1 hour per service is your sweet spot. And here’s why. I have a team of over 20 artists. We have played with every timeline known to man. Yes, we can do a service in 30 minutes. We can do a service in 45 minutes. However, the 1 hour sweet spot is perfect, because what it does is it allows a little wiggle room in case something goes wrong. It allows for someone being a couple of minutes late to the chair. It allows for being thrown a curveball and somebody wanting a more intricate look. It allows time for us to wash our brushes and reset in between. And also, it helps you to feel pampered, because you are not just a number to us. We want you to feel pampered. We want to give you the time and attention that you deserve, that you’re paying for. And each service, in addition to obviously doing the upstyle or doing the makeup look, we have to do a proper consultation with each person, talk about what their comfort level is, what they’re envisioning. We like to go through their inspiration photos and discuss what it is they like about the inspiration photos because there’s a little time that needs to be allotted for that, because the picture can say a thousand words. So we need to make sure that we’re clear what you’re communicating with us. It also allows ample time for those foundational techniques. So if you have an artist that’s like, no, I can whip it out in 30 minutes, and they’re trying to cram as many people as they can, probably so that they can make some more money, then what you run is the risk of that look not holding. Because there are certain things that take time. There are certain foundational techniques we need to do to make sure that curls hold, that pins stay, that makeup lasts. There is one caveat if you are desiring a more intricate style, you have hair extensions. You want a Hollywood glam wave? You want that instagram makeup. Then you’ll want to allow some more time, probably an hour and 15 minutes to an hour and 30 minutes, even 2 hours. Whatever your artist suggests, go with that. But again, be forewarned. If they’re saying they can do people and 30 to 45 minutes, that to me, would be a red flag.
Well, I can’t speak for everybody, but I can speak for me. I usually take about an hour to get my best work out. I will say though, that you need to listen to whatever your artist tells you. Because if you have an artist that takes, for example, 2 hours and you have a large party or even just a tight timeline and you only budget an hour, it’s going to be a problem, right?
Here are some tips and tricks to film a great video that stops the scroll:
You’ve got 3-5 seconds to stop the viewer’s scroll. Be creative… start with a phrase like:
We’ll put your name and bio in the title and links, so you can say something more general like:
Give them your hot take, and don’t hold anything back.
check out how Sal nailed it in this video and so did Megan in this one and Nichole told it straight (from her car).
Do you feel like the industry charges more “because it’s a wedding” and they know it’s an emotional purchase?
Do companies think that they can charge more for weddings since the bride and groom may be willing to spend more on their dream wedding?
Hey wedding pros – is this higher price tag justified? Why? Do you charge more for your service if it is a wedding?
This is a taboo topic, whispered but not discussed… until now.
Welcome to The Uncorked Project!
2 comments
I have been asked this so many times... does the wedding industry inflate prices when they hear it's a wedding?
Here is my honest answer (as a former wedding photographer)... NO. Did I charge more for a wedding than a 50th birthday party or a family portrait session? Yes, absolutely. I charged A LOT more for a wedding.
Was I taking advantage of the emotional sell? Absolutely not.
The main reasons I charged more for a wedding were: the unseen amount of work involved in the 12+ months leading up to the wedding, the skill level needed on the day, the INTENSE pressure to create perfect "portfolio level work" no matter what the reality of the situation- but mostly it is to compensate for the time AFTER the wedding in post production.
Little known fact about wedding photography - the real job is sitting at a computer editing photos. Photographers spend many hours behind the computer carefully selecting and editing photos. They make adjustments, crop, and adjust colors to ensure each image it's best. Don't forget the time it takes for batching, renaming, importing, exporting and uploading the photos and preparing them for delivery.
Do you think this justifies why photographers charge more for weddings than for other types of shoots?
Couldn’t agree more! And on the videography side its an absolute ton of data + editing discipline.
Its a double sided coin- weddings are extremely high pressure but also high reward when we nail it.
Our products (photo video) in particular are the only thing that genuinely will last forever . Having fun and ALSO nailing the product is worth the price of entry and frankly more.