Planning a wedding can actually be quite stressful. One of these stress points is finding the perfect wedding photographer. You don’t want to trust one of the most important days of your life to just anyone but at the same time you don’t want to chuck out a quarter of your entire wedding budget to a photographer either. What you want is an excellent wedding photographer that provides quality services at a reasonable price. There are actually affordable and quality wedding photographers to choose from. You just need to know where to find them.
Wedding photographer cost varies widely – from $1,500 on the low end to $10,000 and more on the hgih end. Couples with a tight wedding budget will want to keep these costs in $1,000 to $3,000 range while couples with a more generous budget might want to look for photographers in the $3000 to $5000 range. If you can aim for luxury photographers which are, of course, not for everyone then you can shop in the $5000 to $10,000 range for wedding photographers. No matter what price point you are in, you have to know what you will get for the money you spend. Always find out what is included in the package. Having rights to the negatives can be a great help. With rights to the negatives you can get copies made for less than what the photographer might charge for copies. Rights to the negatives are not standard with most wedding packages so this can be a negotiation pont when hiring the photographer.
If you do not like parts of a package, you can also negotiate on the wedding photographer prices so that you get only what you want and nothing more. If the photographer is not flexible with packages or price, you might want to move on to another photographer who will consider what you want. There are a lot of photographers who would appreciate the business.
When looking for potential photographers, one place to look is the Yellow Pages. If you live in a more metropolitan area your local Yellow Pages might have a specific listing for wedding photographers. If so, don’t limit yourself just to those photographers. There are many local photographers that don’t specialize on weddings but will do weddings without advertising them. These photographers might be cheaper than those who specialize only in wedding photography and can be as good, or might give better service than those who specialize in wedding photography. Just be sure to make your selection based on the photographer’s work as well as how well you mesh with the photographer.
Photography is a major part in a wedding but it is also a large expense. Try to find the absolute best photographer for the budget you have set aside for the wedding photography. Saved money today can be used for the honeymoon or any number of other expenses associated with a wedding.
