As a guideline for those who are thinking of getting into wedding photography, or for those who just started in the field, what are included in your wedding packages and how much do you charge for them? please indicate also additional charges for additional services that does not belong to a certain package originally. This would really help us know how to create packages of our own and how much to charge.

thanks!

Dex :)

good luck with this one bro....also check the net ive seen some online... =)

I posted my observations on a bridal fair in the other thread about the best wedding photographers. I can tell you my observation about pricing. Its a war game out there. There is a saying I read somewhere that goes "Just because you purchased a Nikon doesn't make you a photographer, it makes you a Nikon owner." The same applies to wedding photography in the Philippines. Everyone and their mother is now a wedding photographer.

I attended once a bridal fair in the NBC Tent just to inspect the photography and as I walked through the hallways I was being hard sold by many photographers. Their sales pitch? Volume and pricing. They give you plenty of pictures for cheap prices. Photographers think this is the best way to sell their service. And you know what? It probably is in the Philippines because most of the couples in the bridal fair probably have no stinking clue what separates good photography from bad. To them, so long as you don't have red eye or if a photo was captured with eyes open, its a good picture.

I would have been impressed if a photographer sold me their wedding services based on their skill. Maybe you should consider doing that. Make a few beautiful wedding albums for show and price it high. Why? Because you are John Dexter Tan, the best damn wedding photographer in Davao that's why! If you start at a low price consider yourself locked in there. Can you imagine shooting a wedding for around P15,000 to P20,000 and having to go through post processing hell? You will hardly take home anything. And imagine having to do that say four or five times a month just to penetrate the market. Your quality will suffer because of the work required. And you feel that you can't raise your price because other new photographers are getting into the game and taking away your clients. So you drop your pirice even further. Then you become known as John Dexter Tan the cheap wedding photographer from Davao.

Thanks for the insights Gab :) I know what you mean. I've read so much about that too. From this and other forums, even the ph photo ygroup.

I do want to know what photographers from the big city include in their packages and the proximity on the cost of those packages. :D

thanks!

Jon D

Jon,

Being a Davaoeño myself, I tried finding out the going rates of wedding packages there. My friend Ben packages starts around PhP 25,000 and as high as 80K. For some reason people in Davao find that expensive already. They source their album in a shop along Ponciano which does framing. Behind the Marco Polo. During my short stay there, I attended a meeting with a local Wedding and Portrait group, found out that other photographers there charge as low as 7K with album (I personally wonder what kind of album that is). Others packages around 15K. If you take a closer look at the quality, it's not something that you can't beat my friend. Even the older ones, are wayyyyyyy behind in terms of photo quality and editing compared to wedding photographers here in Manila. They seem to like the digital album with all the effects and filters applied on them.

I would certainly agree with Gabriel Ang in terms of how you should charge and present yourself. I suggest that you separate yourself in terms of quality and price from them. Else, you'd be branded just like them. Another tip is to target the Chinese community in Davao. They don't usually talk to you unless you speak the language. So I guess you have to learn Fukien. Do check out my sister, Boo Boo Maramba of Natalie's Cakes and Pastries for high-end clients. Tell her, Nino sent you. She'd gladly help.

I hope this answers some of your questions. I have a complete list of how much the packages are in Davao. I'll gladly hand it over to you when I'm there sometime in August.

Dex,

First, list all the services you can offer. Here's a breakdown:

Wedding coverage - number of photographers
Album - size, number of pages
Blow-up - size, with or without frame
Prenup or Engagement shoot - studio or outdoor
Parents or mini album
Guestbook
...the list could go on.

A good starting point could be list down what you want what can you offer. Compute the price and put a mark-up. That's the easiest way. Just remember your mark-up must cover your fixed cost like utilities, rentals, depreciation, advertisement, etc. A good pricing should still give you 30% margin.

From what I compute with other photographers, the margin could be around 10-20% only. It's very risky in a long term basis.

When you come up with a package, check if that package is within reach of your target market and it justify your skills. As an example, I know if I put a P200,000 photo only package, I know I can sell it and somebody will buy it. The problem is I need to limit myself to that market whom I cannot relate totally as this point in time. My package right now is tailored to the people I'm comfortable dealing with.

HTH
Dino

Hi Jon,

First you need to know who your target market is. do you want to cater to the low end? middle class or high-end? From there, the cost of your expenses must justify your rates.

Figures are samples only

Ex. Low end... album + prints cost 1,500
blow up framed 1,000
assistant photog 1,500
gas, misc 1,000 (cd/dvd, parking ect)
depreciation gear 5,000 (lenses, camera, flash ect)
TOTAL 10,000

Question that comes to mind is how much profit are you willing to do this work for? 5,000? 10,000? it all depends on you.


mid range Ex. album + prints cost 5,000
blow up framed 2,000
assistant photog 3,000 - 5,000
gas, misc 1,000 (cd/dvd, parking ect)
depreciation gear 7,000 (lenses, camera, flash ect)
TOTAL around 20,000
again...how much do you want to make?

