If you haven't read Part 1 of this Guide, please scroll down to the post immediately bellow this one, and read it first.
Fees
Now I should say something about my fees. My basic fee is $3,000. That includes a $1,000 print credit. Sometimes, a couple will ask what they get for the $1,000. I tell them that I don’t know – I haven’t even taken the pictures, yet. I say that with a smile. The truth is, until the bride sees the images, she doesn’t know what she wants – and I will go into that more deeply when we discuss albums.
If pressed, I will tell them that it includes a 20-page, magazine-style, flush-mount album. That’s not what I want them to end up with, but I can nicely tell the story of their wedding and produce a 20-page, 10x10 inch album for about $180-$350. The money represents my hard costs – what it costs me to have the album printed. It doesn’t consider my design talents, nor my time.
OK, let’s break down my fees. With $2,000 towards the shooting fee, I make $250/hour at an eight-hour wedding. Some jobs are longer and some are shorter. I don’t care. I am only booking one wedding that day and will give them as much time as is necessary to tell their wedding day story.
Another $1,000 is a print credit. If my hard costs are $250, I have $750 available to cover my time. I can layout a typical 20-page album in about three hours. That’s $250 an hour.
So – you see where I am: About $250 an hour for the shooting time and basic album. Now, that’s not what I want to make -- $3,000. I want to make about $5,000 from each wedding – and I can consistently do that. I will show you how.
Before we go on, let me tell you that the numbers are not important. What I will show you will work in any area, city, state, or country. The numbers may be higher or lower, for you, depending on your talent, experience, and local economy, but the principles will still apply. Whatever you are currently making, from each wedding, you can expect to nearly double that, or more – and you will be able to do it with the same type of clients that you currently have.
If you are charging $600, expect to make $1,200-$1,500 from your very next wedding – while still charging $600. PLEASE don’t charge $600. The kid next-door, who just bought a DSLR, last week, can do that. If you intend to do a good to great job of telling your couple’s wedding story, don’t lessen its perceived value by shooting and burning a CD and charging $600!
There are several key elements in this process. The first is album pre-design. I’ll have a special article on album pre-design, soon.
Back to what you charge: I assume that you are working in a developed country. If you in a developing country, then you will have to be guided by local economics. However, the process will not change. Do what I will teach you, and you will double your wedding income – or better.
If you charge more, or if you do destination weddings, you will also be able to double or better your wedding income.
Remember – they first important factor is album pre-design. We'll talk more about this, soon.
Showing posts with label shoot a wedding. Show all posts
Showing posts with label shoot a wedding. Show all posts
Tuesday, August 7, 2007
Saturday, July 14, 2007
How to Book and Shoot a Wedding -- Step-by-Step -- Part 1
Preface
When I first began to keep this journal, it was with the intention of using it to provide a step-by-step guide to how I prepared for and executed a specific wedding – a wedding that I shot on June 23rd, 2007. However, since the goal was to give as much insight, as possible, to newer wedding photographers, by showing my experiences, it soon became obvious that a single wedding was but a snapshot.
Consequently, I decide that I could share more useful information if I used the June 23rd wedding as but a guide and create a composite wedding. The result, in the following paragraphs, gives the reader the benefit of my 35 years as a wedding photographer. More specifically, it explains the procedures that have followed since I converted to digital photography almost six years ago.
During that time, I averaged about 40 weddings each year, up until I had a series of strokes, which have forced me into semi-retirement. While I am fine, now, and probably could resume full-time wedding photography, I prefer to enjoy a slower paced shooting schedule and now accept wedding jobs only by referral.
In the article that follows, I will take you through every step of the wedding job, from the time that I put it on my schedule though delivery of the finished album.
I will explain what I do, how I do it, and why I do it. While this is only a blog post, I will sometimes refer to more detailed articles or reports on specific topics. Originally, I intended to publish the entire article at one time. However, what was expected to be a simple journal seems to have grown to be a little longer, and more in-depth. Consequently, I will post segments, as time allows.
So ... are you ready?
Good. The first post deals with finances – it’s called the Deposit.
