Free tool

Work out what to charge for your photography

Suggested price bands for weddings and portraits, built from published market data and your own cost floor. Covers France, Europe, the US and the UK.

Runs on your device. Your numbers are never uploaded.

9 h
Second photographer
Engagement session
Album included
Suggested band
€1,110Low
€1,300Suggested
€1,630High

9 h wedding coverage, France

Market band: €800 to €2,500, typical €1,300

Base · Established€1,300

Your cost floor is €1,240. This quote clears it.

Bands built from 45 published sources · Updated June 2026 · Read the methodology

How it works

  1. Describe the shoot

    Market, shoot type, experience, hours and the extras you offer.

  2. Read the suggested band

    Anchored in published 2026 market data, adjusted to your inputs.

  3. Check your cost floor

    Your own costs and hours set the price below which you lose money.

  4. Share or refine

    Copy a link to this exact quote, or tune the floor numbers to yours.

Market bands

What photographers charge in 2026

Updated: June 2026

Wedding photography, full-day coverage

Market Low Typical High Sources
France €800 €1,300 €2,500 Mariages.net (The Knot Worldwide) · Mariages.net (The Knot Worldwide) · +7
Belgium €1,200 €2,000 €3,500 House of Weddings (Belgian wedding marketplace) · House of Weddings · +7
Switzerland CHF 2,500 CHF 3,500 CHF 5,000 Bridebook (wedding marketplace, Swiss edition) · photopros.ch (Lausanne) · +3
Germany €500 €1,940 €3,400 Bridebook (wedding planning platform) · ThePerfectWedding.de (wedding portal) · +2
Spain €1,200 €1,500 €3,000 Bodas.net (The Knot Worldwide) · Fotografos de Boda (FdB directory) · +5
United Kingdom £1,000 £1,800 £3,000 Bridebook (UK wedding planning marketplace) · Fearless Photographers (international wedding photographer directory) · +4
United States $2,400 $4,400 $5,300 The Knot Worldwide · Zola · +3

Portrait or family session, 1 to 2 hours

Market Low Typical High Sources
France €100 €180 €400 Mariages.net (The Knot Worldwide) · Mariages.net (The Knot Worldwide) · +7
Belgium €100 €225 €450 House of Weddings (Belgian wedding marketplace) · House of Weddings · +7
Switzerland CHF 250 CHF 400 CHF 590 Bridebook (wedding marketplace, Swiss edition) · photopros.ch (Lausanne) · +3
Germany €120 €200 €350 Bridebook (wedding planning platform) · ThePerfectWedding.de (wedding portal) · +2
Spain €100 €200 €350 Bodas.net (The Knot Worldwide) · Fotografos de Boda (FdB directory) · +5
United Kingdom £100 £250 £400 Bridebook (UK wedding planning marketplace) · Fearless Photographers (international wedding photographer directory) · +4
United States $175 $280 $800 The Knot Worldwide · Zola · +3

Methodology

Bands compile association figures, marketplace studies and freelance barometers from the last three years, in local currency. Wedding bands describe full-day coverage; portrait bands a 1 to 2 hour session with digital delivery. We never average sources that measure different things: each figure is anchored to the sources listed below, and figures that failed source verification were dropped rather than estimated. Portrait bands carry lower confidence everywhere, as no market publishes a national portrait median. The calculator anchors its suggestion inside these bands by experience, then applies transparent additive adjustments (second photographer +18%, album +15%, engagement session +12%, marginal hours at 75% of the average hour).

Download the dataset (CSV, CC BY 4.0) Free to reuse with attribution to pacco.studio.
Sources (45)

France

  1. Mariages.net (The Knot Worldwide) · Budget moyen d'un mariage en France en 2026 — citing the Rapport 2026 sur le Secteur Nuptial en France (2026)
  2. Mariages.net (The Knot Worldwide) · Prix d'un photographe de mariage en 2024 — citing the Rapport 2024 sur le secteur nuptial en France (2024)
  3. Mariages.net (The Knot Worldwide) · Photographes de mariage en Île-de-France — couple-reported price statistics (2026)
  4. Mariages.net (The Knot Worldwide) · Photographes de mariage en Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur — couple-reported price statistics (2026)
  5. Mariages.net (The Knot Worldwide) · Photographes de mariage en Bretagne — couple-reported price statistics (2026)
  6. Malt · Grille des tarifs 2026 : Les Photographes freelances (baromètre des tarifs) (2026)
  7. StarOfService · Quel est le tarif d'une séance de photographie de portrait ? (cost guide) (2026)
  8. LaShootingBox · Quel est le tarif d'un shooting photo en famille ? / Tarif photographe portrait (MyPhotoMagazine) (2025)
  9. UPP — Union des Photographes Professionnels · Les barèmes de la photographie professionnelle (2026)

Belgium

  1. House of Weddings (Belgian wedding marketplace) · Hoeveel kost een huwelijk in Belgie nu echt? (price indications based on Nationale Huwelijksenquete 2025 + market research) (2026)
  2. House of Weddings · Nationale Huwelijksenquete 2025 — Hoeveel kost trouwen in 2026? (2026)
  3. Creative Shelter (Belgian copyright-invoicing platform for creative freelancers) · Wat is het uurtarief van creatieve freelancers in 2025? (freelance rate barometer) (2025)
  4. Mariages.net Belgium (The Knot Worldwide), as cited by Anatole wedding guide · Mariages.net Belgique observed price data, cited in 'Prix photographe mariage 2025: tarifs complets' (2025)
  5. WeWed (Belgian wedding planning platform) · Photographe mariage Belgique: prix 2026 et questions a poser (2026)
  6. Salino.be (Belgian event-services marketplace) · Wat kost een trouwfotograaf? Verborgen kosten & bespaartips (2025)
  7. Trustlocal.be (Belgian verified-vendor directory) · Top fotografen in Belgie — prijzen & reviews (2025)
  8. Choisirmonphotographe.be (Belgian photographer comparison site) · Comparer les prix des photographes en Belgique (2025)
  9. Ingrid Weyers Fotografie (published Belgian studio price list) · Prijzen — fotoshoot tarieven (2025)

Frequently asked

Pricing, without the guesswork

How much should I charge for wedding photography?

Start from the typical band for your market and experience, then test it against your own cost floor: gear, insurance, editing hours and social charges. The calculator above does both halves and warns you when a quote would lose you money.

What does a wedding photographer cost in 2026?

Typical full-day rates run around 1 300 EUR in France, 1 800 GBP in the UK and 4 400 USD in the US, with wide bands either side. The table below lists all seven markets with sources.

How do I calculate my day rate?

Count every hour a shoot really takes, including editing, add your share of yearly fixed costs, divide by what you must net per hour, then gross it up for charges and taxes. That is exactly the cost floor formula this page uses.

What goes into a cost floor?

Yearly fixed costs (gear amortization, insurance, software, marketing) spread over your shoots, plus every working hour at your minimum hourly, grossed up for social charges. Below that number a booking costs you money.

Why do bands vary so much by region?

Cost of living, competition density and what couples budget locally all differ. That is why the bands stay in local currency and are never converted or averaged across markets.

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