How Much Does a Wedding Photography Package Cost in Asheville?

When it comes to planning your wedding, there are a few obvious firsts for most couples. These are going to be things like figuring out what date works best for you and your fiancé and your families, your overall budget, and which venue meets your vision, availability, and budget.  From our experience over the last 10 years, for the vast majority of couples, choosing a wedding photographer is usually second on that list.  Now I want to preface all of this by saying, since we are wedding photographers, there’s always the potential for slight bias, but I’m going to do my best to focus on the main question of why you ended up here.  “How much does a wedding photography package cost in Asheville?”  We will also throw in what we feel to be relevant information based on experience (789 weddings and elopements shot in the las 10 years) when it comes to booking your wedding photographer in Asheville!  As always, if you have questions on anything, just give us a shout, we’re always happy to help!

Big Picture

We covered this subject years ago in one of our popular blogs but it had less of a focus on how much wedding photographers cost in Asheville, and more on the average or typical costs of a wedding photographer in the country.  This was based on readily available statistics online and also experience from actually being in the industry and doing this for a living.  To simply google, Chat GPT, or ask an all encompassing platform like one of these, how much should I pay for my wedding photographer can be a little misleading.  In short, as someone whose worked all across the nation (and outside of it on occasion) getting the average from all over can leave you scratching your head when you actually see real world prices, especially in an area that has really grown into a destination for weddings, like Asheville and the overall WNC area.  For instance, looking at an overall average can skew the numbers when you consider there are small towns out west and in the mid-west where it might not be uncommon for full day coverage options to start at $1200.  Conversely, in a popular destination mountain wedding location such as Asheville, you may find the average starting price to be $3,000+.  You could compare markets all day and not make much in the way of progress, but I wanted to give that quick example so you don’t waste your time trying to find the equivalent wedding photographer service in Asheville for the same price that your cousin in the middle of nowhere Nebraska paid for roughly the same coverage.

Asheville Specific

Over the years, this little blue ridge mountain town and its surrounding areas have become synonymous with destination weddings & elopements, especially for those couples that desire mountain views!  While Asheville and WNC are definitely popular destinations for couples looking to do something small and intimate like a mountain top elopement, we are going to focus solely on information pertaining to couples looking at traditional wedding coverage in the area.  This is typically going to be 8 hours of coverage on a Saturday or Sunday, at a venue, with let’s say 70+ guests.  We’re not going to factor in things that specific companies may or may not offer like offseason discounts, week day rates, first responder or military rates, etc.  Now the following information is going to cover what we’ve learned from being in the Asheville area and photographing weddings full time for the past 10 years, in addition to doing our own market research to stay up to date with fluctuations in the market/demand, and information you can again find readily available online.  My goal with this is to simplify your research so you can save time on your search, have realistic expectations on what you can likely expect to find, and overall just help you prep so you can factor in the price of what a wedding photographer in Asheville will likely cost so you can adjust your budget accordingly if needed.

Now, depending on where you start, what google or Chat GPT spits out based on your key search terms, local SEO, geo-location etc. you may find someone who starts at $3k like we alluded to above, and you may find someone who starts in the $15-18k range.  I will cover some of that pricing disparity below along with likely reasons in pricing variances.  Before I dive into that, I would like to preface all of this by saying, every wedding photography company in Asheville is going to be slightly different in their offerings.  It’s definitely an industry where it isn’t one size fits all and custom packages have definitely become more and more popular over the years.

The Nitty Gritty

One of the first things we learned when we started focusing on photography education and learning how to grow, market, etc.  was the concept of “Tiers of Wedding Photography.”  We found this concept to be easy to understand when it came to the process of understanding pricing dynamics.  Without getting into endless paragraphs and caveats to cover every possible conceivable angle and consideration, I will give the quick and easy version of what these tiers mean as well as the typical price ranges you can expect from each one when it comes to hiring someone for your wedding photography in Asheville.  These tiers are important because they will let you know who you’re typically working with (from an experience, and economics stand point) and give you an idea to manage your expectations.

Tier 1

This is typically going to be your beginner photographer(s).  They may have a wedding or two under their belt or some second shooting experience, and possibly no wedding experience.  Whether some people want to admit it or not, this is where most pros start (not all but most in our experience).  Unless everything from lighting, to timeline, to personalities, to weather are not absolutely perfect on your wedding day, expect some of your overall album/gallery to suffer in hiring someone in this category.

Tier 2

This is likely going to be someone with more experience, likely an established pro, possibly full time, but maybe a part timer.  They are generally going to have a larger portfolio of weddings and range to show potential couples their approach/style.  They will likely have a year or more  of experience under their belts shooting solo or second shooting (or a mix of both).  A lot of photographers in this Tier never progress beyond this Tier (not always for any negative reasons).  Generally their work is going to appear better than your average Tier 1 photographer and they are going to have amassed some experience to know how to better handle some challenges that could arise on your wedding day.

