When did you pay your Photographer?

This is normal. We have a payment. Our photographers will be paid in full 45 days prior to the wedding.

The deposit that you photographer is actually small. What is strange is paying after the wedding.

I've paid off the photographer's base fee (I may end up paying for extra hours) and the venue part of the venue (I'll owe them more for servers, bartenders, and miscellaneous other things).

I'm pretty happy having those paid off 4 months out...and I have contracts to cover my ass.

Our photographer: we did a 10% deposit to secure for the event.

Then we pay the remaining 90% day of. My parents are going to get a check to him after FH and I leave

I'm working with a Photography company that has a guarantee that you will have a main (senior) photographer the day of your wedding, so I'm not too worried about being left in a lurch (although some companies I spoke to did concern me, I'll admit).

I did notice that my contract says I have to pay in cash or check for the final payments. Hmmm...I feel like this company may be trying to get more money up front than what I am comfortable with. We can pay it, it is just the principle of paying all this money for months without seeing their final product until probably 4 months AFTER THE WEDDING! UGH

I don't think it's strange to have a payment after the wedding (see my previous comments).

It makes more sense to me, honestly

Justine's photog's payment plan sounds like mine!

It sounds like they have a payment schedule. My day-of coordinator does this, too. It's actually helped to relieve the stress for me. I would suggest not paying earlier than you have to, though. What happens if you cancel? or they cancel? or you find someone you like better and need to break your contract? I would be nervous about that.

We payed 50% when we signed the contract and 50% is due the day of the wedding.

I paid 25% when I booked, 25% 6 months before and the remain 50% is due next month.

I paid a deposit to hold the day and then paid them the rest day of the wedding.

The DJ and officiant were the same.

My photographer has us on a schedule to BUT she tells us we can pay her after the wedding. She said she usually gets paid last because if we don't pay her we don't get the pictures. Although the service is already provided her blood, sweat and tears aren't involved until final product.

I paid a deposit and the final cost is due 2 months before the wedding

We did $400 every 3 months and then the last $400 was paid when our pictures were ready (after the wedding)

As I said before, no matter your contract terms you are taking on a lot of risk when pre-paying service vendors. You cannot get blood from a stone. So if something happens to their business before your wedding and you have already paid you will spend more money in court trying to enforce the contract. Having the legal right to get your money back is never something to be relied on. If pre-paying, you absolutely need full wedding insurance, not just the liability version, to account for this possibility.

I don't think that having a payment due after the wedding is so weird for the photographer. The other vendors responsibility ends on the wedding day. The photographer still needs to edit and finish your photos and get them to you.

Our photographer is $1600 and we're paying $540 to secure the date and our engagement session rest is due before the wedding whenever and however we want to make payments.

I paid a deposit and then it had to be paid in full 7 days before wedding but we paid 3 months before

Our photographer required a $500 deposit then 4 equal payments of the balance divided up over the time until the wedding (about every 2-3 months) with the final payment being due 2 weeks before. I think it really depends on your photographer, but from my experience, that's not uncommon!

I get 50% to secure the date, immediately upon signing contract....the remainder is due 14 days before the event. I don't understand their payment schedule.

I paid the deposit when I signed the contract and the remainder was due 3 days prior to the wedding

Most photographers should have 1 payment left after the wedding as they still owe you the photos. The money that far out might be negotiated. Mine said that was to help budgeting but as long as 2/3 was paid 2 weeks before the wedding he didn't care when it was paid.