When planning a wedding, this question comes up a lot. People are often petrified to open their quotes from photographers, and then shocked when they do. We wanted to offer a few explanations about why wedding photographers often need to charge what is deemed a high price, in order to take the images on your big day.

1. Wedding photography is a luxury item: Yes, it may be something you can’t go without, but by making the choice to throw a catered party to celebrate your marriage, you are also making the choice to incur way more costs than a simple marriage certificate in a courthouse wedding. Of all the things you spend money on during your big day, photography and the videography are the only ones that increase in value as time goes on. The food and drink get devoured and then forgotten, and the venue serves as a backdrop that everyone will eventually leave in order to make their journeys home. Your flowers will wilt, your make up is washed off and you sleep on your beautifully done wedding hair after your wedding. Of all the highly priced items on the wedding day, paying for good quality photography is the most sensible investment you could make.

Other than this main reason, there are a few more practical reasons why photographers may need to have higher prices than what you were expecting:

1. The Photographic Equipment: If you want high quality images, the photographer will obviously need to use high quality equipment. This equipment costs thousands of dollars, and in case of mishaps or breakages on the wedding day, most photographers have double of everything as a backup.
2. Insurance and business expenses: Because the equipment is so pricey, photographers spend a large sum of money insuring it against theft or damage. A drunk wedding guest could spill their drink on a lens, or a child could step on the camera bag by accident. All of these ‘What If’s’ need to be covered by insurance. As a business, a photographer is also expected to pay taxes, another cost that must be included.
3. Don’t forget all the often forgotten items: The wedding album or prints that are included in your package, a second shooter, the packaging and branding that you receive your prints in, travel expenses to the venue as well as accommodation if it’s a destination wedding. Also factor in advertising costs, everyday office expenses and website design and maintenance.

We know wedding photographers can seem excessively pricey sometimes, but we hope this gives some much-needed insight into why. They have living and working expenses just like everyone else, that sum of money you pay them most certainly doesn’t go straight into their pockets!