Wedding Photography Season 2014 Market prices, communication & trends from pro photographers for wedding XXLPIX May 2014
Contents About Wedding photography... 3 Analyzed Companies... 3 Wedding Photography... 3 Dates... 8 Shoots on offer... 8 Target groups... 14 Products... 15 Marketing... 15 Sales... 15 Appendix... 17 2
About Wedding photography A wedding day is the most amazing day of every couple's life. The festivities usually take place in the company of many friends and relatives, and nobody spends more money on any celebration as on weddings. To accommodate the ceremonies, many people`s services are commissioned, among which photographers are a set tradition. Wedding photography is the most expensive service in the consumer sector, which offers an attractive market niche for photographers. That's why so many photographers already specialise in this niche and offer various special services, all to do with weddings. Due to the pressure of ever-growing competition, creative photographers offer more and more exceptional shooting ideas to stand out of the crowd. These new ideas are also increasingly apparent in the repertoires of conservative photographers too. The "Trash the dress" wedding photography style is almost a standard part of the wedding photographer's repertoire today. Analyzed Companies The analyzed companies are 250 randomly selected from a total of 32.0000, XXLPIX professional customers in Europe. The customers structure has geographical priorities in Western Europe, such as Belgium, Denmark, Germany, France, Britain, Italy, Austria, the Netherlands, Spain and Sweden. Companies in these countries are over-represented due to the customer base towards Eastern European countries. XXLPIX customers are - as previous studies have shown - above average in entrepreneurial activity and much more interested in advertising, marketing and increase sales. It also affects the pricing. Wedding Photography 2014 In 2014 we analysed the prices of wedding photographers again. The advertising prices vary also this year widely as expected. The trend goes more and more towards inital prices in the low-price market segment. That increases the width of the price spectrum. And the prices for extensive wedding photo shoots remain strongly differentiated. We came upon various offers of more than 2000 Euros also this year. Due to the wide range of shooting packages the wedding photographers achieve also in 2014 to provide a highly differentiated offer for the traditional expensive wedding 3
photography to image the diverse financial capability of their customers. There is a wide range, from an accompaniment to the register office for the civil marriage up to multi-day shootings including high quality photo products. We determined in 2014 the cheapest service with the heading wedding photographer for 15,50 Euros. (2013 = 25 Euros). The most expensive package in the wedding photography costs 3450 Euros - like last year. This year we detected a growing number of photographers offering entry-level prices for wedding shootings below 100 Euros. In 2014 25,39% (2013 = 20,6%) communicated such an introductory offer. That represents an increase of about 5%. At least 55,56% of the photographers (2013 still 63,5%) are still between 100 and 300 Euros for the cheapest wedding shooting. But even at the high-priced services something changes: In 2014, 7,02% of the photographers offer the smallest wedding shoot for at least 400 Euros. 2013 only 3,2% had the self-confidence for such a pricing. Figure: Entry level wedding photography, determined values: Ø = 233.06 Median = 18.50 min = 15.50 max = 850 XXLPIX GmbH Berlin 2014 The trend towards differentiation of the package for wedding photography is also reflected in the big photo shoots. The price reduction takes place in the premium price segment of some 4
