Lately there has been a lot of talk on Television, bridal blogs and Facebook pages suggesting to couples who are trying to save money to drop the word "wedding" from any conversation they are having with potential wedding suppliers in order to avoid the "wedding tax" as it has been nicknamed. These presenters are informing brides that you can actually save a lot of money this way, suggesting that us photographers, any many other types of wedding suppliers for that matter, are just bulking up the price because its a wedding, and of course couples will pay it.
Recently a big uproar started across Australia after Channel 7's The Morning Show aired a segment about Wedding Scams. Tom Godfrey, a spokesman from 'Choice' suggested that the best thing you can do is trick your suppliers by not letting them know it is a wedding, inevitably saving yourself a few dollars. To quote his suggestion: "… I think this is where the best man comes in, or the maid of honour. You get them to ring up and say its a private party… If the supplier turns up to your wedding and finds out, well so be it."
Now it may seem like a good idea to try this out to save yourself some money here and there, but speaking for us photographers, you would be doing yourself a huge disservice by doing this. It would not be worth the huge risk. For one, there is a huge difference in the equipment we bring to a party versus what we take to shoot a wedding.
Take this for example, you book me to cover a few hours at a party, I would probably arrive wearing something a little more casual than my usual wedding uniform, and my gear selection would be a lot smaller. For a party I would probably arrive with one 5D Mark 3 and a 24-70mm lens, one battery, a flash and one memory card.
If you are booking me to shoot your wedding, i would be bringing a minimum of the following:
- two 5D mark3's and a backup 5d Mark2
- a 16-35 f2.8L wide angle lens for those awesome church photos and epicly wide landscape shots.
- a 24-70 f2.8L lens
- a 70-200 f2.8L lens to create all those beautiful dreamy images you have seen here on my blog.
- an external flash and triggers for getting creative outside the reception venue.
- a second shooter who also has multiple cameras and lenses.
- at least 8 memory cards (majority of which get used by the way)
- a whole stash of spare batteries for both the cameras and the flash units.
- an LED bat light for ease of focusing when shooting outside in the dark.
- a boot full of umbrellas in case the day turns a bit rainy.
- all those delicious props you see in all my images (thank you banners, parasols, picnic blankets, suitcases etc)
- liability insurance
- formal clothes
These are just to name a few of the extra things I would be bringing along to a wedding as opposed to a "party". As well as all the different equipment we would be bringing, we would have been emailing back and forth with you and will have met with you a couple of times to make sure that everything for your wedding day is able to run as smoothly as possible. I have spent many hours researching venues, locations, lighting conditions, sunset times, tide times… all to help you get the most beautiful images that are a true reflection of the beauty of your wedding day.
Having said all this, it could be possible to fool some suppliers into thinking your day is a party, but for me as a photographer, if someone was to ring and try to book a party on a Saturday in November, I would be more than likely to turn it down. Why you ask? Not because I wouldn't earn as much money, but because I'm a wedding photographer, my whole heart and soul goes into shooting weddings and I would want that day to be available should a couple wish to book me to share their big day with them.
I personally think the advice that has been spreading frequently lately, that I have even seen first hand with some people suggesting to a few of my beautiful brides that they "trick their suppliers", is not going to work to well at all. Why pay the money to bring in a professional if they are not going to be physically or mentally prepared for the tasks at hand. They are caught off guard and may not be able to produce the images that you so hoped for, because they have not had the preparation time, the meetings getting to know you and of course, the appropriate equipment for the job.
This blog post isn't designed to be about why we charge what we do or anything of that nature. I just want people to think seriously about the whole "tricking your suppliers" thing. Yeah you might save yourself a few dollars here and there, but you would be greatly diservicing yourself as I'm sure you want to receive quality images right? As all my lovely couples will know, I try to spend as much time developing a close relationship and a good rapport with my couples before their wedding. I want my images to be able to reflect them and their love, as every couple is different and has their own unique story.
Just a little something to think about with all this talk of how to save money on your big day. Do you really want to end up with images that are not as you hoped, or a cake that is just not as grand, or flowers that are so-so just to save yourself a few dollars that you will potentially end up regretting? Please feel free to share and let me know your thoughts on the matter!
Consider your date (or dates). Providing a venue with a date can assist you in establishing costs from the location (a number of locations we list for instance have different costs for different days of the week). If you are particularly keen on one venue, it can help giving them a range of dates (and perhaps ranking them by order of preference), so you can secure the location first and foremost.
ReplyDeleteSalle de reception de mariage