The 2019 Wedding Photography Industry Report

The world's largest wedding photography industry report. EVER. 


Have you ever wondered how other wedding photographers run their businesses? Us, too! Which is why we surveyed over 500 wedding photographers from around the globe on topics ranging from advertising spend to gear. 

Well, the results are in, and we're here to share what we've learned!

Enjoy learning about your fellow wedding photographers and be sure to keep an eye out for next year's report!

*the data represented in this report is from 2018. 2019 data will be available in our 2020 report.

Summary

• In the survey, the average photographer has been in business (full-time or part-time) for 6 years and photographed 21 weddings in 2018.  

• On average, photographers reported that 17% of weddings in 2018 were destination weddings, 22% of clients bought a wedding album, 40% of weddings requested a second shooter, and 48% of weddings also booked an engagement session.  

• Respondents reported an average total revenue of $54,300 from their business in 2018, with a typical wedding photography package priced at $3,000.  

Total business expenses in 2018 averaged at $17,400. Most common expenses reported were equipment/gear, travel, and advertising.  

• Photographers spent an average of $1,800 on advertising and $1,226 on continued education in 2018.  

  • The number of years in business is correlated with more weddings booked and more revenue.  

• Revenue is correlated with more money spent on advertising and with more money spent on continued education.  

• Women spend more on average on continued education ($1356) compared to men ($916).  

• Respondents who reported buying or completing continued education were asked what type(s) they used. 58% reported using online sources, 42% went to in-person workshops, 40% used online guides, 27% used webinars, 26% used tutorials, 26% read books, 25% listened to podcasts, 22% went to conferences, 15% learned through mentorship, and 9% reported Other.  

• Photographers were asked how they acquire leads for their business - 91% reported by word of mouth, 87% from Instagram, 71% reported online searches, 63% from Facebook, 61% from vendor referrals, 25% from paid ads on wedding websites, 16% from Pinterest, 11% from wedding shows/expos, and 6% reported Other.  

• Respondents reported receiving about 95 leads/inquiries per year.  

• People spend about an hour on social media every day for their business and more than 75% have a blog.  

• 55% of photographers in the survey use Canon as their main camera brand, 27% use Nikon, 13% use Sony, and 5% reported Other brands.  

• The average respondent is 33 years old and 74% of the sample are female. 

General Business Basics






Canon dominates has more than half of the survey participants use Canon gear for their wedding photography businesses. Nikon is in second place with 27% and Sony isn't too far behind with 13%.


Majority of survey participants would use the words "dark" and "moody" to describe their photography style. Other styles such as "modern" and "artistic" are also top choices, while "fine art" is the least chosen option.


Most of the survey participants shared that they receive business leads from word-of-mouth, Instagram, online serches, and vendor referral, while only a small percentage receives leads from Wedding Shows or other resources.


On the topic of business leads, we asked participants to select their top three lead sources. Word-of-mouth and Instagram remain as the highest two leads sources, with online searches coming in third. 


2018 Business Statistics






Education, Investment, and Return



One a scale between 0 - 1, the correlation coefficient (r) is 0.1812461863, meaning that there is a correlation between continued education and revenue. 




One a scale between 0 - 1, the correlation coefficient (r) is 0.3517665875, meaning that there is an average correlation between advertising expenses and revenue. 



One a scale between 0 - 1, the correlation coefficient (r) is 0.7959123505, meaning that there is a high correlation between business expenses and revenue. 




Survey Participant Demographics

Australia, Austria, Belgium, Bermuda, Bosnia & Herzegovina, Brazil, Canada, Costa Rica, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, El Salvador, Fiji, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Guatemala, Iceland, India, Indonesia, Ireland, Italy, Republic of Korea, Latvia, Mexico, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Serbia, Singapore, Slovakia, South Africa, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Thailand, Turkey, United Kingdom, United States, Venezuela, Vietnam




Searching for ways to grow your wedding photography business? 

Check out our collection of online courses specifically created for wedding photographers!

Report created with the help of Faith Shin, PhD Data Scientist | Photo by J Olson Weddings | Photobug Community ©2019 | Privacy Policy