Do you feel being ripped off by wedding photographers?

My venue gave me a list of recommended photographers and I looked at those only. I felt I would be way too overwhelmed looking outside of those options, and it worried me to use someone I knew nothing about. I felt good about picking from the recommended list because I feel that the venue wouldn't recommend them if they were unable to conduct themselves professionally. From those I looked at their work as well as reviews. I then called a handful of them and got prices as well as a feel for who they were and who I would be comfortable working with. With that being said photography/videography is something that is very important to me so I am willing to pay more for it to ensure that I am happy with the product.

Their cameras are $4000 each (most have two), lenses are $1000 each (I’d say a seasoned photographer has at least 3 that they use often), have to pay second shooter, Adobe Photoshop/Lightroom is I think $50/month, need $500 hard drive to store clients photos for years to come, not to mention they might not have a ton of gigs throughout the year. It sucks but the photos are so good because of all the money they’ve invested in themselves!

I paid $2500, and that is pretty fair to low for a professional photographer in my area. Checking with friends, searching wedding hashtags in your area, etc. to find pictures you love first and then comparing pricing is usually the easiest route. I already knew who I wanted because I had been on a senior shoot with her for one of my friends previously. Look at Wedding Wire's recommendations list if you need a starting place!

We are paying just under 4k and feel it is a great price. Beautiful photos are really hard to do. And we will love these photos and the album forever.

Ripped off? No.
I value my work and I hope my photographer does the same.

Absolutely not! They spend thousands of dollars on equipment not to mention the cost of photoshop and any photography classes they’ve taken. They spend hours that day with you and big amounts of time editing photographs.

No, they captured your big day! Professional wedding photos are beautiful.

I spent a good week or so looking at diffrent photographers in my area. Reading reviews, comparing portfolios. Figuring out if they where familiar with my venue. Comparing prices from each photographer. Asking how often they do weddings. In my area I found out it is their 2nd gig. For extra money. Not saying they won't do a fantastic job but it's something to consider. Everyone wants the best bag for their buck, but also the best work. It's stressful in my eyes because of course you want every picture to be perfect and every moment captured. Also first question is "do you have my date avaliable." don't want to get your heart set on someone based on their portfolio/prices and then finding out they are already booked. Best of luck hunting.

Yes it’s expensive, but it’s an important part of documenting your wedding day! And it’s not like it’s thousands of dollars for a few hours of work. You’re paying for experience and all their equipment in addition to the hours they spend taking photos then sorting through the thousands taken to find the best ones and edit. My photographer was one of the more expensive ones on the list I narrowed our choices down to. I looked on WW and the Knot vendors to come up with a list, in addition to searching on google for local companies. Then I looked at each portfolio and website, narrowed my list down to like 8, went over that list with my sister (my MOH who does photography on the side and knows what looks good and what I like) to narrow it down to 3, then I contacted all our choices for package pricing then set up phone call interviews with FH until we found the right one.

It's also not just the equipment. From start to finish, with the consultation to the actual big day and then all the time editing, I'd say it's probably at least a 20 hour time commitment for our photographer. Our photographer's rate also includes a second shooter so I think his rates are pretty reasonable.

If there something that I would spend money in my wedding, it would be the photographer.

Not ripped off at all! We spent a little over 2k. We don’t have all the photos back but we have over 200 and we’ve only been married a couple weeks. From what we’ve seen she was worth every penny.

I used to date a professional veryyy expensive photographer and i always questioned why it was so expensive, they way he explained it is, forget about the equipment and the school loans they have to pay off, at the point in his career he well paid all those off, but think about the fact that you work a 9-5 everyday for almost everyday a year getting a steady pay. They work about 3-6 months depending on the state, (he lived in NH at the time, no one has weddings in the winter which lasts us a better half of the year.) they have to charge more because it has to pay their rent and bills when no ones booking them. It does seem like a high price but it makes sense when you add in all the variables.

Thank you all for your reply Did you just take wedding day photos? How about engagement or pre-wedding sets? The kind to be used to put on your wedding websites/invitation letters etc. Is a few thousand dollars for a engagement set not expensive also?

View Quoted Comment My friend tooks our as a gift but i 120% would not have done them otherwise. I hate my picture getting taken and i personally feel its an expense you can do without.

View Quoted Comment Many photographers will include an engagement shoot with their package. It’s also a grate way to get comfortable with your photographer. I understand the sticker shock. I was surprised myself at what things cost. We wound up finding someone through thumbtack. You have to be careful there though. I had quotes as low as 600 dollars and I’m sorry but at that price I’m concerned about quality. We wound up going with someone that was 2500. Which is quite reasonable for our area. I did meet with her first and checked out her online work so I was comfortable selecting her even though her price was on the low end of the range. You can probably find a good quality photographer for a reasonable price just have to dig around a little.

Picking a photographer was the hardest thing for us to book. We looked at quite a few looking for just the right style we wanted. They are expensive but it’s worth it. We ended up adjusting our package to include just what we wanted and ended up coming in right at our budget for a photographer. Be open and honest about your budget and see what happens. Photos are one of the major things you will have to remember your wedding day.

Nope! We are paying $4600 for engagement shoot, 2 hours at our welcome party, and 9 hours on the wedding day with 2 shooters. Our photographer is amazing and had 3 different cameras she was shooting with for our engagement photos. She also shoots film which costs her $3 every time she clicks the shutter which she doesn’t charge us for she just loves it so much. I can’t even fathom how much work goes into shooting all day and then editing thousands of pictures. It’s worth every penny to me and I don’t feel like I’m being ripped off at all.

No, I don't feel ripped off........it sort of seems unfair to say that. Sure, it's expensive but you get a great product in return. It takes years to develop their skill, their equipment is very expensive, they shoot all day and edit photos for days after. If you don't want to spend the $ so be it but you are not getting ripped off.

I’ve photographed 3 weddings under 70 ppl. I take at least 2000 photos. That is a lot of editing. Carpal tunnel anyone??
on a normal shoot of day a family group for Xmas I spend about 25 hrs editing about 50 photos. I would take about 700 but have to pick out only the best 50 or so.
So imagine going through 2000 photos and editing 200+.
Weddings there are no do overs either like in family shoots or HS seniors. You have got to be ready and one step ahead of what’s next to get the shot. You got to know lighting and your settings and to catch details like a ruffled shirt or stuck pants leg. A hair out of place or ugly stuff in the back ground.

Its $$$ cuz you get what u pay for. Pay $500 and get people in background and pants legs stuck and 50 edited photos burned on an outdated CD.
Pay a couple grand and get fabulous photos with tons to choose from and 2 shooters who get lots of angles.