How to Price Wedding Albums
photo by Bow Tie Collaborative
How in the WORLD do you price these things!?
Right? Am I alone, or is this one of the most confounding decisions you have to make when you add albums to your product line as a photographer? I'm the Owner and Founder of Align, but I am also a professional wedding photographer myself. I remember having cold sweats trying to figure out how to price things when I first started my business. Even today it can be very confusing to know where to start. Here's the thing. Albums are expensive. They're costly to us as the photographer, and they take up a lot of time (unless you outsource to Align, use our hands-off service so we communicate directly with your clients, and have us do the printing for you as well). Plus they are a one-of-a-kind custom, heirloom quality product. They are expensive, and they should be. The high price tag that comes with a custom wedding album is justified.
Here's the rule-of-thumb that I go by when calculating the mark-up for my albums:
How in the WORLD do you price these things!?
Right? Am I alone, or is this one of the most confounding decisions you have to make when you add albums to your product line as a photographer? I'm the Owner and Founder of Align, but I am also a professional wedding photographer myself. I remember having cold sweats trying to figure out how to price things when I first started my business. Even today it can be very confusing to know where to start. Here's the thing. Albums are expensive. They're costly to us as the photographer, and they take up a lot of time (unless you outsource to Align, use our hands-off service so we communicate directly with your clients, and have us do the printing for you as well). Plus they are a one-of-a-kind custom, heirloom quality product. They are expensive, and they should be. The high price tag that comes with a custom wedding album is justified.
Here's the rule-of-thumb that I go by when calculating the mark-up for my albums:
Let me simplify this even more by sharing how you use a calculator to figure out exactly what to charge for your albums. Take the cost that the album company is going to bill you for the product, and multiply it by three. Then multiply that same initial number by five. Pick a number somewhere between the two that seems reasonable to you. That's what you should charge your client. If you are trying to make your albums more affordable to get them into the homes of more of your clients, stay closer to the 300% mark-up number. If you are serving a high-end clientele, or you are selling an album that you are getting at a very affordable price in comparison to its quality, mark it up closer to the 500% mark. But if you're somewhere in that range, you will make money for your time. If you are outsourcing your design work to Align, you could factor that into your costs that you then multiply by three or five, but I wouldn't. I would just take the price that you are charged for the physical product and use that. You're saving your time by outsourcing the design work. And if you look at the profit you make on an album when you mark it up by 300-500%, you still make a hefty profit even after you subtract what you pay to outsource.
I have one album that I charge $1,700 for and another that starts at $3,000. Both are marked up by about 300%. I do this, even for the more costly album, to keep it somewhat affordable. (It's hard to get a client to buy into a package with an album that costs over $3,000 before their wedding takes place and they see their photos.)
Again, if you're just starting out, the price you see on your calculator after you multiply by 3 or 5 may seem exorbitant to you, but remember, you are selling a custom, heirloom-quality product. This is a once-in-a-lifetime purchase for your clients and if you show them something amazing (don't forget you have to show it to sell it!) they will see the value.
--------------> Click here to take our 3-Question Quiz to find out if you are pricing your albums for profit! We'll email you right away with your results and let you know who your album sales strategy alter-ego is as well as some recommendations for how you can tweak your pricing to line up with your values!
I have one album that I charge $1,700 for and another that starts at $3,000. Both are marked up by about 300%. I do this, even for the more costly album, to keep it somewhat affordable. (It's hard to get a client to buy into a package with an album that costs over $3,000 before their wedding takes place and they see their photos.)
Again, if you're just starting out, the price you see on your calculator after you multiply by 3 or 5 may seem exorbitant to you, but remember, you are selling a custom, heirloom-quality product. This is a once-in-a-lifetime purchase for your clients and if you show them something amazing (don't forget you have to show it to sell it!) they will see the value.
--------------> Click here to take our 3-Question Quiz to find out if you are pricing your albums for profit! We'll email you right away with your results and let you know who your album sales strategy alter-ego is as well as some recommendations for how you can tweak your pricing to line up with your values!
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Blog post written by: Melissa Jill
Blog post written by: Melissa Jill
Southern Estate Wedding Album Design for Bow Tie Collaborative
We have had the honor of working with Ashley Maton with Bow Tie Collaborative since 2017! Ashley photographs some of the most stunningly elegant southern weddings out of her home base in Raleigh, North Carolina with her husband Bill.
This wedding took our breath away! In a time when so many weddings are being postponed or cancelled due to COVID restrictions, we were encouraged to hear that this couple was able to proceed with their wedding this past September at The Sutherland Estate and Gardens. It looks like it was an incredible celebration of their love!
