Wedding Photographers - Average Costs (Half day shoot)?

ixoy

We're looking at wedding photographers and, very frustratingly, none of them have pricing up on their web sites. We've e-mailed a couple but we don't know whether they're average prices or both more expensive than the norm. Why prices can't be put up on their site is beyond me.

What we do want is a half-day package, which not many even make clear if they do, and the option of a second photographer potentially. Prices I've seen for a half-day seem to be around €1250+ but that's based on just a couple of quotes. Rather than firing e-mails off to everyone, can someone give me a feel for the prices they might have paid, especially if it was a half day shoot? I know it won't be half of a full day's price but it all seems very expensive.

pullandbang

Some photographers do and some don't display pricing. We used to but found our enquiries increased once we took the prices off the main site.

As to half day coverage, you must remember that if a photographer takes you on for a half day, he can't take another booking that day and if your wedding is in peak season, most photographers will be looking to book a full day.

ec18

we paid 900 for a digital package from the church to the first dance two photographers

We paid 850 euro. Started at 9am and left around the 3rd dance (about 10:30 pm).

miezekatze

Prices can vary quite a lot. I would suggest contacting a few that you like with your date and requirements and ask them for a quote. I had a small wedding and only wanted a photographer for 2 hours, the highest quote I got was more than twice the amount of the cheapest quote.

LirW

She'd charge 1500 for the half day package. Would be one of the high end people that are in really high demand.

ixoy

ec18 wrote: »

we paid 900 for a digital package from the church to the first dance two photographers

Was this recently and were you happy with the quality of the pictures? Send on a link if so, thanks.

LirW wrote:

She'd charge 1500 for the half day package. Would be one of the high end people that are in really high demand.

I got the name from a photographer's thread here and I did like what I saw but just was curious as how average the price was.

There's so many photographers out there that's it hard to even get a good handle on them!

LirW

ixoy wrote: »

Was this recently and were you happy with the quality of the pictures? Send on a link if so, thanks.


I got the name from a photographer's thread here and I did like what I saw but just was curious as how average the price was.

There's so many photographers out there that's it hard to even get a good handle on them!

Go with a photographer that does pictures in a style you like. They all have individual styles and individual ways of editing. If you narrowed the search down to certain photographers you get an idea anyway, I can only advise you to meet them and check out if you'd like to have them around for your wedding.

Bacchus

LirW wrote: »

Go with a photographer that does pictures in a style you like. They all have individual styles and individual ways of editing. If you narrowed the search down to certain photographers you get an idea anyway, I can only advise you to meet them and check out if you'd like to have them around for your wedding.

Pretty much this.

There's such a variety and range of prices out there that it's essentially a "how long is a piece of string" question. At the end of the day you will get what you pay for. Full day (11-12 hours) can cost anything from €800 to €3k and beyond. Half day (probably 6-7 hours) won't be half that as, as was pointed out already, the photographer won't be able to book a full day wedding if he/she is booked for your half day. It'll be cheaper but probably not as cheap as you expect (e.g. my 7 hours is about 3/4 what my 11 hours is).

So... going back to the poster I quoted. Find photographers you like. Get a feel for what price range YOU are fishing in and go from there. You won't magically find someone just as good as those you are looking at for significantly less. That's not to say that with enough searching you won't strike lucky. I remember when we were looking (and prices were a good bit lower than today), the majority of those on our radar were around €1500-1600 but found our (most excellent) photographer for €1350. He jumped his prices up the following year so it was a case of getting lucky to catch him before that.

ec18

ixoy wrote: »

Was this recently and were you happy with the quality of the pictures? Send on a link if so, thanks.

!

yes was in July, yup we're happy with them some great photos,

One thing I'd do again is have a list of photos that you want and give it to one of the bridal party to keep track of as we missed one or two photos, just in the rush of things.