Bride wants me to travel HELP!!!

[cnp]

<p>I am new to the forums I love it here,thanks to all who read and help me out!!<br>

I recently got a call from a niece of a bride who would like to pay for her aunts wedding photos.I was Ok with this,So I met the niece and gave her the paper work to pass along to the aunt and then return to me.it took me 2 trips and several calls to get the paper work back,she has seemed to be very difficult.so I finally get the paper work back with adress's to where I need to be.the Bride lives 20 minutes away from me and that makes the venue an hr from there, lots and lots of traveling.plus the area is not the safest and I'm unfamiliar with it.<br>

Ok my question is How do I tell this Bride I can not be at her home to photograph her getting ready,or do I say ok I'll be there but then ask for a traveling fee of some sort.I'm frustrated and confused at what to do.please please help.and Thank You.<br>

~Christina</p>

[Matt Laur]

<p>Charging for your travel time is a perfectly reasonable thing to do.</p>

[mcmanamey]

<p>Christina - my opinion is, frankly, too bad. I am aware I sound harsh BUT: <br>

The venue location should have come up when you were talking to the niece. An included travel distance is something you should have set in your rates ahead of time. To go back and say, "Oh, I'm sorry, but I need more $$ for my travel" after the fact is, to me, unconscionable and completely unprofessional. If I make a mistake, that's too bad for me if dealing with it, or correcting it means additional costs on my part. You should have had that information and decided on travel fees ahead of time, and before signatures. If you already agreed to shoot her getting ready at her house, too bad. You agreed, you'd better do it.</p>

<p>You being unfamiliar and uncomfortable with the area is another too bad. Take a male "assistant", if you want, drive it ahead of time if you want, but get over it.<br>

Now, maybe I'm just used to the sprawl & cheap gas of Oklahoma City (where my regular job commute was 45 minutes at 70mph), but why is an hour such a huge deal? Is it no highway? All highway? Yes, I'll give you that an hour drive home at the end of the night when you're exhausted is a long drive, but frankly, so what? It's a job, it's money.</p>

[vcakic]

<p>Charge for travel expences, it's a normal thing. Get somebody to drive you (driver will buy you a peace of mind on many aspects you mention) and get yourself familiar with places you need to be at. If travel is the only "problem", you shouldn't be frustrated or confused.</p>

[huperetes]

<p>What is your loss to benefit ratio on traveling to the home?</p>

[brooke_eaton1]

<p>20 mins from your house is just standard where I come from and an hour drive to the venue isn't bad at all. Honestly, I don't know if I would even charge extra for this but it might be different where you live. The "travel" really wouldn't be considered travel. </p>

[david_schilling___chicago_]

<p>I'm with Maria, this should have come up before now. An hour drive is no big deal in my market. If the paperwork is already done then it wouldn't make sense to start adding on a travel fee now.</p>

[aimee_pieters]

<p>Maria and David apparently have experience with weddings and dealing with customers. Once you give your word, especially with the paperwork, it's your word. Didn't you discuss the locations, restrictions, areas for photography before you sent paperwork? I'm assuming that you have a contract?<br>

My policy is to NEVER sign a contract when I mail it to someone. I ask them to sign both copies and return both to me. I then sign them and return a copy to them. This way, I haven't committed to them before they've committed to me. In this case, this would have helped you a lot. Spell everything out ahead of time and you'll have no problems. <br>

I had a colleague one time who never got a contract back that he had signed until about a week before the wedding. He had a HUGE problem because he had booked the date for another wedding. He had to scramble to find another shooter because he had committed.<br>

2 important policies of mine are: I NEVER commit to anything before my clients do and I also NEVER have more money into a wedding than my clients at any given time.<br>

You're the professional, your client is the "unknown"...-Aimee</p>

[think27]

<p>As with David and Brooke - it is more of the norm then the exception to have a 20 min drive to a bride's home and not at all uncommon to be an hour away from the festivities from there. At least in the two markets I've worked in in my 17 years..</p>

<p>I guess I don't understand the problem as you are paid - from the hour you step into the bride's home until the end of the day... Perhaps you have not specified a time the shoot ends and that is the problem? I do a 5, 6 or 7 hour package so it doesn't matter if it takes 2 hours to get to the reception... But I'm guessing in your case you don't have a time limit on your deal. <br>

Like many have said here, this is a case where you'll have to live and learn. These things do need to be addressed in advance. Next time I'm sure you'll make sure to dot all your i's and cross all your t's. ;-) <br>

If it helps, my clock starts with walking in the door at the bride's home. If the bride lives more than 3 hours (there and back - total) I do charge an hourly rate for gas. No travel fees if less than 3 hours. Also contracting for a set number of hours takes care of any travel time between house and church and/or church and venue.</p>

 

[think27]

<p>PS - to clarify - I don't charge for 3 hours... for gas if they are an accumulated total of 3 hours away (there and back). I charge for every hour over 3 hours. I live in the DC/VA/MD area so many of the weddings are spread from the shore of MD to the mountains of Virginia and all points north and south. </p>

