Hi. First time posting!

I'm a 'sometimes' Pro Photographer with 4 successful Weddings under my belt over the last 9 years and 1 as a second shooter. I have a 2:1 degree in Fine Art Photography too.

I say 'sometimes' as I've been a stay at home Mum for 4 years and haven't been taking on any Wedding work. I don't see how anyone does! I'm honestly baffled by the concept of (out of the house) working when you have a small child... if and when I get a moment's chance to string a thought together to do so, before being interrupted by my toddler!

Anyway this weekend my old college friend messaged me to invite me to her wedding and to ask if she could afford me to shoot it. She had a plan B of a hobbiest friend of her other half if not.

It was strange to be back in the nerve-wracking position of revisiting my pricing 4 years on but I got back into it and am currently insured for public liability only, with my main Nikon D700 body broken since last August, which needs either a new mirror or shutter and I'm estimating if it can be fixed that I'll be looking at £500 for that. Otherwise I have my Nikon D300 and little Olympus XZ1 with off camera flash for candid shooting.

So the last wedding I did, I charged £800 for a digital on personalised USB stick package. And 4 years on I figured £900 was reasonable, considering I need to travel to another city and stay the night, plus fuel and a reckie trip before, hire of a couple of lenses, possibly a body too.

Anyway, I put the figure to my friend but she said she'd have to decline as the budget is too tight and she's prioritizing the clothes and a party feel plus a short honeymoon after. (She has two kids 8 and 1). She said she'll just get her hobbiest friend to try their best and if she just gets one great shot of the four of them she'll be happy. [Eyeroll]

On Facebook I've already seen she's ordered a fairly expensive dress from a lovely bridal shop.

I tried to advise her of the priority I felt photography should take in her budget and that I'd seen many mediocre albums of friends before.

I even suggested my favourite female photographer in my area, who shot a friend's Wedding but who is also 'in essence' my dream local competitor. (She's an active pro with a hundred Weddings under her belt, so out of my league professionally.) She charges £1100 for a digital package locally.

I let her know of the problems a November Wedding could encompass re: poor light and blurry indoor photos but none of this is swaying her.

I just feel awful because I feel it's a disaster waiting to happen and that shell regret it in future years and almost just want to do the gig to make sure she gets some great shots, even if just for a shorter time frame (main shots) but feel this is selling myself short, as I'll still put the same amount of stress and effort into it and get the insurance, plus hire lenses etc.

For another set of friends locally before my £800 gig, I charged £550 but I don't even think she'd pay that and I'd find it hard to make it worth my while at all with all my costs. I've no other Wedding booked till a possible friend's next December, so insurance alone every month will be £20 to maintain professional indemnity cover.

So, just looking for opinions.

In case it isn't obvious, should I just keep out of it now and stick with being a guest, or take it on for much less?

I am a bit pissed that the other vendors are getting paid but she's looking for the photography to be the bit that can be done on the cheap!

Hi. First time posting!

I'm a 'sometimes' Pro Photographer with 4 successful Weddings under my belt over the last 9 years and 1 as a second shooter. I have a 2:1 degree in Fine Art Photography too.

I say 'sometimes' as I've been a stay at home Mum for 4 years and haven't been taking on any Wedding work. I don't see how anyone does! I'm honestly baffled by the concept of (out of the house) working when you have a small child... if and when I get a moment's chance to string a thought together to do so, before being interrupted by my toddler!

Anyway this weekend my old college friend messaged me to invite me to her wedding and to ask if she could afford me to shoot it. She had a plan B of a hobbiest friend of her other half if not.

It was strange to be back in the nerve-wracking position of revisiting my pricing 4 years on but I got back into it and am currently insured for public liability only, with my main Nikon D700 body broken since last August, which needs either a new mirror or shutter and I'm estimating if it can be fixed that I'll be looking at £500 for that. Otherwise I have my Nikon D300 and little Olympus XZ1 with off camera flash for candid shooting.

So the last wedding I did, I charged £800 for a digital on personalised USB stick package. And 4 years on I figured £900 was reasonable, considering I need to travel to another city and stay the night, plus fuel and a reckie trip before, hire of a couple of lenses, possibly a body too.

Anyway, I put the figure to my friend but she said she'd have to decline as the budget is too tight and she's prioritizing the clothes and a party feel plus a short honeymoon after. (She has two kids 8 and 1). She said she'll just get her hobbiest friend to try their best and if she just gets one great shot of the four of them she'll be happy. [Eyeroll]

On Facebook I've already seen she's ordered a fairly expensive dress from a lovely bridal shop.

I tried to advise her of the priority I felt photography should take in her budget and that I'd seen many mediocre albums of friends before.

I even suggested my favourite female photographer in my area, who shot a friend's Wedding but who is also 'in essence' my dream local competitor. (She's an active pro with a hundred Weddings under her belt, so out of my league professionally.) She charges £1100 for a digital package locally.

I let her know of the problems a November Wedding could encompass re: poor light and blurry indoor photos but none of this is swaying her.

I just feel awful because I feel it's a disaster waiting to happen and that shell regret it in future years and almost just want to do the gig to make sure she gets some great shots, even if just for a shorter time frame (main shots) but feel this is selling myself short, as I'll still put the same amount of stress and effort into it and get the insurance, plus hire lenses etc.

