Photography deal on wowcher

After checking this post, let me to share my advices as a photographer.

I am not talking against them at all, but there are reason why usually the prices are low. Check with them their portfolio, as it is just quite a few images up there, check with them how many weddings they did before, what's their experience. How many weddings they did as a primary photographer. If they are insured.

Ask them to show a complete gallery from the beginning to the end to see the consistancy of their job.

Also I would never limit a wedding by hours, as they say their are documentary photographer. IMHO a photographer needs to be there from bridal prep till the first dance. I usually shoot weddings for 12-13 hours. You can easily end up paying 800 pounds with the extra hours.

Sometimes the starter photographers put the "styled shoots" into their portfolio, what means they took these images on training courses, or organised a model couple to take some shoots - which is totally different pressure compare of a wedding.

400 pounds sounds like a reasonable amount for portfolio building, but you need to consider how important is the photography for you, would you like to consider to give out your day for someone who got less experience. Sometimes it can be an amazing experience for both the photographer and you as well, sometimes you just need to clarify the expectations. You pretty much get what you paid for.

There are couple who doesn't want to spend too much on a photographer, or just don't find important the photographs which is totatlly fine, in this case this option could be good. Also the prices are variable at different regios through UK.

I would definietly organize a personal meeting with them, as there is a website link and you can contact them personally without buying the coupon.

I wish you the best of luck to choose the right photographer.

Kindest regards,

Chuck

Obviously that price is amazing. 8 hours coverage for £399! There was a similar deal with a photographer in the East Midlands area. They did a roaring trade....until they went bust. Many brides were left out of pocket and it was ultimately a group of us local photographers ended up banding together to discount our rates a bit to help them all out.

Whilst I cannot comment on the photographer in the wowcher offer above. I don't know them. But I do know that typically Wowcher/Groupon etc take a 50% cut of the ticket price........after VAT.

Out of the £399, VAT is £67, wowcher & the photographer each take £166. So in effect your photographer is going to travel to your venue, shoot your entire day, edit 400 photos and send them out to you along with some prints for £166. And that's not taking into account business costs such as kit depreciation, insurance, lunch(!?!)

Personally I'd be very very wary. I'd be thinking about what the risk is and what's in it for the photographer. Frankly successful photographers would never give someone 50% commission. So why are they offering this deal? Either they're trying to build a portfolio or they're struggling for business. I can't think of any other reason.

Ultimately it's a good deal if you understand the risks. But as long as you understand that there is a risk involved.

I can't agree more with Martin! He is totally right. ?

I have recently purchased a deal which was advertised on groupon, I contacted the photographer directly and they have altered the deal for me to my needs and have been very good with communication, I have got the same deal as groupon but dealt directly with them.

The thing to remember is that not everyone can afford to do it other ways and posts like above could scare some poeple who through budget restrictions have to look for these deals.

I have bought via these sites many times and never had an issue with services.

Hayley x

This.

Equally such photographer may just be starting out, they may not have a full portfolio or have shot many weddings which is reflected on their price.

It actually another company

http://www.nicolamilnsphotography.co.uk/2013-some-favourites/

operating for Wowcher as:

http://www.wonderfulwedding-photographylondon.co.uk/prices

It looks as though it's the same business. (They share the same images and the tog is the same).

Perhaps done so to drum up extra business for a quiet year without cheapening their main site.

Looks completely Kosher to me... and probably good value too.

I think there's photographers for every budget which is great as not everyone can afford X amount etc. my only thought with heavy discounts would be my same attitude to anything that's heavily discounted- why? Were they really worth £1k to begin with (the old supermarket discount trick) or are they struggling for business and if so why is that?

I'd almost feel more secure booking someone who was always £400 or had a clear reason such as they were new/starting out and portfolio building (which wouldn't be the case here as you wouldn't expect a newbie to charge £1k)

Having said all that, I then checked out the site, I've seen this company on Groupon before offering vintage style wedding photography.(http://www.groupon.co.uk/deals/london/wonderful-weddings/25812179)

Her work is actually really nice so tbh I'm not sure why she's doing this to herself, running the risk of working for pittance as Martin's maths showed!

Feel bad for starting this now, didn't mean to offend anyone, just thought it may be of interest to some people.

No , I approached them out of groupon to see if the deal could be altered to my needs , they gave me the option of using groupon or dealing directly which I was happy to do . Not under hand I initiated the conversation away from groupon

hayley x

Aww don't feel bad I don't see anyone being offended! We're just telling a cautionary tale as we've seen some bad situations with groupon wedding photographers. I have never seen or heard anything bad about this company and I'd say for £400 it seems worth it for couples. I just genuinely can't see how it's worth it for the photographer!!

Unless they just use it for free advertising and do every deal out of groupon

But they wouldn't be able to control people ordering directly through the site and would have to honour those, which is a big risk to take!

Ack don't be. I can speak for everyone when I say they aren't. Sometimes suppliers talk stuff which should be on another forum.

Welcome to Hitched too! x

Completely agree with Chris.

OP don't apologise for trying to help people that might not have a budget to hire a £1000+ Photographer. I'm sure if others were concerned, they could ask the Photographer themselves why the deal was so cheap.

True!

Maybe like my other post most brides contact them direct because what was offered was not quite right for them, and so a deal can then be done out of groupon each time.

And what about if the few that try to buy the deal in groupon then the photographer could just say each time " sorry already booked for your date" and keep it running for the free advertising.

Not saying this is the case here its just that I see a loophole that could be used for free advertising

Hi....apart from wowcher, you can also get wedding photography deals on Ebay too which might be worth checking out.

Peter

The thing is you don't know this photographers situation, I know someone who had a operation and was told they won't be able to lift a camera for 2 years, so all the wedding enquiries they had for 2013 and 2014 they passed on to other photographers but it turned out he made a full recovery in late 2013 but is now well below his quota for 2014 weddings and needs to book some quick, who knows what her business is going through but it's none of our business to pick it apart.

Ok, apologies if I was sounding like I'm trying to drag someone down. I'm not. All I was trying to do was point out that there's an element of risk involved and it's worth finding out why they're doing the deal. If you are still happy to proceed then that's good. Certainly the photos on the website look very good.

I totally get that some people don't have a huge budget for their wedding photography but that just makes it even more important to do your checks. The local tog near us did both Wowcher deals and Groupon deals and has literally left a trail of devastation in their wake. When talking to brides many simply didn't understand how much the photographer was getting/not getting and assumed because it's backed by a big name that they'd be safe.