How to book a wedding photographer and videographer in Bengaluru

A Bengaluru reception and wedding is usually one booking. The reception is at night and the muhurtham the next morning: AK Smoke Films told us about 9 in 10 South Indian weddings here run that way. Each extra function, like a haldi, a mehendi or a sangeet, adds to the price. At one studio that prices by the event, a haldi or mehendi starts at ₹10,000 for a traditional photographer and ₹20,000 for a candid one.

Guests move the price too. AK Smoke Films' two-person package is about ₹50,000 for 50 guests and ₹60,000 for 1,000 to 1,500. One studio's ₹1.25 lakh package is for up to 50 guests, and its ₹1.55 lakh one for 100 to 150.

Ask whether GST is on top. Two of the studios we read add GST on top of their prices. AK Smoke Films hasn't told us, and the other studios' pages don't say, so ask.

For a few hours of photos, one studio lists half a day of one photographer from ₹8,000 plus GST, and another ₹14,000 a session.

A freelance photographer usually works alone, photos only, and charges by the day. We found none in Bengaluru who publishes a wedding rate. One studio's page puts a freelancer at ₹30,000 to ₹60,000 for 6 to 8 hours, with 300 to 500 edited photos and no album.

The same job on both sides. Four people, the same four roles, at the reception and the wedding. What isn't the same: AK Smoke Films' price moves with the guest count, and the studio's list gives no hours or edited count and charges ₹17,500 for an album. AK Smoke Films' Premium, ₹1 lakh to ₹1.2 lakh, has the same four and may include two albums. If both sides include two albums, that's ₹1 lakh to ₹1.2 lakh against about ₹2.19 lakh, our sum.

What the extra pays for. The studio's page names what it says makes it different: the exact photo count in every contract, a written timeline for each step, insurance for its work, and every shot recorded on two memory cards at once. It doesn't say that's what the extra pays for. The same page gives general reasons a studio costs more, like a bigger team and more hours of editing, but doesn't tie them to this list. AK Smoke Films told us it prices in the middle of the market. So ask any team you like for those same four things in writing.

Other studios land in between, or below. One sells the same four kinds of coverage with an album for ₹1.25 lakh plus GST, for up to 50 guests. Another's starting prices for each person come to at least ₹1.6 lakh, counting the reception and the wedding as one session each. And one starts at ₹65,000 plus GST for four people, a drone, 800+ edited photos and an album. More money doesn't always buy more people. Look at a full gallery (Q6), then compare what each quote names.

Who on mytribe works each way. Set packages priced by the crowd, like the left: AK Smoke Films, from ₹50,000 for two people and an album. None of ours lists a price for each person, like the right. Nandushreyas sends the same crew of two photographers, two videographers and a drone operator to every wedding, edits every photo and prices by the functions you add; ask for the price. Magic Moments Photography quotes each wedding to the job, so ask them, and ask Cygnus Photography for a wedding quote too.

Posed

Standing for the camera on the wedding day

Candid

Caught in the middle of the ritual

Traditional is the posed photos and the full video. That means the stage photos with every family and the elders, and a video of the whole function as it happened. Candid photos catch the moments in between, and the cinematic videographer cuts the short film you'll share.

A big crowd may need a second videographer. AK Smoke Films puts one at the stage and one at the entrance, to record who came, for ₹15,000 to ₹20,000 more.

Your mother wants the old-style album and you want candid? One team of four does both. Ask to see both kinds from one wedding they've shot.

The drone. Nandushreyas has a drone operator at every wedding, and Magic Moments Photography has its own drones. At AK Smoke Films it's ₹15,000 to ₹20,000 more. It flies only with the venue's yes (see the short answers).

Ask whether the album's photos are part of the edited count or come on top of it.

Two kinds of video. The traditional video records the whole function and runs long. The highlight film is a few minutes cut to music. Ask how long each one is.

Raw files are every photo as it was shot, before editing. Ask for them. They cost ₹5,000 at one studio and 10% of the package at another, and Nandushreyas told us theirs come with the wedding, with every photo edited too.

Albums. AK Smoke Films told us about 95 in 100 of its families want one, and a separate album for the bride's family and the groom's is common. Ask how many sheets.

Reels. Many packages include a reel or a teaser that comes a few days later, and one studio adds a teaser posted the same night for ₹8,000. Reels and stories posted during the wedding usually need a separate content creator, booked by the function (see the short answers).

Give the exact start times when you ask. A 5.30 am muhurtham means a crew there before dawn, so ask whether that counts as extra hours. AK Smoke Films told us it reaches the venue at about 4 pm on the reception day.

Look at the family groups and the faces in dim light. A studio's page shows its best photos. Every photo from one wedding shows how many came out well, including the dark mandap.

If they won't name anyone, ask who shot the gallery they showed you and whether that person is free on your date.

Give them a list. Write down the family members who must be in the photos, and seat a cousin beside the lead photographer to point them out.

Ask who comes if the lead falls ill, and get that in writing too. Cygnus Photography told us he talks to every family before he takes a booking and doesn't sub-contract the event. Nandushreyas sends the same crew to every wedding.

If they cancel on you, a team usually sends another photographer it knows, or returns the advance, and neither is promised unless it's written down. You want both: the whole advance back, and someone to shoot in their place. Put that in the agreement.

Keep 10% or more back until the album and the video are in your hands.

When to book. One studio says three to six months ahead, and four to six for the auspicious dates. Another says four to six months for November to February.

Pick your album photos fast, since the album can't be made until you do.

If the footage never comes, a consumer commission can make the studio pay, but it can't give you the footage. The sums in three Bengaluru cases were small next to the booking: ₹20,000 plus 10% interest to a couple who paid ₹80,000 and never got their video; ₹55,000 to a family whose ₹2.5 lakh three-day booking came back with only the reception and the muhurtham; a ₹20,000 refund plus ₹5,000 to a groom who paid ₹40,000 and got another couple's wedding on his disc.

Ask how long they keep a copy, and keep two of your own.