I work with wedding photographers (providing web solutions). They are not overpaid because they are self-employed and paid directly by their customers. If brides are willing to pay their going rate, how is that being "overpaid"?
I think the point was that a saner price would be lower. He's not saying that they should be regulated, just that you'd be stupid to buy from them.
As a photographer who's done a couple of weddings, you have no freaking idea how much time goes into it. The sales cycle takes time. Dealing with Bride-zilla and Mom-zilla is always lots of fun. Then usually you do engagement photos, often outdoors somewhere. Figure an hour of driving, a couple hours of shooting. Maybe 8 hours of post-processing the 500 pictures:) Maybe less if you're conservative.
Then the wedding itself. Wake up before dawn, pack up your gear. Drive to wherever the event is happening. Get a lay of the land, figure out where people will standing, how the light will be at X o'clock, etc... Then you run around all day with a heavy pack and a heavy camera shooting the bride and her bridesmaids hanging out in her big hotel room. The makeup artist working on each of the girls. The hair stylist doing each girl. Mom lacing up the corset. Etc... This is 3-4 hours, maybe more. Then over to the grooms room, repeat, only much quicker. Then slam in new batteries, new CF cards, and jog a mile to the church. Shoot people walking in, sitting down, etc.. The whole ceremony, which can take hours and hours. Then take the bride and groom off for their own photos. Then reception photos. Then dinner photos. Then dancing photos. Wrap up around 2 AM after a 20 hour day on your feet with a 20 lb bag on your back and a 8 lb lump that you're holding up to your eye all day. Drive home.
Spend 2-3 days post-processing. Spend another day laying out books. Realize the check they gave you isn't signed, and they're on honeymoon for three more weeks.
Etc...
It's physically taxing, and at the end of the day your hourly rate is hilariously low. And you only work a few weekends in the summer. It's a very hard way to make a buck.
That just underscores how outdated this article is. The industry has gone through a lot of changes in just a couple years.
You can get a wedding photographer on Craigslist for $400. I also have friends/customers who get $15K to shoot a wedding (yes, $15K).
You can get a haircut for $15 at Supercuts, but you can also go to a luxury spa and get your hair done for $250. Does that mean hair stylists are overpaid? No.
There's no such thing as overpaid in a self-employed, service industry–especially those that cater to upper-class individuals. If people are paying your rates, then your prices are spot on (or too low).
I think the point was that a saner price would be lower. He's not saying that they should be regulated, just that you'd be stupid to buy from them.