A la carte vs. Packages

It’s a tough decision to make - do you go with a wedding photographer or civil union photographer who provides a la carte services or structured packages? There are lots of reasons to pick either, and it always comes down to who you’re most comfortable working with and how good a fit they are.

A la carte

True a la carte services will allow you to pick and choose the elements you want in your contract. Typical elements include:

• albums
• number of hours
• amount of prints/what size prints
• proof options
• type of photography (traditional, photojournalistic, etc.)
• a disk of the images
• retouching options
• what parts of the day will be covered

By being able to pick and choose, you can sculpt your wedding package to reflect you as a couple and what you want out of your wedding day. This is also a way to cut costs.

However, if cutting costs is the reason why you choose one wedding photographer over the other, remember that the photography is one of the most important parts of your wedding day. I’m not just saying that as a wedding photographer, either. :) Many brides have expressed regret over not spending more of their budget on the photography, or cut corners to get a cheaper photographer. Remember, you get what you pay for, especially in the a la carte circumstance.

Packages

I’ve seen lots of different packages from various photographers - here’s some choices for different package levels:

• offering a different number of hours per package
• increasing the amount of images you’ll receive
• offering different archival qualities or sizes of albums, or more pages in the albums
• offering a disk of the images closer and closer to the date of your wedding (rather than, for example, waiting 6 months to release the images)
• increasing the amount of time your proofs website is online
• offering a discount code to your friends and family for a certain amount of time after the wedding
• offering separate portrait sessions in addition to your wedding, like bridal portraits, post-wedding couples portraits, etc.

Now, don’t think that anything is set in stone. :) Many wedding photographers (shh, I didn’t tell you this) are willing to edit their packages to retain you as a client. Consider this - if you like an element from a higher package but don’t like an element from your current package, ask if you can switch those elements. Or, ask to receive a credit on your account by deleting elements from your package. You can use that credit towards more stuff later (prints, more pages in your albums, etc.)

My method

It’s a combination of the two. I start with what I call a “foundation” - a disk of the images, some retouching, a print credit, a minimum number of hours. Then we work from there. I provide lots of album options and it opens up the opportunity for my clients to really get creative. Flip books for your guests? No problem. 16×20 canvas print of your favorite photo? Exciting. More hours, prints, or options? Great, can’t wait to talk about it.

My two cents

I used to charge very little for wedding photography when I was starting out. You’ll see in my older reviews a lot of “We chose her because of the cost and we got way more than we could’ve ever imagined!”. It makes me chuckle, because I took my jobs seriously (and continue to) no matter how much the client was paying me. For me, attention to the client and hard work is not directly related to the amount I’m being paid. It is directly related to the attention and hard work that they are putting into their own day.

If a client demonstrates that they need to cut costs, that doesn’t necessarily mean that they’re not still caring about the wedding photography. One amazing client I had only wanted a disk of all of the images because her brother was creating her album for her. He also incorporated all of the different notes her guests left in a bucket at her wedding (which doubled as the guest book). This was definitely the cheaper option for her, but it also demonstrated so much more care for her guests and illustrated how beautiful and creative her wedding was.

Remember, consider how comfortable you are with the person you’re working with and the quality of their work. Prices are important, but not nearly as important as the other to (and I say this as a fellow bride on a budget). Clients who care more about the prices will be very disappointed when it comes to seeing what the resulting wedding photographs look like. You get what you pay for, so remind yourself to keep the artistic quality and wedding photographer (his or her attitude, reviews, comfort when meeting, etc.) as priorities. A wedding photographer or civil union photographer who is right for you will have the package or pricing scheme that fits you too.