Tier 3

This is where most photographers are striving to be when they start out on their journey to become full time wedding photographers.  Photographers in this Tier are almost always seasoned full time pros and may even be regionally known, regularly fill up their schedules in their local markets but also traveling quite a bit out of their immediate local market due to demand.  Their portfolios will be much more extensive and their experience will allow them to shoot in just about any situation or lighting with confidence.  Most of the photographers in this Tier make up the bulk up the average pricing market when you’re doing basic searches.  Some of them may be on the lower side and focus on volume, others may be on the higher side and focus on luxury weddings.

Tier 4

True Tier 4 photographers are going to be your full time pros who may be nationally known.  These are going to be your industry leaders who other photographers typically go to for education or inspiration.  They may have a schedule filled with destination and international weddings.  Most photographers finding themselves in this Tier will likely be priced in the Luxury pricing market.

Something else to know and consider about the above Tiers, like anything in life, there will always be some gray areas and it’s not uncommon for the top of tier 3 to overlap with the bottom of Tier 4, as well as the other Tiers.  All that to say, these aren’t concrete categories, they are generalizations that tend to be very accurate, especially in a diverse wedding market like the Asheville area where you may have a small family owned barn in Appalachia booked every weekend of the year.  Or, a spare no expense luxury estate that only takes on a small number of couples and actually makes them fill out an application to be approved to even be married there (no kidding).  There will be a niche for every photography company and a good fit for every couple, no matter which tier.

Pricing for Asheville Wedding Photography Packages as it pertains to the above Tiers

Tier 1 - Pricing $1200 (average)

Expect to pay between $0 and $1500 in most cases for most photographers falling into this Tier.  $0 is on the absolute extreme low end and this is typically someone shooting for experience trying to build their portfolio.  As someone who owns 3 companies in two states and average 78 weddings & elopements per year, and is solidly in between Tier 3 & 4, I’m fine to admit we did our first few weddings for free.  It’s not everyone’s approach, but it’s not as uncommon as you would think.  This being said, definitely DO NOT expect this.  As stated above, expect an average of about $1200 for a photographer in this category.

Tier 2 - Pricing $2500 (average)

Expect to pay between $1800 to $3000 for most photographers falling into this category.  At the low end of Tier 2 you could likely have some cross over to the higher end of Tier 1, and at the higher end of Tier 2 you could have some cross over to Tier 3.

Tier 3 - Pricing $3500 (average)

Let me preface this section by saying, this Tier is where you are likely to see the biggest amount of variance in pricing.  Expect to see price ranges from $3,000 to $7,000.  Similar to above, expect to find some crossover at the bottom end of Tier 3 and the top end of Tier 2 as well as some cross over towards the top with Tier 4.

Tier 4 - Pricing $6500 (average)

Tier 4 is where you’re likely going to see some significant price jumps.  Most of the photographers in this Tier are not necessarily better than a lot of your Tier 3 photographers, (There will be some in Tier 4 whose work is literally mind blowing) But in general your average wedding photographer in Tier 4 is going to be identical in skill in most cases to photographers in Tier 3.  The price difference becomes based on branding and the market they serve.  These are what we refer to in the industry as Luxury Weddings or the Luxury Market.  Expect to pay anywhere from 5500 to upwards of $15k for these wedding photographers in Asheville.  Odds are, if you’re reading this blog, you’re probably not looking for a Tier 4 photographer (in terms of budget).

As a quick recap, again this is going to be for your typical traditional wedding coverage option during wedding season for 8 hours of coverage, with 70+ guests, at a wedding venue.  If you’re getting married on a Thursday in the middle of February, there’s a chance you could find some much lower rates.  I would also like to reiterate, that these are all generalizations based on years of experience!  You could absolutely find a photographer that offers the perceived luxury of a Tier 4 photographer but prices themselves in Tier 2.  The opposite also exists where you may find someone who shot her famous sister’s wedding and and suddenly blew up with relatively no experience and even though they may have a high end portfolio due to the connects, they may be lacking in overall experience. Our goal in providing you with this information is so you can get an idea of what wedding photography typically costs in Asheville, and also, what generally goes into why you are paying that price.  A lot of times you will see people on social media wedding groups looking for “XYZ” for their weddings not knowing that their expectations may be unrealistic.  We’re also hopeful this will help you set a realistic budget when it comes to starting the search for a wedding photographer not only who fits your vision, but who you can trust with your memories.