The couple who want package two, but
Package two covers eight hours from bridal prep to first dance. The couple want it to start an hour earlier because the ceremony is at noon and the getting ready is at a different address. They would like a second shooter for the groom's side, a parent album as well as their own, and they are wondering whether an engagement shoot could be added at a discount.
You open your price list, your notes on what you charged last year, and the album supplier's current prices. You work it out, write a long email with the total, and then the couple ask what it would be without the parent album. You start again.
Your pricing lives in your head
The problem is not that your packages are wrong. It is that the rules around them are informal. You know that extra hours cost more after the evening meal, that a second shooter's day rate depends on how many hours, that travel beyond a certain distance adds a charge, and that a Friday wedding in November is priced differently. None of that is written down in a way that anything else can use.
- Extras are priced from memory, so two similar quotes can come out differently.
- Album prices change when your lab changes theirs, and your quotes lag behind.
- Couples ask for alternatives, and each one is recalculated by hand.
- The accepted quote has to be retyped into the contract and invoice.
What hand-built quotes cost you
Mistakes go both ways. Sometimes you undercharge because a cost was left out, such as the second shooter's travel or an overnight stay. Sometimes a couple compares two quotes from you, one sent to a friend last year, and asks why theirs is different.
Then there is the time. Custom quotes tend to arrive when you are busiest, and a quote that takes a day to come back gives the couple a day to look elsewhere.
How we build a quote tool that uses your own rules
- We sit with you and write down how you actually price: base packages, hourly extras, second shooter rates, travel bands by distance from home, off-peak and midweek pricing, albums and prints.
- Those rules go into a quote screen where you pick the package and extras, and the price is worked out with every line shown.
- Distance is calculated from your base to the venue using a mapping service, so travel charges follow your bands without you checking a map.
- The couple receive a quote page where they can switch extras on and off themselves within the options you allow, and the total updates in front of them.
- When they accept, the chosen package and extras flow into the contract and payment schedule, so nothing is typed again.
- Album and print costs sit in a table you can update when your lab changes prices, and new quotes pick up the change straight away.
| Extra | Rule you give us | How it appears to the couple |
|---|---|---|
| Additional hour | Rate by time of day | Line with hours and price |
| Second shooter | Rate by hours covered | Optional, with a short explanation |
| Travel | Bands by distance from your base | Travel line, shown only when it applies |
| Albums | Your price per size and spread count | Chosen from your album options |
| Engagement shoot | Price when added to a wedding | Optional add-on |
You can always override a line by hand. The tool is there to do the arithmetic and keep your rules consistent, not to stop you giving a couple a better price when you choose to.
Quoting after the tool is in place
A custom quote takes a couple of minutes on the screen instead of an evening with a calculator. The couple can see what an extra hour or a parent album adds and decide for themselves, which cuts out most of the back and forth.
Your prices become consistent across couples and across years, and when you raise them, you change one table rather than remembering every place they live.
Is this how your quotes go?
- Most couples ask for changes to your listed packages.
- You recalculate quotes by hand when couples ask for alternatives.
- You have discovered after booking that a quote left out a cost.
- Album prices in your quotes are older than your lab's price list.
- An accepted quote is retyped into the contract and invoice.