday, a mitzvah – nothing else seems to come close. How much do you think meeting those expectations costs, if one can even put a value do it? Even if it’s a celebration of a modest means? Emotions are high. Expectations even higher for everything to go as perfectly as possible – and that includes photography. This type of pressure includes showing up early, staying longer if the schedule runs late. It includes dressing appropriately and maintaining your cool even when the most stressful situations happen, like a veil catching on fire or a drunk guest trying to mess with your gear. All the while trying to make sure you capture the story of the day and keeping your equipment and most important of all, your photos safe. This alone, takes YEARS of practice and experience to get right. It’s 80% soft skills, and 20% photography.

Technical Experience

Let’s talk about the 20% that has nothing to do with what happens in camera. Every pro who’s charging to shoot a wedding should already know that like the back of their hand or they have no business invoicing anybody. 

This 20% I’m talking about, has more to do with agility, working on the go with whatever lighting conditions and weather have for you at any given time. You can have a Masters in Studio Lighting and fail as a wedding photographer because we’re not in a studio. We’re at a wedding venue, outside where weather alone will throw all kinds of wrenches into the best laid plans. You have very little control over the day, much less the light. You work with the space and you bring what you need without having the luxury of a production crew. If you’re lucky, you have a second photographer AND an assistant so that you can move around quickly and efficiently without causing too much discomfort for your couple and their guests. Your invoice will have to reflect all of that. That’s a hard cost in itself – for 8-10 hours a day, costing in labor, food, gas and time.

Privacy

This is a given. Even lower budget photographers should provide this peace of mind but here’s one difference: Lost opportunity cost.

This year (2024), more couples are asking for their photos not to be used on social media or for marketing, or at least where their faces and names are not shared. This is a valid concern today, what with AI and the Internet becoming a very scary and unsafe place.

For a vet, it’s a small matter. We have enough portfolio to forego, this for a fee. For someone lower budget because they may have fewer years of experience? This is a significant sacrifice. 

Whatever the case, just know that not being able to use our photos for marketing is going to be an extra cost for that lost opportunity.

Invisible Work

“We’re your Asian mom and best friend girlie, rolled into one.”

This is the part you’ll need to pay attention reading.

Invisible work is perhaps one of the aspects of doing this job very few people talk about. These tasks seem unimportant but when done well, are invisible. They are what distinguishes a good photographer from a great one.

What’s invisible work in wedding photography? Here’s a short list:

– Pre-scouting locations for engagement sessions and wedding venues. This includes driving to these places, which can sometimes take hours, to look at the light so we can prepare for what sort of gear we need to bring and just to gauge traffic and more. This incurs hard costs like gas, and soft costs like time.

– Admin work, which includes any post-booking calls to plan the photography portions of an engagement session or your wedding day schedule. Things like talking through beauty plans, and which side of your face should your hair be if you want a particular style, or even seating chart advice if you want the best reaction photos.

Even when a couple has hired a planner, their wedding photographer still has to look through the timeline to make sure there’s enough photo time and to make sure transitions aren’t too “crunchy” so our couple isn’t stressed. Wedding days are already anxiety-making for our brides and grooms. We have to plan ahead to ease as much tension as possible to yield the best photos.

– Wedding-day management – thoughtful and service-oriented wedding photographers are CONSTANTLY looking out for their couples. We’re your Asian moms and best friend girlies rolled into one. We’re not just taking photos. We’re looking out for wardrobe malfunctions, back fat, armpit “lips”, double chins, clutter/trash cleanup so they’re not in the photos, hair fluffing, makeup retouching, dress arranging, suit dusting, hydration/snack breaks, bouquet readjusting, morale management, running interference if family drama ensues and so on. We are a one or two-man photography, emotional coach, stylist, makeup artist, general assistance walking show for 8-10 hours.

– Post production cleanup – This is not the curating and editing we are expected to do. This is over and above. We’re cleaning up exit signs, zits, nip slips, wrinkles on linens, water bottles, smeared mascara, water stains, food stains, porta-potties (and all of the missed back fat, nip slips, double chins we overlooked while shooting). This is over thousands of images sometimes because unlike studio work, we’re not in control of a wedding 100%. We can’t tell a venue to take down their exit signs or reposition a ceremony because there are cars from one angle. 

I recently had to Photoshop a gigantic cruise ship off for about 50 photos. During the wedding, the couple had expressed to their friends and family how worried they were that the vessel wouldn’t leave on time because of the low tide. They never mentioned it to me directly, it was just something I picked up over the course of the day and filed it away mentally. In post, I’d proactively removed the vessel in photos where it was very obvious. Even with Generative Fill (AI), it took A LOT of time. 

This was just what the fee I was paid covered, for the level of service that I felt was expected of my studio. They did not express it nor do I think they will remember from looking at the photos that the ship was ever there.