Second wedding

laurar90 · Mar 28, 2011

Hi all. I have just recieved a query from a bride about shooting a wedding. This will be my second one, and am not sure what to charge. I am a photography student but have not gone over pricing for weddings yet. What would be the general ballpark? Was thinking $500 with a 25% deposit. Thoughts? Also wondering how to go about wedding contracts and what to put on them...
Any help would be much appreciated!
Thanks!!

Bitter Jeweler · Mar 28, 2011

$2000

laurar90 · Mar 28, 2011

Wouldn't that be too much considering I am just starting? Should i ask about her budget?

Bitter Jeweler · Mar 28, 2011

Depends. How much time shooting, editing, travel, gear rental, photo album, slide show.....

laurar90 · Mar 28, 2011

It will be in my city, so probably not too much travel time...did not think of all those other factors. Do not know how much it will cost to rent a d700 (am saving up for one), and am happy with the lenses I have as of now. For editing I usually manage to get them done in about 2-3 hours depending on how many I have....
Do not know anything about contracts...should I broach those now, or wait until later?

RockstarPhotography · Mar 28, 2011

2000 with 2 shooters.

laurar90 · Mar 28, 2011

This is only my second wedding, and my first real one. So that seems a bit much.....

orljustin · Mar 28, 2011

One biiiilion dollars.

Seriously, you need to figure out:
a: your costs
b: your time
c: what they want
etc...

And yes, especially for weddings you should have a contract.

Does the bride know you have no experience?

laurar90 · Mar 28, 2011

She knows, as she is a friend and I have told her that I have done one wedding. But she knows that I am taking a wedding photography course this summer.

dnavarrojr · Mar 28, 2011

Are you taking the course before or after her wedding?

And in these parts the "good" wedding photographers packages start at $1750 and go up from there. And for $1750, they get a few prints only, no digital copies. And where I live, $1750 is 3 to 5 months of savings, but if you want the best, you pay what the best charges.

The lower end is typically around $650 and having seen the photos they post on their web sites, they're ripping people off at that price.

laurar90 · Mar 28, 2011

I am taking the course before her wedding (her wedding is in the fall)....

Fern · Mar 28, 2011

Charge her between $250 and $450. Give her a CD with all the shots except the really bad ones. If you want to take the time to make yourself look good, then edit them for contrast and crop etc.
Get the money up front so you can rent the camera. Tell her you are doing it for free but she needs to pay you to cover your costs that way you won't feel bad if it isn't superb and she will have no reason to complain. Get a list from her of the shots she wants. Check out the extenuous other threads here on weddings, some of them have great shot lists on them. It's all practice at this stage. Good luck and have fun!

RockstarPhotography · Mar 29, 2011

Fern said:
Charge her between $250 and $450. Give her a CD with all the shots except the really bad ones. If you want to take the time to make yourself look good, then edit them for contrast and crop etc.
Get the money up front so you can rent the camera. Tell her you are doing it for free but she needs to pay you to cover your costs that way you won't feel bad if it isn't superb and she will have no reason to complain. Get a list from her of the shots she wants. Check out the extenuous other threads here on weddings, some of them have great shot lists on them. It's all practice at this stage. Good luck and have fun!

Then put an ad on craigslist!.... :wink:

dnavarrojr · Mar 29, 2011

I'd also consider crashing a few weddings and watch the photographer(s) the whole time.

laurar90 · Mar 29, 2011

renting a d700 or another d300 would be good for back-up...if i write a contract, how do i go about writing one up? What do I put in it? And if I go with a second - shooter to help (which I am thinking of), what should I pay them?