Why Wedding Photographers Shouldn't Provide Cost Breakdowns to Justify Their Fees

Weddings can be expensive affairs so it’s only natural that brides and grooms channel their inner accountant and carefully scrutinize every last dollar spent during the planning process. That often leaves photographers and videographers on the defensive, attempting to justify their costs.

© Pavel Kounine

Photographer Pavel Kounine thinks many wedding photographers are doing it wrong:

“When wedding photographers choose to acknowledge the question with detailed cost breakdowns, they put themselves and the profession as a whole at a disadvantage. Defending your rates in such a manner is an implicit acknowledgement that they are indeed unreasonably high and, worse, that your abilities don’t speak for themselves. Wedding photography is a luxury service and there is absolutely no imperative for you to provide customers with an audit. Such an analysis may also put you at a disadvantage with customers who question your margins (since those who do only care about the bottom line anyway) and your perfectly legitimate reasons can be misinterpreted as excuses.

I would like to make a proposal to my fellow wedding photographers: Stop justifying your fees using cost breakdowns. It cheapens your work.”

His entire post on the subject is well worth a read. Give it a read and let us know what you think. Do you break down costs for your clients? Do you think Kounine has the right approach?