What does a wedding photographer cost?
In Germany most wedding photographers charge between €1,500 and €4,500 for a full day. The range is not arbitrary — it comes almost entirely from hours, post-production and insurance against things going wrong.
What you are actually paying for
The wedding day is the visible part. The invisible part is bigger: the first conversation, planning the timeline, travel, reviewing several thousand frames, selecting, editing, delivery, archiving. Ten hours of shooting is typically followed by twenty to thirty hours of work.
What makes up the price
- Duration: half day, full day, or the henna evening the night before as well.
- Post-production: how many images are edited, and how far the editing goes.
- Travel and, where needed, an overnight stay — beyond roughly two hours of driving the latter is often cheaper.
- A second photographer, when two things happen in two places at once.
- Insurance against failure: backup cameras, duplicate storage, cover in case of illness.
How to spot an offer that is too cheap
Not by the price alone, but by what is missing: no written contract, nothing about what happens if something fails, no second camera, no date for delivery. Someone charging €400 for a full day earns below minimum wage once tax, equipment and editing are accounted for. That is rarely a bargain and usually a risk.
What to ask before you sign
- How many edited images do I get, and by when?
- What happens if you fall ill?
- Are travel and accommodation included or added later?
- Who owns the images, and what may I do with them?
- How long are the files kept?