How Much to Spend on a Photographer?

My personal thought is that the photos are one of the most important parts of the day - after all, they’re the part that will remain for the rest of your life! So it’s not an area where I’d compromise on price/quality, but at the same time we have budgets to stick to! I think you’re in the right place having narrowed it to a shortlist, and I think as long as they are all within budget then you should focus on how much you love their previous work, and how you like them when you have a call and discuss how they work, what their approach is, what your vision for your wedding is (are you planning to have lots of posed photos with all the family or would you prefer to get on with your day and have someone who captures more candid photos?).


You could write down each photographer, their price, and what they offer for that price, to understand more what the difference in price is getting you from person to person. Like, one might be more expensive, but their package might include a pretty wedding shoot or a printed album. Also location, as some charge more to travel so a photographer who lives closer to your venue might be cheaper than one coming from far away.
We’re paying £1600, which is whole day coverage, our photographer isn’t from near the venue and will have to stay overnight, and we will get X amount of photos on a USB and a pre wedding shoot included. There were cheaper (and more expensive) photographers we could have gone with, and different packages, BUT we were absolutely obsessed and impressed with our photographer’s style and attitude so for us the price is more than justifiable to have long lasting photos we’ll absolutely love forever, as well as a good experience on the day that fits in with the vision we have of our wedding

Hiya, ours was £1500 which seemed to be a common average for the ones we really liked (that weren't sky high!) . This is from the getting ready to a little bit after first dance.

We found it helpful to pop on a spreadsheet what their packages included so we could compare in one place as it can be overwhelming trying to work it all out!

We made sure they had plenty of images on their social channels too to get a feel for their style as well.

Good luck!

I did a similar thing to others. Ultimately went with the person that had the most experience with our venue, had consistency in their portfolio, and honestly offered us the most flexibility for the price (£2k - we're in London, but tbh have seen regional photogs cost the same and more). They very much offered us a 'where there is a will, there's a way' approach to the day, which has been great to work with so far.

I think also you need to speak to each one, not just rely upon portfolios and price lists for information. The thing that swayed me the most was that he was happy to hold our date for us for 'as long as we needed to make the decision' (obviously within reason) and even if other people lined up, we'd still have first right of refusal. Knowing that we were secure without forcing us to put down money, really helped build the trust and it allowed us to double check our other options in enough time before making a final decision. Don't under estimate the power of personality and good business etiquette as ultimately you're paying for that on the day too.

I've been looking and created a spreadsheet like many of the others most fall between **** which is quite a wide range so I then prioritised my favourites and checked availability before narrowing down. I'm hoping to book one which was £1,700 and included a pre-shoot and a second photographer. I thought the extra add ons were worth it and I loved her style.

We are paying 800 for ours from make up to just after first dance.

We are paying £550 for full day (bridal prep to just after first dance) a pre-wedding shoot and all photos put onto a personalised USB stick inside a personalised memory box with 12 photos from the wedding.

We spent so long trying to find the perfect photographer in our budget. The ones we looked at were either perfect photos but too expensive or perfect price and photos but too far away until we came across someone in our town whos price was in budget, pictures were absolutely stunning and of course in our town so it just felt like it was meant to be. So so happy with our choice.

We budgeted for £1,500 as that seemed the average and our actual cost is £1,250. Our photographer takes wonderful pictures, and is very experienced. We’ll have him from getting ready till just after first dance, all the photos are in a gallery for download and we have a personal use license which was very important to us. We liked his photos the best and had a good rapport with him! We are actually the worst at making decisions, but we didn’t even meet with any other photographers.

We are paying £900 for 5 hours, so that's from getting ready until the speeches. We were the same, photographers are very expensive!

Luckily she was good at natural photos rather than really posed ones which is what we want, so its worked out rather nicely!

I haven’t booked him yet (having a conversation tomorrow) but the photographer I am looking at getting is £1295 for the whole day and we get a USB with our photos and 50 small prints from the day included. We didn’t want to go cheap on a wedding photographer but also couldn’t afford the top prices so I’m happy that we have found a good middle ground and I really like his photos too. What helped me choose was deciding my budget first and then ONLY looking at photographers within that budget. Otherwise I knew I would end up overspending or getting upset at not being able to afford the ‘very best’ photographer.

I wouldn't worry so much about price (as long as it is within budget!) but about quality - what type of photographs do they take? Are there any that make you go 'wow, I want photos like that for our wedding'? Do their websites show a good range of pictures in all lighting and weather conditions? I know someone whose website shows stunning photos, but they are all outdoor in good lighting - I've seen a wedding shot by that photographer and the indoor/dusk/after dark pictures are AWFUL!

Shortlist based on the photos you like best and then ask to see a couple of full weddings for that photographer - that way, they can't just cherrypick the pictures that came out well.

Also, if you have a team of photographers, make sure you are seeing photos by the team member who will be doing your wedding. You don't want to pick a photographer because you like the photos that were actually taken by their teammate!

If you're on a tight budget, see if you can find a photographer to do a half day (although this is usually only offered midweek or out of season). Ours just did the ceremony and some group shots afterward and was half the price of a full day.

View quoted message

Those are some tips I would say myself especially this one -

"I know someone whose website shows stunning photos, but they are all outdoor in good lighting - I've seen a wedding shot by that photographer and the indoor/dusk/after dark pictures are AWFUL!"

Ask to see shots taken in bad lighting, I have a dedicated gallery on my website just for that. Watch out for a little trick on indoor or low light shots which is to show it in black and white, because they struggled with getting the colour correction right.

When looking at samples notice that you may be seeing loads and loads of "detail shots" basically anything but people, details are easy, they don't move, blink, you can control the lighting, and take as long as you like taking it. Lots of details ? - now look at the handful of couple shots or wedding party shots they show you, are they taken slightly to the side, never actually looking at the camera. These are good signs that they have only ever shot a wedding as a "second shooter"

Look out for overly fantastic looking shots, its hard to explain and maybe only someone with a lot of wedding experience can spot them, but these are "styled shoots" where a MUA, hair stylist, florist/ dress supplier, get together at a venue and produce fake wedding shots using models. These have nothing to do with what a photographer can actually produce at a real wedding.