How to Find the Right Engagement Photographer
Budget High
Photography is one of those things you don’t want to save on. This doesn’t mean you should go with the most expensive photographer, expensive does NOT mean the best. What it means is that you shouldn’t pinch pennies when it comes to photography because it’s so important. After your engagement and wedding has come and gone, all you have left to revisit that time in your life is your photographs so you want to make sure you hire someone you know can deliver on that big responsibility. Allot yourself a healthy budget for photography and consider your area.
For reference, this guide breaks down the average price for an engagement photographer based on city and time frame for a photo shoot. Use this as a jumping point when you start laying out your photography budget but remember this is an average. If you’re a couple that wants a really extravagant, magazine style shoot and you’re finding that the photographers you gravitate toward cost more than the average goes for then you didn’t give yourself a realistic budget for what you’re looking for.
Also use the average to know what’s too low for an engagement session. If you’re seeing an hour long shoot below the average, this may mean you’re hiring an amateur. That’s not knocking amateur photographers, we all have to start somewhere, but the inexperience may deliver some so-so engagement photos.
The saying “you get what you paid for” can apply here so just remember that you’re trying to find the right balance. Give yourself a realistic, well-researched budget and pad the average with a couple of hundred bucks. You won’t regret spending more for quality photography but you may regret spending too much on table numbers.