The Deposit
If you make money based on a service that you provide, then the calendar represents your inventory. As a wedding photographer, your inventory consists, primarily, of 52 Saturdays per year. Once you schedule a wedding, for a particular Saturday, you reduce your inventory by one. If, for some reason, the wedding is canceled, and you have not been paid, your income is reduced by some amount. Consequently, you need to develop a process that will protect your income. You see, if a job is cancelled, and you cannot replace it, you car payment, mortgage, and the price of milk and bread do not decrease.
For me to remove a date from my inventory, I require a non-refundable deposit of 50%. Since my typical fee for covering a wedding is $3,000, I take a $1,500 payment to reserve the date. Normally, I am booked from 18 months to one year in advance. The balance ($1,500) is due 30 days before the ceremony.
I shot my first wedding in 1972 and in those years, only twice have I broken that rule. On one occasion, the mother of the groom asked if they could pay the balance the day of the ceremony. This was about 2002 or 2003. I had never been pressed on this, before, but had a good feel about the family, so I agreed – after all, I would have all the files, so I could ‘hold them as ransom’. Anyway, the groom’s father paid me, that evening, and gave me a $100 tip! By the way, most clients realize that you are in your own business, and don’t give tips. On several occasions, when I have had an intern with me, the client has offered a tip, which I always give directly to the intern.
On a second occasion, a bride contacted me to shoot her wedding. This was a last minute thing – about 2 months before the ceremony. It had been moved to California from where the family lived, in Utah. I had shot the wedding of two of her sisters, several years earlier. She did not want ceremony photos – only the reception – for religious reasons. I gave her a lower price and she promised to mail a check. On several occasions, she said the check was ‘in the mail’. It never arrived, so I called her father – who had paid for the previous two jobs. He said that if she didn’t pay, he would cover it. Considering my history with him, I didn’t worry about it, and it all worked out.
That’s it – in nearly 800 weddings, those are the only two were I didn’t get my fees, in full, before the event.
Photographers – especially those new to the wedding business – sometimes ask what happens if the wedding is cancelled. The answer depends on several things.
The purpose of the deposit is to compensate me for removing a date from my inventory. As I mentioned, earlier: If they cancel, and I cannot replace the job (because I have stopped marketing that date, or may have even turned down other requests for that date), my living expenses do not decrease. So here’s my rule-of-thumb: If I can replace the canceled event with another one, I will give a refund. If the wedding date is changed and I am open on the new date, I will transfer the deposit (this is very generous, because I have now allowed someone to tie up two days with a single deposit). If the wedding is canceled or postponed due to military orders (ask for a copy of the deployment orders), I will refund everything.
Once, I was hired by the older sisters of two 18-year-olds who where about to elope. The sisters convinced them to have a small ceremony, and the family arranged for a beachside ceremony and rented hotel banquet room for a reception. Three days before the ceremony, the couple backed out. On one hand, I was not going to be able to schedule a wedding in three days. On the other hand, it wasn’t the sister’s fault that these kids called off the wedding. The hotel wasn’t willing to give back the deposit, and neither was I. However, I know the banquet captain at the hotel and we agreed to transfer the money to another date. The girl’s father was about to celebrate his 50th birthday. We held a family reunion/birthday party about six weeks later (on a week night) and applied the money to that.
It’s your business, so you can run it anyway you like. Just remember: It is a business!
When I first began to keep this journal, it was with the intention of using it to provide a step-by-step guide to how I prepared for and executed a specific wedding – a wedding that I shot on June 23rd, 2007. However, since the goal was to give as much insight, as possible, to newer wedding photographers, by showing my experiences, it soon became obvious that a single wedding was but a snapshot.
Consequently, I decide that I could share more useful information if I used the June 23rd wedding as but a guide and create a composite wedding. The result, in the following paragraphs, gives the reader the benefit of my 35 years as a wedding photographer. More specifically, it explains the procedures that have followed since I converted to digital photography almost six years ago.
