When did you pay your Photographer?

Per our contract, our photographer/videographer were paid in full 30 days before the wedding

ETA:

They're expecting money AFTER the wedding? Now that's odd.

I had to pay deposit and then the remaining balance is due 30 days before wedding. I have also paid for her flights and going to pay a couple nights at the hotel for obvious reasons.

We paid our photographer in equal payments of like, $350, every other month leading up to the wedding. They were paid in full a few weeks before the wedding. I see it as a plus to have many smaller payments than one big one right before. It was a lot less stressful for us. We also paid monthly on our venue.

My photographer doesn't do it for a living, but is retired and does it for fun, so we aren't paying him anything until we get our last photo's back after the wedding.

He is someone my mother knows and has done a lot of weddings she has been to.

We've been making payments since we signed the contract. There isn't a set amount we need to pay each month or every few months, we just decided to send in what we can each month to slowly pay it off. Our photographer, DJ, and videographer are all one company so it's a rather large bill!

Sounds normal to me.

We paid our deposit/retainer when we signed the contract.

A certain amount is due about a month BEFORE the wedding, and the rest is due two weeks AFTER the wedding.

She said it helps the couples pay for the photography/videography with money they receive from their wedding gifts, and about 75% of couples pay this way. The rest pay in full right before the wedding.

I thought it made sense since she is super expensive and one of the top rated photographers in the area with hundreds of 5 star reviews.

This is the one vendor we splurged on!!

QueSeraSera, I never looked at it that way. Thanks for explaining that.

For my photographer, half is due with the contract signing, and the other half 30 days before my date. Maybe your photographer is trying to make a payment plan? Instead of one big chunk?

I have heard of people paying up front and then the photog bailing. i would not even pay 50%. most i would pay is 20% down and the rest day of. thats something your coordinator would take care of - paying off vendors day of. our photog got 20% down and the rest day of. Im always sketchy about anything lol lots of ppl out there that take advantage of others.

We had to put a third down as a deposit, another third the day of the wedding and final payment is due when the photos are ready

Ok, I looked up our photographer's payment schedule. I was slightly off.

(I rounded to whole numbers since you guys don't need to know exact payments)

Retainer (deposit) due upon signing: $1400

Payment 2 due two weeks BEFORE wedding: $2140

Payment 3 due two weeks AFTER wedding: $3540

So it's about 50% due before the wedding and 50% due after the wedding

Hmm...I guess I am the type that feels it makes more sense to pay in full closer to the wedding date rather than keeping a constant stream of money going to the company the entire year. It seems we have a split of people paying closer to the wedding date and others paying well in advance :/

@MsGem

I agree completely. Holy shit but paying off a vendor fully a month before the wedding is risky as hell. I was unhappy that my photographer is insisting on the full amount the day before the wedding, but at least I will know he has not skipped town and will more likely show up the next day.

I will not be paying off a single vendor until the night of the wedding or after. You can have whatever terms in your contract, but nothing is going to help you if these people leave you in the lurch on your wedding day. If your vendors are insisting on these types of terms, you 100% need wedding insurance to cover the costs of finding last minute replacements.

I paid a non refundable deposit to book them. Then I will pay the rest the day of

We paid the deposit. Remaining balance was due 30 days before. I was hesitant about paying off before the wedding as others have mentioned (nothing to do with my photog- she is awesome, just how I am). Most of our things we paid with credit card (then paid the card off) for the protection of disputing charges. We also got our cash back rewards so that was nice.

In our contract we owe a 500 deposit week of engagement pics. The rest is due 2 weeks before the wedding. FH and I decided to pay it off early and are making monthly payments now instead of waiting until engagement pics.

I paid $600 at engagement shoot and the rest is due 2 weeks before our date

Our photographer isn't doing this, but some of our other vendors are minus the payment after the wedding. That part is a little odd to me

My photographer wanted 2 different payments. Half initially and then the last half 30 days prior to the wedding. My wedding planner had a payment schedule like the one your photographer wants except she wanted the last payment a week before the wedding. I think asking for money after the wedding is strange, though.

Our photographer takes the day you book and divides the cost into 3 payments. Our first two payments were due before the wedding and our final payment is due 2 weeks after the wedding to give us time to see the photographs and his work.