If you’re looking for a simple answer – the average wedding photographer costs $2,500. This is based on multiple studies that have been conducted by reputable, large scale wedding industry sources that examine wedding spending by couples.
Of course, having an average cost might give you a starting point when trying to figure out what to budget for your own wedding, however your mileage will vary depending on your geographic location, reputation of the photographer, quality of work, and what is included in the actual wedding package.
In practice, there is a wide range of wedding photographer prices as every service is hand curated, usually by small businesses operated by one or two people. Typically, more experienced small business operations will charge more in order to be profitable. With that said, there are some larger wedding photography companies that often have lower price points due to the volume of work they take on.
While $2,500 is a reasonable average, you should expect to pay between $1,000 to $10,000 depending on the finer details.
In the rest of this article, we’re going to break down more details so you can better understand what to expect to pay for a wedding photographer.
Average wedding photographer costs vary significantly based on location
When looking at the average price of a wedding photographer, keep in mind the number is skewed because it is taking into consideration all around the world, as well as photographers who are inexperienced and charging bottom dollar rates.
We collected data in our own market, which is the tri-state New York, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania region – and the costs look a lot different. The average starting price in the tri-state is closer to $3,000, with photographers beginning at $4,000 that we could consider professional and with higher quality and consistent work. These are just the starting prices, too! Packages most couples will want to book fall more closer to $4,000 – $5,000+.
Why does location play such a role in the price of a wedding photographer?
There are a few things that impact the price based on the location:
- Personal living expenses are higher in some areas then others, and photographers need to make more to be able to afford their personal expenses.
- Business expenses may also be higher. For example, business insurance tends to cost more in larger metro areas. Some photographers may also have studio spaces, and that costs money. Other photographers may also outsource some of their processes (like photo editing to companies like Imagen AI) to create a more streamlined process and faster turnaround time.
- Areas where people statistically make more money, things cost more money. Salaries in NYC are much higher than the Midwest, and prices of everything is often higher – including wedding photography.
Photographer experience and portfolio matter
Like almost any service you can pay for, you should expect to pay less than average for inexperienced wedding photographers and more than average for wedding photographers with a lot of experience.
That makes sense on the surface, but how do you determine if a photographer has “experience”?
A few ways:
- How long has the photographer been photographing weddings?
- How long have they been operating as a wedding photographer?
- How many weddings have they photographed?
- Can the photographer share multiple full wedding galleries showing an array of different environments and lighting conditions?
There are no clear cut rules for determining a level of experience that makes a good wedding photographer, but you should feel confident in trusting your gut on this. Our thoughts are pretty simple, too, if you need extra thoughts on the matter…
If the photographer has photographed over 100 weddings with positive client reviews and an expansive portfolio to showcase that you love, they can be considered really well experienced.
We consider 100 weddings to be an important benchmark because most photographers, especially those who do this professionally, can hit this number typically in 3-5 years of experience (that is – 20 – 30 weddings a year, which is a normal amount for a wedding photographer to take on).
Why does this matter?
We often see new wedding photographers showcase a handful of beautiful weddings, but their portfolio is only reflecting these often really curated images from the easiest parts of the day, with the best lighting. It’s relatively easy to take photos that look good in optimal conditions, but experienced wedding photographers will be able to make you look good – no matter the condition.
Pictures are also only part of the equation. The hardest part about wedding photography is often being able to work under pressure, managing people and expectations, and making sure everyone is having a good time in the process of creating awesome photos. Many inexperienced photographers (even great photographers) struggle on a wedding day when they have to adapt to new and challenging situations. This is why hiring an experienced photographer is important if your budget can support it.
What is included in your wedding photography package?
Average pricing of wedding photographers only tells a part of the story.
In reality, most data we have seen is very incomplete.
When we tell you the average cost of a wedding photographer is $2,500 – we aren’t able to tell if this is for just showing up to a wedding a shooting for a few hours, or if it’s meant to represent photographers offering more expansive packages like full day coverage, engagement sessions, prints, USBs, image rights, albums, etc. Given the cost, we’d imagine this is for barebones wedding day coverage without anything else.
In reality, many people who hire wedding photographers are looking for a suite of services and products that round out their purchase (and would make the costs higher).
Our wedding packages range from a basic offering of just wedding day coverage to much more expanded offerings.
Here are some things you would expect to pay for that would move the price higher:
- 2nd Photographer
- Prints
- Albums
- Engagement session
- Anniversary session
- Extra hours of wedding coverage
- High resolution image downloads
- USB drive with wedding photos
When you factor in these additional products and services, prices will increase so the photographer can still remain profitable.
What do you really want from a wedding photographer (and how that impacts price)
In doing research for this article, we found another great post by Peyton Helm Productions that outlined what you should expect to pay based on the experience level of your photographer. We highly agree with their suggested price points and expectations, and wanted to share these brackets with you and our own thoughts. You can read the original post here.
Brand New: $0 – $500
- Photographers who are just starting out. They have never shot a wedding before, and are looking for their first wedding to document. Every photographer goes through this phase, but clients should be wary that the results may not be good or consistent.
Beginner: $500 – $1,200
- Photographers who have shot a wedding or two before, but do not have much experience and may struggle with new situations and posing. Their camera gear is likely not professional quality (or they rent camera gear, which means their experience with their gear will be lower).
Amateur: $1,200 – $2,000
- Photographers who may take on a few weddings a year for extra money. They do not have refined processes, but can get through a wedding reasonably fine. They are still developing their style, may not have much in the way of an online presence or brand, and may not have much demand.
Growing Amateur: $2,000 – $3,000
- Most photographers will fall into this range, and it is likely the range best represented by the average cost of a wedding photographer being $2,500. Photographers in this range start to charge more money as they get more experience and start to have more demand, and start to invest in updated camera equipment and their brand/marketing.
- For couples on a tighter budget that still want good images, photographers in this range can be a good choice.
Professional: $4,000 – $6,000
- Photographers who are full time, experienced (3-5 years in the industry), have an established style, and high demand.
- These photographers are able to create consistent work regardless of the environment, and focus more on creating a better client experience from start-to-finish that you will not find in more affordable photographers.
Luxury/Destination: $6,000+
- Photographers who shoot in very specific, high end environments or that travel consistently. The higher price tag reflects the higher price of their weddings in general, as well as added costs like airfare, rental cars, lodging, etc.
Why are wedding photographers so expensive?
This is a common question that gets asked. In social media groups, we often see it phrased as “looking for a photographer who won’t cost an arm and a leg.”
In our experience, talk around the cost of any service is always relative. For some people, $2,000 is a lot of money. For others, that is cheap.
So while the cost of a wedding photographer is relative to your personal situation, the objective reasons why wedding photographers can cost a lot (whatever that means to you) is:
- Experience
- Reputation
- Quality of portfolio
- Brand
- Demand
- What’s included in the package
- Travel requirements
- Time for shooting, traveling, editing, etc.
- Sales tax rules in your state
- Luxury service
Given there are a ton of factors that influence pricing, you will be able to find someone that suits your budget range. That may mean hiring someone with less experience, or increasing your budget to afford someone who has more experience that you resonate with.
Remember: photos are the one lasting memory you will have to remember your wedding day, so it’s usually not recommended to skimp on this if it’s important to you.
Looking for the right wedding photographer?
If your struggling to find the right wedding photographer for you, definitely check out our work over at Hand and Arrow Photography. We regularly photograph weddings in Pennsylvania, New Jersey and New York – and also travel outside of this radius from time to time. Simply get in touch and we will connect you with more info, our pricing brochure, and would love to schedule a call to talk more if you feel we’d be a great fit!
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