During that time, I averaged about 40 weddings each year, up until I had a series of strokes, which have forced me into semi-retirement. While I am fine, now, and probably could resume full-time wedding photography, I prefer to enjoy a slower paced shooting schedule and now accept wedding jobs only by referral.
In the article that follows, I will take you through every step of the wedding job, from the time that I put it on my schedule though delivery of the finished album.
I will explain what I do, how I do it, and why I do it. While this is only a blog post, I will sometimes refer to more detailed articles or reports on specific topics. Originally, I intended to publish the entire article at one time. However, what was expected to be a simple journal seems to have grown to be a little longer, and more in-depth. Consequently, I will post segments, as time allows.
So ... are you ready?
Good. The first post deals with finances – it’s called the Deposit.
The Deposit
If you make money based on a service that you provide, then the calendar represents your inventory. As a wedding photographer, your inventory consists, primarily, of 52 Saturdays per year. Once you schedule a wedding, for a particular Saturday, you reduce your inventory by one. If, for some reason, the wedding is canceled, and you have not been paid, your income is reduced by some amount. Consequently, you need to develop a process that will protect your income. You see, if a job is cancelled, and you cannot replace it, you car payment, mortgage, and the price of milk and bread do not decrease.
For me to remove a date from my inventory, I require a non-refundable deposit of 50%. Since my typical fee for covering a wedding is $3,000, I take a $1,500 payment to reserve the date. Normally, I am booked from 18 months to one year in advance. The balance ($1,500) is due 30 days before the ceremony.
I shot my first wedding in 1972 and in those years, only twice have I broken that rule. On one occasion, the mother of the groom asked if they could pay the balance the day of the ceremony. This was about 2002 or 2003. I had never been pressed on this, before, but had a good feel about the family, so I agreed – after all, I would have all the files, so I could ‘hold them as ransom’. Anyway, the groom’s father paid me, that evening, and gave me a $100 tip! By the way, most clients realize that you are in your own business, and don’t give tips. On several occasions, when I have had an intern with me, the client has offered a tip, which I always give directly to the intern.
On a second occasion, a bride contacted me to shoot her wedding. This was a last minute thing – about 2 months before the ceremony. It had been moved to California from where the family lived, in Utah. I had shot the wedding of two of her sisters, several years earlier. She did not want ceremony photos – only the reception – for religious reasons. I gave her a lower price and she promised to mail a check. On several occasions, she said the check was ‘in the mail’. It never arrived, so I called her father – who had paid for the previous two jobs. He said that if she didn’t pay, he would cover it. Considering my history with him, I didn’t worry about it, and it all worked out.
That’s it – in nearly 800 weddings, those are the only two were I didn’t get my fees, in full, before the event.
Photographers – especially those new to the wedding business – sometimes ask what happens if the wedding is cancelled. The answer depends on several things.
The purpose of the deposit is to compensate me for removing a date from my inventory. As I mentioned, earlier: If they cancel, and I cannot replace the job (because I have stopped marketing that date, or may have even turned down other requests for that date), my living expenses do not decrease. So here’s my rule-of-thumb: If I can replace the canceled event with another one, I will give a refund. If the wedding date is changed and I am open on the new date, I will transfer the deposit (this is very generous, because I have now allowed someone to tie up two days with a single deposit). If the wedding is canceled or postponed due to military orders (ask for a copy of the deployment orders), I will refund everything.
Once, I was hired by the older sisters of two 18-year-olds who where about to elope. The sisters convinced them to have a small ceremony, and the family arranged for a beachside ceremony and rented hotel banquet room for a reception. Three days before the ceremony, the couple backed out. On one hand, I was not going to be able to schedule a wedding in three days. On the other hand, it wasn’t the sister’s fault that these kids called off the wedding. The hotel wasn’t willing to give back the deposit, and neither was I. However, I know the banquet captain at the hotel and we agreed to transfer the money to another date. The girl’s father was about to celebrate his 50th birthday. We held a family reunion/birthday party about six weeks later (on a week night) and applied the money to that.
It’s your business, so you can run it anyway you like. Just remember: It is a business!
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