Stop guessing your package price. Enter your real costs and target margin to find what you should charge.
From first-look or prep until last reception photo. Typically 8–12 hours.
Culling + editing + gallery delivery. Usually 12–24 hours.
Emails, consult calls, timeline planning. Usually 3–6 hours.
Set to $0 if you shoot solo.
Mileage, fuel, or any accommodation costs per wedding.
Allocated cost for Lightroom, Pixieset/Pic-Time, backup storage, etc.
After paying yourself and all costs. 40–55% is healthy for photographers.
29 hours
9h shooting + 16h editing + 4h comms
Price This Package At
to hit your 45% margin target
Know whether your bookings come from Instagram, The Knot, Google, or referrals — so you spend your marketing time where it actually pays off.
Track Your Inquiry Sources Free →The most common pricing mistake wedding photographers make is looking at what competitors charge and pricing below them to compete on cost. The problem: you don't know their cost structure. A photographer with lower expenses, a faster editing workflow, or a second income can afford to undercharge. You might not be able to.
The right way to price is starting from your costs and working backward from the margin you need. A full wedding — shooting, editing, client communication, culling, gallery delivery — typically takes 25–35 hours of actual work. If you're charging $1,800 for a package that takes 30 hours, you're paying yourself $60/hour before expenses. After a second shooter, software, travel, and gear wear-and-tear, you might be clearing $30–$40/hour of real profit.
That's not sustainable if you want photography to be your primary income. Raise your prices, book fewer weddings, and give each client more attention. Most photographers find their booking rate doesn't meaningfully drop until they're 30–40% above their current price.
| Source | Typical Cost | Close Rate | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Vendor Referrals | Free | 50–70% | Highest intent, already pre-sold on you |
| Past Client Referrals | Free | 45–65% | Second highest quality leads |
| Instagram Organic | Time only | 20–40% | Works with consistent posting + Reels |
| The Knot / WeddingWire | $100–$400/mo | 5–15% | High volume, lower quality; competitive pricing pressure |
| Google Ads | $3–$10/click | 8–20% | Good for local intent, requires landing page |
The clearest signal is when you're booking out more than 3 months in advance and turning away inquiries. If you're consistently booked solid, demand exceeds supply at your current price — you should raise it. Most photographers also see a quality-of-client improvement as prices rise, which makes the work more enjoyable.
Albums are high-margin add-ons, not package inclusions. A lab album that costs you $200 can sell for $600–$1,200. Including them in packages bundles away profit. A better strategy is to offer a base package with digital delivery and then upsell albums as an add-on after the gallery is delivered — when couples can see all their images and are emotionally primed to buy.
A booking rate (inquiries that convert to signed contracts) of 20–35% is healthy for most photographers. If you're below 15%, you likely have a pricing, portfolio, or response-time issue. If you're above 50%, you're probably undercharging — raise your prices until your rate drops to the 25–40% range.
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