What is the "Value" of a Wedding Photographer???
Some of the toughest questions come to me during my meetings with my couples. Today I heard. "Honestly, we don't even know if we really NEED a Photographer"
Every day we hope to get the best BANG for our BUCK, right? Wrong! If you honestly think about it, you aren't looking for the savings in the items you purchase, you are looking for the value. What will I get out of this? Who is selling it? and How long will it last? These are the questions we really ask ourselves when we go about our day.
There are 3 separate needs that go through our minds when we are planning a wedding. I speak from experience when I say: "It is OKAY to have needs. We are human."
1. External Need: The external need of every person is the bottom line. The out in the open 'need'.
"I need someone to take photographs of my wedding" Point blank.
Wedding Photographers are there to meet all of your needs and more. They will be there for you before, during and some even after your wedding. They are seen but not seen. They are in the bushes, behind grandma, in the rafters and in some cases lying on the floor capturing the moments you openly need.
2. Internal Need: The internal need of every person is in the middle, between what is known & what is not known.
"Am I good enough? Am I even good enough to be having this wedding? Am I actually worth throwing in all of this money to invest just in myself?"
Wedding Photographers create portraits, we create Artwork around what YOU love most. I personally give you permission to value YOURSELF. This is your day, your ONE day you can smile for 8-10 hours, you can shed tears without judgment & basically piss off anyone and not have any repercussions afterward... *just throwing that last bit for laughs but still serious about it*
3. Philosophical Need: The Philosophical need of every person is the innermost feeling deep within you that no one knows but you.
"Does this even matter? Does this Marriage even matter? What am I doing here, should I just walk away?"
Know this before judging my philosophical examples above. This could go deeper than anyone could imagine within yourself. It could be religious, spiritual, moral or even self-worth. The Philosophical needs of every person can't be outed, it can't be judged & it can't be contained. However, know this. No matter your deeper need. . . we get it. We understand. Any Wedding Photographer that has done more than 3 weddings understands. Why? Because we've seen it. We see the stress, we feel the grief and we know the struggle. Don't give up!
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Putting a Value on your Wedding Photographer has absolutely NOTHING to do with us. And I know you have read, watched or heard differently more times than you can count. However, The Value that we can give you as Wedding Photographers is Knowledge.
1. External Need - We are photographers & We will do everything in our power to take the most sublime photos we can to make sure you get your money's worth.
2. Internal Need - We do not budge our prices because we KNOW in our heart and in our soul that our Service & Product is worth the value it contains.
3. Philosophical Need - *Spoilers* We have them too! Every Wedding Photographer has these moments where they want to just throw in the towel. "Why is no one booking me?" "What am I doing wrong?" "Should I change everything about my business & Just start over?" (Again these are just examples) Point is, on Philosophical needs, you are not alone.
So, What ACTUALLY is the "Value" of a Wedding Photographer?
YOU!!!!!
A Wedding Photographer is only as much Value as you Value yourself. You are faced with a photographer that has a base price of $3,000 but your External Need was $500. Why??? Why is that YOUR value? Why do we place values on ourselves? The only answer to that is opinions. Opinions help us fail. Know your vendor's value, Know your entire Wedding's value, Know YOUR VALUE. When you find your value, your stress will be less, your time will be more & you will have the best Damn Wedding Photographer and The best photos for years to come.
Thank you so much for reading
"What do you think the value of a Wedding Photographer is?" Leave your comments below
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