Why I charge What I do. And it's not what you think...
-T4 / X-T5-T4 You can't take it with as they say.ashoot r Why I charge what I do. And it's not what you think!
First off - this is NOT a post about how expensive wedding photography is and how I'm trying to justify my prices. Far from it, though I do touch on it at the end.
This is a post to explain my "ethos" behind how I run my business, why I do it that way and a little insight to my thought process in case any other wedding photographers care to read it.
How Many Weddings Do I Photograph Each Year?
This is a perennial question on the professional forums, and people are saying as few as 20 and as many as 60+ per year. Of course, that number is pointless without any context, and that context is often not given.
So here is my context...
I work out the number of weddings I photograph each year based on what I need, in cold, hard cash, to pay my bills and pay for the lifestyle I want. So basically, I'm looking at my Turnover.
Say, for example, I need to earn £50,000 in turnover, and that gives me enough money to pay the taxman, insurance, equipment, etc etc and give myself enough to live on. I then take that £50,000 and decide how many weddings I will photograph, and adjust my prices accordingly!
So my current prices range from £1,238 to £1,485.
I take that £50,000 and divide it by £1,238 and that gives me 40 weddings. That's how many I aim to book that year. Of course, if I get couples wanting a higher-priced collection, I can flex that 40 weddings as I see fit. But that's the number I aim at.
If I chraged £1500 per wedding then I'd photograph 33 weddings. And so on.
It's that simple.
How do I get to the £50,000 number?
Easy.
I work out what my personal expenses are (mortgage, credit cards, loans, rent, food, utilities etc) then...
add my business expenses (insurance, travel, accommodation, subsistence, equipment etc) and then...
add 35% or so for the tax man, national insurance and beer tokens (spending money)...
and that gives me a figure I need to earn that will cover everything I need to cover.
I have a detailed spreadsheet that covers all of that stuff and I've got 18 years of data to be able to easily adjust it to my needs.
Each person's circumstances will differ. If you are younger, you'll need more for pension pots and children, perhaps. If you want to live a high lifestyle, you'll need more to pay for it. And so on - you increase your Turnover target.
I'm 55. Mortgage free and debt free. I like pretty simple things in life. I've travelled with previous jobs literally all over the world; travel doesn't hold any major excitement for me anymore. No dependent kids. so my whole turnover number can be lower than other people's.
If you are, for example, a mid to late 30s woman with a working husband and two kids with a mortgage and personal pension pots, loans for two vehicles, school trips to pay for, etc, you'll need to charge more. You need the cash more than I do for the lifestyle you have. You may need to have a turnover of £70,000 or more. And if you want to stick to shooting 40 weddings to give you time with the family, you need to charge more. Or you charge even more and shoot less weddings.
And don't foget the VAT threshold for being seld-employed is £85,000. If you go above that, even by a little in the tax year you legally have to charge VAT on your services and some products. Currently VAT is 20%
Why Do I Stick Around 40 Weddings a Year?
It's a nice round number. It's a figure that allows me to have enough time off and enough time at work so that I don't feel stressed or pressured. It's not to "maintain quality" (although that comes with shooting less weddings to a certain degree).
If I, for example, say that each wedding takes 5 days of work in order to meet couples, shoot pre-weddings, shoot weddings, edit, upload, design albums, etc, then I'm working 200 days a year.
It's to maintain an excellent LIFE vs WORK balance.
But Why The Low Price? You Are Worth Much More!
For what I offer (pre-shoots, albums, no time limits, etc), I think incredible value for money. But my specific price is also about my target market and my Ideal Client.
Increasing my prices from £1,250 to £1,500 is a 20% increase. That's a lot to increase prices without being able to justify the price increase.
Now if my new price was also in conjunction with an increase in quality...that's a different question. But that increase in quality may also come at an increase in the hours of editing I have to carry per wedding...which increases the number of days I work. I'm not lazy and don't mind the work, bnut I'd porfer to have more time off.
