Congratulations!!

You've got engaged and now time to start planning..

You want to book a photographer .. But where to start?

And an important question

How much do they cost?

According to Hitched the average price of wedding photography in 2023 is £2000 but this is dependant on your location and services provided e.g. how long the photographer is working, whether this includes extras like engagement shoots, albums etc. Also how many photographers are working at your ceremony? More than one, then it will cost more.

This page is to help understand the breakdown in typically what Wedding Photography will cost a couple in 2023 and why things cost what they do.

The average cost of Weddings has increased in the last years and typically you can see couples spending around £20,000 on their wedding day. Your wedding photography should be somewhere between 5-10% of your wedding costs. If you try and save on your Wedding Photography you may end up regretting it further down the line, as your photos are the documented version of the best day of your life! Don't pick someone just because they're offering you a deal. Go with someone you love the style of and someone who has been recommended.

I have heard horror stories from Wedding Couples including waiting months for their wedding album, being ghosted by their wedding photographer, not liking the images in the end because there's no 'close-ups' or 'special images'. Even stories where on the morning of the wedding, their photographer was taking up skirt photos and just wholly unflattering images! THIS HAS TO STOP.

Breakdown of your price

Speaking for myself, I can give you an idea of what goes into the prices I charge for Wedding Photography in the North West.

The average price of my Wedding Photography for 2023 is £1,500 for the full day. This is reflective of my years of experience within the Wedding Industry and the cost of living where I am located.

Time

This is the biggest part of the price - the hourly rate that I need to charge due to the cost of living. When you book a full day wedding photography package you also get an engagement shoot as standard. Let's assume travel of at least half an hour to your wedding and an engagement shoot plus the time worked, we start to rack up some hours. Then take the time it takes me to respond to your enquiry, phone calls, contract writing, invoice creation and questionnaires. And then the biggest amount of time, which is my editing and culling to make your final product. An individual wedding will take me anywhere between 30-50 hours

Resources

In addition to time let's go through resources I use for my job as a Wedding Photographer this includes subscriptions to applications like Microsoft, seems obvious but it costs! I pay for my website running costs and URL of course. As a Wedding Photographer I also pay a license for Adobe Lightroom and Photoshop which is how I edit your images, including additional storage costs. I pay for usage of applications which help with social media management, culling of images, client experiences etc. These are monthly costs which apply to my business whether I have clients or not!

Equipment

My favourite way to spend money, but nevertheless an expensive one. So seems obvious but this might not be something you consider when you're thinking how much is wedding photography? - I need cameras and lenses, SD Cards, CF Cards, charging devices, batteries, spare batteries, flashes, mounting equipment and more batteries... not to mention upgrades as this equipment has a shelf life.

Training

And finally, in order to continue to improve what I can offer to you as my future clients, I often invest back into additional training for myself. This includes being a member of The Wedding Business Club which provides business tips and advice to ensure I am always up to date with the latest legislation on weddings so I can better serve you.

It also includes occasional styled shoots and photography guidance to enhance my skills and mean I can bring you the best techniques, poses and modern styles of Wedding Photography!

For more information on anything in the above article please contact me.

All photos by Naomi Mills Photography 2023