photographers as well. For the first time we found more than 50% (51,16 % exactly) of providers with a premium offer under 600 Euros. The previous year the rate was at 46,1%. Further on many providers are based on the price threshold of about 1000 Euros. Futhermore there are also a lot of offers that are significantly higher. The highest pricing was also in 2014 at 3450 Euros, like the prior year. Figure: Maximum price wedding photography, determined values: Ø = 827.72 Median = 599 min = 45 max = 3450 XXLPIX GmbH Berlin 2014 Various range of service packages A closer look on the diverse offers pays also off in 2014. The package prices, when compared in correlation to the offered services, are not as extremely different as one would suppose at first glance. As the more favourable offers solely refer to shoots with a low initial price, calculated to earn profit through upselling. However, ranging between 1.50 and 5, the charges for extra photos are representing the bottom of the price scale. High-priced packages are usually defined much more in detail and thus include more and distinctive services. Consequently, all high-priced offers also apply to on-location, all-day wedding photo documentation. 5
High-end package examples: Price 1: 1599 Euro Travel costs for up to 30 km included All-day wedding photo-shoot (up to 12 hours) 50 photo prints Including 50 pics on DVD One 24-page photo book Price 2: 1290 Euro Travel costs included in price 90 minutes on location Single and group portraits Around 80 pictures 10 x 15 cm 1 20 page 250 x 250 mm photo book 1 Poster 30 x 40 cm 30 Thank you cards Price 3: 1200 Euro Travel costs for up to 20 km included 10 hour on location photo shoot, up to midnight Portaits and group photos 1 photobook in 210 x 280 mm 48 pages CD with all image data in original resolution 6
Low-end packages examples: Price 1: 50 Euro In studio Small series Including 1 photo on CD Price 2: 50 Euro In studio Small series 1,50 Euro per 10 x 15 cm picture Price 3: 75 Euro In Studio Small series Incl. 5 13 x 18 cm pictures 7
Dates Weddings generally take place all year round. Nevertheless, May, June and July are the classic wedding months, second to certain special date combinations such as 12.12.2012. For that reason, initiatives should be taken, especially in the preceding months, in order to insure bookings for the wedding season. Unlike for many other wedding services, the choice of photographer is often made shortly before the scheduled date. As well as coverage of the wedding, many photographers offer more and more shooting opportunities before and after the wedding, and therefore increase potential revenue e.g. with engagement and after wedding shoots (for details on individual shoots see "Shoots on offer") Engagement shoot After Wedding Shooting Trash Your Dress Wedding XXLPIX 2012 How can you be found? A longstanding activity in wedding photography, an established studio or recommendations of customers are excellent opportunities to receive customer enquiries for wedding shoots. However, today the proper homepage of a photographer is the ideal way to get new customers. Nowadays a service research runs hardly without comparing different providers on the internet. A wedding photographer in the German web is looked up about 80.000 times a month with different search terms. The most searched keywords due to Google information are to be found in the following chart. Pos Search keyword Enquiries 1 wedding photography 12.100 2 wedding photographers 9.900 3 wedding photographer 4.400 4 wedding photos 2.900 5 wedding pictures 2.400 6 wedding photography tips 1.300 7 wedding images 1.000 8 wedding photo ideas 880 9 wedding photography prices 880 8
Pos Search keyword Enquiries 10 cheap wedding photographers 590 11 wedding photography courses 590 12 asian wedding photographer 480 13 wedding photographer prices 480 14 wedding photographers prices 390 15 wedding photographs 320 16 best wedding photographers 320 17 wedding photographer uk 140 18 wedding photographers uk 140 19 photographers uk 110 20 uk photographers 110 21 uk wedding photographers 90 22 best wedding photographers uk 90 23 photographer uk 90 24 find a wedding photographer 70 25 how to find a wedding photographer 30 Chart : 25 general search terms for wedding photography and the monthly search volume If you want to be in those search queries, it is recommanded to design your website in a way that enquiries of your area are transferred straight to you. Because apart from the premium price segment, the wedding photography is a local to regional requested service. The demand is in figures quite different. Regional requests for wedding photography in 2014 via Google The following chart shows the average monthly search requests for wedding photographer in a combination with a city name. This word combination is the most common search for wedding photography and verifies the locality of the service. The combination wedding photographer london or london wedding photographer was entered on average 6500 times per month within the last 12 months. The word combination wedding photographer Maidstone was whereas only searched 50 times. 9
