The real value of wedding photography

Attending many Wedding Fayres throughout the year and speaking to prospective brides and grooms, we often hear people say "but it's only a few hours during the day, why so much?"

Whilst others will say "Wow, all that for that price, that's really good value."

The value of photography is different to many people. If you are getting married and wondering whether to book a professional photographer or not, then here are a few questions you need to ask yourselves:

How important are your family and friends to you and the memories you share?
Do you enjoy, or have your been fortunate enough, to look through old family photographs of relatives years ago, some of whom you never met - and got a real sense of belonging and pride?
Would you want your children, grandchildren and great grandchildren to be able to see you and your relatives as they are now, and share your Wedding Day with you in years to come?
Do you want a family record which is guaranteed to be around to pass down to generations to come?
Does it really make sense to spend the whole of your wedding budget on a beautiful dress, attire, venue, cakes, favors and decorations and not be able to record the actual meaning of the day for ever?

If you have read the above and are still not convinced that any of it is that important, then save your money and get a few images from friends and family - there's nothing wrong with this if other things are more important to you.

However, if you have read the above and realised that keeping the memories of your Wedding Day and recording your story for generations to come is important to you, then please, please do not cut back on a professional wedding photographer - they really are worth their weight in gold.

So, where does your money actually go.

Let's discuss our Paphos Wedding Package as an example, just £1,500 gives you:

Full day wedding photography coverage, including Bridal Preparation, Wedding Ceremony, arrival at Reception, Speeches and First Dance - approximately 14 hours of our time on the actual Wedding Day
High Level re-touching/processing of images - approximately 14 hours of our time
High Resolution of all wedding images from your on-line gallery, supplied on a Jewelled Memory Heart USB in a black presentation box - cost of Heart USB
High Definition, beautiful animated slideshow of your favourite images to music (up to 20 minutes long) - approximately 2 hours design time
Superior De-Lux Italian Digitally printed Album (16"x12"), 40 pages -up to 140 images - cost of Album plus approximately 8 hours design time

So far, we have between 5 and 6 days work, plus costs for the Album and USB presentation of images. We also have our fixed costs of :

Insurance - all professional wedding photographers should be insured for both professional indemnity and public liability insurance
Back up equipment - we wouldn't dream of covering a wedding without 2 back up cameras, flashes, lenses, lighting, battery packs to name but a few
Website hosting - your images will be available on a password protected gallery, so you can easily choose the images for your album and order extra prints
IT equipment - PC and Software licences - we can't process your images, or supply you with HD animated slide show of your images, without reliable - and expensive - equipment.
Tax and accountancy fees - yep, we have to pay it too

So, do we do this job hoping to get rich? Absolutely not - the reality is that the hourly rate we earn covering a wedding is nowhere near what most people envisage. We do it because of the people we meet, the emotions we share - and learn from - and the great joy we have when we can recreate your Special Day in your beautiful Wedding Album, to share with your loved ones for years to come.

That's the real value of wedding photography.

Here are a few memories of ours .....