[two_column]So it’s your wedding? Congratulations!
You obviously want your special day to be preserved in the annuls of time with some great photos to remember the day by and to share with your loved ones when they come over, so why do so many couples skimp on the part of their wedding that captures the emotions and the energy so wonderfully well?
For one, people’s budgets don’t often cater for such ‘luxuries’. R10 000 and upwards for wedding photos is a big lay down of cash… especially when you begin to add up the cost for the entire event.
[blockquote_left client_name=”JL”] You get what you pay for [/blockquote_left]
Remember this though: You get what you pay for. So finding a photographer who will shoot for free or who “ONLY costs R3000” is like a buying a second hand car with no brakes, smooth tyres, a cracked windscreen and no seatbelts… it’s just not a good idea![/two_column]
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Let me do a very rough cost break down for a fictitious, half -decent photographer:
Hourly rate: R650
Time at wedding: 12 hours (depending on specific bridal couple requirements of course)
Sub-total: R7800
Second shooter at wedding: R2000
Editing images: R4000 (dependent on if editing is in house or outsourced to a specialist or not) Wedding albums: 1x Large, 2x small albums = R5000
Sub-total: R17800
Travel costs: (dependent on location, delivery agreement etc. but for this excercise) R1000
Total: R19800
Let’s call it an even R20 000
The above is a fairly conservative quote, and should not be used as the benchmark for wedding photography prices, however I will say this: As a rule of thumb, you shouldn’t spend less than R10 000 for wedding photos.
So if we take the above into account, your budget of R3000-R5000 is looking rather paltry now, especially when you know that for R20 000 you will have amazing photos that will be present for your grandchildren and great grandchildren to flip through and see how amazing and howbeautiful your special day was![/two_column_last]
Some wedding photos I’ve done previously: