Lots of people outside the wedding industry wonder why wedding photography is just so. darn. expensive.

Trust me, as a former bride, I get it!! You book a photographer for 8 hours on your wedding day, and they want to charge you thousands of dollars! What?!

The reason for the high price tag is there’s a lot that goes behind the scenes that unless you’ve been a photographer before, you just won’t know about! Not that we hide it from you; it’s just the nature of business! If you were to ask me how much time and money it would take to run a coffee shop, I would have no idea, even though I’m a bit of a coffee-holic. So today’s post will give you some insight into what it *actually* takes to run a wedding photography business. It’s not just showing up with a camera and taking pictures of fluffy bouquets, sparkly diamonds, and glowing brides, although those are definitely the more glamorous parts that we like to showcase the most.

Today we’ll be giving you some insight into the hidden hustle, the time and money that we expend to make sure that on your wedding day, you have the best experience possible and live the wedding of your dreams. I say “we” because today’s post is actually a guest post!

I had dreamt of this post in my head, then stumbled across what my friend Heather had to say on the subject, and decided there was no way I could say it better.

I met Heather last fall at Hope Taylor’s senior photography workshop, and we clicked right away! It may have been the chicken nuggets or the yummy cider down at the local coffee shop, I don’t remember exactly, but we ended up chatting and then took a few extra head shots for each other later in the day! Her work is amazing and if you’re getting married in Virginia (or anywhere, really), check her out! She is an absolutely pro behind the camera, and is so sweet and bubbly that you can’t help but love her.

Whew, I’ve been talking long enough! If you’re still with me and still wondering why in the world wedding photographers charge so much…

click here to keep on reading.