Ask whatever you think the job is worth. Around my neck of the woods, I can't get $125/hour (let alone $250). As I don't sell prints, I base my price on the complexity of the job at hand (a family shot with 25 subjects would be more expensive than a family shot with 3). With a wedding, if I can shoot bridal shots ahead of time (therefore making the actual wedding day less stressful), then I'll actually give the couple a discount (even though it would require more hours of shooting).


Oh, and when I said I can't get $125/hr, I wasn't kidding. The last potential customer I talked to (via email) wanted a family portrait session done with grandparents, parents, and grandchildren (I think it was about 8-10 people). She wanted an overall family picture, individual family pictures, and pictures of the children. She wanted the pictures taken at one of two locations, both of them farms (one was about 40 minutes travel, the other about 5 minutes travel). I sent her an email with the quote of $115 (for the entire shoot) for the farther location and $95 for the closer one. I never heard from her again.