The cost of a wedding photographer or videographer

So, you have probably asked yourself, why does it cost so much for a wedding photographer or videographer?

What you see:

A photographer or videographer turns up on your day, takes photos or video for about 8 hours and then a few weeks later you receive your images or film. So why is it so expensive to hire them?

If you're asking yourself this question then keep reading as before I became a professional I would have asked the same thing!

What you don’t see:

In order to become a professional photographer or videographer there are a lot of expenses, some of which are ongoing costs and some setup costs. These have been taken into account when pricing for your wedding.

These are some of my costs to get started but other professionals may have paid different prices.

The first and most obvious expense is equipment. Each professional digital camera body costs between £1500 and £4000. You then need to buy lenses which are between £500 and £2800. Additionally to this you then need batteries (lots of them), flashes, lights, microphones, memory cards, chargers, modifiers and more. As an indication my equipment consists of:

Cameras
Different lenses
Flashes
Memory cards
Spare batteries
Different video lights

Estimates Total - £30,000

So if that were it you might consider this reasonable but then you have to add support equipment such as;

Tripods
Monopods
Video heads
A Gimbal
Sliders
A Drone
iMac computer for editing

What about other annual costs?

Editing software
Insurance
Ongoing training
Website
Replacement equipment and servicing
Fuel - dependant on distance

So with this in mind you can now consider the cost for each wedding. This vary's on several factors which include travel distances, circumstances on the day and the package booked but as an example of time:

Wedding booking including contracts and meeting clients - 4 hrs
Equipment preparation - 1-2 hrs
Travel (30 miles) - 2 hrs
At the wedding - 8 hrs
Total - 16 hours

Editing time;

Images - 25-40 hrs
Films - 40-60 hrs

Price break down

So for a recent wedding in Hampshire I charged the client £1000.00 for a package. This included a full day filming (9 hrs) and a highlight film delivered to the client digitally (not a custom USB). This means that for this wedding I worked for approximately 56 hours to deliver the finished film.

So what is my hourly rate?

£1000.00 divided by 56 hours = £17.85 per hour with none of the expenses or ongoing costs (including tax) taken into account

So you may ask yourself now, why is a wedding photographer or videographer so cheap?

Professional photographers and videographers charge a very reasonable rate for the time they put in to capture your special day.

So why do we do it?

Personally, I do it for the pleasure of seeing the reaction from my clients when I deliver their finished images or films (clearly not for the money!). That may sound cheesy but it is also true and I am sure it would be the same for most others in the industry.

So now when you look at organising your wedding, paying the average of £1,500 in the South East for a photographer or videographer should seem like one the best investments you can make armed with the knowledge that they will probably be one of the hardest working people on the day.

I hope you found this blog interesting and it will help you with your decision making during your wedding planning.

If you would like to know more about my services, have a look at my packages or please get in touch as I would love to hear from you

You may also be interested to read my blog on - Do, Don't and Consider when booking a wedding videographer - click here