Wedding Photography Pricing

He should not charge by the hour. Professionals charge by the hour. He should charge a flat fee, that includes everything. He should also understand that shooting weddings are very hard and complicated to shoot. Look at the package prices of local photographers, and charge 15% of that. (That's actually really generous.) If their wedding packages are $1,500, he should charge $225.

Does he even know how to edit? I'm not going to really get into all this, because it would just be really discouraging. I never encourage people with no experience to shoot weddings themselves. It takes a great amount of knowledge, skill, and more then a just a camera with a lens. I do encourage your husband to think long and hard about this. They are memories they can only have photographed once. If they don't come out, then that will be very awkward and sad.

I guess, he should just be trigger happy. Take as many pictures as he can and hope he gets lucky. And PRAY for nothing, but perfect lighting...because he'll need it.

I have been in the same sitiuation. I do it for a $100 or $200 overall flat fee. The trade-off is that your husband gets experience. If he's really good, then he can gradually raise the price as the referrals come in.

I am a professional and I have done many weddings (although it's not my main specialty). My weddings START at $1500. That includes my time and editing. Any prints are separate. I think for my very first wedding I did, I charged only $300. I also was not the only photographer there. I was kind of their backup because they knew it was my first wedding. Honestly I do not even like doing weddings. They are very hard and just so tiring and SO much work. There is also a lot of pressure on you because you only get 1 chance to get everything perfect. If you mess up, there are no reshoots. It's very stressful.
I keep myself busy with maternity, newborns and children :)

I had a coworker take my wedding pictures, granted I did not ask her but she insisted she wanted nothing. I hadn't planned on having pictures since it is my second wedding. I paid for all the prints I wanted but she charged nothing for her services and damn she was better than any professional I have seen.

Thing is your husband isn't a professional and they know it. Why not wait until they offer so much and see if it is enough? If you charge as much as a professional they are going to say never mind. I assume they are friends, act like it.

Ask them how much they want to pay. He and you can then respond. Usually when asked prices are higher than when you tell someone your price.

I was just talking to my hairdresser yesterday. Her daughter is getting married and we were talking about photographers. She said around here they are going for $2000-$5000, for professional. That's a lot of money!!

At least a $100 an hour. I do photography part time and I try to offer a package deal but it's easier for him to just charge by the hour. Some things he should clarify- Is he going to edit the photos? He should clarify he'll "retouch the best".
He should also get a clear timeline and ask how many photos they are expecting. He should clarify if he's only going to give the images on a disc or if he prints them how many. Also... he needs to take a back up camera. If he has one great but if not he'll have to rent one and he needs to figure the cost of that into his pricing. And last... he needs to check the venue an make sure his camera can take nice photos in the venue's light. **very important**

Also... shooting a wedding is hard work. Before he agrees I'd say he needs to meet both bride and groom and make sure it's worth it. Example... I was going to shoot my coworkers wedding as a favor for only $500. I was a little concerned because we have the same "day job" and he was already pulling me out of work to ask me questions but I still wanted to help him out. I decided to meet his bride to be and she had a 3 page list of specific shots she must have and I followed my gut and told them the expectations she had weren't realistic for a single shooter and she said but I can't afford that and I said exactly... truth hurts sometimes. Best of luck to him.