This is the toughest question to answer, and it's the one most often asked when talking about getting paid.

My simple answer is, what is your time worth? Take into account all angles: the actual shoot, travel time, lots of post processing, equipment wear and tear, and the years of training and practice it took to get the necessary skills, not to mention the sizable investment you have in gear.

The most misunderstood reason why wedding photographers charge what they do, is because it is extremely hard work. If you've done a few weddings before, you know how drained you are at the end of the night, and the pressure of not missing a shot is immense.

If this is your first paid event the urge to undercharge may prevail. There are many reasons why you shouldn't undercharge, but the main one is it devalues the art of photography. Like I said, it's tough to get lifetime keepsake shots, and you only get one chance at a wedding.

Also, what kind of package will the bride/groom want? Does your price include setting up wedding books or prints? Or just hand over the processed images and they handle it all?

I can't give you an exact figure of what you should charge, but I wouldn't consider shooting a wedding for under $1500, and that's probably on the low end.

Maybe Matt or Justin can chime in?

Also check this out: http://www.costhelper.com/cost/weddi...hographer.html

Look in your area and see what people charge for what. Take a look and compare your work to those of others. Try your best to be neutral in the process. There will be some with high prices/ low quality work. Vice versa, ect. The key thing is to set pricing thats fair to your client for your abilities, but ALSO fair to you in terms of time/ abilities. DO NOT under cut yourself just because your starting. Try your best to charge what you feel is fair. Its very important that you have a good vibe with the BnG as well. You want this to be as relaxing a day as possible, and the better you get along with the couple, the better you will do as a photographer that day.

Feel free to ask me any Qs you may have.

ok, the big post since It would have to be done sooner or later.. Im sure ill add more to this...

A: Do you have a portfolio of Wedding related images?
B: Are you the only one they are considering?
C: What is your ultimate goal from this, i.e profit, experience, both?
D: Do you feel up to the task?
E: Do you have the equipment needed?

These are just some basic questions to ask yourself, you want to be 100% sure before you commit yourself to things such as weddings. Having done friends weddings your off to a great start, but there is a big difference nonetheless.

Im not trying to be counter productive or too direct by any means, they are just some important points that can effect your original question about pricing. - Im getting more Wedding photography in General now since Im sure others are curious.

Wedding Port: A Complete Wedding portfolio of a complete* (pre-ceremony, ceremony, formals, reception) Is huge. Once you have this and your images are clean, fun, and capture the event. You will be in excellent shape. If you do already, Great, if not, no big deal. For many photogs, if you have a great vibe about the BnG, meaning you know youll be relaxed, they will be easy to shoot... feel free to cut the price a little, ONE GREAT complete* wedding is worth its weight in gold to new potential clients.

Other Photogs: MANY Brides will look at 5-10 photogs on average before selecting their final photog. It depends on the Bride, but some will lean towards pricing, some towards experience, some towards your Portfolio Images*. Most, will look for the best combination of all.

Goals: Do you need that complete portfolio? Do you want the experience? Are you in it for the $$? If your in it for the $$ stop now. Do not plan on making any profit for at least 3 years. By Profit I mean after all equipment, time, energy you spend working in weddings. Experience is worth its weight in gold! That being said, when pricing be fair. If your starting out, dont expect to be able to charge 2k+ per avg. wedding. This business is ALL word of mouth... trust me, 100% of my weddings this year are from good referals and recommendations from previous clients. If your dedicated to it, the clients will continue to grow. (Let me know if you need more details)

Task: Can you do it? Weddings are a ONCE IN A LIFETIME EVENT. There is a TON of pressure on YOU. Key shots that you must get, Variable lighting conditions, unknown weather, Church rules that you may not have any say in... the list goes on. So can you honestly say, I Can do it!? - Just something to ask yourself.

Equipment: Kinda falls into everthing else... Do you have all the equipment you NEED for the whole wedding? Do you have backup bodies/ flashes? Enough memory, Batts? Is it only you or are you bringing an assistant.



soooo.... back to pricing... The key here is figuring out if A, you can do the job, B what you want out of the wedding, and C what is fair to both you and the BnG based on experience, ect.

Any Qs, ask. Hope I made some sense. Alot of this is just general things for shooting weddings, not everything is directed at you, OP.