For £1,500, I may need to work 6 days a week, which is an extra 40 days (240- days in total) for an extra £10,000. The £10,000 sounds good, but the extra 40 days away from family, kids, partner etc may just be over the top. Not to mention the added stress and tiredness. Is that £10,000 worth it in the long run? You can't take it with you as they say!
That price increase will also come with an increased look at what my marketing costs me, more sample wedding albums, for instance, to show off the higher quality to justify the higher price. More costs to pay for.
And that is IF my quality increases. If it doesn't, then I'd be going up against wedding photographers who are charging less and offering the same things I do, and in a world where money is tight, that makes getting to those 40 weddings much tougher.
So my price is also based on where I want to be in the market, how easily I want to attract couples (or how easily I want to work attracting couples) and how much I want to pay out for marketing, etc. Don't forget it's a very, very crowded market out there.
Why I charge what I do. And it's not what you think!
So as you can see, it has nothing at all to do with how much expensive (or cheap) camera kit I have. It based purely on what lifestyle I want to have!
That's not to say that camera kit isn't expensive; it can be. The latest Nikon / Canon and Sony cameras top out at maybe £4,000 each. And a wedding photographer needs at least two. Add in lenses, etc, and it gets expensive...and those wedding photographers need to pay for all of that by charging more.
Me? I use Fujifilm X-T4 / X-T5 cameras that are around £1500 each. And the lenses are subsequently lower cost as well.
As you can see from my work, those little (and they are smaller and lighter) Fuji's do a great job for what I want them for. I don't need to pay for super-fast focussing...couples don't run during weddings. I don't need to pay for super low light kit, those Fuji's work just fine. I don't need to pay for super-fast lenses...those Fujis are just fine. I don't need to pay for super fast memory cards - I don't hold the shutter down and hope for the best.
So, my business costs are inherently lower, and thus, I don't need to charge as much to give me the lifestyle I want.
Just My Personal Opinion But...
When you are looking for wedding photographers, don't just look at the price and think Expensive = Better. And if you hear wedding photographers talking in those terms I'd ask the question as to why they are not driving Lambougrino cars if more expensive = better!
It's far more complicated than that, despite what many will say to justify the higher price. How can you differentiate between a £2,000 wedding photographer and a £2,500 wedding photographer, for instance? Especially when both usually offer the same thing - digital-only files from an online gallery, limited time at your wedding, no pre-wedding shoot, and no wedding album.
In fact, I'm one of the few 10% of wedding photographers who include a wedding album! Don't believe me? Just google and search and look around.
Look at the total value proposition you are getting for your money:
- Have a face-to-face meeting before booking so you can connect with your wedding photographer.
- Pre-wedding shoot to give you confidence in front of a camera?
- No time limits at your wedding to give you the ease of mind of not missing the fun bits
- Provides all the bits you don't think you'll need...boob tape, blister kits, hair groups, hair spray, scissors, sewing kit, first aid kit, sanitary products, nail glue, eyelash glue and so much more?
- Wedding photographs back within 3 weeks or less so you can share with friends and family?
- Are they child-friendly and encourage kids to join in by "loaning" cameras out (under supervision!) during the day?
- Sneek peaks online in 24 hours to give you that little something to keep being excited about
- Able to help the venue coordinators move your guests from A to B so the wedding stays on time?
- Access to a wide network of other suppliers if you need help planning or organising your wedding?
- Wedding albums, so you have a lifelong legacy of your wedding?
- Has loads and loads of 5* Google Reviews; that can be verified.
- Is experienced at working with neurodivergent individuals, be they wedding couples, children or guests?
- Emotional help and support are on tap if you need to talk things through when venues close down unexpectedly.
- Digital gallery to share around the country and possibly world?
Finally, the most important aspect is personality!! Always book a wedding photographer based on their personality first and foremost. Anyone who is going to spend that long with you at a wedding should be able to get along with you both like a house on fire!
