photographer's deposit!

We paid 20% deposit, another 20% payable 3 months before, final balance 10 days before

My total bill is £1300 and paid £200 deposit.

I ask for 25% non-refundable to secure booking, then another 25% 2 months beforehand and then the last 50% after the wedding when we sit down to go through the photographs.

We're paying £1200 all together and paid a £500 deposit.

£200 deposit £799 in total payable after the wedding and £36 extra to put them online as well.

Did you try haggling on price?

x

I can't say go for it or not, but from what I have read, I don't suspect any foul play. Just make sure you have a contract and pay by credit card or cheque.

Havent tried haggling, have seen a copy of an example contract, looks sound. as he comes recommended i think he may be ok. Just worried about the deposit being £500. He takes cheque or electronic transfer. We have wedding insurance, so just in case, we are covered!

All togs have different t+cs.....This may be higher than some although is not totally unusual.

Peter

Sorry £700! cant do the maths tonight!!

Hi Babe, when i did weddings I asked for £250. 50% is quite a lot but he may have burned in the past, here's what happened to me on a few occasions:

1. couple book you 1-2 years in advance and pay their £250 deposit

2. couple's wedding is on a VERY popular summers day and I receive 6 more enquiries that I have to turn away, fine, because im already booked.

3. credit crunch takes it toll and couple decide they cant afford a photographer anymore and ask Uncle Bob to do for free - they lose their £250 but its better than paying another £1500 to their booked photographer

4. They neglect to tell me their desicion until 1 month before the wedding date, of course I cant book anyone else in on that date and am now £1500 down. Even though i have a clause in my contract that says they are still liable to pay some of the fee - they never do and its almost impossible to pursue this legally.

In this day and age i'm not at all surprised that wedding suppliers have increased their deposit takings - it just makes more business sense. Don't be suspicious hun, if he comes recommended then go for it.

We had to pay 50% of the package, but because we were unsure of which package we were going to choose, he let us pay a smaller deposit and then make it up to 50% a year later (a few weeks ago actually)

Thank you that has put my mind at rest. I really liked him and we all got on immediately and ha quite a laugh. Which made me think we could use him, he hadnt done a wedding at our venue before either and I was surprised because of how much experience he has, as the venue is fairly local to him. Just luck of the draw i guess. But he says he visits the vnue a few eeks beffore anyway getting to know it for 3 or 4 hours to find where we can get the best shots, also we are having our pre wedding shoot there.

nicolagrimshawmitchell thank you for your input, i can imagine its frustrating when that happens. I can see why some charge more for deposits now

We're paying £100 deposit and the remaining £1100 is paid 2 weeks before the wedding!

We are paying £1,400 and our deposit was 25%.

We're paying £1495 and the deposit was £450.

We're paying £1350, we paid £250 deposit.

Why don't you ask him about paying a smaller deposit now and making an interim payment in a few months. We ask for 25% deposit but are happy to put payment plans in place for the rest if asked by a couple- we understand that weddings are expensive things and couples need to balance their budgets.

Thank you thats a good idea. I will ask him.

That's very unusual. Have you had any issues with none paying clients?

No not at all, because I meet with the couple after the wedding to sit down and show them the photographs. It gives them the opportunity to decide if they want any of the editing changed ie certain colour ones changed to black and white and vice versa. Or another example was one bride who had the unfortunate experience of a rather obtrusive spot appearing on her chin the day of the wedding so when we went the photographs she had the opportunity to make sure i had airbrushed it out to her liking or if they are doing their album through me they can select the ones they want for the photobook etc. They don't receive their albums or USB with the photos until I have received the final payment. Its a more roundabout and time consuming way for me of doing things but it makes the service I give more personal and spreads the cost for the couple a little more especially if they are going on their honeymoon straight away.

And I happy to say that all of my couples have been over the moon with their photographs, fingers crossed I don't ever get that awkward couple but thats why I do a contract and have insurance

We typically ask for 50%.....reasons being we have had cases in the past like Nicola said. However, we are pretty flexible on this if we need to be so I'm sure the one you are looking at would be too if you ask them x

I don't ask for final payment until the album is ordered, although I am closer to 75% before the wedding than Ami's 50%. No problems with non paying clients.

Peter

I range from £1000-£1200. £200 of this secures with the rest payable 2 months in advance.

Despite being a highly personal service it's also a business and people do decide very last minute to not get married. I also found out today that another local tog took a booking from a couple. This same couple kept the booking for a year with them and then cancelled. Unknown to me at the time, booked me instead.

All the time 5% of brides mess togs about these wide ranging rules and terms will be in place. You can usually tell which ones have been burned by the terms they have!

You only have to lose 1 booking to lose £1000. So most don't take the risk. It's highly unusual for a tog to find work a few months in advance when usually we are booked a year ahead. I'm already getting booked up for 2013 so if a couple for May were to cancel me know I probably wouldn't be able to fill it.

Edit: As an aside money shouldn't come into it. You will have to spend it anyway. It's understandable though that some will not of expected such a request in which case, talk to your tog about it.

We have got him to email the contract to us to sign, we ve got the money for the deposit, just wondered if it was normal. I can see when some people cancel last minute that it is hard to get another booking. I expect he has had this done to him, I will ask him when I see him again, as he was pretty easy to get on with and we liked his humour and professionalism. I just want to also safe guard my deposit, but thats what the wedding insurance is for!!

Hi MrsJones2Be

The packages on my website www.deancarney.com start from £475 up to whatever you like.

The booking fee is the same for everyone at £250 to secure the date and the balance of the package payable one month before the date, and thereby securing any package price.

However, I do allow couples to choose whatever they like AFTER the wedding if that gives them a better cashflow, and therefore they only need pay the booking fee before the wedding.

Hope that helps.

Dean

www.deancarney.com

We've just paid half deposit and the rest is to be paid 2 weeks before the day, i kinda feel better paying more upfront, feels like more is being paid off, less painful later on! lol