Yes, at least from-prices
Couples and clients comparing photographers, planners, florists or DJs skip the ones with no prices. Not out of meanness; they have a budget, a shortlist of six and an evening to narrow it. A site that will not say what it costs is a site they cannot compare, so it drops off the list while the ones with a from-price stay on it.
That is the answer. The rest of this piece is the reasoning, the objections, and how to do it for your kind of business.
What publishing does to your enquiries
It changes who asks. With no prices, you receive enquiries from everyone who liked the work, including the half whose budget is a third of yours. Each takes a reply, a polite decline, and a small loss of goodwill on both sides. With a from-price and inclusions, that half rules itself out quietly and the enquiries you do receive are from people who already know they can afford you. Fewer enquiries, more bookings from them, and the first reply can be about the date and the day rather than the number.
The objections, honestly
"Our work is bespoke, every job is different." Then publish the from-price and say what it covers. "Wedding flowers from £X, most couples spend between £X and £Y" is honest and useful. Bespoke does not mean unknowable; you know roughly what your last twenty jobs cost.
"Competitors will undercut us." They already know your prices; they have friends who enquired. The couple does not, and the couple is who the page is for.
"We want to get them on a call first." You will still get them on a call, and the call will be with someone who has seen the price and stayed. A call with someone who leaves when they hear the number is the call you are trying to avoid.
"Our prices change with the season." Publish the range and say so. Venues and florists do exactly this.
"We are the expensive option." Say it. A from-price above the market, with the inclusions that justify it, attracts the couples who want that and repels the ones who would haggle.
From-price, not full price list
Nobody is asking you to publish a tariff for every combination. A from-price per service with what it includes is enough to let a couple place you. Full packages, upgrades and bespoke quotes follow the date-check enquiry. The FAQ on our wedding photographer page says exactly this, and it is the most common answer we give.
How each kind of business states it
- Wedding and event photographers, videographers: from-price per package with hours, coverage, deliverables and turnaround.
- Wedding planners: from-price per service level, full, partial and on-the-day, or the percentage model explained. Couples choose a level before they choose a planner, and they cannot choose a level without a price.
- Florists: from-prices per item, bouquet, buttonhole, table centre, arch. Couples have no idea what flowers cost, and the price guide is an education as much as a filter.
- Caterers: guide prices per head by menu style, with what is included. Clients budget per head.
- Venues: hire from-prices by day and season, and package prices for weddings. Venues without prices lose to venues with them.
- DJs and bands: by event type and duration, with hours, equipment and lighting listed.
- Portrait studios: the session fee and the product price ranges, because surprise print prices are the top complaint about portrait photography.
- Commercial photographers: the pricing model, day rate or per image, with typical ranges, and a plain page on usage licensing.
- Celebrants and children's entertainers: the fee or package price plainly, with inclusions. These are the businesses where couples and parents most appreciate simply being told.
Where the prices go
A Packages and prices page in the main menu, a strip of from-prices on the home page, and the price on each service page. The same figures everywhere, including your Instagram highlights and your proposals. Currency stated, and whether tax is included, because a UK or EU couple expects VAT in the figure and a US client expects it added.
When you change them
Once or twice a year, in one place, by you. If changing a price on your site means asking a developer, the site is built wrong, and the price will be stale by the time you get round to it.
Where this sits
Publishing packages with from-prices is one of the six essentials of every photography and events website we build, and we hold ourselves to it: the prices for our own packages are public, with what each includes. A supplier who asks a couple to enquire for a price is asking for a favour the couple can easily refuse.