Wedding Budget

Sgt_Pepper

Sgt_Pepper

Sgt_Pepper

Associate
Joined
1 Sep 2007
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2,205
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St. Helens & Blackpool
Hi I'm slowly working my way through my wedding to-do list and photographers is next to sort out.

Could anyone give me any tips or advice on what to look for in a wedding photographer.

Also what type of prices will i be expecting to pay for a good photographer, and what type of service do you get for your money eg: (albums, photos, discs etc)

I dont want to end up with Random Jon and his Cybershot. :)
 
My advice is meet them, and not just one or two.

We interviewed 5 photographers in the end, and my god did we see some AWFUL crap out there. "i can do selective colour - here are a million selective colour samples...."

In the end we found a superb photographer who wasnt particularly well established but was very much into his photography. He had oudles of kit from his fashion photography (quality portable studio etc) and had a cracking portfolio.

Photographers can make or break your day. Some of our most memorable moments we messing around having photos done (its lovely to have some time without 100 people staring at you).

Other weddings i have been to where hitler is barking at you to get with the grannies..... not my cup of tea.

Know what you want from the photographer before you meet them.
 
Have you thought about a video, too? Most people don't and it really is worth investing in. From the couples I've spoken to post-wedding the biggest regret is always not having a decent video made.
 
Decide what kind of photographer you want first of all, different togs do different styles.
You can have everything from Documentary where the photographer basically just documents the day ninja style and won't get involved other than breaking for some couple shots and group shots. At the other end is where the photographer basically controls the day and will instruct you to pose or recreate shots etc.

If you're spending less than £800 then you'll be buying in to the lower end of the market, that's not to say you won't get good photography but you'll probably get someone who is either run of the mill or does it as a weekend job. They also may not be as prepared with backup cameras, good quality lenses.

£800-£1500 is medium end of the market, you're likely to get an established tog with good equipment and able to work in various conditions with a fairly solid portfolio.

£1500-£3000 medium/high end you'll get one or two togs (who work as a team) to cover your day, more personalised service etc.

£3000+ high end, known sought after tog.

Above would usually include a pre-wedding meeting face to face and after the wedding a DVD of all the high resolution photos

Album costs are usually on top of initial costs but don't forget you can make your own from the photos which many couples enjoy.

Always ask to see at least two full weddings, this way you can make sure their work is consistent and they're not just showing you a selection of 50 photos from the last 5 years that have been photo shopped just to show potential clients.

Also, some togs work as a duo - for smaller weddings this can be overkill but for larger weddings it can be great as you'll be getting various angles during important moments including one tog per person in the morning when you're getting ready.

One more thing, make sure they're insured with public liability and professional indemnity insurance.
 
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There are a few others from here I wouldn't mind recommending (and have mentioned incidentally) on the off chance they didn't mind people with not so much experience.

On the subject, I do find many people have no idea on budget, so it would be good to know for reference.
 
We cheaped out at £850 and it was satisfactory, nothing more. He documented the day, but didn't capture anything amazing really. Got DVD video of pics and jpegs for that, plus a 20 photo album
 
We get many enquiries from people who are unsure about how to budget for their photography, we gently remind them that whilst many hundreds of pounds are spent on the dress, the flowers etc... the dress goes back in the box and the flowers are dead within days, but it's your wedding photos which will last a lifetime.
 
For some indication, our wedding tog was £350 for the day, but then we got ass raped on prints and an album to a total cost of around £2500. He wanted £1800 for CD of images.

12 months after he sent an email offering the DVD of images for £300, he was politely told no.

I have just started myself, and charge £400 for the day + DVD of images. Doing albums/prints are on top.

One of the best togs on the east cost starts his basic package on £1500 for 2 togs for the day (well 1/2 a day).

You need to decide what you can afford and pick the tog who's work you like the best and that you get on with. Lots of togs have letters after their name too, these indicate which professional bodies they are part of. Check them out as some you simply pay a yearly fee and you are in, others you actually have to pass an entrance board who judge your work. The latter is much more desirable.

Ideally you want one that provides edited photos on a DVD and gives you printing rights for them, but also, if you require can do an album, although you could do your own photobook instead. Photobooks are a hell of a lot cheaper, and are the type of thing you can leave on your coffee table. If it gets ruined, its cheap enough to replace :)

Make sure they have insurance for at least public liability, not only does this cover any of your guests, you and your wedding, many venues insist on it now as does your own wedding insurance.

make sure the tog you meet is also the tog that will come to your wedding, some outsource. And ask them what plans they've got in case they can't make it on the day.

That's all I can think of off the top of my head.

EDIT: One other thing, many venues have photographers that they recommend. Now, I am in 2 minds about this. Obviously if they know the venue, they know all the places and angles to take the shots from that many new togs won't know. On the bad side, they've shot there so many times your photos will look like everyone else's that got married there and they are just banging out the same generic poses.

