The Wedding Report says the average cost of a wedding in 2008 fell by 24%, due to the recession.
Have you seen your revenues fall by that amount? Seems not .. many here reported healthy price increases in 2008, with even higher prices planned for 2009. This is on top of prices that are generally over double (in many cases quadruple) the averages for their cities or regions.
FM couples are probably saving on the florist, or maybe the cake.
Perhaps they averaged in folks that got married at town hall in front of the JOP.
I had one locked down for Valentine's Day and then the communication stopped prior to sending in the retainer. I'm pretty sure that they're going without a photog.... or maybe they found someone to shoot it for $299. They had my cheapest package and I gave them a discount because of the short timeframe… oh, well.
I actually booked a few couples in the midst of the stock market tumble and I could definitely tell they were acting different than couples in the past. I had one bride change her date, her location, and her photography package over the course of a month. It seriously took me 5 weeks to get a deposit from her.
Another couple couple canceled their engagement shoot to save a few bucks - which is strange because I dont even charge that much for my engagement sessions.
Its hard for me to judge peoples actions as a whole over this time period because I've changed my business quite a bit over that time as well. I've become a better shooter, a better businessman, and I've raised my prices a bit. While all of those things help my bottom line, I have noticed people seem to be more careful in spending/booking than they used to.
I've had a lot of bookings bail on me after the UK press kept on about the 'Credit Crunch' - every sector felt the pinch as people suddenly stopped spending money. I had a lot of 'we'd love to book you but we've decided to get our best mate to do it instead'. I've not dropped my prices for 2009, but I didn't put them up by a huge amount.
I have a friend that owns a facility and she says that they are cutting to the bone to have their wedding there. Her prices have not gone up. The brides first ask if they can do without a DJ (part of her package) and use an IPOD. She tells them that they really don't want to do that because there will be no one for announcements and to keep things flowing. Remind you, she's my best friend and I do get some business from her, but my comment back to her was..."If they don't cut there, where will they cut"? Should they cut the Photographer? "What good does it do if they have someone that can make announcements if they don't have a picture of their first dance, the cutting of the cake, the garter toss, or the throwing of the bouquet? Will she sacrifice the photographer so she will have someone with a strong voice to say, it’s time to welcome Mr. and Mrs. Nopicturestoshowafterthewedding to the dance floor.”
When I'm in consultation or at the bride show, I tell them to cut the guest list. Another photographer reminded me that for a table of 8 they cut the meal, the place setting, the table, chairs, the linens, the table decorations, the favors, etc. The cost could easily be $30-$100 per person in my area. I've also had brides to tell me they are going to let the bridesmaids carry a single rose and cut there.
I've had one bride reduce some spending, but the others increased. Portrait clients might have reduced by maybe 10%, but it's hard to tell. Nothing really changed for me, year end was a good one.
Lord Fluff wrote:
Let's not us all forget though that even if WE think the photography should be a priority, it just isn't for some couples.
Well even before I was a photographer I thought that photography was the most important factor of the day.
WHy?
because we brides are spending thousands of $$$ on stuff for their special day and how are they going to remember it if we dont capture it. So we are the most important for the day. If your not the most important or feel you are the most important as a photographer then you are in the wrong field and should find a new job or just dont book those kind of clients.
Andrew Welsh wrote:
I've not noticed a reduction in spending among clients.
me either. In fact people are spending more now than ever before. My 2009 bookings are up 13.8% in average packages bought. And last year we average $4250 a wedding. Now dont get me wrong some people go for $2500 4 hour package some go for $10,000 all freaking weekend and all the stuff. The rest are in between.
paparazzinick wrote:
because we brides are spending thousands of $$$ on stuff for their special day and how are they going to remember it if we dont capture it. So we are the most important for the day.
I know what you're saying but it's really not that simple.
Take a wedding where, for cultural reasons or whatever, the visibility of spending is important. If, say, an Indian family spend out on having a sitar player for the meal, everyone gets something from that, and everyone knows you got a sitar player. If they spend double on the photographer, no-one knows that, and no-one bar the family gets the benefit.
The relative importance of the photographer is not the point to ponder here, as every wedding will have a photographer of some sort. The real point is why does the most important vendor (photographer) generally get paid in the lowest quartile?
I think this is where it's so great that I live in the South. A Southern Belle will have the wedding of her dreams. No doubt about it. I think that lower end weddings (middle class and below) will suffer more because they don't also care about status. But higher end weddings will do whatever it takes to keep up appearances.
I've found that first time young brides, whose bill is generally footed by the parents, spend more on everything at wedding BUT the photographer. Photos come last, for whatever reason.
My best customers are those in their 30s getting married for the first time. I just booked one today that will be my biggest sale yet - and they're not having a DJ, they see no point to it as they're also not doing garter/boquet. So except for entrance/toast/cake they dont' need an MC either. This type of client knows what they want too, and not in a bad way.
Lord Fluff wrote:
I know what you're saying but it's really not that simple.
Take a wedding where, for cultural reasons or whatever, the visibility of spending is important. If, say, an Indian family spend out on having a sitar player for the meal, everyone gets something from that, and everyone knows you got a sitar player. If they spend double on the photographer, no-one knows that, and no-one bar the family gets the benefit.
that is a valid point and i see where your coming from. but remember, without us, they have no memories of the day
