A lot of my prospective clients approach me to ask about the prices of my wedding photography packages. That’s fully understandable – I think that you should choose your wedding photographer rather according to style and looks of his portfolio, but since we’re living in an imperfect world money is also a factor.
Many photographers offer a variety of fixed packages, lets say three to five. The first one may have a very meagre content, maybe two hours of coverage during the wedding ceremony and a while thereafter, while all the guests are extending their gratulations. The customer might also get 25 prints on paper. Package number two, three and for will contain more services, more products (a photo book or a print on canvas maybe) etc. Finally the fifth package is the “all-inclusive” solution, where the customer will receive coverage for the whole day, digital images on CD/DVD, a number of prints, a photo book for the couple, maybe two smaller ones for the parents and so on.
I don’t offer any such packages. Why?
I believe that every couple and every wedding is unique and deserves a tailor-made offer. That is why I send my prospective clients a quotation with the “basic” for a full or half day of my time at their wedding. Included in that price is a CD with high resolution digital images. All of these images have been carefully selected and edited/retouched by me.
Further down on my quotation they will find prices for specific products, such as prints of the photos, photo books designed by me, canvas prints and more. They will only have to decide on these options after the wedding, which means after they have seen the images, the result of my work. I think it is fair to first let my customers see what they are supposed to decide on instead of selling them a fixed package up front. And, they don’t have to buy any of these, it’s just an additional offer by me. Of course I hope they like my pictures and trust me to turn them into lasting memories that they can touch every day. But I will not force them to buy any products that don’t match their needs or purse. Therefore my packages are like a modular system: My customers can choose what they like and need. It’s simple, transparent and I think it’s just fair. After all it’s their big day.
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