The 24 hour wedding photography package

When a bride sees an 8 hour photography package for $3000, I think it's hard for them to justify spending $375 hour for wedding photography. Most don't realize that the wedding day is only a small portion of the total time invested on a wedding. The following is an itemized list of the time invested by us which I suspect is consistent with most photographers on your wedding day.

advertising and promotion
to get the customer in the door:15 minutes
Initial contact, introduction and quote: 15 minutes
Preparation and consultation: 75 minutes
Second consultation to secure date: 30 minutes

Preplanning for event
Call church, bride, dj, event location, etc. 30 minutes
setup shot list for bride 30 minutes
Go over shot list (three times) 45 minutes
planning consultation with bride 30 minutes
Rehearsal travel and attendance 90 minutes
Clean and prepare equipment 60 minutes
Travel and setup time on wedding day 90 minutes
Wedding day coverage 8 hours
Pack up equipment and travel home 60 minutes

Post production of digital images
backup images to DVD
color and lightness correct over 1000 images
convert all images to Jpeg
convert all images to web previewing
post all image to the web
backup completed images
contact couple 4 hours

Album production
retouch images
design album
consultation with the bride
printing 6-8 hours

Loose prints for the family
paperwork, retouching and printing 2 hours
-----------
Total of all labor 30 hours

Okay, now we're down to about $100 an hour.

And don't forget overhead
cost to buy and maintain equipment
cost of studio rent or home studio mortgage
advertising costs
utility costs
and vehicle maintenance just to name a few. deduct 50%

Our actual fee per hour than runs about $40 to $65 an hour based on actual times, overhead and price of package.

I hope that makes a few brides feel better about their investments.