Why are wedding photographers so “expensive”? – By Idaho Wedding Photographers
There is more to hiring a wedding photographer than what meets the eye. At first hiring a wedding photographer seems like it should be an inexpensive cost. After all, the only thing a photographer does is take photos anytime and then send them to you right? So why are wedding photographers so expensive? Well there is more to it than you realize.
The person you choose to photograph your wedding will be the one other person who will be by your side 90% of the day. Not only that, they will also be your friend, support, and hype team through out your day. But a photographer’s job starts months before the wedding day.
In this post we want to walk you through the process that we go through as Idaho wedding photographers. We want to show you why wedding photographers are so expensive. When you first reach out to us we love to schedule a call with you in order to hear about all your wedding dreams and to get to know you. This is usually about a thirty to one hour conversation. After booking with us, we send over an invoice, proposal, wedding timeline guide, and package up a client gift. We get you on the calendar for engagement photos, which are included in all our wedding packages, and help you figure out all your outfits for your session. This all takes about five hours or more sometimes. We then spend the next couple months working with you to create a perfect wedding day timeline so that your day goes well. We meet with you at least twice over FaceTime to discuss details and make sure you are feeling good about your wedding. This is about four to five hours of work as we spend time off the call writing up all your wedding dreams. Not only are we working to make your day special, we are also investing in programs to help you have a wonderful experience. This includes gallery, editing, bookkeeping, photo storage, social media, blogging, and so much more. There is so much that goes on behind the scenes of a daily wedding photographer’s life and we haven’t even gotten to the wedding day.
The day of your wedding we try to arrive about ten to fifteen minutes early. This way we have time to say to you and settle in for the day. After that we are in full photo mode for at least eight hours, sometimes ten hours depending on the package you choose. During this time we are not only taking photos, we are making sure the day is going smoothly, solving problems, getting you anything you need, and celebrating with you. Once the wedding day is over, we are still on the clock. You thought our job was done? Well, actually we got a long way to go before our job is done.
When we get home or back to our hotel, we download all your wedding photos immediately while of course enjoying a good tv show. Keeping your photos safe is our top priority. After downloading we pick our favs to send as your sneak peek. We then send these out about 48 hours after your wedding. Once the sneak peek is edited and sent out, we spend a month working to create the best edits for your photos. After all the photos are edited and ready to go we upload them to a gallery and USB drive and send them off to you. This is another 15 hours of work.
When you hire us for an eight hour wedding package it’s actually an about 36 hour wedding package. That’s the same amount of hours for almost a full work week. When you hire us, you are hiring us for more than just the eight hours on your wedding day. You are hiring us to create a 36 hour wedding experience, which is why wedding photographers are so “expensive.” We love what we do and we love the couples we work with that’s why we put such a big investment in your wedding day and why it’s a big investment for you. But trust us, the investment is completely worth it! We understand that there are lots of vendors you are investing in for your day but investing in a good Idaho wedding photographer is worth it because photos are the only thing you get to take away from your wedding day. All the other details fade over time but you will always have your wedding photos.
If you want to learn more about our wedding packages check them out HERE! Or feel free to contact us and set up a call so we can chat in person!
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