Pos Keyword Enquiries Pos Keyword Enquiries 1 London 6500 53 Basingstoke 70 2 Manchester 1880 54 Blackpool 70 3 Bristol 1470 55 Doncaster 70 4 Edinburgh 1360 56 Dundee 70 5 Newcastle 1090 57 Hereford 70 6 Cardiff 960 58 Inverness 70 7 Leeds 960 59 Middlesbrough 70 8 Sheffield 960 60 Portsmouth 70 9 Nottingham 850 61 Reading 70 10 Glasgow 760 62 Wakefield 70 11 Birmingham 590 63 Warrington 70 12 Liverpool 580 64 Worthing 70 13 Brighton 520 65 Bedford 50 14 Bournemouth 490 66 Bradford 50 15 Swansea 490 67 Canterbury 50 16 Norwich 480 68 Eastbourne 50 17 Plymouth 480 70 Maidstone 50 18 Southampton 470 71 Nuneaton 50 19 Gloucestershire 430 72 Shrewsbury 50 20 Belfast 390 73 Southport 50 21 Miltonkeynes 350 74 StAlbans 50 22 Cambridge 320 75 Stevenage 50 23 Northampton 320 76 Stockport 50 24 Oxford 320 77 Watford 50 25 Bath 310 78 Wigan 50 26 Leicester 280 79 Wolverhampton 50 27 Chester 260 80 Chesterfield 40 28 York 260 81 Darlington 40 29 Aberdeen 250 82 Ely 40 30 Coventry 210 83 Grimsby 40 31 Derby 210 84 Kidderminster 40 32 Lincoln 210 85 Loughborough 40 33 Peterborough 210 86 Salisbury 40 34 Cheltenham 170 87 Stafford 40 35 Colchester 170 88 Stirling 40 36 Preston 170 89 Sunderland 40 37 Exeter 140 90 SuttonColdfield 40 38 Guildford 140 91 Taunton 40 39 Newport 140 92 Weston-super-Mare 40 40 Stoke-on-Trent 140 93 Winchester 40 41 Worcester 140 94 Armagh 30 42 Bolton 110 95 Aylesbury 30 43 Dartford 110 96 HighWycombe 30 44 Durham 110 97 Horsham 30 45 Gloucester 110 98 Lancaster 30 46 Huddersfield 110 99 Lichfield 30 47 Swindon 110 100 Macclesfield 30 48 Chelmsford 90 101 Poole 30 49 Ipswich 90 102 Rugby 30 50 Luton 90 51 Solihull 90 52 Barnsley 70 Chart : Average monthly requests with the combination wedding photography and city on google Germany 10
Shoots on offer Apart from classic wedding photography, which concentrates on following the wedding couple through the ceremony and covering the following celebration, more and more photographers offer packages which encompass the time long before and after the event itself. This offers photographers the chance to earn extra revenue, to intensify their relationship with the clients and to make them into regular customers. Number of offered packages Engagement shoot An engagement shoot gives the photographer the perfect opportunity to get to know a bridal couple XXLPIX GmbH 2013 Figure: 42% of wedding photographers offer 3 packages. More than double that offer 4 or more packages, which can compromise a customer's choice. better, and also to discuss their wishes and visions together in advance, in order to make an individual depiction of the wedding possible. The resulting photos can make a perfect addition to an individually designed wedding invitation card, which ideally means scheduling a shoot 3-4 months before the wedding. Photo story The classic scenario, where the photographer follows the bride through the wedding ceremony. Depending on the booking this might cover only the ceremony, or include the preparations and the following celebrations. Photographers often offer different packages for different requirements (e.g. group photos, reception, wedding locations, speeches, dressing the bride). These packages are mostly offered for a limited period of time, while extra hours are provided at an extra cost. The chart shows that photographers tend to offer various packages, which give customers more choice and a wide range of prices. However it is advised not to offer too many different packages, as it can become unclear and make a decision difficult. Psychologically speaking, a choice of 3 packages is the most effective for decision making, as it gives the customer enough options, without getting confused. According to the customer's budget Figure: Young lovers: An engagement/meet the couple shoot. 11
they will choose the mid or high priced option. It's just too important an occasion to go for a value package. Boudoir photos Boudoir photos are a trend from the USA: tasteful, romantic, sensual and sexy pictures of the bride elegantly placed in different scenes. These photos are ideally linked to the bride's preparations for the wedding. Boudoir photos can be an additional special wedding present for the bride groom. In this case a preliminary talk with the bride is especially important, to make it clear how far the photos should go. Figure: Annabell Willa Photography - Boudoir photos of the bride Portrait The classic portrait shoot takes place shortly before the wedding ceremony. To make it more creative than simply shooting in front of the local architectural sights or at the city park, this scene can be associated with special themes e.g. country wedding or the 70s, which leaves a lot of space for creativity. On choosing themes, the wedding couple's characters and own ideas should be integrated. This can make it into an unforgettable experience, especially when the theme is repeated at the wedding reception. Detail Detail shoots not only capture a wedding's classic moments, but also a lot of details, which stay unnoticed during the excitement of the celebration. Typical motifs for these kinds of shoots are close-ups of the wedding rings, the bridal bouquet, the bride's shoes, the wedding locations, the flower arrangements etc. Figure: Ian Flor photography: Detail photos focus on subjects which play an important role at weddings. 12
Photo Booth The photo booth is a mini photo studio, which is set up at the wedding by the photographer. The guests can take photos of themselves using a remote control. This type of wedding photography often produces highly creative results, which thrill the clients, with little effort to the photographer. This temporary selfservice photo studio can also provide a much loved contribution to the wedding guests' evening entertainment. Figure: Beinhorn Fotografie: Photo booth - the photos get even more interesting when clothes or accessories for dressing up are also provided. After Wedding Shooting Lots of couples don't want to do an extra couple shoot amidst the stress of the wedding. For that reason, many photographers offer after wedding shoots in the days or weeks following a wedding, which is an opportunity to shoot a couple in their wedding dress in a relaxed atmosphere. On this later date it's also easier to choose individual locations and fulfill individual requests. Trash Your Dress "Trash your dress" is a special type of after wedding shoot, which focuses on the bride and her dress. It doesn't necessarily mean that the dress has to be destroyed during the shoot. The concept of this kind of shoot is to portray the bride as carefree and playful in bold and unusual poses. These kinds of shoots mostly take place outdoors. At an extra cost, the partner can also take part in the shoot. As a further alternative, other subjects such as good friends of the bride can be included. This makes the shoot more relaxed and makes it into an unforgettable experience for the ladies. Figure: Sabrinity.com: Water scenes are especially appropriate for trash your dress shoots. 13
Destination Shoots Increasing numbers of couples are deciding to celebrate their weddings in faraway places. Photographers following this trend offer destination shoots, where they travel to the wedding destination and offer diverse photo shoots on site. More and more engagement and after wedding shoots are also done abroad, often coinciding with honeymoons. The photographer's travel costs, expenses and accommodation are paid by the bridal couple. Target groups The main target group of consideration are wedding couples between the ages of about 25-40 years. However it's becoming more popular for parents or relatives of the wedding couples to purchase photography vouchers as wedding gifts. This trend divides the target groups under consideration into two parties: The wedding couple The wedding couples themselves make up the main target group for marketing wedding photography. Choosing a photographer for the wedding is as important as choosing the location when planning a wedding. Because wedding photography offers such great potential, there's a lot of competition on the market. Photographers have to build a strong profile to separate themselves from other wedding photographers. This is mostly done by offering diverse and individual services, which surpass the traditional wedding photo story and thrill potential customers with high value creative photos. Voucher buyers Among the many usual wedding presents, vouchers for professional wedding photography are becoming more and more common. Often for the coverage of the main event, but also especially for an after wedding shoot. Parents of the bridal couple or groomsmen are the main target groups in this case. For this reason the marketing should be directed accordingly e.g. "Give them their most cherished wedding present - Memories, moments of the wedding to keep forever". Among the photo studios and specialist photography dealers analysed, 2% of wedding photographers offer special vouchers to buy online. The prices vary according to the services offered, the average price being 259 (min. 30 and max. 1386 ). 14
