The Ultimate Guide to Wedding Photography pricing – 2024 Edition

The answer is, it varies, though, across the board, UK professional wedding photographers’ prices start from around £1,700 per wedding. 

As an experienced professional wedding photographer, I try to make my pricing as clear and straight forward as possible by offering two simple packages priced at £1900 and £2200 and these include absolutely everything from the first meeting through to you receiving your photos.  I find that clarifying everything from the first consultation means everybody can relax, expectations are managed and there are no hidden costs.

You are of course working to a budget.  So, you will be pleased to learn that there are some things that can affect the price of your wedding photography that you can take into account before booking your wedding photographer.  They are outlined below:

Wedding photography prices can vary depending on the location of your wedding.

In a recent survey by Your Perfect Wedding Photographer, it showed that like many other things there appears to be a North/South divide with the pricing of wedding photography.  With London (£1679 average) and the South West (£1675 average) being the most expensive, and the North West (£1318 average) North East (£1268 average) and Northern Ireland (£1380 average) coming in lower.  The East of England (£1480) the midlands (£1450) and Wales (£1455 average) being priced in the middle.  Though there are exceptions to this rule.  Scotland’s average pricing of £1618 is higher than the North of England and is in line with the South West.  This could perhaps be because they are both popular destination wedding locations. 

Wedding photography prices can vary depending on the timings of your wedding.

Weddings are a long day for photographers.  They usually start by capturing the bridal prep images in the morning and work right through to the last of your guests leaving after the evening party.  If you don’t have the budget for the wedding photographer you want, you could enquire about a half-day rate. 

Picking out the moments you want captured most i.e., the ceremony, some images of the wedding party, some romantic portrait shots in the gardens at your venue, and the speeches.  And then booking your chosen wedding photographer to cover those things only.  This especially works well with wedding photographers who charge an hourly rate.  Remember as well, that you control the order in which your day plays out.  So, for example, you could move the cutting of the cake moment to earlier in the day when the wedding photographer is there to capture it. 

Wedding photography prices can vary depending on your wedding date

If you marry in the winter months your wedding photographer (like many other wedding suppliers in the industry) may be willing to do a better deal.  Also, if you marry during the week you can almost certainly get a better rate.  Many professional wedding photographers do offer a separate mid-week wedding package that costs less than their weekend rates. 

Wedding photography prices can vary if you choose to go digital-only.

Buying the digital rights to your photos means that you can save money on albums, photo books and frames.  But be aware of hidden costs, if you want any physical photographs of your wedding, remember you will have to bear the cost of doing that yourself. 

I will close this blog by just asking, (regardless of who you choose to photograph your wedding and however much you pay them to do it) that you book a professional wedding photographer.  This way you will have a contract that obliges them to provide you with excellent wedding photography.  They have insurance, they have all the right equipment.  They have back up equipment, they even have a backup photographer. 

Absolutely, nothing is left to chance, and so it shouldn’t be.  This is your wedding photography, the keepsake that that tells the story of your wedding day with beautiful and timeless images.  Whatever you pay for it, you’ve only got one chance to get it right.

If you are currently looking for a photographer and I fit in your budget and you love my portfolio, please get in touch to check my availability for your wedding day!

You can also check out more of my blogs below to see more of my previous weddings and more wedding planning advice!