The average New York City wedding photographer cost is $500 per hour (for a great photographer)
The price for the full wedding varies between $125 and $14500.
Photos have always documented special and exciting moments in peoples’ lives and today more than ever before we are constantly taking photos to share with family and friends. We post them, scroll back to see what you were doing this time last year, print photo books, and decorate our homes with them. Wedding photos are no exception to this rule!
Here are things to look for and keep in mind:
Time
Depending on your wedding you will need anywhere from 2-12 hours of photo coverage. This depends on the scale of your celebration and the activities you are planning to have during the day.
Travel
Some photographers have a per-mile charge, while others might require you to pay the airfare and accommodations if you are having a destination wedding.
Second shooter
Will there be a second shooter at your wedding? Is the second shooter included in the package price? Ask.
Editing
A time-consuming process that is done after the wedding day. Expediting this process is sometimes available.
Images
Digital files are usually provided via a USB or via an online file-sharing program. You are able to download the folder with your wedding photos to your computer and take it from there.
Albums
Your photographer might offer a wedding album as part of an already existing package. Many times the album can be added a bit later. You can choose your own images or have the photographers select the best captures for you.
Engagement/ love story shoot
About 62% of couples do an engagement/ love story shoot prior to the wedding. These images can be used for the save the date or for print.
In the US the average for lower range wedding photographers costs $5OO or less, the average good photography cost is $3OOO - $5OOO, while most couples spend between $125-145OO and more (photo & video). This varies on the number of hours, the specific photographer and their style, experience, and level of expertise.
Here is how it works with us:
You pay the photographer to get awesome photos. I get paid for the amount of responsibility that I have. The difference between my wife Lana and me is that I take more responsibility for myself, I can get more shots, in a short period of time and change the result of certain situations for the better. But this in no way means that Lana can’t get awesome shots. This simply means I have more experience than her.
-We always use the best equipment that is available on the market +$2OOOO
-Last year we spend $4OOO for the top of the line reservoir for copies of photos and video.
We also have a yearly expense of $5OO for Google Drive and $2OO+ for our website domain.
-The expenses for our business can go beyond $5OOOO annually. Equipment, marketing, staff, transportation and etc.
Do you need to tip your wedding photographers?
Tips are typically not included in the packages but are certainly something you should keep in mind when you are budgeting. Writing an online review for your photographer as a thank you in addition will not take more than 1O minutes, but will mean a lot to the photographers and will help future couples when making their decision.