How much should I pay my friend to do the photography for my wedding?
I’ve known Lenea since middle school and she’s always been a shutterbug and a great artist. She went on to major in photography and she’s doing GREAT! I’ve seen some of her photos for classes and they are absolutely stunning. She’s also awsome with photoshop.
Right from the proposal I knew that we would have a small budget for the wedding. We’ll both be only 19 when we tie the knot this summer and neither of our parents are willing to spend a fortune on any aspect of the ceremony. We’re even planning our honeymoon as a romantic getaway to Worlds of Fun! Not that any of that is going to make the day less special, I just wanted to make clear what our budget is like.
Anyway, Lenea has never done a wedding before, but I thought it would be great for her portfolio or a school project and awesome for us since we wouldn’t have to pay professional prices. When I mentioned pay she told me not to worry about it sine she’s just a student and has never done this before, but I do want to give her something because she is building her skills to the pro level. Any oppinions on what I should pay my talented friend for this HUGE favor?
I’m not knocking the idea of asking her to give me the photos as a gift, but I really do want to give her at least a little something to say thank you. Besides, wedding photography can cost hundreds, even thousands depending on who does it, and I’d **** to ask her to give me a gift of that value.
Also, thank you for the honeymoon ideas, but we’ve both been to Branson a million times and we really like going to amusement parks together so Worlds of Fun might just be the perfect getaway for us.
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Posted: May 15th, 2009 under Wedding Photography.
Tags: Parents, Talented Friend, Wedding Photography
Comments
Comment from I don’t ? you.
Time May 20, 2009 at 2:16 pm
Well i say call around to professional photographers, and get an average from them.
Then maybe give your friend half of what you would of paid for a professional one.
Say a pro woulda charged $200, give your friend $100.
And make sure to give her a special thank you card.
Comment from nemeczek
Time May 22, 2009 at 1:30 pm
She is your friend - that’s why she does not want you to pay her. If you insist on paying her, she may be offended.
Comment from apbanpos
Time May 22, 2009 at 10:42 pm
Consider it a gift from her and give her a gift as you would your bridesmaids, etc. Make sure she is included in the reception count so she can eat, etc.
Also, give her free publicity. Put in your program “Photography by Lenea” and her phone number/email.
When you send Thank you notes, include a wedding photo and on the back again, note “Photography by Lenea” and her phone/email.
And give her permission to use your photos for her website, portfolio, etc.
All that will be of FAR more value to a budding photographer than money.
Comment from A R
Time May 24, 2009 at 1:25 pm
Well for my coming wedding, my friend will be doing photo’s and we are not paying her because we agreed that it would be her wedding gift to us…
Comment from lovejillianbeth
Time May 25, 2009 at 12:02 am
Maybe you should give her a gift card for a restaurant or a massage or something… tell her it is a “gift of thanks.” That way, you will both be happy.
Comment from 5 percent genuis 95 percent knob
Time May 26, 2009 at 6:07 pm
How much should you pay your friend? easy nothing! favours for loved ones cost nothing. You’d be doing her a favour, your big day and you trust her the most even though she’s not a qualified professional. So you pay her nothing. If she expects payment shes not a real friend.
Comment from Kate T.
Time May 27, 2009 at 4:03 pm
see what she puts together and then offer her some money for a package deal . that is what I do . I take some photos of the couple together in different places and then I show them the proofs and we go from there and i sort of try to make them a package that they are happy with .
Comment from brijo
Time May 31, 2009 at 3:54 am
I would give her $100-200, really just as a thank you. The best thing she’ll gain is the experience and the opportunity to build up her portfolio and I’m sure she appreciates that opportunity more than anything. More than likely, if you had another student with her same experience, you wouldn’t be paying them much either. The real payment for photographers at that stage in their career is just having the chance to take those pictures. But since you’ve known her for a long time and she’ll be spending a few hours taking pictures and probably a few more editing, I’d give her something in that price range. If she doesn’t want to take it, just insist that you want to, to thank her. :]
Comment from Good?Gyrl
Time May 31, 2009 at 2:44 pm
That is a great way to get her portfolio started, you’re right. I would say pay her $25 - $50 an hour, or a flat rate of anywhere between $250 - $250 plus the cost of the photos. Since she’s starting out, it would be fair if you pay for the production (getting the pics) or negotiate something with her for the materials.
Congrats.
Comment from Grace Loves To Teach
Time June 1, 2009 at 7:08 am
I’d pay her for all the supplies. She shouldn’t have to eat the cost of that. Then, I would give her $200 maybe? I know she refused, but it’s nice to give something, just to show your thanks.
Comment from Andrea W
Time June 1, 2009 at 11:21 am
Pay her nothing.
I did bouquets and centerpieces for all of my friends weddings. This was my gift to them since at the time I was only working part time, did’nt have alot of money for gifts,but, I possessed a great crafting skill.
Now, for your honeymoon. I’m from Missouri-where Worlds of Fun- if you never been there I can let you know that its ok, but not super fun. If you’ve been there I guess you know what you’re in for. Another alternative is Branson Missouri for a honeymoon.
Comment from English Rose
Time June 3, 2009 at 10:30 pm
I myself am like your friend, and I also get asked to photograph weddings. For friends I do one of two things:
* Charge the couple cost price only, and get them a wedding gift as I would have done if I was a regular guest
* Charge the couple nothing, and they consider it my wedding gift to them.
Note that I don’t provide wedding albums for them, because a) it saves me a lot of money on processing the photos, and valuable tiem too, and b) I think it’s a nice project for the couple to do after the wedding. I think photo albums are quite personal.
It’s really up to you, but I think if you go for the former, you need to cover at least what she’s paying out for this. Now that I’m planning my wedding, I’m sure you can understand that photography is very important to me, but I can’t afford much. I’ve asked a girl I studied with to do the photos, and she’s doing them for free, and it’s her gift to me. I’m also getting her a little something to say thank you, as I know it takes many many hours to get the photos just right!
EDIT - Ash is right that since you are hiring a friend, and it’s probably not her only job, you may wait a little longer for the photos. However, in ALL the weddings I’ve photographed, I’ve got the photos to the couple within 2 weeks. I think you’ll find that a professional photographer will take at least 6 weeks. I find that because they are people I know, the first thing I do when I get home is begin getting them into order.
Comment from kiddo
Time June 6, 2009 at 1:48 am
You could get her a gift certificate for a hundred dollars or so to a camera store, if she is in need of any new equipment, or nice gift certificates to restaurants. Professional photography is obscenely expensive, so if you spend a couple hundred dollars it will still be a massive savings, and show you how much you appreciate her. I know a professional runs around $4000 for an engagement by me–my FH is a coach and we are hiring one of his athletes to shoot the ceremony to save!
Comment from ASH
Time May 18, 2009 at 5:24 pm
My photographer is my good friend and I paid her $150.00. The only thing about having your friend do your pictures is you will have to wait forever to get your pictures. My wedding was in July and I just got my pictures last tuesday. She put everyone else in front of me.