[cnp]

<p>I want to thank everyone who gave me answers on what to do and opions of what I should have done. This is one of those things where I learned from my mistake my contract does not state that I'm going to be there but I briefly discussed it with the niece,no locations were given then. I am going to drive there ahead of time with my husband and figure out where I need to go and not charge any travel fee.this couple along with the family is difficult enough,I don't want to have to deal with that to.<br>

Thanks again</p>

 

[savagesax]

<p>In some cases you can deduct mileage, business expenses off on your taxes; if you have a legitimate business.</p>

<p>Buy a GPS system for $100, also a business write off.</p>

<p>It sounds like there is more to this story, such as you not really wanting to photograph the wedding. Maybe I'm wrong, but something doesn't sound right.</p>

[SCL]

<p>You sound so reluctant...perhaps this gig isn't right for you, and you can cancel.</p>

[markonestudios]

By all means, charge for travel. and as a lesson learnt, make it clear in your packages that your services exclude (or include, as you wish), travel costs, perhaps up to a certain mileage from Point X.

[sherijohnson]

<p>I thought you were saying she wanted you to travel to another country. Where I live driving an hour is still in the "city" so it is expected.</p>

[dmz17]

<p>While I am not a wedding photographer (I am a self employed IT consultant), I cannot but feel that you have brought this unto yourself.<br>

If someone asks me to perform a service I find it natural to ask where this service has to be performed. If in another part of the country or in a neighbouring country I can ask for reimbursement of my travelling cost (bridge toll, gas, ferry, etc.). If 'only' an hour away, I would not dream of bringing it up as an issue. I'd consider it part of the cost of doing business. If I wanted I could probably deduct the cost from my taxes, but, truthfully, I wouldn't bother.<br>

If the contract would require me to travel a long distance every day for, say a month, I'd negotiate a 50% deduction of my hourly rate during the hours I am on the road.</p>

<p>Of course, different culltures, different customs.</p>

[daniel flather]

<p>Unfamiliar with the area. How's that a problem? Google maps?</p>

[cnp]

<p>OK !!THANK YOU ALL AGAIN, <br>

I have figured it out. I have no problem doing the wedding I love what I do. I already own a GPS and have figured it all out. I guess next time I will just keep my issues and questions to my self.</p>

[roger_smith4]

<p>"I guess next time I will just keep my issues and questions to my self."<br>

Why would you do that? You may get a more friendly response using a more formal writing style (including capital letters and proper spacing).<br>

Anyway, at $.40/mile (gas is only 1/4 of that or less) a 1 hour drive is worth $24 in insurance, gas and wear and tear. Is that significant enough to change the economics of the wedding?</p>

[craig_shearman1]

<p>An hour isn't "travel." In my day job I work in Washington, D.C., and I live just outside Baltimore. So my commute is an hour to an hour and 15 minutes each way on a good day without bad weather. What to consider "travel" for a wedding is admittedly a gray area. If it means getting on an airplane, that's definitely travel and you bill for the expenses plus time. If it's driving distance it becomes very subjective and you have to take into consideration everything from how much you like/hate to drive to how much you're charging for the wedding. I'd drive 2-3 hours to shoot a $10,000 job, but not to shoot a $1,000 job. On the $10,000 job I wouldn't nickel and dime the client with mileage or travel time, but if someone wanted me to travel for a $1,000 job, I certainly would do both and turn it into a $2,000 job. Part of it can be how big a circle you have to draw around yourself to find the jobs that you want. If you want to shoot $500 weddings, you can probably find all you can handle not more than 20 minutes from your house. If you want to shoot $10,000 weddings, you might be traveling 2-3 hours pretty often.</p>

[david_schilling___chicago_]

<p>"OK !!THANK YOU ALL AGAIN,........ have figured it all out. I guess next time I will just keep my issues and questions to my self."</p>

<p>Your post asked for help (with three exclamation points) and you got several polite informed responses.....if you don't ask it's difficult to learn.</p>

[mcmanamey]

<p>Christina - don't keep issues to yourself.<br>

There's plenty of us that may think alike, but there's plenty with other thoughts that can bring ideas from an angle that didn't occur to a bunch of us. Besides, maybe somebody else has the same problem! Maybe you just helped a newbie realize something they hadn't even considered!!!</p>

 

[lindsay_dobson]

<p>I agree, it's positive that you asked for advice on this. I suggest setting aside some time to completely rationalise your paperwork. Ensure your Contract covers all matters and draw up a concise Booking Form which must be completed by the client(s), signed and returned with the Contract. I enter no agreements until I have all the details of the event documented. </p>

<p>I would be thrilled if I got to work just an hour from home. Travelling is part of the job and hence you do need to cover this in your Terms. Cost-wise, I make no charge for the first 20 miles but have a mileage fee thereafter. I don't charge for my travel time during the first hour, but make a reasonable charge for any subsequent time in transit. It's simple and will really help you to avoid these hassles in the future. Good luck with the wedding.</p>