Did you pay your photographer in full BEFORE wedding?

[Carats]

Just wondering...do people typically pay in full before the wedding or is it usually split up such that a part is given at the wedding or after the wedding??

 

[Amanda.Rx]

Our contract required payment in full 1 week prior to the wedding.

 

[Amanda.Rx]

But I will add that we had to put down a 50% deposit when we booked him and then pay the remaining 50% 1 week prior.

 

[Clairitek]

We did the exact same thing as AmandaRx.

 

[sba771]

Ditto PPs, although to work with my mom better our photographer let her split it 25,25,50 so it was a little easier on my mom''s wallet.

 

[Carats]

So was there any provision in the contract about what if the photographer doesn''t show up? I know that is worst case scenerio but if you pay in full beforehand what about the scenerio that the person is sick or something happens where they can''t make it?

 

[sba771]

Mine says that if she is sick or dies someone else of equal caliber will be covering it for us. I am ok with this (not the death part, that would be awful, but she does address it) because I think it would end up being her boyfriend who I almost hired and he is amazing as well.

 

[Should Be Studying]

Mine requires a 20 percent deposit at signing, and the rest due the day of the wedding. The contract has a clause that if they can''t show up, we get our money back (and we get refunded the unused portion of the deposit if we cancel).

 

[pancake]

We paid in full - had a destination wedding though and everything was handled through our planner.

 

[mary poppins]

We paid a deposit upon booking our photographer. The balance is due before the wedding. Our contract says if our photographer is not able to make it to the wedding, he will find a replacement of similar experience or refund our money.

 

[Bjedifish]

We have installments but the last payment, which is about 20% is due when we pick up our proofs after the wedding.

 

[princessplease]

We paid a 10% deposit, then the rest was split up into equal payment amounts direct debited from my bank account on the first of each month until weddign month. I had the option of paying 50 deposit (last May)/25 January/25 June but for me, it was easier to have the direct debit.

My photogs are from a company of 10 photogs so if either are sick, we get a replacement sent.

 

[ilovesparkles]

50% deposit upon reserving our wedding date, remainder of balance day of. However, we hired someone who does it on the side, she is wonderful and has her own business.

 

[zipzapgirl]

We paid a deposit when we booked the date. We discussed the details and paid more than half the week of the wedding, and then paid the rest before receiving the album/picture files.

 

[lilylover]

We paid half at the time of signing and the rest 30 days in advance.

I am a photographer and require half at the time of signing and then the remainder 2 weeks before the wedding. I think this is most typical. They want to make sure that the check clears, etc, before they do any work. Understandable!

 

[mayachel]

It sounds like I''m the odd one out here, but I love my photographer (so far!) so I''m not to worried about it. We have paid a 20% deposit at signing (10months out) 30% payment (6months out) and will be paying the last 50% in full one month prior to the wedding.

When I type it all out, it seems like a lot in advance, but I wouldn''t have traded my photographer over it.

 

[caribqueen]

Ours was a $500 deposit, with the final payment due 1 week before the wedding. Obviously you could break it into payments and pay as you want. But we just paid the final balance last Saturday.

It''s a good thing our deposit was so low, because we booked her and her assistant about a year in advance and my father doesn''t like the idea of paying so much money in advance for a service not to be rendered until several months later.