# Wedding Photography Prices in Houston



## El Fotografo (Oct 7, 2009)

Don't know if this is the appropriate place for this but I was wondering if you guys could give me a 'ball park' for the going rate for a Wedding Photographer is in the Houston area. Can anyone recomend someone? Thanks.

- This is for my sister's wedding coming up in mid November... I can't believe they still haven't found a photographer!


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## Big Mike (Oct 7, 2009)

Mid November and they don't have a photographer yet? :shock:

Houston is a big enough area that 'ball park' is probably going to range from a couple hundred dollars to tens of thousands.  

Mike Fulton (and the gang) at Tri-Coast are very good.


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## zerofourtwo (Oct 7, 2009)

Tens of Thousands!? i take it your exaggerating?


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## Big Mike (Oct 7, 2009)

Not really.

There are plenty of photographers who charge in the $10,000+ range.  It's not really that hard...especially once you start to include a top quality album, a couple parent albums, a large print or gallery wrap etc.  

Remember that there are a lot of people who can afford to spend $100,000 or more on their wedding.  You don't think they are paying $950 for a photographer do you?


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## c.cloudwalker (Oct 7, 2009)

Considering your signature line, I can't help but laugh. Maybe you should all put the Ganja down an start taking care of business...


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## zerofourtwo (Oct 7, 2009)

That makes sense about clients who are spending 100K on weddings, arent going to go to a cheap photographer, that i can see, i just had not heard of one who sets their prices that high. I mean i've seen 5K-7K before but nothing like what you mentioned.


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## Goontz (Oct 8, 2009)

Buddy of mine, who is also doing my own wedding next May, is Ben at Sassani Photography - Weddings & Engagements 

What date is her wedding?


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## Big Mike (Oct 8, 2009)

> That makes sense about clients who are spending 100K on weddings, arent going to go to a cheap photographer, that i can see, i just had not heard of one who sets their prices that high. I mean i've seen 5K-7K before but nothing like what you mentioned.


I guess that many photographers have packages that high, but maybe their average is less.  It's not every weekend that you can book a wedding with a $100,000 budget.

I attended a seminar just last night and the speaker talked about having a Whopper package....20, 30, 40 thousand dollars.  It could include anything under the sun.  
He said that Monty Zucker (famous photographer) had a one million dollar package.  (never sold it, but it was on his price list).


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## El Fotografo (Oct 8, 2009)

Thanks for the suggestions, but they're out of her price range. She was looking for something a good bit less than $700, but those photographers looked awesome. I've found a few potential candidates though

These guys look pretty good (from Decidio.com)

Fine Light Photography

Houston TX McCarrick Photography Contemporary weddings and bridal portraits

Great1Photo.com

and I'm pretty much the only smoker in the family so they can't use that as an excuse  She claims she didn't know where to look so I told her I'd check on here and google...


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## FrankLamont (Oct 9, 2009)

Some prices are ridiculous... prices start at $8000 for a 10 page album. $10000 for a 20 page album. $15000 for a 40 page album. That's all they say. Nothing more is added.

Yes, they're good and all, but there are plenty of good photographers charging less and...well, normally I don't even disagree with photographer's prices as one myself. But honestly, they could try to make it look like their offering more. 

Still, the budget is important to know.

If they don't know, I suggest a budget of $1000-2000 (hopefully even 3000 or 4000) is a good _base_.


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## uberben (Oct 9, 2009)

I would be very very weary of a person charging 700 or less.  A good wedding photographer does a lot of behind the scenes work.  So it's not like they just show up, shoot, load the photos onto a disc and then call it a day.  I usually put in around 60-80 hours of work per wedding and charge on average 2k a wedding. If they are legit, they should be paying taxes and also have all the proper insurance to cover everyone one involved.  So after costs/taxes, they are probably only looking at around 350 dollars or less.  I know I wouldn't bother with shooting a wedding for 5 dollars an hour.


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## Big Mike (Oct 9, 2009)

> She was looking for something a good bit less than $700


I know that not everyone can afford to spend thousands of dollars on wedding photography...but I do try to encourage people to spend more money on it...and not just because I'm a wedding photographer .

Think about how much money they spend on; the dress, the decorations, the catering, the locations, the flowers etc.  All of those things will be used for only one day.  The photos capture the memories and can be looked at for the rest of their lives. 

I've talked to a lot of married people who, after the fact, say that they wish they had spent more money on the photography (myself included).  

I'm not saying that you should pressure your sister to spend everything she has to hire the best photographer in Houston...but at least consider spending more than $700 to get a photographer who knows what they are doing.


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## WeddingPhotoTX (Mar 26, 2014)

Well this is quite an old thread but still of current interest today.
Many people in Houston cannot afford even $500 on wedding photographer in 2014!
This is reality.
The economy is still pretty bad.
Here is some statistical data: _The median income for a household in the city was $37,000, and the median income for a family was $40,000. Males had a median income of $32,000 versus $27,000 for females. The per capita income was $20,000. *Nineteen percent of the population and 16% of families were below the poverty line*. Out of the total population, 26% of those under the age of 18 and 14% of those 65 and older were living below the poverty line. Houston - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
_
While you will be waiting for an oil king's wedding, student from India with entry level DSLR and a kit lens and zero wedding experience who charges $35/h would be a way to go for a large group of people in Houston


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