Costing a Wedding - don't groan!

[Dangleman]

Some of you may have seen my recent Asian Wedding thread.

As I say in that one, I don't do weddings as a rule, but I'm anticipating I might get a few more Asian wedding offers off the back of this one, and I *might* do a few more if they do come through.

I just wanted a bit of advice regarding pricing though. For this one, as it was a colleague/ friend of Mrs Danglemans I charged a pretty reduced rate, and am only supplying them with images on DVD (no prints or album etc). I really can't be bothered with the whole print and album malarky, but there seems to be 2 schools of thought on what you should charge when all you supply is the photos on disk....

- Some would say you should charge less, as you don't go through the additional expense and time of producing an album.

- Some would say you should actually charge more, as you are effectively handing over the copyright for the images, and the bride/groom can print as many as they like, and you miss out on potential further print sales which other family members and guests might fork out for.

I'd be interested to hear folks opinions on this, particulalry any seasoned wedding photographers....

 

[admirable]

If it was a single user shoot like taking pics of a horse that only the owner or rider may want then go with the CD.

A wedding is different in that Aunties, Grannies, friends and the next door neighbours cat will all want a copy of 'the day' so the resultant sales can run into many hunderds compared to the possible half dozen or so prints you would get from the horse shoot.

If that makes sense.

 

[pxl8]

I don't advertise or promote selling the shots but I do get asked from time to time. When I do the price is quite high because of the extra time needed for processing the shots. Normally I do a quick pass on every shot for proofs and then further work only on the shots that are needed for print/album/etc. This cuts down on the time I spend processing by a considerable margin and I can reflect that in the price. As soon as the client wants ALL the shots the processing time jumps right back up and that's reflected in the price.

For clarity the extra work on prints is attention to detail stuff such as removing plug sockets, radiators, making sure eyes are looking at camera, creases in clothes, etc. Basically anything and everything that wasn't perfect in the shot. I know I could sort some of this stuff at the time but it slows everything down so I'd rather keep the flow and worry about the little things later.

 

[WeddingHack]

My packages contain either prints, hi-res files or albums, priced in that order. The files have a value and shouldn't be the cheapest option IMHO. They're also available as an add-on to the print or album packages at an additional cost.

I don't hand over copyright - the clients are licenced to use the files for personal use, but not for resale, editorial or any other commercial purpose.

I process every file to completion regardless of what package they've booked, I don't believe in anyone seeing an image of mine that isn't finished.

 

[ranarama]

My packages contain either prints, hi-res files or albums, priced in that order. The files have a value and shouldn't be the cheapest option IMHO. They're also available as an add-on to the print or album packages at an additional cost.

I don't hand over copyright - the clients are licenced to use the files for personal use, but not for resale, editorial or any other commercial purpose.

I process every file to completion regardless of what package they've booked, I don't believe in anyone seeing an image of mine that isn't finished.

My advertised packages don't advertise the DVD of hi-res files but if the bride and groom want that then I build it in to their overall package for a sum that makes it worthwhile to me. It's not about offsetting the cost of lost print sales to me, you're giving them an extra product and they should pay a fair value for that.

 

[PeteStewardson]

If you are going to produce the quality of work you did last time, then you should be charging high IMO.

 

[Dangleman]

Thanks for the feedback folks.

Just to be clear then, is the consensus so far that giving the client discs of full high res images so they can do their own printing (as I'm going to do in this case) should be priced 'somewhere in the middle' of what a wedding tog should charge? This is more of a future issue, as I've already stated a price for the one I've just done.

If you are going to produce the quality of work you did last time, then you should be charging high IMO.

Cheers Icecavern