Happy new year, Jai Long Co. fam! We hope you enjoyed a wonderful festive season with your family and friends and that you’re feeling refreshed for the year ahead.

Sooooo…new year, new prices, right?

With the market constantly evolving, it’s essential for wedding photographers to regularly review their rates to ensure sustainable profits in the long run. Keeping your operating expenses and current supply and demand trends in mind, you’ll be able to set competitive prices without the constant worry of “am I overcharging or undercharging”.

To give you a motivational kick-start in 2023, we surveyed our global audience on how much they’re currently charging across their wedding photography packages. With almost 900 responses, let’s dive in!

Average cheapest and most expensive wedding photography package – a global perspective

Noting that the majority of our survey respondents are based in North America, Australia/ Oceania and Europe, we asked everyone to share their prices in USD to minimise any currency differences.

With wedding photography prices varying anywhere from below $1,000 USD to above $15,000 USD, here’s a closer look.

On a global scale, 31% of the wedding photographers in our community responded that they charge from $1,000 to $2,000 USD for their lowest wedding photography package. This was closely followed by 26% charging between $2,000 and $3,000 USD for their lowest package.

Out of a total of 900 respondents from all over the world, only 10 photographers charged from $6,000 to $8,000 for their lowest wedding package.

Noting that the majority of our wedding photographers charged between $1,000 to $2,000 USD for their lowest package, 23% charged $3,000 to $4,000 for their highest package.

Numbers considerably dropped from the $8,000 and upwards price range, with only 6% charging above $8,000 for their highest package.

Out of a total of 900 respondents from across the globe, only 9 photographers charged over $15,000 USD for their highest wedding package.

Average package prices for wedding photographers in North America

32% of wedding photographers based in North America responded with $2,000 to $3,000 USD being the lowest package price range, followed by 28% charging between $1,000 to $2,000 USD.

As for their highest package, 24% charged between $3,000 to $4,000 USD, closely followed by 21% charging between $4,000 to $5,000 USD.

Based on overall survey responses from wedding photographers in North America, most reported package prices ranging from $2,000 to $4,000 USD on average.

Taking experience and location into consideration, the wedding publication Brides revealed the following averages in the U.S.

• Midwest: $3,000 to $4,000 USD
• New York: $2,500 to $5,000 USD
• California: $3,000 to $4,700 USD

Average wedding photography package prices in Australia and Oceania

36% of wedding photographers from Australia and the Oceania region reported their lowest package ranging between $1,000 and $2,000 USD, followed by 23% charging between $2,000 and $3,000 USD.

When it comes to their highest wedding photography packages, 24% charged between $3,000 to $4,000 USD, closely followed by 19% charging between $4,000 to $5,000 USD.

Overall, 43% of Australian wedding photographers are charging between $3,000 to $5,000 USD for their highest package. This is comparative to wedding photography prices in the U.S., with 45% charging between $3,000 to $5,000 USD for their highest package.

Collating survey responses from wedding photographers in Australia/ Oceania as a whole, the majority reported package prices ranging from $1,000 to $4,000 USD on average.

According to Easy Weddings, the average cost of a wedding photographer in Australia is $3,152 AUD (estimated $2,173 USD).

• New South Wales: $3,702 AUD
• Victoria: $3,074 AUD
• Queensland: $2,725 AUD
• South Australia: $2,752 AUD
• Western Australia: $2,842 AUD
• Australian Capital Territory: $2,927 AUD
• Tasmania: $2,187 AUD
• Northern Territory: $1,820 AUD

The average cost of a wedding photographer in Europe

37% of wedding photographers from Europe reported $1,000 to $2,000 USD being their lowest package price range, followed by 29% charging below $1000 USD.

Compared to 52% of Australian photographers and 60% of U.S. photographers charging upwards of $2,000 USD for their lowest package, only 34% of European photographers charged above $2,000 USD.

As for top wedding photography package prices, 25% charged between $2,000 to $3,000 USD, closely followed by 23% charging between $3,000 to $4,000 USD and 21% charging between $1,000 and $2,000 USD.

Overall, 48% of European wedding photographers are charging between $2,000 to $4,000 USD for their highest package.

