Wedding Photography Spend

[Gypsy]

JM Tran, for the average person, $1500 IS excessive for shoes! We're not all rich.

[JM Tran]

JM Tran, for the average person, $1500 IS excessive for shoes! We're not all rich.

Of course it is, I never said that it is not excessive. But I dont see why some people are still surprised at that price when the crap that is Sex and the City have been exposing women, and even men to the world of high-end excessive crap like Jimmy Choos and Manolo Blahniks for the last 10 years

[kiwi]

If you're a hobbyist a 70-200 IS silly too :-)

[KeeFy]

If you're a hobbyist a 70-200 IS silly too :-)

I'd like to see that $1500 pair of shoes and a 70-200 IS used everyday for a year. And then attempt to sell it after. :P

[JM Tran]

I'd like to see that $1500 pair of shoes and a 70-200 IS used everyday for a year. And then attempt to sell it after. :P

bad comparison, both things cannot really be compared in terms of physical usage etc. But if u were really technical, a limited edition pair of Manolos would be worth 5 or 6 figures in a few decades time like some of the couture pieces that has been sold at Christies, whereas a 70-200 IS would be paperweight by then.

[KeeFy]

bad comparison, both things cannot really be compared in terms of physical usage etc. But if u were really technical, a limited edition pair of Manolos would be worth 5 or 6 figures in a few decades time like some of the couture pieces that has been sold at Christies, whereas a 70-200 IS would be paperweight by then.

It was meant as a tongue in cheek comment. LoL.

[ricstew]

Goodness Gracious......you wouldn't actually WEAR a pair of Manolos.........they are strictly for photographing and then passing on to your grandchildren ......

[I @ M]

Goodness Gracious......you wouldn't actually WEAR a pair of Manolos.........they are strictly for photographing and then passing on to your grandchildren ......

A wise relative of mine suggested that the only thing your grandchildren should inherit would be your ashes, sounds like perfect sense to me, make sure that you are cremated in the (never heard of em brand) shoes and pass them on to your grand kiddies that way.

[ricktas]

JM Tran, for the average person, $1500 IS excessive for shoes! We're not all rich.

I once attended a wedding, where the mother of the groom wore this chunky glass looking necklace, which I would not have looked at in a $2 shop. Turned out that it was actually diamonds and cost $20Million and she had bought it specifically to wear to the wedding. Tasmania girl marrying into an Indian family. They hired a 747 to fly everyone from India to Hobart and put them up in the Grand Chancellor for a fortnight for the wedding, all paid for by the Groom's parents.

[JM Tran]

I once attended a wedding, where the mother of the groom wore this chunky glass looking necklace, which I would not have looked at in a $2 shop. Turned out that it was actually diamonds and cost $20Million and she had bought it specifically to wear to the wedding. Tasmania girl marrying into an Indian family. They hired a 747 to fly everyone from India to Hobart and put them up in the Grand Chancellor for a fortnight for the wedding, all paid for by the Groom's parents.

Wow. Now that is the epitome of what I would call a high end wedding client

[bluey1960]

I convinced my fiance now husband that we needed a really good photographer for our wedding back in '86. I chose one in Melbourne, Block Arcade, expensive for the time. On the big day while I'm waiting, complete strangers rock up in the front garden, all dressed up as per a wedding held a few weeks earlier which apparently he hadn't snapped the flowergirl enough or at all, who knows. We go through the service, reception, beach photos, park etc, but something was off about him and I couldn't place it. Six weeks later when I go for the proofs - the photographer supposedly lost several cannisters of film - very sorry about that - here's a free 8 x 10 of one he did have. I suspect he never had enough film in the first place. The ones my brother in law took were actually better and they didn't have things like rubbish bins behind us in the park which our 'pro' kindly included. My wedding back then was $3,000 for 120 people fully catered. My daughters in Cairns at the Paradise Palms Resort (simply stunning) for 60 people fully catered with her dress, photographer/videographer, flowers etc. $12,000 18 mths ago. Of that her photographer was $1,200 but he also moonlighted as the DJ for that and her dress was $1,800.

[peterb666]

No wonder I'm living in sin, 22yrs with my partner , Married twice , First cost $1500 for 15 months in 1973 , Second cost $300 bucks for 10 yrs in 1980, No way I'm getting married again these days

Just shows, the less you spend on your wedding the longer it lasts. 22yrs for nil is great value for money.

