Photography budget

We're not having a videographer, but a lot of the photographers we spoke to were quoting about £1500 for a full-day package

It will depend on where you are based, time of year your are getting married, package on offer etc.


I’m getting married in London in July.Photographer: £1985- full day, 2 photographers, engagement shoot and photos bound in an album.
Videographer £ tbc but expected to pay c£1k for a full day with a long and short edit. Hopefully also something that can be shared online with those that can’t attend due to travel restrictions.
Good luck.

Hi Cat! We just booked our photographer, will be £2k for the day, no albums or anything included, just USB. We will book videographer separately but not in so much of a rush to pin that down (wedding is July 2022).

Hi we are trying to keep costs down, I'm in the south west and most of what I had seen first was around the £1500 area. This was too much for us but as luck would have it, on asking for a quote from someone else, when they didn't have our date free they recommended someone else who had been a student of theirs (the original photographer had been doing it about 20 years and also taught). Because the recommendation had only been active about 4 years she was very reasonable and we came to an agreement of £600 for 6 hours and a USB. She is very local so no travel costs (this can make a big difference), she had a website and I was impressed with her portfolio so I'm happy that she's not the most experienced. Ask for lots of quotes and dont be afraid to try to haggle, it feels a but personal to not accept someone but dont let that make your mind up. Only agree with who you're truly happy with! Good luck.

I was a bit shocked by the cost to be honest, when I first starting researching this, being naive to all this myself.
We are getting married next July in Surrey (so more expensive to start with lol) and paying £1200 for a full day with one photographer with a usb stick for the photos. I don’t want an album as think they are overpriced and I will create my own. I don’t want a video as how often do you really think people sit and watch these in the years afterwards ?? And I don’t want an engagement shoot as I personally find it a bit cringe. But that’s my personal opinion. If you can find a local photographer whose work you like and the price is good then that’s the best scenario. I got three quotes and had video calls with all three to see what they were like as people as obv they will be a part of the wedding day. Good luck

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I initially felt the same as you re. an engagement shoot - that they were a bit cringey and we wouldn't have one. But then I kept reading how they can be a good idea if you're not used to professional photography - they can act as a 'practice shoot' for your wedding day so that you are used to being directed by a (your) photographer and start to get comfortable in front of a camera. Neither me nor my fiance particularly like having our photos taken, so we got sold on the idea of having a shoot just to get us 'warmed up' so that our wedding photos aren't the first ever time we've had a professional shoot and we will hopefully be a bit more relaxed with our photographer on the wedding day.

Just thought I'd share those thoughts in case you hadn't considered it in that way before - I know I hadn't!

I agree with the person above.
Initially I thought engagement shoots were cringy but as I and my fiancé are not active photo takers we decided to. After having the shoot on Thursday I’m so happy we did - our photographer put us at ease. We learned the differences in posing styles (our natural stance is my arms on the outside. Now know this isn’t flattering as makes arms look bigger- glad to know this ahead of our wedding photos).
Our shoot was early in the morning so we didn’t feel watched. We haven’t gotten the photos back yet but excited to.
Re videographers all of my married friends say they are so glad they did especially being able to see the shorter montage. They’ve actually looked at the videos more than photos. Friends who didn’t have videographers (mainly for money reasons) wished they had. It’s personal preference I guess.Figure out what’s important to you and your partner then go from there. Personally I’d prefer paying for a service I know will be quality (ie large catalogue of past weddings, excellent lighting for all races (I’m black my fiancé is mixed race Indian Scottish, competent in multiple styles ie final, relaxed, capturing kids in the wedding party after a long day...) especially given the cost of weddings. I’ve seen many threads on this site for photos/videos being of rubbish quality, being ghosted by a supplier, adding costs at the end abs not getting images until they’ve paid etc. For me it’s not worth the risk but appreciate it’s different for everyone.
Good luck to us all with wedding planning!

Engagement shoots are actually a relatively new thing first introduced by inexperienced wedding shooters. But they are now much more widespread. Sometimes they are an extra cost and make extra money, other times they are designed to add "value" to make one look better value than another.

I do not offer engagement / pre shoot for a few reasons, one is that I usually will be so busy shooting and editing weddings to fit any in. So an issue with them can be that they are done months before the wedding in totally different weather and different looking and feeling location than that of your wedding venue.

With just the two of you and the photographer in a park. It actually couldn’t be any further away from what your actual day will be like. A great wedding photographer will be able to make you feel comfortable straight away on the day,

So many times I see that people say that they shoot candid informal and yet include an engagement shoot to get you “used to the camera” and how to pose, for me the two do not sit together.

I would say that 80% of my weddings the bride or groom or both say that they are uncomfortable being photographed. But when it comes to it on the day I never see it. Remember that on your wedding day you will be surrounded by family and friends, you will have your make up, hair done, feeling fantastic in the dress. There is also so much else going on that a lot of the time you won’t even know your photo is being taken (unlike those in the park). There can also be an issue where the photographer is great at shooting the two of you in that park under controlled conditions for a couple of hours but not so good under real wedding pressures working with whatever the weather gives you and dealing with 100 people all day long whilst keeping to strict venue timings.

A lot is written about weddings just to create content, don't feel that you need to have one just because you read on a photographers blog that you need one. I am not saying that you will not get some great shots from one - you absolutely should, but as a practice for the day it has limited benefit.

Hi, we are based in Cheshire East and have just booked our photographer - £2k for two shooters all day and night USB only no albums etc.
This appears to be the going rate tbh

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Thanks for your opinions on this! Just fyi, I didn't choose to do one because a blog told me to (our photographer actually didn't suggest the shoot, we bought it up with her) - I'm just obviously reading lots of wedding articles/forums, etc. at the moment and that was one piece of 'advice' that came up a lot that made sense to me. But each to their own!

It's great that you're planning ahead photography and videography are definitely areas where you want to invest wisely without feeling like you’ve overpaid. From my experience, pricing can really vary depending on the style you're after and what’s included in the package (hours of coverage, second shooter, editing turnaround, albums, etc.).

When I was researching vendors for my sister’s wedding in NYC, we came across Love Studios NYC . They offer a really professional yet personal approach, and what I appreciated was their transparency with pricing and packages. For a full-day shoot with both photography and videography, their rates were competitive around $3,000–$3,500 for both services combined, depending on the add-ons you choose like an album or drone coverage.

What made the difference was how comfortable the couple felt with the team, it’s a huge plus when your photographers/videographers make you feel relaxed and capture the day naturally without being intrusive.

If photography and video are important to you (which it sounds like they are), I’d recommend reaching out to a few studios like this and comparing not just price but also style, responsiveness, and flexibility. It’s okay to spend a bit more for someone you really connect with, it shows in the final product.

Hope that helps!