Why Are Photographers for Elopements So Pricey?

Your search for the ideal elopement photographer has likely begun now that you are newly engaged and deep in the planning process. Someone who will not only be there to record your elopement day but who also hits it off with the two of you… but there’s a catch… You may be wondering “why are elopement photographer so expensive?” after doing some research.

What a fantastic inquiry!

Let’s examine the factors that contribute to these expenses and the many reasons why putting money into your ideal elopement is as important as spending money on a more conventional wedding.

You get what you pay for.

This age-old adage also contributes significantly to the high cost of hiring an elopement photographer. I couldn’t agree with you more. What you’re paying for is the photographer’s skill, knowledge, and experience rather than just the photos themselves. The fact is that with today’s constantly improving technology, many people have access to the means to take excellent photographs. People’s phone pictures can be quite nice, but there’s a huge gap between having the means and actually making the most of them. Imagine: you have a scalpel, but do you feel prepared to perform surgery? Perhaps that’s a bit dramatic, but we think you get the point.

Personally, we’ve spent countless hours in the field shooting weddings, elopements, and couples sessions. Every year, we’ve put money into updating our infrastructure and training our staff to better serve our clients. As an added bonus, we have attended weddings and elopements all over the world. Photographing in the great outdoors requires a level of preparedness, mental agility, and preparation that not everyone possesses. Anything that might happen on the day of an elopement, we’re prepared for.

Packaged rates for travel expenses

Elopements frequently involve extensive travel. That’s logical, right? If you’re going to elope, you might as well do it somewhere spectacular, like atop a mountain or next to a waterfall, and exchange your vows there. That means not only the bride and groom, but also us, will have to make the trip.Even some of vendor also serve elopement packages. 

We photographers are among those who prefer keeping things basic. The total you see includes our travel expenses (such as airfare and lodging). No extra costs will be incurred. All of our travel arrangements are handled by us, and you won’t receive a separate bill for them. That’ll take some pressure off your shoulders.

Collaborating With Experts

It’s not uncommon for the wedding/elopement business to act in peculiar ways. There is no testing or licensing procedure that determines which companies are qualified to manage and run on such a significant day. However, not all photographers are prepared to legally work with clients. There are “companies” out there that don’t follow the law, don’t have insurance, don’t pay taxes, etc. It’s terrifying for both of you, but especially for them. Without a legally binding contract in place with your photographer, you run the risk of losing all of the photographs taken on the most important day of your life. We’ve heard some terrible stories from married people, and that’s the last thing anyone needs. Choosing a cheaper photographer may seem like a good idea at the time, but it could end up costing you more money in the end.

Preserving Your Treasured Photographs

A legitimate company will have additional safeguards in place to protect your photos. We use cameras with two memory card slots so that if one card becomes corrupted, we still have a backup. In addition to backing up our photos to the cloud, we also store them on multiple hard drives. It’s true that we’re repeating ourselves, but these are the memories you’ll cherish forever.