While visiting my niece in Melbourne who is a professional photographer, she was showing me the books they have made up containing say 35 to 50 photos and just one of these cost more than I paid for my whole wedding 31 years ago.

The company she works for charges typically around $10 to 15k for wedding photos and that is with a single shooter. Nothing under $5k.

It is a pity my niece doesn't get very much of that.

[AutumnCurl]

I have a great love of shoes, and 1500$ is a decent price, and they are Jimmy choo's, its the matching handbags etc that makes the husband freak a bit, and they do hold the value.

my biggest problem is when i have to choose between Equipment and shoes

To be honest the only thing i cared about was the shoes, i didnt care for my dress or anything, i was getting married in those shoes high water or hell. Our wedding snowballed a bit :P as i am the only female child in the family and also because my mum go married in the backyard, so a lot of little girl dreams were put into it.

It really brought my family together , and i cant put a price on that

[Shane.R]

I'm off to a wedding next weekend in the Hunter Valley. They're paying well over $30k by the time you add everything up, but they're skimping on the photography. The bride has an uncle who has a has an entry level DSLR with kit lenses and he has offered to do the photos for them. It's his first SLR and he's had it for 3 months. He's never photographed a wedding before.

I hope they're not expecting anything like what they've seen in the magazines.

They asked me to do it and I offered to do it for $600, with all pics retouched and supplied hi-res on disc. I've shot about 30 weddings over the years and usually charge a lot more than that. I thought I was doing them a favour... now they think I was ripping them off since the uncle has been telling them how easy it is with these wonderful new cameras and how they take perfect shots in auto mode and you don't need a real photographer. He doesn't even own a flash unit and will be using the built in flash. I haven't bothered to tell him his battery won't get through the day. He can learn the hard way.

I'm glad I don't try and make a living out of shooting weddings. This stuff must go on all the time now.

So, what's the result? Seen the pics yet?

[dt86vyss]

This was amusing to read...love the part about the flash!

[Avalon]

In my experience the less you pay for a wedding the longer it lasts.
I made my own dress, my Mum cut my hair (it was 2 inches shorter once side than the other ) and we had takeaway food for the at home reception.
36 years later we're still happily married.

My only real regret? You guessed it, the photos.

We paid a photographer, but couldn't afford a big album, we just got a few small prints.
Years later I tried to track them down, but the business had changed hands several times and I was sad to discover my negatives ended up on the dump.

A good photographer would be high on my list to spend money on for a wedding.

[Sobriquet]

I find it interesting that the dress averages over twice the cost of the photography.

[beau]

So, what's the result? Seen the pics yet?

Yeah. I was at the wedding as an invitee and it went as expected. The old fella was running around the chapel during the ceremony shooting everything, with the built-in flash going nuts. Trouble was he had taken so many photos that morning of the bride getting ready and the cars, etc that his camera battery died before they even left the chapel. He didn't even realise it was flat and was looking at his camera wondering why it had turned off. Was actually quite funny watching him and the stupid look on his face.

They then left the chapel and were supposed to wander off into the vineyards to take some photos and he had to tell the bride that his camera "had stopped working". A desperate call was put out for everyone with cameras to take photos of the bridal waltz and cutting of the cake and email pics to the bride.

She then cam and asked me if I'd brought my camera with me. I told her all my gear was in the boot. She asked why I had brought all my gear and I told her "because I knew this was going to turn to shit". I told her I could shoot the formals and the rest of the day and the reception but that as she knew, I was not "free". She didn't care at that stage and was desperate.

I grabbed all my gear, including stands, umbrellas, off-camera flashes and we headed into the vineyards to take some shots. Old mate who had shot the first part of the day tried to follow us, obviously hoping to learn something, but I turned to him and said "I don't need you here so you need to leave". He got the message.

We actually got some really great shots. It was an overcast day and the wireless flash units helped me to underexpose the sky so that it looked really dark and threatening. I also shot some soft portraits of the bride as I anticipated the stuff he'd shot earlier in the day would be no good.

They even paid me before I'd even processed the shots and given them a disc. No apology, but I think they knew they'd screwed up.

Part of me wishes I hadn't taken my gear. I agonised over putting it in the boot of the car when I was heading to the wedding. Torn between wanting to leave it behind to punish them when it all went south. In the end I felt too guilty and threw it all in the car.

[kiwi]

You did the right thing....I had a good chuckle at the uncle bob nightmare

[beau]

It was just sooooo predictable. All ended ok though.