Do you feel being ripped off by wedding photographers?

The photographs are the one thing that remains after your wedding day besides your marraige of course. I cannot afford a professiol which is why i am using a friend who has a little experience and paying a fraction of what id pay a pro. Even though i can not afford one i would never see them as being a rip off. Their work is invaluable

You definitely have to do loads of research. I don't feel I'm being ripped off I just simply knew we had a max budget for photography/videography and we can't afford to go over. We found someone who does engagement shoot, 8 hours on wedding day of photography and videography with a second shooter for 2500. I figured we couldn't beat that. She took a few months to find though! & her work is absolutely beautiful.

Ours is 1200 for 8 hours which I'm happy with. Most around here are 2000 and up which I am not willing to pay. I found mine through Facebook. She did a couple of my friends family photos so I checked her out and she's great and new fairly new to the business. I would ask on your Facebook and on local yard sale pages.
I also found my videographer through Facebook they charge 1000 for 8 hrs and 2 cameras., which is insanely cheap. They are also new but good and by time our wedding rolls around they'll have more experience.

I definitely haven't felt like I was ripped off - but I also thoroughly vetted my photographer options by reading through online reviews, viewing their work on past weddings, and comparing their pricing and package options against industry averages!

Wedding photography is their business and if they are a high quality photographer who is booking up quickly, they can appropriately raise their pricing! Also keep in mind that all wedding vendors are looking at a very small number of dates they can actually book a year. While non-Saturday weddings are increasing in popularity, Saturdays are still the most popular day to get married and there are only so many Saturdays a year!

If you're curious about average costs and what goes into photography pricing, here are some great resources to check out:

Wedding Cost Guide - pick the service and enter your zip code to see average spend, cost ranges, and details of different factors that can contribute to the total cost

2018 Newlywed Report - WeddingWire's annual report on wedding trends and planning insights

Why a Wedding Photographer Costs THAT Much - article with great insights!

You definitely get what you pay for. My photographers will be with us "from 8am to midnight" the day of. They are a husband and wife team, so we get two main shooters. We get all our photos on a USB in a keepsake box. They stay up for hours and work really hard to have a quick turnaround time - We got our engagement photo preview (35 photos) within 16 hours of taking photos! I spent $4500 for everything including the engagement session, although I might upgrade to have them make our wedding album (premium leather, beautiful thick photo pages, and completely designed by them with a lifetime guarantee. It's the most gorgeous thing I've ever seen!)

Sure, their equipment is expensive and all that other stuff but what about the ones who do other stuff and charge like 200 dollars or 100 an hour for say a 3 hour senior picture shoot (at a location other than the studio) or to photograph another party or event and then hear the 'W' word and it's suddenly "Oh, we can offer you 3000 for our BASIC package."
I definitely think it's a case of oh a wedding? Thats going to cost you twice as much.

Don't get me started on the hairstylists who charge double the price for a "bridal" updo than they do for a "regular" updo.

I definitely think it's important to consider all their expenses plus their value as a photographer. I understand the time that goes into editing photos and whatnot. However, a lot of them overprice themselves. I've been looking for a photographer with two cameras to be there towards the end of us getting ready until the sparkler exit. Most photographers I have found will charge you like $1800 for five hours (which isn't enough time) and for one camera. That's a little ridiculous in my opinion. Especially because my fiancé does photography and points out how a lot of expensive photographers miss details in editing and overexpose all the pictures. It's just not worth THAT much for those kinds of results.