Weddingbee boards

I'd like to preface this by making clear that I am in no way bashing friendoring or DIY. If a bride is informed about what her choice entails and is ok with that then I say DIY it up. I even already know that when I get married I'm going to DIY some Sam's club flowers because frankly I prefer the look of a few stems here and there in an array of different vintage containers as opposed to expertly constructed center pieces. I know what I will be sacrificing, but the idea of a slightly wonky bouquet just doesn't bother me.

So, I've seen around here many brides complain that as soon as the word wedding is attached to their event that the price of things suddenly sky rocket to highway robbery proportions. I agree with this statement in many cases. I've had friends tell tales of getting quotes from a caterer, and then once they say the word wedding the cost suddenly doubles, or getting charged three times as much for the WHITE tent for their backyard affair. However, it isn't always an over charge, it's often them just trying to make a reasonable living.

For starters, as a self employed photographer I am not just covering my salary. I am covering advertising for my business (otherwise I don't have any work), insurance (so I can cater to your venues requirements and everyone can feel at ease), and pricey equiptment (to capture your big day). On top of this overhead I have to make a salary working a job where I am on average contracted to 2-3 weddings a month. I consider this the average as this would allow a photographer to offer their prospective clients weekend exclusivity, and accounts for the fact that many weekends in the off season simply are not booked in many cases.

While a rate of say $250 dollars an hour may seem extravagant when considering just the time spent shooting the actual wedding, there is also preparation work (consultations etc) and many many hours after the wedding spent on editing photos and designing an album if one is purchased. I'd estimate each wedding reqires give or take the same amount of work as an average work week to do the job in a manner that exceeds client expectations (which is what a great photographer will strive for). And that isn't even really including the many hours spent putting together advertising material, or maintaining a website for the business in general.

When all is said and done if I were to charge $250 dollars an hour for a ten hour wedding, this comes to a salary of about $75,000 a year (if I book 30 weddings.. for those doing the math it comes to about 62.50 an hour once the pre and post work is factored in, and we haven't yet included business overhead costs or hours spent working on basic things to maintain our business).  Subtract at least ten thousand dollars of that for business expenses (this being a low end estimate of overhead costs), and I couldn't reasonably cover the costs of owning a home without a live in significant other or a roommate. In fact, I generally pick up seasonal work at a local mall around christmas to make up for the off season lull.

So, while it may seem like a gross over-charge when a photographer or DJ is charging 2,500- 3,000 dollars for your event, really they are just covering the minimal costs for this to be their full time job. If you are hiring someone who charges much less, this is not their full time job. Their attention to every detail won't be the same as someone who devotes their day to day life to this. It is a strong possibility they are not spending top dollar on their equipment. They may take longer to present you with edited images as they are likely working around the schedule of a day job, or they may cut corners in the editing process due to lack of time to devote to it.

I've addressed this on other boreds but I'll say it again, if booking a top notch photographer or hiring the perfect DJ aren't all that important to someone, I urge them to DIY or Friendor it up. Hire the guy on craigslist offering 8 hours for $400. However, this route is just not going to provide you the same result as hiring someone who lives the profession in question. It is a reasonable statement that there are going to be occasions where a bride may spend 3,000 dollars on her photography and STILL not like her pictures, but the margain for error is much narrower when working with someone who has done this job hundreds of times and who's reputation rests on doing it well, as opposed to trusting the job to someone who's giving it their first go and hoping for the best.

I just urge brides to consider all of this when making a decision. An informed decision is the best decision after all. I think different aspects of a wedding are of different importance to everyone. Some photographers and DJ's will say "don't you DARE think of using an ipod/college student photographer etc" but really it's about what's important to you as a bride. If you believe your event would be just as nice or perhaps better if you just let a custom playlist play all night, then bust out your ipod! I just occasionally get a little tired of people thinking us photographers and DJs are over charging you by an arm and a leg when really we're just trying to give you top of the line service while making a living :)

@Wonderstruck: I thought the EXACT SAME THING when I read that. But then I thought I must have misread it or maybe the OP left something out. I would love to make $65,000- at this point my fiance and I together aren't making that much. Most of the families that I know aren't making that much now.

But I do agree with some of the other things that the OP posted- thanks for making an informative post. It's always interesting to see the other side of things. I'll think twice before complaining about photography costs... although I feel like many people in MANY industries don't make as much as people think or as much as they deserve. Almost every career has overhead costs that add up.