This is what our tog was like, had shot there 100's of times. Same generic photos, in fact, you could line all the different weddings up and they all have the same shots.
 
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My sister's approach was to pick the one who can make obviously ugly people look OK in the photos :D it seemed to work as they got some amazing photos from:
http://www.simpsonphotography.co.uk/

So much so I'm using them for my wedding in the summer. Unfortunately they've won a couple of awards and thus now sit at the top end of the prices
Mint mentioned.

We looked at a lot of different people and you do seem to get what you pay for, the number of sites that had picked one or two techniques and applied them Ad nauseam to every single scenario was shocking.
 
Wow, thousands of pounds on photos? Many thousands on the wedding itself? How come? Is there a correlation between cost of wedding and how much folk love each other or something? Both my partner and I think expensive weddings are ridiculous. When the time comes it'll be a party at my folks house in the country with the total cost around the £1000 mark.
 
clv101 said:
Wow, thousands of pounds on photos? Many thousands on the wedding itself? How come? Is there a correlation between cost of wedding and how much folk love each other or something? Both my partner and I think expensive weddings are ridiculous. When the time comes it'll be a party at my folks house in the country with the total cost around the £1000 mark.
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There was a big argument in GD some time ago now about that very subject, however the 'anti-spend' brigade just couldn't get there head around it. They seemed to think that more you spent on a wedding meant the less likely it was to last as you were substituting love with cash and that if any bride even dreamt of the 'fairytale' that they must have been money grabbing hoes.

We spent a fortune on our wedding, more than we could really afford but it was well worth it. This is the reason I stopped posting in the above mentioned thread because I'd of been banned for telling some of them what I really thought of them :)

A wedding is an important thing, the reading of vows and joining of two people. Some people like yourself are happy with small intimate weddings, and thus end up cheaper naturally. Some people want the day to be a huge celebration with family and friends that won't be forgotten any time soon, in fact 2 years later and we still have guest commenting on how good it was.

People spend what they can afford, and sometimes more than that on the way they want to celebrate it. The cash spent has nothing to do with love at all, its just about the event :) Even though you think expensive weddings are ridiculous, surely you can see that its purely down to personal taste?
 
clv101 said:
Wow, thousands of pounds on photos? Many thousands on the wedding itself? How come? Is there a correlation between cost of wedding and how much folk love each other or something? Both my partner and I think expensive weddings are ridiculous. When the time comes it'll be a party at my folks house in the country with the total cost around the £1000 mark.
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Do people that live in mansions not have happy families? Do people that spend £100 a head on food do it because they have less taste?

There's absolutely no correlation between love and wedding spend.

In fact I'd argue that if you bought together every wedding over the past 5 years that the correlation would swing the other way, with the majority of divorces coming as a result of slap-dash/'I knocked her up' civil ceremonies with 10 guests.

And remember, £1,000 is entirely relative to income.
 
its a once in a lifetime (hopefully) event and a wish to enjoy it - were spending well within our means and doing it in the way we want.

Spending a fare amount on a photographer to me makes perfect sense, it augments your memory's of the day and records it for a lifetimes viewing :)

If you don't want to spend the money that's fine, it doesn't have anything to do with how much you love your other half/daughter/son.

As with most things you get what you pay for but can get by happily with out shelling out through the nose. If your living within your means, and not getting ripped off I don't see any reason to criticise people for spending money on things :)
 
the photos serve to extend the memories. If you find the right girl (or boy) then it will be one of the best days of your life and something you will want reminding of throughout your marriage. My advice is to to put A LOT of effort into finding the right photographer (i hate to say it but it requires a lot of effort unfortunately). Ours really added to the day.
 
a lot of very good advice has been mentioned in this thread already so instead I'm going to recommend people.

http://www.je-design.co.uk/weddings - Me, obviously :p
http://www.nicholasbenson.co.uk/packages/ - ScarySquirrel
http://www.eyecandyphotographic.co.uk/ - Mark
http://raymondlin.net/index2.php - and finally, Ray

I've seen A LOT of wedding photography, specially over the past 12 months and the above are what stick out the most (obviously apart from my own but theres no shame in advertising)

Jake :)
 
Just an extra word, if you know a friend or a mate who happens to own a SLR - please dont ask him or let him do it for free or small fee. The number of these 'wedding photographer' has risen sharply over the pass years because they own an SLR. Just because they have brought a new shiny expensive camera with high end lens with the red line doesn't make them professionals instantly.

If you and your (soon to be) wife value your wedding day with your closest friends and family around, do some research and invest in a good and experience photographer. You wont regret the decision after it all pays off.

:) Good luck in your search.
 
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