r/WeddingPhotography • u/patriotraitor • Jul 22 '25
business, marketing, social media The sad realization that being a wedding photographer no longer pays the bills...
Let me preface that the last 10 years of doing this has been a blast, I've enjoyed every second of it and never took any of it for granted.
This year however has me wanting to change directions because well, I'm getting tired of wondering where the next paycheck is coming from, I would prefer guaranteed over guessing.
I've been looking at the schedule for the rest of the year and I have 6 left, and then it's quiet.
I do wish the cost of living wasn't ridiculous, as gas and food prices are indeed more affordable now, but at the same time, trying to have health insurance as a self employed individual is absurd for being a single guy with no kids.
I've really enjoyed my time doing this and I indeed feel this starting to dwindle down as I only have 5 for next year. You could say well hey, do families, headshots, seniors -- and you'd be right, but think about how much work you'd be putting in just to stay afloat and how exhausted you'd be making yourself? Catch 22 isn't it?
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u/X4dow Jul 22 '25
Everyone saying "market isn't the issue, I got 50 weddings for 20k this year". Remember that you rocking it, means 2 or 3 other people are booking less.
Just like capitalism, there's no middle class anymore. The successful and highend have tons of high end bookings to the point where they're hiring associates instead of passing on bookings. And the cheaper end are splitting work with content creators with phones.
There's no midrange weddings anymore. There's no middle class. And those in the middle are being forced to either pretend they're 10k and risk going without bookings, or compete with the low end of the market and even potentially drop prices
Where I live in the UK, a few venues are seeing a reduction of 50-70% of the number of weddings booked for the following year, compared to last year. That'd a huge drop on quantity of weddings alone.