How Our Pricing Actually Works
Two tiers, one studio, no games.
Here's the part most wedding photographers make harder than it needs to be.
Every Wedding Day Love Story we deliver — whether Katie shot it, Sam shot it, or one of our trusted Associate Team members did — is personally edited by Sam and Katie. Same studio. Same heart. Same standards we've protected for the past 14 years.
So when you're choosing between booking us directly or booking with our Associate Team, you're not really choosing between two different studios. You're choosing where you want to land on one honest spectrum — and we'd rather walk you through it than let you guess.
What's Identical · What's Different
Most studios won't say this part out loud. We will.
| ✓ IDENTICAL | → DIFFERENT |
|---|---|
| Same studio. Same brand standard since 2012. | The wedding-day eye — variety of shots, emotional range in the small in-between moments, creative risk under pressure. The kind of seeing built over 14 years and thousands of weddings. |
| Sam and Katie personally edit every Wedding Day Love Story. | Better gear, more frames — Sam and Katie shoot with higher-end equipment and additional techniques, and deliver notably more images per wedding. |
| Same wedding-day coverage — 8 hours of contracted continuous coverage, single shooter, same scope from getting ready through reception. | Delivery speed — 14-day guarantee with Sam or Katie · 4–12 weeks with our Associate Team. |
| Same structured client experience from booking to gallery — early creative team intro, same planning system, same online gallery, same digital delivery. | Experience and accolades — Sam and Katie are internationally awarded with 14 years inside wedding days. Every WCP associate has shot at least 50 weddings inside our system, vetted personally by us. |
| Same emergency backup protocol — Sam or Katie can step in if available. | — |
Here's the honest read: the standards in the left column are met by both tiers. The differences in the right column come down to experience and what experience produces. Our Associate Team is genuinely excellent — every member has shot at least 50 weddings with us, been vetted personally, and learned to capture wedding days inside our system. They deliver beautiful, dependable work, and we're proud of it.
And — Sam and Katie have spent 14 years inside wedding days. International accolades. Thousands of moments under pressure. Weather that fell apart, timelines that imploded, light that couldn't be saved. That experience shows up in the kind of shots that get noticed and the small moments that almost got missed. The honest framing: for our associates, this is a job they're great at. For Sam and Katie, this company and these weddings are our lifeblood. The standards are the same. The degree to which they're met is honestly different.
Both tiers are real WCP weddings. Both come back edited by us. The question is what you want on the day itself.
14 Years. Zero Canceled Weddings.
In 14 years of running Windy City Production, Sam has never canceled a wedding.
Not after a surfing accident in Costa Rica that required stitches the night before — he was on the wedding the next morning. Not days after his children were born. Not on his anniversary, his birthday, Christmas, New Year's, or any holiday he could have taken. Not in the middle of every business challenge that came up across more than a decade of weddings.
Katie shares the same standard, and our Associate Team has stepped up reliably for hundreds of weddings as well — but we won't pretend the track records are identical. Associates are professionals doing a job they're great at. Sam is the founder, the lead artist, the editor, and the person whose name is the brand. The reliability difference comes from the difference in what this work is to each of us.
That is the honest reason we offer two tiers. Both come back edited by us. Both are real WCP weddings. But if you're someone for whom "the photographer didn't show" is the unspoken nightmare, Sam being your shooter is the strongest answer we know how to give.
Want to Max Out Your Savings?
We know weddings come with a lot of moving pieces, so we love creating simple ways for couples to get the most value from their investment.
Available Savings Options:
5% Cash Discount — Applied to any portion of your balance paid in physical cash. Use it on your deposit, your final balance, or anywhere in between. No minimum, no limit.
Pre-Payment Discount — Up to 6% — Applied to any amount paid early, beyond your deposit. 0.5% off per full month in advance of your wedding date, capped at 6% (12 months early). Pay sooner, save more.
$50 Referral Credit, per service — When you’re referred by a past couple, friend, or venue. Book photo and video and it doubles to $100.
$100 Reaction Video Credit, per service — When you share a Post-Wedding Day Love Story Reaction Video with us. Per service — share one for photo and one for video, and it’s $200.
Stack any combination that applies to you.
Associate Photo Package$2,600 $2,194 (a total savings of $406) Fri / Sun / Off-Season Sat
(Nov–April)
Sam or Katie Photo Package$3,700 $3,176 (a total savings of $524) Fri / Sun / Off-Season Sat
(Nov–April)
Associate Photo Package$2,600 $2,194 (a total savings of $406) Fri / Sun / Off-Season Sat
(Nov–April)
Sam or Katie Photo Package$3,700 $3,176 (a total savings of $524) Fri / Sun / Off-Season Sat
(Nov–April)
We believe your wedding memories deserve thoughtful, beautiful, professional coverage — and we also believe the process should feel clear, honest, and full of value.
If you have any questions about how to take advantage of these savings, we’re always happy to walk you through the options.