High End
Ex. high end album + prints cost 20,000-25,000
blow up framed 2,500 up
assistant photog 5,000 up
gas, misc 1,000 (cd/dvd, parking ect)
depreciation gear 7,000 (lenses, camera, flash ect)
TOTAL 35,000 approx.
Figures are samples only

so as you see, the more high end your clients are, the more expensive your products should and must be and the more profit you can make. You cant charge expensive if your products are low rate. you will dig your own grave:Scared: The thing is, whether you charge low or high, you spend the same amount of time and energy working for both. Do you want tons of weddings for a small profit or do you want less weddings but a better profit? I personally cater to the high end market and middle range that wants good quality photos. I would rather shoot less weddings and make a number that I am happy with and give my clients their money's worth by giving them the best service and product I have to offer. Does it bother me that a lot of photographers are dropping their prices? Not at all. They want to cater to the lower market. The lower market also are looking for the best bargain. Most of them cant tell the difference in quality... and that is ok....for them. As long as they are pleased with the sample albums that they see, they dont care if it's a 15,00 photo video with avp and out of town engagement shoot "prenup". They will take their chance because that is all they can or want to allocate to photography.

Hope I was able to help out. Good luck

Thanks nino and dino :D and pilar, that was indeed what I needed to know. thank you! now er -- I have a few more questions, but I think it needs to be in another thread. :)

how much do you charge for a pre-nup shoot?

I usually give my pre-nup for free if the couple availed of a package.

If I notice that the bride is camera shy, or for any other reason that would make it harder for me to capture her beauty on the day itself, I give a free prenup session even if they only availed of a service only. During the prenup, I try to psychologize and find thier "kiliti". This way, I won't be a stranger to them during the wedding day itself. Also, when I get home, I can review my shots and find out their best angles so on the wedding day, I know what and how to pose them. :)

I charge P5,000 for outdoor prenup within Metro Manila but this is exclusive for my clients. P10,000 for non-clients.

Contrary to Jaime's style, looking for their "kiliti" is not my priority during wedding. I do minimal posing during wedding. Sometimes I prefer to be a stranger to them during the day, so I can maintain shooting photojournalistic stuff.

best way i can think of is to hunt down your friends....ask them beforehand how much their budget is for their photo needs. then ask them if you can be the one to cover the event, of course it will be a tad lower than what they were planning. IF they wanted to shell out 60k for the photos maybe charge them 50k or 45k.

this way, youll be making money and your portfolio. You wont be branded as cheap because these are your friends. it appears you gave them a friends' discount. just make sure you tell them not to tell others what you charged.

when you already have a nice portfolio to present then go to expos and bump up your price. you already have a portfolio to speak for your skills.

the problem with trying to break into the scene with a high price is that no one in their right mind would believe that youre worth that much. Heck, if i were to get married again and you tell me your price is 80k and you dont show me any portfolio id think you were crazy and would prolly end up cussing you in my head.

so start your portfolio by asking your friends if you can cover it at a reduced price. hopefully they already know how good you are that theyd think it was actually a bargain to get you.

sir Dino, how many hours does you usually take your prenups?

-joel

Hi there, thanks for the info. I'm not sure still how I would go about this. I'm a neophyte photographer, I've shoot some events with colleagues and they love the photos. One of them actually invited me to do her brother's wedding. I say that weddings are one time event and a professional seem appropriate to cover a once-in-a-lifetime-looking-back event captured in print [ and video ] ... not in the hands of an amateur, like myself [ read blooper: forgot film on matrimony, drained batteries ... I do have lenses to spare and batteries, but not an extra body which allows for no-lens change, shot-readiness ... well, could plan for the shots to take though ]. But she insists and asks me to give a non-pro price. For her, there's a videographer to do the event anyway.

I've asked her for a pre-nup, so at least she could see if my "event" shots suite her wedding coverage. For me, I surmise, tagging along a professional and I assist in the shoot. But that would mean a professional fee for her [ which I think why she is asking me to take the photo coverage ]. Also, this would mean lighting ... I'm not into lighting yet .. just ambient light ... which probably is not that abundant in weddings [ sans for the glamour or outdoor weddings ]. She also insist I do the album ... I can do lay-out but don't know much suppliers for this ... I see in this post, prices ... can you share suppliers too [ if not much to ask ].

My intention is to help my friend ... she insist I be there , on giving a price, not pro; albums and digital photos ... I know I'd get have a feather of experience opportunity to my photography cap, a free meal perhaps and be a part of someone's special memory lane.



Appreciate your inputs ... :)

Your friend might be asking too much from you and she didn't realize that your friendship is really at stake here.

If she really like your shot, I have no doubt that you can deliver. What we don't know yet is how your anxiety would work for you during the day. It also might be too much for you to do all the work such as shooting, design, printing, album making. On top of that, you have to source everything. It's a lot of work but you have to go through all of that if you want to become a professional wedding photographer.

For suppliers, go with JTPhoto. They have everything that you need. But that's only a starting point or at least for this particular wedding. As you go along, you may find other suppliers that fits your needs.

Dino

Hi Ramelo.

I agree with Dino. I dont think your friend realizes the amount of stress, talent and equipment you will need to cover a wedding. She could also be asking for the moon and stars expecting you to come up with the wedding album as well. Shooting the "prenup" is NOT the same as shooting a wedding. Shooting as a back up/assistant once or twice also wont be enough for you to have "mastered" the flow of the wedding. You have to be completely honest with her and tell her your limitations as a photographer. if she completely understands, I still strongly recommend that you dont cover this once in a lifetime event yourself. You could ask other photographer friends to assist you(if she really does not want a pro). Even pros need backup photographers.

Good luck!