Getting an Austin wedding photography service is a great way to commemorate such a momentous event. However, much like the wedding itself, ensuring that you get quality service is no simple feat. Having a wedding photography budget breakdown of your would-be photo coverage helps justify costs and ultimately saves you a bit of extra money.
Wedding Photography Budget Breakdown
In the US, the average price for wedding photography services ranges from anywhere between $1,150 to $3,000. Now while it may seem they’re rather expensive, this is understandable considering how many factors are involved when determining rates. Some of these factors include, but are not limited to, photographer talent fees, staffing and equipment, location, service duration, editing, and more.
What affects the rate of wedding photographers?
Professional photographers in Austin, Texas are usually backed by a team. This team is often made up of differently-skilled individuals that are adept in both photography and events coverage. In this section, we’ll mainly be looking at the various factors that go into pricing.
Time
Time or ‘Duration’ is basically how long an event team renders full service for an event. Some photography services charge on an hourly basis, while some offer a fixed rate that covers a certain amount of time; these are usually subject to additional payment should there be a need for an extension.
Photographers in the Austin, TX area earns about $49/hr depending on experience. They usually stay for 8 hours taking important pictures. So just for their knowledge and time of 8 hours you’ll be looking at $392 before taxes.
Additional Staff
Depending on the scale of the wedding, you’ll get by with either a single photographer or need an entire team. Of course, getting an entire team is costlier since more staff means more people that need to be paid.
Location or Venue
Venues that are farther and more remote are also factored into pricing since longer travel entails higher transportation costs. To add, if the location is too difficult for the service to make round-trips, then you might also need to shoulder accommodation costs.
Every photographer in the Austin, TX area will have different rates for remote venues. Explain of this is here at Complete, we charge $.60 for any photographer that travels 30 miles away from the office. This help photographers keep money in their pockets to take care of themselves and equipment upgrade.
Printing
Some Austin wedding photography services already include printing as part of their packages. It’s always great to have physical copies of photos that capture such sentimental moments. However, services that automatically include photo print-outs are a tad bit more expensive since they need to cover the cost of additional servicing and equipment. While you can always opt to have the photos developed outside of your chosen service, quality and consistency aren’t guaranteed and you might actually end up spending more.
Regardless of whether you would want physical copies or not, a good Austin wedding photography service should provide you with a soft copy of all your chosen pictures which you can then store online and access at any time.
Editing
Editing is a core component of any photo service. It’s one of the things that should always be included. A good photography service delivers quality editing, ensuring that all pictures are stunning and as near blemish-free as possible.
Additional Shoots
If you want to cover other events besides your wedding day, you can as a lot of services offer packages that do just that. Get the same team to cover your engagement shoot, rehearsal dinner, prenup shoot, and bridal portraits.
Photography Styles
The photography style is basically the overall composition of how you want all your photos to be taken. You can consider this as the kind of ‘theme’ you want for your shoot/s. Just keep in mind that this is more on the creative side and is factored into additional costs mainly due to the extra labor needed to achieve your chosen style.
Below are some of the common styles:
Vintage
As the name suggests, this style gives off a more retro or ‘old-school’ feel. This is a great option if you and your partner both enjoy older aesthetics. This is probably as close as you’ll get to going back in time.
Candid
The candid style focuses more on capturing emotions and genuine reactions. This is perhaps the best choice for a ‘natural’ shoot and often produces the rawest and most memorable photos.
Traditional
If you want something timeless, you can’t go wrong with this simple and classic style. Going the traditional way makes you regal and photogenic in all shots, highlighting the irreplaceable tux and wedding dress combo.
High-Fashion
This style is perhaps the most contemporary among the others. If you and your partner enjoy a bit of adventure, then this style should suit you just fine since it offers more room for creativity and expression. Dynamic poses, focal outfits, and unique looks are what define high fashion.
Complete Weddings + Events in Austin, TX
If you’re planning a wedding in Austin, then you’ve landed at the right place! Now that you’ve said YES! to spending your life together, you have some exciting decisions ahead. At Complete Weddings + Events planning in Austin, wedding events are what we do best. Complete Weddings + Events, Austin’s leading provider of event and wedding photography, videography, lighting, coordination, DJ services & photo booth rental.