Your Prices Way Too High, You Need To Cut It

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Haha! Okay, so what does this song have to do with this post? Well, a lot actually! Funny enough, I hear and along with pretty much all photographers more often than not that wedding photography is too expensive. Actually, in general WEDDINGS are too expensive no matter what you try to do or budget for. I understand that, TRUST ME! I personally don’t do it on purpose. Actually, scratch that, I do it on purpose. Why? Well because I am a small business with experience and I have to make this work or my business would fail.

So, why am I writing this blog post? Well, it is to give wedding photographers in general a *small* voice. It’s not to say “Well, here’s the reason you should pay for us.” Please understand that it NOT my intention. My intention is for you to simply understand the process and why sometime it may seem expensive when you are first looking at numbers, but I promise it’s not without good reason. When you see a package for just “8 hours of coverage” you’re not getting JUST that. So, for those that care enough to keep reading I am going to break down one single wedding for you that has hired me for my 8 hour package with a second photographer and a bridal session.

View More: http://megan-vaughan.pass.us/townsend-family

dotA bride-to-be emails me and absolutely loves my work (YAY) and wants to book my 8 hour package that comes with a second photographer so she can ensure her  wedding day is captured  at all angles.

dotWe email back and fourth about questions she has over the span of two weeks. Once she’s ready she will go ahead and sign the contract.

dotAfter the contract is signed we typically go ahead and plan the complimentary engagement session (these are legit complimentary in my packages).

dotAfter emailing and most likely texting at this point (I LOVE texting my brides, lol!), we go ahead and pick out a date, discuss outfits, location and whatever else we need to talk about!

dotIt’s engagement session time! Typically we spend anywhere from 90 minutes to 2 hours on an engagement session.

dotAfter the engagement session I have to put up sneak peeks! So, I do a lot of posting on Facebook and Instagram.

dotAfter that it typically takes about 2-3 hours over 2-3 weeks to get everything culled, edited, and uploaded to their online gallery. And then emailing for delivery of files.

dotOnce the files have been sent I will do a blog post of their session!

dotOnce all of that is done we plan for a bridal session! This typically takes about 2-3 hours to shoot.

dotBridals are edited and delivered within 2-3 weeks so that prints can be ordered in time for the wedding.

dotBridals blog post is created but not posted until after the wedding itself.

dotDepending on the wedding date, after the engagement session we start planning for the wedding itself. I send out a questionnaire to be answered. Meaning, timeline, family portrait list, getting prints ordered, ect.

dotThe day before the wedding consists of getting all my gear in order, memory cards formatted, batteries charged, lenses cleaned, lists printed, ect.

dotTHEN IT’S THE BIG DAY!!! YAY!!! So, it’s time to travel to the venue and get started!

dotAfter working the big day itself for the 8 hours hired, it’s time to import all of the images and double back them up.

dotThe day after the wedding I go ahead and post sneak peeks to tease everyone! Typically that takes about 1-2 hours to do.

dotDuring the week after the wedding I go ahead and get a blog post up of the entire wedding that following Friday (if everything goes smoothly of course). This takes anywhere from 3-6 hours depending on how long the wedding was.

dotOnce that is done. It generally takes about 6-8 weeks to get all of the images culled, edited, and uploaded for delivery. Most of the time it’s sooner than that, but remember, most photographers including myself are juggling 20-30 weddings (sometimes MORE) a YEAR!

dotThe files have been delivered HECK TO THE YES!!! Once that’s done over a period of time (depending on the B+G and their schedules) we get their flash drives ordered, and an album ordered if they purchased that (tack on another 3-6 hours of work for an album).

dotDone and done!

View More: http://megan-vaughan.pass.us/townsend-family

BUT THAT IS NOT IT YOU GUYS!!!

This little business also requires so much more than just those steps hired for. And I promise some of those steps I left a lot of things out just to make it a little more simple for reading. In order to keep my business afloat there’s SO much more that has to happen behind the scenes.

Here’s a quick overview: 

Regular Monthly Costs: internet, cell phone, online gallery backup of images, studio management software subscription, website, gear insurance, liability insurance, shipping, assistants, networking events

Yearly Costs : Updating gear, new gear, getting gear professionally cleaned and tuned up by Canon Professional Services, updating computer and/or editing software, web hosting, Canon membership fees, other professional subscriptions, education (workshops/training), marketing, advertising, business cards and other stationery, marketing pieces, packaging and shipping supplies, office supplies, accountant, small business taxes, hard drives

Then you have surprise costs which you never know when they are going to show up: Broken gear, broken computer, ect.

After all that I STILL have to be able to budget for my life expenses for my husband and myself.  This is in addition to the money it takes to run the business. Do I sound crazy yet? Well, it’s not crazy. It’s life. It’s real. It’s how we make a living.

So, brides and future brides-to-be remember when you hire a photographer for your special day that you aren’t just hiring them for the time they will be with you on that day. You’re also hiring them well, we mostly hope because you LOVE our work, but you’re hiring them for their expertise and experience. We totally understand that you have a budget to work with and maybe that’s the reason we aren’t a fit. That’s FINE! Actually, some photographers, if you email them back to let them know they aren’t a fit because of that specifically, might even be able to offer you a different package that works better. Or they can even send you to some trusted photographer friends for something more ideal in budget costs. But we never know if you don’t ask.

All in all remember that you’re not only investing in your photographer and their livelihood, you’re also investing in their work for you to have images that you’ll cherish for a lifetime. Cheesy, I know, but absolutely true! We love you guys and want nothing more for you to have the best experience possible.

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