Before anything else: we sell one of the templates on this list. Stellar is ours. So instead of calling everything “stunning”, this comparison shows what each option costs and includes — with real prices checked on each seller’s site, and honest notes on where a competitor or a free template is the better call — so you can check our reasoning rather than take our word.
What a photographer’s website actually needs
A photography site has one conversion job: turn a couple (or a family, or a brand) who found you on Instagram or Google into an enquiry. Three things do that work, and a template either has them designed or it doesn’t:
- Galleries that tell a story and load fast. Couples don’t book a grid of thumbnails; they book the feeling of a full wedding told well. The portfolio needs full-width, story-ordered galleries — and image-heavy pages that don’t take four seconds to paint on a phone.
- An investment page. Couples shortlist by budget before they ever email. A pricing page with at least a “collections from…” figure filters out mismatches and reassures the right people. Templates without one leave your most-visited page undesigned.
- An enquiry flow built for phones. Most wedding planning happens on a phone in the evening. Date, venue, a short message, one obvious button — from every page.
The comparison
| Template | Price | Built for photographers? | What you get |
|---|---|---|---|
| Stellar (SQSP) | £299 one-time | Yes — wedding photographers | Seven page types incl. gallery-led portfolio, dedicated investment page and phone-first enquiry flow; full live demo; setup guide |
| Sophie (Big Cat Creative) | $297 one-time | Yes — wedding photography | Squarespace 7.1 Fluid Engine template with rustic-romantic styling, full-width images and slideshow galleries |
| Vivienne (Applet Studio) | $225 one-time | Yes — wedding & elopement | Soft, timeless design with sage-and-cream palette, split-screen hero and scattered-grid portfolio |
| Ortiz (Squarespace, free) | Free with any plan | Minimalist portfolios | Generous whitespace and large typography that let the images carry the page; wedding-specific pages are yours to build |
Prices checked 24 August 2026 on each seller’s site; premium sellers run periodic sales. Every template here — ours included — also needs a normal Squarespace subscription.
Stellar — our pick, and where it isn’t
Stellar is built around the two questions every engaged couple arrives with — is this our style? and can we afford it? — without making them dig. A gallery-led portfolio carries the style answer; a dedicated investment page handles pricing with the transparency couples now expect; and the enquiry flow is designed for people planning the most photographed day of their lives from a phone. Seven page types, £299 once, and the whole demo site is open before you pay.
Where Stellar is not the right choice: it’s wedding-first by design — a commercial, product or architecture photographer wants a more neutral portfolio register (start free with Ortiz); if you want rustic-romantic rather than editorial styling, Sophie’s register may fit your brand better; and client proofing galleries aren’t a template feature on any platform — pair whichever template you choose with a proofing service like Pic-Time or Pixieset.
The strongest alternatives, fairly
Sophie by Big Cat Creative ($297) is one of the best-known wedding photography templates for a reason: rustic, romantic styling on Squarespace 7.1’s Fluid Engine, with full-width imagery and slideshow galleries. Vivienne by Applet Studio ($225) takes a softer, sage-and-cream direction suited to elopement and fine-art wedding brands. Both are genuine competitors; when you compare demos, check the same two structural things — does the investment page exist as a designed page, and does the enquiry flow work one-handed on a phone.
Free vs premium: what you’re actually buying
Squarespace’s free templates handle galleries perfectly well — Ortiz especially. What a premium wedding template buys is the decided structure around the images: the investment page, the story-ordered portfolio, the enquiry path, the section-by-section prompts for what to write. That’s weeks of decisions for the price of a small print sale. If you enjoy making those decisions yourself, start free and keep the money — our guide to choosing a Squarespace template covers that route honestly.
How buying a premium template works
You pay once and receive the template as its own Squarespace site invitation — an existing live site is never touched while you build. Swap the demo galleries for your own weddings, connect your domain, publish on your own subscription; you own everything, with no recurring fees to the template seller. With Stellar the invitation and setup guide arrive by email within 24 hours of checkout, and at checkout you can add a business tax ID for a proper receipt. The mechanics — and all seven of our templates — are on the premium Squarespace templates page.
Frequently asked questions
What is the best Squarespace template for photographers?
For a wedding photographer who wants a gallery-led portfolio, a pricing (investment) page and an enquiry flow already designed, the strongest premium options in 2026 are Stellar (£299, SQSP), Sophie ($297, Big Cat Creative) and Vivienne ($225, Applet Studio). If budget decides, Squarespace's free Ortiz template is the honest minimalist starting point.
Is Squarespace good for photographers?
Yes — for a portfolio-and-enquiries site, which is what most working photographers need. Squarespace handles large image galleries well out of the box, templates are image-first, and there is nothing to maintain. Photographers needing client proofing galleries usually pair it with a dedicated service like Pic-Time or Pixieset rather than switching platform.
Should wedding photographers show prices on their website?
Show at least a starting price. Couples planning a wedding shortlist by budget before they enquire, and an investment page with a “collections from £X” figure filters out mismatched enquiries while reassuring the right ones. Hiding prices entirely produces fewer, worse-fit enquiries — not more bookings.
What is the best free Squarespace template for photographers?
Ortiz — a minimalist design with generous whitespace and large typography that lets the photography carry the page. What no free template decides for you is the wedding-specific structure: the investment page, the gallery storytelling and the enquiry flow are yours to design.
How much does a photography website cost?
Building it yourself: a Squarespace subscription plus £0–£300 for a template — free templates cost nothing, premium photographer templates run roughly $225–$300. Having it designed for you typically starts around £1,495–£3,000 for a professional Squarespace build.
Can I install a premium template on my existing Squarespace website?
Yes. A premium template arrives as a separate Squarespace site invitation, so you build it out alongside your live site without touching it, then connect your domain when the new site is ready. Visitors never see the work in progress.
Where to go from here
Ten minutes in a live demo tells you more than any table. Start with the Stellar demo, put Sophie’s and Vivienne’s beside it, and judge all three against the two-question test. If you’re a step earlier — still working out what the site itself needs — our companion guide, what a photography website needs, covers the five pages before you spend anything. Undecided between template and custom? Ask us — we sell both, so you’ll get a straight answer.