A common question you may think of when planning your wedding, “Why do wedding photographers charge so much?” or, you may be wondering, “How much does a wedding photographer cost?“.

A little background first; In 2023 the average wedding was estimated to cost £20,700, with the average couple spending more than £15,000 on their wedding Weddings, on average, aren’t cheap, although they can be done on a budget, we’re talking averages here.

But you know that already, so let’s just talk about specifically the photography part.

If you’ve read around the internet at other photographers pages or insta’s, you’re going to hear things like “Our equipment is expensive”, “We have to pay insurance/tax/web costs” or “We have trained for years”. While all of these are true, they only make up a part of the reason why photography costs what it does.

The single biggest cost for most weddings is going to be the venue and the catering. A survey by the website Bridebook states that in 2023, the combined average cost for these was £13,097. To put this (a little bluntly but still….) into perspective, thats thirteen grand for a hotel, or rooms in someones house, some space for a ceremony and drinks, plus food and drink for you and your guests. All of this lasts for around 10-12 hours.

This is all before you add in things like entertainment (DJ/Band/Magician/Live Artist etc), venue decoration, flowers, or the wedding dress. That works out at £1091 per hour.

What is wedding photography worth?

Think about the most important photograph in your life. The ones that make up the background image on your phone perhaps? Or sit somewhere in your home, always there as a reminder. Now imagine that the photo you have in mind is the only example of that photo in existence.

I’ve lost count of the amount of times i’ve photographed moments and people at weddings that for some, could be their last times together. The little voice in the back of my head, making sure I get it right, not for me, but for them.

There are moments in weddings that are absolutely unrepeatable. Even if you tried at the time, they vanish into the ether. Weddings are one of life’s very few events that bring entire families and friends together in one place (usually a professional photographer lurking not too far from the action) where the likelihood of attaining such an image is a lot greater than it is in the normal run of daily life.

The average wedding spend on flowers is £1,114 and they might last 3 days in summer – I’ve seen some wilt before the ceremony on really hot days.

The average spend on a wedding dress is £1,424 and you’ll wear it once.

That food you’ve spent £5,000 on lasts a few hours, and the money that goes into drinks means you might not even remember some parts of the biggest day of your life.

Your wedding photos will outlast every other part of your wedding day, they’ll outlive you. They might even outlive your grand-kids.

Aside from the flowers or maybe the transport, wedding photography is actually one of the cheapest single items on your wedding day.

It’s the only thing that will not only add value to your experience, but as time passes and memories fade, (and people pass on) the worth of any single photo increases every day to the point of being priceless.

At the beginning I wrote that the average hourly cost for the venue and catering came to £1091 per hour. All things considered, wedding photography really isn’t expensive, its a bargain!

To view my full pricing info click here.