Most couples search for this question early, before they know what their day looks like, and get back a range so wide it is useless. The reason the range is wide is that “wedding photography” covers a two-hour civil ceremony and a fourteen-hour day with two photographers, and those are not the same product.
So instead of a number that means nothing, here is how the cost is built, and how to work out yours.
What you are actually paying for
Time on the day is the visible part. Behind it sits the time before (a conversation about your plans, travel, arriving early to look at the venue) and the time after, which is usually the larger share: selecting, editing and delivering the finished photographs. When someone quotes for a full wedding they are quoting for all three, whether or not they say so.
The other variables are experience, demand for the date, and what is included. A second photographer, an album, an engagement session and travel outside the photographer’s area all add to the figure, and they should be listed separately so you can see what you are choosing.
Why hourly pricing is easier to compare
Packages make comparison hard on purpose. One photographer’s “classic” is eight hours and a USB; another’s is ten hours and an album, and you end up comparing inclusions rather than photography.
An hourly rate strips that back. You decide how much of the day you want covered, multiply, and you have the figure. Mikayla works this way: coverage is from £80 per hour, with discounts as the session gets longer, so a full day works out at a lower hourly rate than a short booking. There are no packages to decode.
How to estimate your own figure
Sketch the day first. Roughly when do you want the photographer to arrive, and what is the last thing you want photographed? For most full days that means from getting ready to the first hour or so of the evening party. For a civil ceremony it may be an hour beforehand, the ceremony, and an hour or two of photographs afterwards.
- Getting ready to first dance: a full day, usually the best part of the daylight hours plus the start of the evening.
- Ceremony and the hours around it: shorter coverage, often between four and six hours.
- Civil ceremony or elopement: a few hours, sometimes less.
Count the hours, apply the rate, and you have a working figure. Then ask the photographer to confirm it. A good one will tell you if you have over- or under-estimated, and why.
What should make you cautious
A very low price with a full day of coverage means the editing time is being squeezed, which is where finished photographs are made or lost. A price with no mention of what you receive, or when, is worth a question. And any quote that cannot be put in writing is not a quote.
If you would like a figure for your own day, send the date and rough timings and you will get a clear answer by email.