Why is Wedding Photography so Expensive?

Most professional wedding photographers will have been asked this question at some stage, and if we are not careful we can find ourselves trying to justify our prices by providing a breakdown of costs and then standing behind that worn out excuse that for every hour spent shooting we have double that time in preparation and editing. Frankly this is a fruitless exercise that fails to deal with the real kernel of the debate - that is, cost versus value.

The truth is that there is a major difference between getting married and holding a wedding. Broadly speaking (and depending on your religion, values and beliefs), getting married is a need whereas holding a wedding is a desire. Indeed, if the immediate need is to get married, then this is typically quite affordable - roughly speaking the cost of a Registrar and a Licence will be under £500 whereas the cost of holding a medium sized wedding at 2022 prices will be closer to £20,000.

So what’s my point? Simple - holding a wedding is a luxury and as such all related services and products are luxury items; including wedding photography.

When considering the typical constituents of a wedding, photography is far from the most expensive and is one of the few things that has longevity beyond the next day. Indeed, by ‘day after’ breakfast, the music will just be annoying tinnitus, the beef wellington will have been dispatched down the latrine together with the heady blend of wine and beer, and the slice of cake will now be like a piece of concrete wrapped in a scrappy serviette. According to my internet search, the following list shows the average prices of luxury items in the UK: Venue £4000, Catering £5000, Transport £400, Flowers £700, Cake £500, Music £900, Dress £2000 & Stationary £500. At an average of £1500, Wedding Photography is far from the most expensive.

Of all these unnecessary and impractical expenses, the photographic images hold the most utility. Their value increases with time!

As Pavel Kounine says in the excellent article The Unspoken Reason Why Wedding Photography is So Expensive “Stop justifying your fees using cost breakdowns. It cheapens your work. Treat wedding photography as the desired luxury service that it is, not the basic necessity that budget hunting couples wish it to be”

Rant over!