When did you pay your Photographer?

No, they shouldn't. That is not the standard.

We paid our deposit to secure our date and "hire" our photographer. Per our contract we will pay the balance 30 days prior to our wedding.

Let me explain why it's non existent that any established wedding photographer would even show up before the balance is paid. Couple spends however much on their wedding and went on a honeymoon....they've got a lot of recouping to do. They're usually broke by then. By that point, we've got the day we committed to spent, wear and tear on equipment and our bodies, time behind the desk, parking and / or assistant costs, etc. There's no risk on the couples' part IF they hire a real professional who uses and abides by their contract.

@Jay Farrell

Your advice is incorrect and dishonestly advantages your business over others in your profession. Believe you me, if I have a contract with a vendor and that vendor fails to deliver he will get sued. If the photographer decides to not show up after our offer and acceptance, then I will be filing suit. Real photographers would know that regardless of pre-payment they have to show up at weddings they agree to shoot. Oral contracts for services within a year are outside the statute of frauds. AKA that is a true and valid contract enforceable by law regardless of having a signed document. I do hope you know this.

Getting paid weeks before the wedding just puts the client at risk of losing their money through a no show or bankruptcy, while negligibly protecting the vendor. You are advocating poor advice that one-sidedly promotes your own business. Denouncing competitors as non-professional for accepting the reality of the law is not unbiased wedding advice. A wedding photographer who does not insist on payment a month before the wedding can definitely be established. Truth be told, it would be the ones in low markets who would insist on cash upfront.

With wedding pictures, you are in the primo spot as a wedding vendor. If you were a caterer, I would understand your extreme and foolhardy client-wise position much more. The photographer is the one and only vendor, other than a videographer, whose true product remains to be collected post wedding. People want the only copy of their wedding photos and will negotiate for them. It is a huge thing to hold back in the case of a possible dirtbag client who decides not to pay. Photographers have huge bargaining chips, while caterers and djs do not.

I know not getting paid is a reality and understand why vendors have instituted pre-payment policies. I have acted as an attorney on their behalf before as well. However, calling any photographer who does not follow your model of early pre-payment unestablished reeks of abusing the posting rules here.

I don't know what world you live in, but it definitely is not one of a professional photographer. Every professional photographer I know has full payment due before services are rendered. Have I made exceptions, with extenuating circumstances and showed up, and collected money on the day? Yes. It's happened. But setting that standard keeps it above board. If a photographer fails to deliver and you've paid them, you absolutely should sue them! I am reading your post, and can't even wrap my head around the levels of nonsense. Who do you think advises these practices be put in place? Attorneys.

I interviewed and met with many wedding photographers and not one of them accepted payment post-wedding or even on the wedding day. ALL of them required full payment at least one week before the wedding, most of them 2 weeks before. That is standard and I am not in a "low market". I did not feel that this was a significant risk because I did my homework and knew that I was hiring a professional. Also, there was a clause in the contract that required the photographer to find a suitable replacement if anything happened to him on the wedding day resulting in him not being able to do his job. He was also part of a larger company with a network of photographers. Another reason why I did not feel at risk and was fine with paying up front.

In fact, ALL of my vendors required payment in full prior to the wedding with the exception of hair and makeup services. I found it to be standard in the industry.

Our payment schedule was:

Deposit at booking

I think 80% of total paid 30 days before the wedding

Finish payment when we pick up our photos after the wedding

It's split up in to three payments - 1/3 at booking, 1/3 about 90 days out, and 1/3 2 weeks before. And no he isn't low market LOL. He regularly shoots $100K weddings.

We had to pay an initial deposit and the remaining balance 30 days prior to the date of the wedding. We ended up paying the balance like 7 months early though.

I paid 50% upfront as my deposit & pay the other 50% next week.

We paid 500 deposit and remaining due before wedding

I had to have my full balance paid 30days before the wedding

Maybe they thought because the total amount was over $3K, it would be easier for you to pay in several payments? My photographer was $6K total with 50% deposit due upon contact signing for him to hold the date. Every other vendor did the same so I didn't question. We've paid ~$8K in deposits already (minus catering and DOC, we haven't finalized the contracts) and our wedding date is 15 months away!

I had to pay half of my photographer price a year before the wedding and the remaining is due on the wedding day!

@kirackle- I can assure you none of my vendors are "low market", and the majority ask for the balance due before the date, somewhere between two weeks and two days out.

We had a deposit when we booked then had to be paid in full 30 days before the wedding.

ETA: EVERY. SINGLE. ONE. of our vendors had to be paid prior to the wedding day.

Half of our balance is due 30 days before the wedding and the other half is 30 days after the wedding. Our photographer does that because she wants to make sure that we like the photos and that they are done within a good amount of time.

I had to put 50% down when I booked my photographer and the remaining is due at our 30 day meeting we have at the end of august.

My photographer is definitely NOT "low market". Based on her reviews and awards and everything they've been featured in, I trust her & her team and the payment schedule of 50% before the wedding and 50% AFTER the wedding.

We paid a $200 deposit when we signed the contract, have to pay another $400 before the wedding, and the last $400 is due after the wedding when we get our pictures.