I'm a full-time wedding photographer, so I'll try to give you some insight into why certain things are done the way they are. Keep in mind that there are no laws or association or oversight body that governs the wedding industry. That pretty much means anyone can purport to be a "wedding photographer", and they can charge whatever they want, however they want. Let the market decide!
There are varying viewpoints on the subject of payment schedule, not just between photographer and client, but amongst photographers themselves. Paying a booking fee first and then the balance on or before the day of the wedding is a common policy. I have no idea if the majority of photogs in Toronto do this, but that is my standard policy, as it is with a large number of my colleagues.
I could probably come up with a list of a dozen reasons why photographers have such policies, and then a dozen reasons why clients prefer something different. That would take too long to type out all at once
, so I'll try to address a couple of points first, and then let the discussion develop from there.
Most of the arguments boil down to striking a balance between the often opposing (but equal) needs of the vendor vs the client. My policy is a booking fee to hold the date, with the balance due 30 days before the wedding. I used to collect the balance on the day of the wedding, but I felt that dealing with money matters then was a bit tacky, and would sometimes not even happen. The 30 days allows sufficient time for the funds to clear, since most of my clients pay by cheque. I have not been burned yet, but I do know of many photographers who only instituted this policy after being bitten by a late NSF cheque.
Having said that, I do bend the rules depending on the situation. If the couple adds on extra stuff to the package (parent albums, canvas prints, additional days, etc.), then I don't have a problem adding another payment 30 days after the wedding, when they come in to view the proofs and album layouts. I will structure things so that whatever payments I receive before the wedding will at least cover the photography and associated post-processing. Let's say the total package comes out to $6000, including a couple extra albums for the parents. I would be fine with collecting the $1000 booking fee, then $3000 30 days before the wedding, and finally $2780 (including tax) 30 days after the wedding.
I do this to protect myself and my business. Worst case, the couple breaks up the day after the wedding and disappear. I don't hear about this until after I've processed all the photos and designed the album. I need to be paid not only for that work, but for my services on the day of the wedding. I figure $4000 will cover that. So even if the couple does skip town and never come to collect their photos, I'm covered. Yes, this sort of thing does happen!
But on the other hand, the happily-engaged couple want some assurances that the photographer won't pack up and leave town either. That happens too, unfortunately! But here is the big difference: it is much easier for a client to get references for a photographer, than the other way around. You can go on their web site and/or blog and see evidence of many happy past clients. You can even ask the photographer if those past clients can contact you as a reference. The photographer, OTOH, has no such resource to help determine the viability of the two people who just walked in the door for the meeting. It's not like people have a personal web page that says "look at all these happy vendors with whom I've done business in the past!". Real life is not like eBay, sadly.
So from a photographer's viewpoint, I feel I am assuming a greater risk in taken on an unknown client, than the client is when deciding to work with me. It sounds a bit harsh, but I don't know most of my sales leads from a hole in the wall.
But with things like Facebook fan pages, online portfolios, customer testimonials, etc., clients will have a much better idea of who I am.
It's one argument for going with a professional photographer who has a proper business presence, rather than someone who just does this on the side. If a client insisted, I could show them my incorporation papers, my Ontario vendor permit, my GST license number, my business insurance policy, etc., etc. The client has many avenues of recourse should the business relationship go sour. The photographer has very little. As a consumer, one has more rights than a vendor. One of the ways to balance this out is with the payment schedule that does favour the vendor over the client.