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Sophi
Savvy September 2021

Photography Budget

Sophi, on May 17, 2020 at 2:29 PM Posted in Planning 1 24
Hey everyone!


FH and I just got our first quote for photography from our venues preferred vendor list. The price really caught us off guard as, to us, at least it seemed super expensive. All the other preferred vendors we reached out to are within our budget range, except this first photography. (It ranges 6k-9k)
I’m trying to not worry too much as it’s just the first photo vendor that has gotten back to. Though, we were wondering if maybe we just didn’t budget right and it’s really starting to stress me out. We put the prices into our expense tracker and it puts us way above budget. I guess I never realized how pricey photography could actually be, especially when it come to specific packages I guess I’m just looking for some reassurance that we didn’t screw up our budget.How much are you budgeting and looking for in a photographer?

24 Comments

Latest activity by Stephanie, on May 18, 2020 at 9:59 PM
  • Karla
    Super February 2020
    Karla ·
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    Where are you located? It’s going to depend based on location.


    I’m in Southern California and my photographer was San Diego-based. Ours was $7k including the engagement session and an album. He was one of the more expensive ones I had quoted. However, I got quotes everywhere from $4-9k. The $9k was from a WA-based photographer and was pretty well known and published.
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  • Hanna
    VIP June 2019
    Hanna ·
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    Agree that it will depend upon location. We're in a big city and spent $5000 on photography, and this was considered mid-range. I would advise to keep looking around until you find someone in your budget!

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  • MOB So Cal
    January 2019
    MOB So Cal ·
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    Based on your profile, it looks like you're in the So Cal area? If so, look at https://www.karlverkadephotography.com/ . Karl was daughter's photographer and has now shot the weddings of at least three of her friends. His work is beautiful, he's the nicest guy in the entire world, and his prices are fairly reasonable (especially if you're willing/able to take advantage of his "paid in full" discounts). Daughter had over 11 hours of coverage, received 1100+ fully-edited photos, full-rights to all her images, a beautiful album, a multi-hour/location engagement session, etc. and I think we paid about $2700 (with the paid-in-full discount). Good luck!

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  • Katie
    VIP August 2021
    Katie ·
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    Where I live photography is hard to find under $2000. We ended up finding a woman who does it for $50 an hour. She is by referral only. And everyone we talk to absolutely loved her has their wedding photographer. We want to meet her and view her photos before we hire her but with this pandemic we are going to have to wait on that.
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  • M
    Legend June 2019
    Melle ·
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    On average I found photography to be 2-3k
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  • Sophi
    Savvy September 2021
    Sophi ·
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    View Quoted Comment

    We live in LA, but are getting married in Ventura County

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  • Izzykern
    Super April 2021
    Izzykern ·
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    Yeah California is super expensive/inflated compared to other areas so that price quote is kind of within the norm. We are getting married in a biggish city in North Carolina and our photographer is 3,300 for 8 hours with two shooters, engagement session, and large vintage wedding photo album. We feel that we luckily got a great deal especially since she got nationally published a few months after we booked and ended up raising her rates to $5000!
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  • Renee
    Super June 2020
    Renee ·
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    I’m in Dallas and we are spending 6k for our photographer.


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  • Karla
    Super February 2020
    Karla ·
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    You could probably find some photographers for around the $3-4K range. I have a few in that range. Just remember to budget for taxes. I was stupid and didn’t. Haha
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  • Gen
    Champion June 2019
    Gen ·
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    It depends what region you are in. I live in New Jersey and most that I found were like $5-7k, which was insane and unaffordable for us. We ended up finally finding our photographers who charged $2k and were AMAZING!


    Just keep looking, you’ll find someone you can afford. Photos are of course very important to have, but they’re not worth going into debt over, and you can generally find someone affordable if you look hard enough. I have a hard time believing that any of the $7k photographers would’ve done THAT much better than our $2k ones did.
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  • V
    Champion July 2019
    Veronica ·
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    A lot of it depends on location and experience. I see that you are getting married in California which is a rather expensive area to get married in. We got married in Scranton, PA, but our photographer was based about 2 hours away in a smaller town in PA so we paid substantially less than what we would have paid if we had booked a photographer located in Scranton. Our wedding package was $2,300. Although we got married in 2019, we got her 2019 pricing because we booked her in 2019. Had we waited a few more months we would have paid her 2019 pricing as her prices go up each year. I know when I researched photographers the venue recommended most of their basic packages started at $5,000 and up. I did a quick search for photographers near you and here are some I found that have good reviews and are less than what you were quoted.

    https://www.lilyandlime.com/

    https://www.eivans.com/ (they have multiple packages for photo and video that are less than what you were quoted for just photo)

    https://www.georgestreetphoto.com/


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  • Elizabeth
    Super June 2021
    Elizabeth ·
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    Location is the biggest factor here. We are getting married in Upstate NY and it's about 2k there on average.

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  • Stefanie
    Devoted May 2022
    Stefanie ·
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    This is my second wedding so I wanted things more simple. That being said look around... google.... look through Facebook. I found mine who was a bit cheaper and doing a discount due to covid. Keep looking....
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  • Kellyann
    Dedicated July 2020
    Kellyann ·
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    They are expensive. Im doing only 6 hours I think, only one photographer . Around 1800. This is in CO
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  • Mindy
    Super November 2020
    Mindy ·
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    It is really all over the place. We ended up paying 1881 for ours. But my MOH’s cousin is a wedding photographer and she charges 5k per wedding.
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  • A
    Dedicated September 2021
    ALY C ·
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    CA here. I'd say you could find a good professional photographer here for 8 hours for 2500 to 3500, but you'll have to look. Most of the "well known ones" are 4-5k at least, and if you want an engagement shoot or album, expect to tack on more. There are some really good photographers that haven't been featured yet in places like Style Me Pretty or Brides Magazine that are just as good though. But if you want the features ones, expect to pay over 6 or 7k

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  • Alisha
    Rockstar April 2021
    Alisha ·
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    It depends on where you live. I budget about $1000.00 but the photographer that we talked to was willing to work with us. We ended up getting him bc we needed a second shooter which cost us a extra $400.00. We ended up spending $1400 for our package and we wanted. Keep looking and you will find a photographer that you are looking for (within your budget).

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  • Anna
    VIP October 2020
    Anna ·
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    Wow! Glad you caught her and locked in that contract when you did. I'm getting married in NC as well, but in a smaller town, my photographer is local and I'm paying just under $1k for 6 hours, 1 photographer, engagement session and usb drive of all my photos. This price also includes the travel for my getting ready location which is out of town.

    @Sophi, it's definitely a good idea to shop around, but I will say the photographer is my biggest item on my budget. I don't think many of us truly realized the cost until we started looking.

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  • Jill
    Jill ·
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    Out of all the vendors needed for a wedding, my daughter was pickiest about the photographer (she and her fiance were combat photographers in the Army with published work in National Geographic). After viewing several portfolios, they chose one with a package that included a videographer for $2,000 in the Bay Area (CA).
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  • T
    Devoted August 2020
    Tina ·
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    Keep checking prices. I live in NJ I got a lady who was about 3k for 2 photographers, album, and edits. She’s very sweet as well.
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