How to get more wedding photography clients
In wedding photography the portfolio decides who writes to you and the price decides what kind of couple writes. In Miami there are photographers charging $600 and photographers charging $6,000 for the same day of work, and the difference is almost never the camera: it's what they show, how they present themselves, and who recommends them. Couples come from planners, venues, other couples, and a few very specific Google searches.
Updated 2026-08-16
Why a low price isn't a strategy
Charging $800 for a wedding looks like the fast way to start, and it's the fast way to get stuck.
A wedding is twenty to thirty real hours: the consultation, the full day, culling and editing six hundred photos. At $800 that's under $30 an hour before gear, insurance, backups and travel.
Worse: the couple looking for $800 asks for everything the $3,000 couple asks for, and is usually harder to satisfy, because to them it's also a lot of money.
Raising your price isn't charging more for the same thing. It's showing a portfolio that justifies the number and introducing yourself to the people booking at that level.
1. Wedding planners, the number one source
A planner does fifteen or twenty weddings a year, and the couple almost always asks her about the photographer.
How to get in: introduce yourself to the planners in your area with a portfolio of complete weddings, not loose photos. And what actually gets you on their list is being easy on the wedding day: keeping to the timeline, not blocking the team, not fighting the DJ over lighting. Planners recommend whoever doesn't create problems.
And return the favor: send them the photos that show their setups, credited. That's what gets you named in their next five inquiries.
2. Venues
A venue watches a hundred weddings a year go by and keeps a vendor list. On top of that, the photos you take there are exactly what they want for their own Instagram.
Send them a gallery from every wedding you shoot at their place, with permission to use it and with your credit. It costs nothing and puts you in the conversation every time a couple asks.
3. The other vendors
Florists, makeup artists, DJs, caterers. All of them need good photos of their work and almost none of them have any.
Send them yours. It's the cheapest way to stay in the heads of ten people who talk to couples every week.
4. Google, for the searches that bring money
Almost every photographer fights on Instagram and leaves Google empty. But "wedding photographer Miami" is typed by a couple who is booking right now.
Google profile with category "Wedding photographer," your cities and complete galleries. And a website that ranks for that search, using the words couples actually type, in English and Spanish if you serve both markets.
5. What to show in the portfolio
**Complete weddings, not the ten best photos from ten weddings.** The couple needs to see you cover a whole day: prep, ceremony, portraits, reception, bad light included.
**Three or four weddings start to finish.** Better than two hundred loose images.
**Varied styles and venues.** Beach, ballroom, church, day and night. If everything you have is golden-hour beach, the ballroom couple assumes it isn't your thing.
**Real people, not just details.** Centerpieces don't hire anyone.
**Your face and your name.** They're spending the most important day of their life with you.
6. What it pays in South Florida
| Package | Range |
|---|---|
| 4 to 6 hour coverage | $1,200 to $2,500 |
| Full day, 8 to 10 hours | $2,500 to $5,000 |
| Full day with second shooter | $3,500 to $7,000 |
| Engagement session | $400 to $900 |
| Printed album | $500 to $1,500 |
| Elopement / small wedding | $800 to $1,800 |
Put a minimum on the site. "Our weddings start at $X" saves you twenty inquiries from couples looking for half that, and those twenty inquiries are hours of your week.
7. How to close the inquiry
**Answer the same day** and ask the date first.
**Video call before the quote.** In this trade they're hiring a person, not a portfolio, and twenty minutes of conversation closes more than any PDF.
**Send a complete wedding like theirs.** If it's a beach wedding, send a beach wedding.
**Clear contract and deposit.** What happens if it rains, when you deliver, how many photos, who can use them. A couple who sees that in writing relaxes and signs.
doubts
What people usually ask
How do I start with no weddings in the portfolio?
As a second shooter for someone experienced. You learn the rhythm of the day, you get paid from the start, and you come out with real material. It beats shooting three weddings for free.
How many weddings a year can I do?
Twenty to thirty working alone, and there the bottleneck is editing, not Saturdays. That's why past a point it pays to raise the price rather than add weddings.
Should I deliver unedited photos?
No, and put it in the contract. Delivering RAW is delivering half-finished work with your name on it.
Is paid advertising worth it?
Less than introducing yourself to ten planners and five venues, which costs nothing. If you're going to pay, do it once the portfolio and site exist, not before.
Do I need insurance?
Many venues require it before letting you work, so in practice yes. And it opens venues your uninsured competition can't enter.