Here are a few of our favorite spreads from this beautiful design:
This wedding took our breath away! In a time when so many weddings are being postponed or cancelled due to COVID restrictions, we were encouraged to hear that this couple was able to proceed with their wedding this past September at The Sutherland Estate and Gardens. It looks like it was an incredible celebration of their love!
Here are a few of our favorite spreads from this beautiful design:
Click through the slideshow below to see the full design:
Thank you Ashley for allowing us to work with your beautiful images!
Thank you Ashley for allowing us to work with your beautiful images!
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Design by: Sarah (View More) // Design style: Classic (View More) // Blog post written by: Melissa Jill
Design by: Sarah (View More) // Design style: Classic (View More) // Blog post written by: Melissa Jill
Charleston Destination Wedding Album Design for Bow Tie Collaborative
This week's featured album design is DREAMY!
We've had the pleasure of working with Ashley Maton with Bow Tie Collaborative for over 3 years now and we love working with her stunning images! Ashley is one of our Client Advocates and you can see more designs we've done for her here!
This wedding took place in historic Charleston, South Carolina. The ceremony was held in a picture-perfect chapel and the reception took place inside an old cigar factory. Ashley did a beautiful job documenting this day and we love how the album tells the story!
Here are a few of our favorite spreads from this design:
We've had the pleasure of working with Ashley Maton with Bow Tie Collaborative for over 3 years now and we love working with her stunning images! Ashley is one of our Client Advocates and you can see more designs we've done for her here!
This wedding took place in historic Charleston, South Carolina. The ceremony was held in a picture-perfect chapel and the reception took place inside an old cigar factory. Ashley did a beautiful job documenting this day and we love how the album tells the story!
Here are a few of our favorite spreads from this design:
To see the design in full, click through the slideshow:
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Design by: Sarah (View More) // Design style: Classic (View More) // Blog post written by: Melissa Jill
Design by: Sarah (View More) // Design style: Classic (View More) // Blog post written by: Melissa Jill
Sweet Farm Wedding Album Design for Bow Tie Collaborative
Today's featured album spotlights that charming and comforting classic - a farm wedding! And when it comes to farm weddings, it doesn't get more iconic than an traditional big red barn! Ashley with Bow Tie Collaborative photographed this beautiful wedding day and did an amazing job of capturing the combination of Southern elegance and rustic charm!
Ashley is a talented wedding photographer based in North Carolina. She is so good at creating airy, timeless images and a relaxed, natural atmosphere! All of our designers love working with Ashley and her gorgeous photos, and this design shows why! Here are a few of our favorite spreads:
Ashley is a talented wedding photographer based in North Carolina. She is so good at creating airy, timeless images and a relaxed, natural atmosphere! All of our designers love working with Ashley and her gorgeous photos, and this design shows why! Here are a few of our favorite spreads:
To see some of our previous designs for Ashley, click here.
And to check out the full design for this album, flip through the slideshow below:
And to check out the full design for this album, flip through the slideshow below:
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Design by: Kari (View More) // Design style: Classic (View More) // Blog post written by: Alaine
Design by: Kari (View More) // Design style: Classic (View More) // Blog post written by: Alaine
Align Legacy Book -- Photography by Bow Tie Collaborative
It's an Align Legacy Book day on our blog today! Yay! That means that not only did one of our designers use images from Bow Tie Collaborative to create beautiful layouts for the interior spreads, but Align was ALSO responsible for the printing & binding of this heirloom album. We love being a one-stop shop for busy photographers!
Learn all about Align Legacy Books over on this page!
The wedding ceremony in this album took place at the ruins of a 1730's house in Virginia -- and we're obsessed with its beauty and uniqueness! It was a joy to work with Ashley Maton of Bow Tie Collaborative's gorgeous photography as we created this album. Ashley is a talented natural light wedding & portrait photographer based in Raleigh, NC.
The following are Ashley's photographs of the finished 10x10 Align Legacy Book which contains 15 spreads of our thick-page paper with a cover in our Carob colored distressed leather. Enjoy!
Learn all about Align Legacy Books over on this page!
The wedding ceremony in this album took place at the ruins of a 1730's house in Virginia -- and we're obsessed with its beauty and uniqueness! It was a joy to work with Ashley Maton of Bow Tie Collaborative's gorgeous photography as we created this album. Ashley is a talented natural light wedding & portrait photographer based in Raleigh, NC.
The following are Ashley's photographs of the finished 10x10 Align Legacy Book which contains 15 spreads of our thick-page paper with a cover in our Carob colored distressed leather. Enjoy!
To view the whole album design, you can click through the slideshow below:
