What is the average cost of a wedding photographer in the UK? Updated for 2024
If you are recently engaged and starting your search for a wedding photographer then this question may be at the forefront of your mind.
What is the average cost of a wedding photographer in the UK?
It is, of course, a completely valid question. Sourcing wedding suppliers is something that most people will only ever do once in their lives and so they have very little to compare it to. What constitutes a good deal? How much is too much? How much should we be spending? In fact, in the recent Wedding Industry Report undertaken by Bridebook, 36% of respondents found it tricky to know how much to spend on each supplier with 46% admitting to finding it challenging to find “value for money”.
Show me the numbers!
If you simply want to look at the numbers then the recent aforementioned report also revealed that the average cost of hiring a wedding photographer in 2023 was £1,464, an increase of £175 on the previous year. But digging a little deeper you will find that this average cost actually varies across the UK ranging from £1,193 in Wales to a whopping £2,026 in London. That’s quite a big difference already!
What you need to remember is that these figures don’t actually show you what this value equates to - how does that cost tally with the service that was provided? How many hours of coverage did couples receive on average? Did that cost include an album? A pre-wedding photoshoot? A second photographer?
The report does helpfully break down the average cost for length of coverage (but with no mention of what the package includes beyond this) with couples paying £950 for a “half day” and £1,566 for a “full day”. Please remember that these figures are a UK-wide average and will vary from region to region.
Every wedding is different and so you need to approach any stated “average” cost with a degree of caution.
How do My Prices compare?
I’ll be completely honest with you, my 2023 figures averaged out at £985 per wedding which falls quite far below the national average. Does that mean I am good value for money? Only my clients can answer that (feel free to read through my testimonials and decide for yourself!). But hidden within that average figure is the fact that I charged between £450 and £1,700 for the weddings that I did cover.
Why such a range? It simply comes down to the fact that I like to offer my clients lots of choice. I offer a wide range of packages, from micro-wedding packages of just two hours coverage through to a full day with two photographers, a pre-wedding photoshoot, an album and much more, and I do this to ensure my clients receive exactly what they require and are confident that they aren’t paying for unwanted extras.
In Summary…
The term “average cost” can be completely misleading for a number of reasons - you can expect to pay more for a photographer who has 20 years of experience compared to a photographer with only 6 months of experience. You can expect to pay more if you want a fully rounded package with all of the bells and whistles compared to a just a couple of hours of coverage alone. And one thing that the numbers above do reveal is that you can expect to pay more in London than elsewhere in the UK.
Essentially, what I want you to remember is this: please don’t simply rely on average figures to guide your search. I understand it is important to have an idea of the average to give you a helping hand at the very start but nothing beats doing your own research, asking questions and scratching the surface to find a package that really suits your requirements and budget.
Have any other burning questions? Please do get in touch.