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A12 BUSINESS
Monday 24 July 2023

Wedding photographers adapt to couples

who want less tradition on their big day

advertised frequently this
year.
"Essentially it's a contractor
whose job it is to shoot and
publish phone content for
the bride and groom on
their wedding day so they
don't have to," he said. "I
feel like people really want
to post things instantly as
their event is happening."
Jonica Moore, owner of
Jonica Moore Photogra-
Jonica Moore, who's more than a decade into her second phy in Brooklyn, New York,
career as a wedding photographer, shoots photos as she walks said adding more social
home, Friday, July 21, 2023, in the Brooklyn section of New York. content to packages will
Associated Press likely require her to hire an-
other person to help with
By MAE ANDERSON the-scenes videos that can weddings.
AP Business Writer easily be shared on social "If you're a photographer,
NEW YORK (AP) — More media. That's on top of the you don't really have time
and more couples are regular wedding photos. to do that," she said.
throwing out the playbook Many photographers also Adding help would mean
for a traditional wedding find themselves much more costs for photogra-
-- and posing new chal- more involved in planning phers at a time when many
lenges for the people they the wedding. Nina Larsen have already raised their
hire to create the perfect Reed of Larsen Photo Co. rates due to inflation.
images of their big day. in Boulder, Colorado, says After a plunge in 2020 and
Getting married has tra- couples increasingly rely on modest increase in 2021,
ditionally involved a large her local knowledge when the number of weddings
reception, and rituals like planning their big day. jumped to 2.5 million in
cake cutting, multiple "Now I'm much more in- 2022 due to pent up de-
toasts and time for danc- volved in everything from mand, according to the
ing. A wedding photogra- suggesting locations, build- trade group Wedding Re-
pher would capture it all ing out timelines to recom- port. This year they're ex-
-- and the newly hitched mending vendors and ac- pected to total 2.2 million
couple would then wait tivities and really helping as the U.S. returns to a more
weeks or months for the my couples plan for the normal wedding cadence.
pictures. whole day instead of just The cost of a wedding has
The pandemic and so- showing up to take pho- gone up, according to
cial media have upended tos of whatever they have data from wedding web
those traditions. During the planned on their own," she site The Knot, but not dra-
pandemic, many wed- said. matically. The national av-
dings turned into elope- All of this means more work, erage cost of a wedding
ments. Social media im- leaving photographers to in 2022 was $30,000, up
ages and videos took ponder whether they can $2,000 from 2021. In 2019,
center stage when people do it all alone. before the pandemic, that
couldn't gather for a big Kari Bjorn, owner of Kari figure stood at $28,000.
ceremony. Bjorn Photography in Fay- Meanwhile, the average
Wedding photographers etteville, Arkansas, said cost of a wedding photog-
say some of the pandemic that to keep up with what rapher in 2022 was $2,600,
trends are sticking around. clients are asking for, he's up only $100 from 2021,
They're being asked to added some new services although rates vary by lo-
shoot more elopements to his wedding packages, cation, time of year and
and micro weddings – like wedding-day GIFs. He's the level of service. For in-
weddings with 50 or fewer also considering hiring a stance, the mid-range cost
guests -- and to provide "day-of content creator," in New York City is $5,000 to
faster photos and behind- a job he's noticed being $7,500, Moore said.
Bjorn raised his rates after
the boom year of 2022 but
had to scale back a bit
when he received fewer
inquires than he was ex-
pecting.
"It's been a rollercoaster,"
Bjorn said. "(Rates) are a lit-
tle bit lower now than they
were at the start of the
year, but still higher than
last year."q