What is the rates for Malay Weddings?

[aaron80]

My friend is approached by his Malay colleague to shoot a wedding in May.. He is asking me how much he should quote for this shoot, he is actually thinking of $300 which I think is too much coz he's not experienced at all(pictures normal only) and no portfolio to speak of. As I do not have any experience in this field so hope u guys can help.. Thanks!

1) What is the normal rates for Malay weddings? My friend is thinking of $300..

2) Is the rates of Malay and Chinese weddings very different?

3) My friend is not experienced at all, he only shot one chinese wedding for his colleague before as backup photographer and do not have any portfolio to show.

4) Will Malay weddings ask to see the portfolio of the photographer?

[jdredd]

if ur friend is as newbie as u say he is, personally, he shouldnt even charge. that way - theres no pressure on him to produce the goods.

if he is going to charge, whether its 100, 300 or 500, he better make it really clear to the guy that he is an amateur and not to expect professional level photographs.

[razor]

Originally Posted by aaron80 My friend is approached by his Malay colleague to shoot a wedding in May.. He is asking me how much he should quote for this shoot, he is actually thinking of $300 which I think is too much coz he's not experienced at all(pictures normal only) and no portfolio to speak of. As I do not have any experience in this field so hope u guys can help.. Thanks! 1) What is the normal rates for Malay weddings? My friend is thinking of $300.. 2) Is the rates of Malay and Chinese weddings very different? 3) My friend is not experienced at all, he only shot one chinese wedding for his colleague before as backup photographer and do not have any portfolio to show. 4) Will Malay weddings ask to see the portfolio of the photographer?

1) What is the normal rates for Malay weddings? My friend is thinking of $300.. Way below the market rate. My charges begins from $600 (half day) to $2200

2) Is the rates of Malay and Chinese weddings very different?not necessarily. rates are linked to the photographer's experience and skills.

3) My friend is not experienced at all, he only shot one chinese wedding for his colleague before as backup photographer and do not have any portfolio to show.

4) Will Malay weddings ask to see the portfolio of the photographer?

Yes. all the time.

[Yatlapball]

You sound more like you are the one that is engaging the photographer. Heh.

No portfolio does not necessarily mean no skill. But the way you put it... it sounds like a ripe recipe for disaster.

tell your friend this. If he has the confidence to pull it off, then by all means go ahead. if not, politely reject...

[aaron80]

Ya agreed, this is how I feel and told him too..

Originally Posted by jdredd if ur friend is as newbie as u say he is, personally, he shouldnt even charge. that way - theres no pressure on him to produce the goods. if he is going to charge, whether its 100, 300 or 500, he better make it really clear to the guy that he is an amateur and not to expect professional level photographs.

[aaron80]

Thanks for the info razor, at least nw i got an insight on the rates for malay weddings.. Have always thought its lesser than Chinese ones..

Originally Posted by razor 1) What is the normal rates for Malay weddings? My friend is thinking of $300.. Way below the market rate. My charges begins from $600 (half day) to $2200 2) Is the rates of Malay and Chinese weddings very different?not necessarily. rates are linked to the photographer's experience and skills. 3) My friend is not experienced at all, he only shot one chinese wedding for his colleague before as backup photographer and do not have any portfolio to show. 4) Will Malay weddings ask to see the portfolio of the photographer? Yes. all the time.

[aaron80]

Haha no lah, I am definitely nt the one who is engaging the photographer.. If it is my wedding, I dun think I will engage my this frenz.. Will just ask him to give me angbao and come for the dinner can liao..

Originally Posted by Yatlapball You sound more like you are the one that is engaging the photographer. Heh. No portfolio does not necessarily mean no skill. But the way you put it... it sounds like a ripe recipe for disaster. tell your friend this. If he has the confidence to pull it off, then by all means go ahead. if not, politely reject...

[XXXcat]

Originally Posted by aaron80 Haha no lah, I am definitely nt the one who is engaging the photographer.. If it is my wedding, I dun think I will engage my this frenz.. Will just ask him to give me angbao and come for the dinner can liao..

malay wedding usually hold 2days, I heard last time is 3days.. but compare to chinese less stress... ask ur frd to do some homework first before shooting.. keke

better dun give ang bao, $300 for 2days i think is cheap lor.

[canturn]

To answer your questions:

1) Normal rates? Does the couple knows what they're paying for? Couples will pay any amount, between $30 - 8000 for a two-day photography, and how much they are willing to fork out is a matter of whether they know what they are paying for.

2) I don't think rates are different. My question to the photographer is, it's his time and his work, why would anyone charge differently because clients are of different race? But one thing I do notice about Malay couples who hires me - they don't bargain. In fact they are my highest paying clients now, and their average bill is about SGD$5-7k now for just actual day wedding.

3) If this is your friend's first wedding shoot, tell him don't shoot - do himself and the wedding couple a favour. A lot of people think that wedding photography is a good means of side income, but they don't know the liabilities that lie beneath. What if he messes up the wedding because of his inexperience? He can't simply say "Oh, but you're paying peanuts, what do you expect???!?" Do you know that couples can sue a photographer for damages, in amounts more than the photographer's fees, or even, in some cases make the photographer pay for part of the banquet bill because it is an event that cannot be replicated and without the photos, it is no longer meanful to the couple? Mind you, I have a friend who's a lawyer who have been hired to sue a wedding photographer before, and you won't want to know what they can come out with to make the chap pay.

If he really wants to build a portfolio, there are better ways to do that, like tagging along one of the pros who doesn't mind. In wedding photography, portfolio building is one of the hardest thing to kick start and it really took me years.

4) Portfolio is very important. If you are the couple, would you hire someone without a portfolio or something credible to show? Especially so for wedding photography, when most of your clients will only hire you once and every job is a different client, you need a strong portfolio, especially you want to command a higher rate.

[hazmee]

I agree with what canturn and razor has written. Its all up to the photographer to charge and whether the clients are willing to pay for their services. Cheers!

[canturn]

Originally Posted by hazmee I agree with what canturn and razor has written. Its all up to the photographer to charge and whether the clients are willing to pay for their services. Cheers!

These days, Malay weddings doesn't just happen at the void deck. I've got Malay weddings that happens the whole day at Asian Civilisation Museum or Arts House.

Even for void deck weddings, some of my Malay couples are willing to pay $20-30k just to spruce up the whole place. Mind you, with that money spent, they can transform a void deck to look like a 5-star hotel.

With that in mind, if they can afford a wedding, what's $7000 just to document these effort forever? You just have to show them why and how they should pay $7000, most of the time, you'll be surprised how they would just sign for my most expensive albums w/o even bargaining.

[hazmee]

Originally Posted by canturn These days, Malay weddings doesn't just happen at the void deck. I've got Malay weddings that happens the whole day at Asian Civilisation Museum or Arts House. Even for void deck weddings, some of my Malay couples are willing to pay $20-30k just to spruce up the whole place. Mind you, with that money spent, they can transform a void deck to look like a 5-star hotel. With that in mind, if they can afford a wedding, what's $7000 just to document these effort forever? You just have to show them why and how they should pay $7000, most of the time, you'll be surprised how they would just sign for my most expensive albums w/o even bargaining.

I recently did a Malay wedding at ACM. Its not surprising how much people are willing to spend nowadays. Best of luck!