As a whole, the majority of photographers based in Europe reported their wedding package prices between $1,000 to $3,000 USD on average.

Here are some average wedding photographer prices across Europe

• United Kingdom: £1350 to £1840
• France: €1,000 to €3,000
• Spain: €1,000 to €1,500
• Italy: €1.500 to €3.500

What do these average going rates mean for you as a wedding photographer?

From where you’re based to your experience level, many factors will influence how much you should be charging for your wedding photography services.

If you undercharge, you’ll run the risk of taking on more work than you can handle, resulting in dreaded burnouts.

If you overcharge, you may lose clients to other photographers who are offering more perceived value.

Matching the market isn’t necessarily the right solution either – if you’re charging the same rate as everybody else is, you’ll risk being perceived as “average” and won’t stand out from the crowd.

When asked “how happy are you with how much you charge?”, it’s not particularly surprising to note that 49.8% reported they felt like they were undercharging. In comparison, 37.9% were satisfied with their package prices and only 12.3% thought they might be overcharging.

While it’s tricky to pinpoint an exact figure you should be charging to hit your annual revenue goals, understanding your local market while respecting your worth will help you to set your seasonal price changes with confidence.

Curious about how much other wedding photographers around the world are making? Read our recent blog on average photographer incomes across the globe.

Getting your pricing right can help you build a healthy, thriving wedding photography business in the long run

As wedding photographers, many of us are artists at heart, pursuing our heart-led passion rather than financial gain. However, if you want to create a healthy, thriving business in the long run, you need to put your business owner hat on and start CARING about your ability to generate sustainable revenue.

Benefits of pricing your wedding photography services confidently:

• Creates a stronger positioning for your brand – those that pay, pay more attention
• The desire for your work increases
• Demand for your work increases
• You’ll attract easier clients to work with
• You can afford to create a better client experience – deeper, more meaningful connections
• Your portfolio and work will get better – you’ll deliver more value
• With a bigger marketing budget, you can invest in scaling your business
• Taking on less work, you’ll have more choices and freedom

Most importantly, you’ll be able to invest in YOU. Whether that’s treating yourself to a much-needed holiday or investing in new education to level up your business even further, you can re-invest your hard-earned profits back into your future.

How to increase your revenue as a wedding photographer

You can increase your revenue by either:

• Charging more
• Working more

Here’s a simplified example of what that could look like

	Working More	Charging More
Average package price	$3,000	$6,000
Average cost of securing a new booking	$1,000	$1,000
Average delivery cost	$1,500	$1,500
Profit per wedding	$500	$3,500
Profit from 30 weddings	$15,000	$105,000
Profit from 60 weddings	$30,000	$210,000

 

Which revenue strategy would you choose?

Would you rather:

• Work more – book 60 weddings at $3,000 and profit $30,000 OR
• Charge more – book 30 weddings at $6,000 and profit $105,000

By doubling your prices, you can halve the bookings you need per year while more than tripling your profit.

Remember: You can only make as much as you ask for.

Think of it this way – if you charge the minimum, you will do the minimum. If you do the minimum, you will be rewarded the minimum.

Don’t self-sabotage by diminishing yourself because of pay.

The more you care, the more you’ll charge your worth, and the more you’ll be able to serve your clients at your highest level.

Work to your potential, not the paycheck.

You can only make as much as you ask for.

Ready to get your wedding photography pricing strategy for 2023 right?

Here are some of our most popular tools and resources for getting your prices right:

• Pricing with Purpose – 3-day online workshop to help you reset, build and scale your biz to generate predictable income.
• Pricing Calculator – ‘Done for you’ tool to help you track annual business expenses and calculate how to charge each client.
• The Upsell Academy – A short online course to help you upsell your products and services to increase your profits.

If you’re keen to level up your business knowledge and join a community of like-minded wedding photographers, our signature Six-Figure Business Map course is for you! The Business Map is a 12-month online course for photographers and videographers ready to conquer their mindset, brand, marketing, sales, and client experience with 100% confidence.

Next enrolment for the Business Map opens on the 22nd of May 2023, get on the waitlist ASAP to receive the latest updates and FREE bonus training!