Sorry to not have clarified. I live in New Jersey in an area where the average cost of a moderately sized home is between 300 and 350k with ridiculously high taxes. This actually isn't even the mostly costly area of NJ, as some areas have an "average" cost of a moderate home priced at 500k. Our house wasn't quite so extravagant, however it was twice the price of my sisters home, and she has nearly twice as much square footage and lives ten minutes outside of a city (Pittsburgh). I can therefore see how some posters might have different views concerning the cost of comfortable living considering it varies so much over the country. The national average income may be 50k, but again, this statistic takes into account areas where the average may be significantly lower and it's still a livable salary.

  I also want to clarify that I was not trying to imply that I struggle to make ends meet. Between mine and my SO's salary we are comfortable considering the cost of the area that we live in. However if I wasn't living with him I would definitely be renting and probably would have to scale back on small luxuries many women tend to overspend on like pedicures, dinners with friends, and getting my hairs did. I certainly wouldn't starve however. I had only meant to imply that my salary doesn't leave me with bulging pockets at my clients expense, as I think some brides are under the impression that photogs are fat paid. <3

@User876, I was just about to post that I am SHOCKED how many people seem to think 65k is an exorbitant yearly wage for a high cost area like NJ. Once I pay taxes I think what my boyfriend and I pay in bills alone probably eats up the entirety of the income I've mapped out above. Like I said in my post, I'd be renting and never leaving my apartment for lack of funds if I didn't live with a significant other who also makes a decent living. Or you know, my rate would just be higher. :)

I also did completely forget to mention benefits and savings, and definitely gave a very conservative figure in terms of business expeses. I was mostly getting at the "average year" once someone is already established, has a decent kit that they only need to upgrade minimally here and there. But equipment upgrades, on top of advertising fees, web hosting, general supplies, etc, you're right in stating that I undershot myself.

 As for targeting the wrong market, I generally don't  break down my price this much to a bride who balks at my rate. At least I haven't in the past several years. I've come to the understanding that most of these ladies just need to be told that maybe I'm not the photographer for them. I mostly posted this on here after seeing a conversation where a few bees where expressing concern for "over priced" wedding industry professionals. My hope is that next time someone feels tempted to think "$250 (or 3 or 4 hundred as the case may be) an hour! Who in their right mind asks for that kind of money?"  they will possibly think twice having a general idea where it all actually goes and what it's really buying them. Or at the very least maybe they'll understand what they potentially sacrifice hiring someone who charges $50 an hour.

@Bubu82 HA! I wish I could escape the clutches of this horrible state.

I'm afraid this thread might have unintentionally done more harm than good with the OP living in NJ - $65,000 sounds like a lot to most people, but I don't think most pros come even close to that.

I'll use NC as a more standard example:

Say an average priced pro wedding photographer here books 30 weddings (40-60 hours of total work if not more, especially if there are bridals or engagement shoots with that) at a rate of around $2,500 each (a pretty average price point for pro NC photographers). Keep in mind that 30 weddings is a lot of weddings and many pros aren't able to book that many. That's a gross income of $75,000. I know from experience that I'm already at close to $15,000 in expenses and it's only September - expenses include new equipment (a pro lens can be $1,000-$3,000, pro cameras $2500-$6000, not to mention lighting), software, equipment upkeep, memory cards, batteries, shipping products, monthly fees for website hosting, memberships to pro photo organizations with annual dues, equipment and liability insurance, annual fees for filing paperwork with the state, the list goes on. So let's say after those expenses we're at $60,000 gross. Now tax that by around 30% and we have around $40,000. Tax that again for the 12% self employment tax and we're left with around $35,000. And that math doesn't consider other expenses like the toll we take on our cars, clothing, feeding ourselves, ordering sample albums and prints, and other miscellaneous expenses.

So $35,000 for 30 weddings which for most pros include 40-60 hrs of work each comes out to about $23/hr. I don't think anyone would say that's an exorbitant wage for someone with a specialized skill set.

@yellowshoe: I don't think that was the point at all, though! I think the point was that people see the take home amount that photographers make/charge, and don't realize just how expensive it is to pay yourself a salary, insurance (health & prof), retirement, equipment, software, website, back-up equipment, etc. Most photographers take other jobs, assist, etc before they start, and up their prices fairly quickly. I think the point was that while charging $3000+ for "one day" of work may seem like they're making bank, there's much more to it than that.