Flaky Photographer RANT (Update) and New Issues UGH!

It is common. No one gave me a price over the phone or email. I met with everyone before they gave me a price.

Oh wow that is so unprofessional!

No, I don't think that's common. At least not when I was vendor shopping. All I had to do was send an email and give them my wedding details and they would respond back with a quote. Maybe you can just explain to them that you are out of town and ask them if you can do a phone meeting instead.

Maybe if you can just assure them that you're after a ballpark before meeting rather than a quote that you're going to hold them to that might help? Nobody wants to have their time wasted if it turns out you could never afford to go with them!

Every photographer I've contacted by email have me the links to there pricing list...

I got price points for all of my vendors over the phone or via email - I simply explained that I lived out of state and they were more than happy to help.

I did do a bunch of meetings via Skype which is also something you can suggest

I've heard that issue before. They don't want to just give out their prices to anyone. You could be another photographer trying to find out what other photographers prices are. I had the opposite problem, no one offered to meet with me and only wanted to give me prices, because they are used to only doing destination weddings, but I live here. The big with the photographer I picked was because she met in person with me. I feel like you need to know if you can deal with their personalities.

I had a few photographers that did that and I just refused to meet with them. I hated that. I know what my budget is and I don't want to waste my time if I can't afford them and neither should they. My photographer was really straightforward and sent her list right away so we met with her and she was awesome! Keep looking you'll find someone! The wedding vendor hunt is a stressful one.

I am stressing because many of the ones out of Indianapolis are booking into 2015 already. My venue is also in the Indy area but I am not. The two photographers I have met with so far were local and were more than happy to give me pricing - the ones in the big city are about 50/50 on giving info up front.

It must be a regional thing. I agree with @PhillyReally, every photog I reached out to gave me pricing. I lucked up and was referred to a freelance photog who has done the wedding of a few couples in my neighborhood. We are paying $550 for 6 hours of coverage. We will get full rights to all pictures on a disc as well as a few edited photos and we can print as we please. She did our Epics for $50 on location at a local part. My avatar is one of the photos.

Try posting on thumbtack. I found my officiant that way. You can post a price and other info and vendors will reach out to you if they can meet your budget.

@Lavenderjoy I just signed up for Thumbtack - I never heard of this before. Hopefully I will find someone!

I do not clearly understand why they refuse disclosing prices in the beginning and insist on meetings. This is a waste of time for both sides. I would choose only between those photographers who display prices on their websites.

@GrayCatVintage - I hope you find someone as well! :-)

Have you looked at Snapknot? It's a site similar to The Knot, but just for finding wedding photographers. In order to list there, we have to give a ballpark package. Depending on their pricing structure, it can be hard to give specific quotes without knowing more about your day. Do you want one photographer or two? How many hours? Do you want albums? Do you want rights to the images? Do you want frames/canvases? But at least by looking at potential photographers on a place like Snapknot, you will know if they are in the range of what you would like to spend, before you contact them. You can narrow your search by geographic area and price and it's very easy to scan through portfolios of a bunch of potentials to narrow it down.

If I'm working with couples from out of town, I'm fine with doing initial meetings over the phone or skype. I know it can be hard to schedule a meeting in the little time you have when you visit. One other option (and it's not as expensive as you might think with some photographers), is to find one where YOU live and have them travel for the wedding. That way you can have all the meetings you want locally, and make sure it's the right person.

Glad you dumped the flaky one - doesn't seem like the right fit at all for you.

Almost all of the vendors I've contacted have given me their prices via email or they were stated clearly on their website. I am "firing" my photog tonight via email. The way she checks her email she probably won't find out til next month. Luckily we only had a verbal agreement and there were no deposits and no signed contracts. She was driving me nuts though by not responding to my emails. I found a new one and checked out her work and thank goodness she has our date available, we meet with her tonight. Best of luck!! I hope you find something soon!

I second the snapknot suggestion. Best thing is that most photographers listed at least have an "average" amount spent, so you can get an idea if they are at least in your price range.

We specifically looked for vendors who had pricing information on their website, and luckily our favorite photographer had his starting package price listed and was very open about pricing. It may be worthwhile to give your budget information in your query email, that way if they see they are out of your budget, they can just say so (and save you some time).

A lot of vendors get tired of brides who are price shopping and feel they need to have a personal meeting before disclosing their prices, in hopes that the value of their work/personality will be worth the cost. It's understandable bc its their livelihood, but as a bride, definitely annoying.

I actually got quotes over email from photographers pretty easily. Then again, I only contacted photographers I found through OffBeatBride and A Practical Wedding.

Urgh I ran into that too! I hated when they wouldn't give me prices and ultimately it said screw it to any venders (not just photogs but djs etc. too) that wouldn't give me prices. I understand their side of it but honestly, I don't have time for that. If you made it a hassle for me, I moved on to someone else.

I had a few do that and that told me they were out of budget. I always look for vendors that have pricing info on their sites and when they don't I take as they are very high.

@Jennifer H: Where are you located? Are you in Indiana?