Associate Photo Package
- 8Hrs Continuous Coverage
- Sam & Katie Overseen Edit
- Personal Online Gallery
- Generally 4-12 Week Delivery
- FREE Bonus: 10 X 10 Romantics Wedding Album
Sam or Katie Photo
- 8Hrs Continuous Coverage
- Sam or Katie Personally Shooting
- Personal Online Gallery
- 14 Day Delivery
- FREE Bonus: 12 X 12 Romantics Wedding Album
Associate Video Package
- 8Hrs Continuous Coverage
- Sam & Katie Overseen Edit
- 1-2 Minute Teaser Film
- 4-6 Minute Cinema
- Generally 4-12 Week Delivery
- FREE Bonus: Premium Video Book
- FREE Bonus: ALL Raw Footage On SSD Drive
Sam or Katie Video
- 8Hrs Continuous Coverage
- Sam or Katie Personally Shooting
- 1-2 Minute Teaser Film
- 8–12 Minute Cinema
- 14 Day Delivery
- FREE Bonus: Premium Video Book
- FREE Bonus: ALL Raw Footage On SSD Drive
Peak Season Saturday Savings (May – October)
Associate Photo Package$4,000 $3,458 (a total savings of $542) Peak Season Sat
(May-Oct)
Sam or Katie Photo Package$5,500 $4,793 (a total savings of $707) Peak Season Sat
(May-Oct)
Associate Video Package$4,000 $3,458 (a total savings of $542) Peak Season Sat
(May-Oct)
Sam or Katie Video Package$5,500 $4,793 (a total savings of $707) Peak Season Sat
(May-Oct)
We believe your wedding memories deserve thoughtful, beautiful, professional coverage — and we also believe the process should feel clear, honest, and full of value.
If you have any questions about how to take advantage of these savings, we’re always happy to walk you through the options.
Associate Photo Package
- 8Hrs Continuous Coverage
- Sam & Katie Overseen Edit
- Personal Online Gallery
- Generally 4-12 Week Delivery
- FREE Bonus: 10 X 10 Romantics Wedding Album
Sam or Katie Photo
- 8Hrs Continuous Coverage
- Sam or Katie Personally Shooting
- Personal Online Gallery
- 14 Day Delivery
- FREE Bonus: 12 X 12 Romantics Wedding Album
Associate Video Package
- 8Hrs Continuous Coverage
- Sam & Katie Overseen Edit
- 1-2 Minute Teaser Film
- 4-6 Minute Cinema
- Generally 4-12 Week Delivery
- FREE Bonus: Premium Video Book
- FREE Bonus: ALL Raw Footage On SSD Drive
Sam or Katie Video
- 8Hrs Continuous Coverage
- Sam or Katie Personally Shooting
- 1-2 Minute Teaser Film
- 8–12 Minute Cinema
- 14 Day Delivery
- FREE Bonus: Premium Video Book
- FREE Bonus: ALL Raw Footage On SSD Drive
One thing worth knowing about how we run the associate tier: Sam personally shoots the free pre-video sessions for every associate-tier couple who books video. He doesn't have to. The contract doesn't require it. He does it because he wants the absolute best result for every WCP couple — regardless of which tier they booked. That's part of why our associate weddings deliver the way they do.
So… which one is right for you?
If we were sitting across from you over coffee, this is exactly how we'd talk through it.
Most couples who choose our Associate Team are…
…couples who love the WCP brand and the Sam-and-Katie-edited standard, and who recognize that an associate with 50+ WCP weddings under their belt — vetted personally by us, working inside our system — is genuinely excellent at their job. Some of these couples are working within a budget that makes the associate tier the right fit. Others have the budget for either tier and prefer the associate route because they want a creative collaborator with more scheduling flexibility, or because they value the dependably extraordinary work our team has built a reputation around. They're comfortable with a 4–12 week delivery window and they know they're booking a real WCP wedding.
Most couples who choose Sam or Katie are…
…couples who want internationally-awarded eyes capturing the day, who care deeply about the variety, emotional range, and creative risk that 14 years of pressure-tested experience brings to a gallery and film, and who want their fully edited photo gallery and cinema film delivered within 14 days of the wedding, guaranteed. Booking us directly means booking the lead artists whose work is the reason Windy City Production exists — and the people whose track record on wedding-day reliability is the strongest one we can offer.
Neither answer is the right answer. There's just your answer — and if you're not sure, that's exactly what the consult call is for.
One honest note on cancellations: our contracts state that retainers are non-refundable, and that's the policy that legally applies to both tiers. In practice, when a wedding personally booked with Sam or Katie has been canceled or rescheduled over the past 14 years, we've made it our standard to fully refund every couple — and we have receipts to back that up. Associate cancellations follow the same retainer policy, but in some cases the refund grace has not been extended beyond what the contract requires. We tell you this because we'd rather you know upfront than be surprised later. If this matters to you, ask about it on the consult call.
What Couples Are Saying
Real reviews from couples on both tiers. We did not cherry-pick — we picked honest.
Couples who chose our Associate Team
I wanted to send a MILLION thank you's to Sam and Jaime. Words cannot even describe how amazing of a job you both did shooting our wedding. Drew and I felt so at ease, and truly felt that you captured the joy and emotion of our special day.— Natalie & Drew
Couples who chose Sam or Katie
Katie and Sam were absolutely incredible. We love it — it truly tells a story. Their calming presence made us feel super comfortable, and our guests couldn't stop commenting on how amazing the team was.— from The Knot & WeddingWire reviews
One question worth sitting with before our call:
When you imagine watching your wedding film ten years from now, who do you want to have been holding the camera?
There's no wrong answer. Just yours. Bring it to the call — we'll take it from there.