While its true that wedding photographers charge a huge amount for their work and are often considered to be overpriced professionals, its not be forgotten that these professionals often come with years of experience and artistic skills. A professional wedding photographer usually occupies about 10 % of the entire wedding budget. While it isnt wise to cut corners by avoiding the services of a professional wedding photographer, you could think smart and make adjustments to the packages offered by the wedding photographer.

Wedding photographers are often willing to make a few concessions on their packages for couples insisting on professional help. For example weddings planned on a week day are a great way to convince photographers for a concession on the package. Photographers are willing to make a compromise on the package as long as their weekends are kept free. Besides this you could decide to forego the prints; doing so helps to save on the costs for prints. You could have them printed later when you could afford to do so.

The rates of packages change depending on the skill and experience of the wedding photographer. When calling up the wedding photographer to ask for wedding photography prices, the primary quite given by the photographer helps to choose one who suits your budget. Remember to get details because some photographers include costs of the prints, albums, proofs etc, while some may simply quote the price of the photographers time. Determine the service that you would need and then review the rates accordingly.

When signing the photographers contract, make sure that these details are mentioned. Does the contract have a termination policy and if yes what would be the amount that you would get back. Do they need a deposit to be made? Would you get proofs along with the prints or just the proofs?

Wedding photography prices usually change with the location of the wedding. For example, metro area wedding photographers tend to quote a huge price. Your guest list is also a key determinant of wedding photography prices. For example a guest list of about 100 people requires the photographer to work for about 4 to 6 hours, whereas a guest list of 300 or more requires the wedding photographer to work for about 8 hours. Thus, hiring a wedding photographer on an hourly basis helps when you have as small guest list. When hiring wedding photographers on an hourly basis you could plan the wedding in a manner that the important ceremonies are done with at the beginning thus ensuring that the important moments are captured.