For another set of friends locally before my £800 gig, I charged £550 but I don't even think she'd pay that and I'd find it hard to make it worth my while at all with all my costs. I've no other Wedding booked till a possible friend's next December, so insurance alone every month will be £20 to maintain professional indemnity cover.

So, just looking for opinions.

In case it isn't obvious, should I just keep out of it now and stick with being a guest, or take it on for much less?

I am a bit pissed that the other vendors are getting paid but she's looking for the photography to be the bit that can be done on the cheap!

Just one quick thing to add. IF you do want to get into doing weddings, don't let this experience get to you. We see a LOT of people who don't value what we do. (frankly, We don't want those people either)

Those that are forward thinkers, that know that the wedding photography is the one thing that can potentially last as long as the rings. Those are the people we want as clients.

I'm one of the moderators for the wedding section, and would like to invite you to join our section. Our rules are easy, none of the personal attacks that can happen in other sections, and be supportive. That's about it.

Since I don't know what the market bears in your country, I can't speak to pricing, but it seems that around here, there are those that want to pay $200-$300, the "around $500 crowd" and then the $2000 on up group. After a few years, we all realize that to stay in business, you need to target the +$2000 group, and the bonus is, that the more they spend, the less demanding they are. It's exactly the opposite of what you would think, but the more clients pay, the easier it is to make them happy. The $200 crowd will nitpick and want every single photograph photoshopped to death, and will still complain.
Trust me, you dodged a bullet.

Hi. First time posting!

I'm a 'sometimes' Pro Photographer with 4 successful Weddings under my belt over the last 9 years and 1 as a second shooter. I have a 2:1 degree in Fine Art Photography too.

I say 'sometimes' as I've been a stay at home Mum for 4 years and haven't been taking on any Wedding work. I don't see how anyone does! I'm honestly baffled by the concept of (out of the house) working when you have a small child... if and when I get a moment's chance to string a thought together to do so, before being interrupted by my toddler!

Anyway this weekend my old college friend messaged me to invite me to her wedding and to ask if she could afford me to shoot it. She had a plan B of a hobbiest friend of her other half if not.

Do your friend a favor and just be the guest. I have done over 1500 weddings and I got over the nerve wracking after the first 50. You really are a bit under qualified for wedding work. You will not have the time to produce quality art prints during the wedding. I shot film during all of my weddings. I know the pressure to make a shot count and how to shoot it in 24 exposure rolls and use only 6 to 8 rolls of film. Enjoy yourself and let a real pro shoot the wedding especially if you do not have at least 2 or 3 flash guns and 2 camera bodies as well as the multitude of lenses you will need. I retired from wedding work when digital showed up. Only due to not wanting to pay the price of gear I knew I needed. Plus at the time digital was very new and very expensive. I am now back and shoot as a pro sports and events. So I really think you should let a pro who has the gear neeeded do his or her job. May be your friend should just buy the prints she wants and let you mount them in an archival album you build. Enjoy your day there. Do not go copying the shots the pro makes as he or she makes her living from the prints they sell and of course copyrighted infringement is involved if you copy and remake on of the pro's shots.
It was strange to be back in the nerve-wracking position of revisiting my pricing 4 years on but I got back into it and am currently insured for public liability only, with my main Nikon D700 body broken since last August, which needs either a new mirror or shutter and I'm estimating if it can be fixed that I'll be looking at £500 for that. Otherwise I have my Nikon D300 and little Olympus XZ1 with off camera flash for candid shooting.

So the last wedding I did, I charged £800 for a digital on personalised USB stick package. And 4 years on I figured £900 was reasonable, considering I need to travel to another city and stay the night, plus fuel and a reckie trip before, hire of a couple of lenses, possibly a body too.

Anyway, I put the figure to my friend but she said she'd have to decline as the budget is too tight and she's prioritizing the clothes and a party feel plus a short honeymoon after. (She has two kids 8 and 1). She said she'll just get her hobbiest friend to try their best and if she just gets one great shot of the four of them she'll be happy. [Eyeroll]

On Facebook I've already seen she's ordered a fairly expensive dress from a lovely bridal shop.

I tried to advise her of the priority I felt photography should take in her budget and that I'd seen many mediocre albums of friends before.

I even suggested my favourite female photographer in my area, who shot a friend's Wedding but who is also 'in essence' my dream local competitor. (She's an active pro with a hundred Weddings under her belt, so out of my league professionally.) She charges £1100 for a digital package locally.

I let her know of the problems a November Wedding could encompass re: poor light and blurry indoor photos but none of this is swaying her.

I just feel awful because I feel it's a disaster waiting to happen and that shell regret it in future years and almost just want to do the gig to make sure she gets some great shots, even if just for a shorter time frame (main shots) but feel this is selling myself short, as I'll still put the same amount of stress and effort into it and get the insurance, plus hire lenses etc.

For another set of friends locally before my £800 gig, I charged £550 but I don't even think she'd pay that and I'd find it hard to make it worth my while at all with all my costs. I've no other Wedding booked till a possible friend's next December, so insurance alone every month will be £20 to maintain professional indemnity cover.

So, just looking for opinions.

In case it isn't obvious, should I just keep out of it now and stick with being a guest, or take it on for much less?

I am a bit pissed that the other vendors are getting paid but she's looking for the photography to be the bit that can be done on the cheap!