Products The classic photography product offered for weddings is the photo book, especially as a wedding photo story. Especially poignant images are often printed in large formats. In this case photo canvases are an appropriate option, as their similarity to paintings create a dynastic impression. As mentioned, this also offers an opportunity to create individually designed invitations or thank you cards using photos from the engagement or wedding shoot. Marketing The times of passing on photo albums with reordering lists to friends and acquaintances are definitely over. Using professional reordering systems, large groups of interest within the circle of friends and relatives can be reached and profited from. (Software solution: XXLPIX Photo Projects) Sales Special discounts on wedding photography can best be applied after finding out the scheduled date. Only 4% of specialist photography dealers analysed in this study offer discounts. Here are a few possible examples: 10 % off confirmed bookings up to 5 months before the scheduled wedding date 15 % off weddings from monday to friday 15 % off weddings from November to March 20 % discount on photo orders for the first 4 weeks after opening the online gallery for wedding guests. Legal: The reproduction or use of this publication - or parts thereof - in other, even electronic media and published herein is only allowed with the permission of XXLPIX GmbH. Images, graphics, text or other files may be - wholly or partially - subject to the copyright of third parties. If this is the case they are labelled as third party rights. The rights in these cases are at the copyright owner. 15
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Appendix Headlines from our research (Excerpt) A once-in-a-lifetime experience demands once-in-a-lifetime images "Deluxe wedding photo stories" "Getting married? Say Yes! to our exclusive offer for the most amazing day or your life" "Trash your dress - an unusual photo shoot for all dresses who can't stand it in the cupboard" Points of interest from our research Wedding trade fairs Exhibition Internet Location The National Wedding http://www.nationalweddingshow.co.uk/ Birmingham, London Show The UK Wedding Shows http://www.theukweddingshows.co.uk/ London, Manchester, Newcastle, Liverpool, Harrogate, Midlands Silver Lined Wedding http://www.silverlinedweddingshows.co.uk Essex, Herts, Kent, Shows / Cambridgeshire, Sussex, Surrey, London, Midlands The Wedding Experience http://www.weddingexperience.co.uk/index.php Kent The London docks http://www.thelondondocksweddingfair.co. London Wedding Fair uk/ Brides the Show http://www.bridestheshow.co.uk/index.phplondon /exhibiting British Bridal Exhibition www.bbeh.co.uk/ Harrogate The Wedding Show Journal Belfast weddingjournalshow.com/ Belfast 17
Websites www.hitched.co.uk www.wonderlandavenue.co.uk www.weddingchaos.co.uk www.gettingmarried.co.uk forums.confetti.co.uk www.ukbride.co.uk/wedding-forum www.rockmywedding.co.uk www.youandyourwedding.co.uk www.mywedding.com/ www.weddingandweddingflowers.co.uk/ www.weddingideasmag.com/ Portals for wedding photographers www.findaweddingphotographer.co.uk www.weddingphotographerindex.co.uk www.photographers-4-weddings.co.uk www.hitched.co.uk/wedding-photographers/london www.weddingphotographyselect.co.uk www.wonderlandavenue.co.uk theweddingsearch.co.uk www.yourperfectweddingphotographer.co.uk www.photographmywedding.co.uk/ 18
Positive examples in this report www.hochzeitsfotografie-beinhorn.de/photobooth www.sabrinity.com/hochzeit.php?galerie=trashyourdress annabellwilla.de/tag/boudoir/ www.ian-flor.de/ www.paulliebtpaula.de/ 19
Do you need uncomplicated support? Monika Gleissner Phone: +49 30 400 544 514 Fax: +49 30 400 544 529 E-Mail: monika.gleissner@xxlpix.net 20
XXLPIX GmbH Alexanderstraße 7 10178 Berlin GERMANY www.xxlpix.de b2b@xxlpix.net +49 30 400 544 50 21