You’re on the hunt for the wedding photographer of your dreams. You like their photo style, you vibe with their personality, you can see them being a wonderful presence on your day. Now one of the first big things you have to know before you book them in is, how long do you need them for?
This can be super tricky when you don’t have a solid plan of how your wedding day will go.
So here are some useful things to think about when choosing your wedding photography coverage:
Do we want full day wedding photography coverage?
Full day wedding photography coverage will be a standard offer on most photographers’ price sheets. It is usually between 8-10 hours. This will get you an hour plus at both of your getting ready locations, your wedding ceremony, everyone congratulating you, photos of family groups, couple and wedding party photos, reception details, speeches, sunset photos and first dance, d floor coverage depending on the timelines.
As I call it in my collections, The Whole Shebang!
The advantages to full day coverage are:
- You don’t have decide what are the most important moments to capture because your photographer will be there from start to finish. Easy as!
- Your photos will tell the complete story of your day from that sweet anticipation of getting ready all the way through your ‘I do’s’ to letting it all hang out on the dance floor.
- As a photographer, I really like being able to be flexible with my couples so I don’t steal you away from enjoying your celebrations when I know I can get the shots later on.
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Do we want getting ready photos?
Now I love getting ready photos. I love taking them and I love the layers they add to your story. But do you NEED them? Here’s why I think they’re awesome:
- You are usually getting ready surrounded by your special people. If you choose to have a wedding party or not, the people who pop in and out of your bubble on your wedding morning are your number ones. Being able to capture those lovely relationships in a very candid way is a bonus of having getting ready in your wedding photography package for sure.
- The morning is filled with wonderful anticipation, nerves and a calm that dissolves as soon as you make it to your ceremony. Having those emotions captured can be really special and wonderful to reflect on in years to come.
- A bonus reason is getting used to your photographer being around. My photography style is very doco, hands off and even more so in the morning so you get the opportunity to get used to having the camera around without having to change up anything you’re doing. By the time we get around to taking your awesome portraits you’ll have the whole thing sussed and be ready to bring the fire!
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Do we need photos of both of us getting ready?
Sure, historically speaking, more onus was put on capturing the ‘bride’ getting ready. But let’s throw those gender binaries out the window aye? We don’t live in the 1990’s anymore. You are both getting married. You are both an equal part of this commitment. You both deserve your special moments captured.
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What photos do we get if you cover the reception too?
The night time is one of the funnest times to photograph. Everyone is feeling relaxed and any stresses of how the day would go have vanished. People are also so used to the photographer being around by this stage and because of this, the evening is really where you get the best candid moments of all your guests. Your crack up wedding speeches and the hilarious reactions. A chance to sneak away during dinner for some just married snuggles in golden light. Your baller first dance moves and everyone getting down and dirty on the dance floor. The pure joy and unbridled emotion. If you and your crew love a party, I’d say lock in the evening coverage.
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Is there any advantage to adding extra hours?
The extra hours on top of the full day coverage are only necessary in very specific instances.
- If you are planning something really awesome in the morning that you really want captured like an early morning ocean dip or fun group activity before putting your glad rags on, you may need the photographer to start earlier.
- You may need extra hours if your getting ready locations are far away from each other and equally if your ceremony location & venue are separate and require travel time. An extra hour can be added so you don’t lose your photography time to travel.
- The other reason couples add on extra hours is for night antics. If you have an awesome wedding band or DJ and know there will be people kicking it on the d-floor till midnight. You want to capture a sparkler exit but don’t want to leave your party at 10pm. Or you want to create an epic night portrait with the milkyway so we might need an extra hour to get all our stars lined up!
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What if I just want to capture important wedding moments?
Photographers will have a base collection that just covers the main events. I call this collection ‘The Good Stuff’ and with me it’s 6 hours. It will get you photography coverage from the final stages of getting ready through to the start of the reception. Depending on your timeline this can include speeches but often just the ones at the beginning of the evening.
This coverage is for you if you want your photography to include the main moments from most of your day. The most important thing to you both is to capture some awesome ceremony shots, epic couple photos and a sprinkling of candid’s of your guests. It works really well if you don’t have far to travel between venues, you are good at sticking to a timeline and you are happy for the dancing to be captured on peoples phones.
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Can you photograph just the ceremony and some nice photos of the two of us?
Absolutely. If all the above feels completely overkill to you then short and sweet wedding photography coverage an option too. Not all photographers offer shorter packages but you will find plenty willing to accommodate your needs. I personally have a 2 hour minimum. I think 3-4 hours is definitely the sweet spot if you are looking for smaller wedding photography options but still have a guest list above 10 people. This will capture you and your guests arriving, your ceremony, some group and family photos and some lovely photos of the two of you in the landscapes close by.
The 4 hours also allows for photos of you celebrating with your guests or alternatively some getting ready photos. All depending on what’s most important to you. If you are inquiring with me, ask to see my Mini Wedding Collections for these coverage options.
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We were hoping to elope? What’s the deal there?
Are you wanting to make a day of your elopement and spoil yourselves whilst getting photos at some epic locations? Or are you just after a simple ceremony with some low key nice photos together? Either way we can totally arrange something awesome together that will mark your celebration with a bang. Just get in touch.
Just a note on elopements and smaller wedding coverage – Lots of photographers will only offer elopements or shorter hours on weekdays or in the off season. Advantages to that can be that other wedding vendors can also have specials on for these off season dates too. It can be a great hack to saving some coin 🙂
SO! After all that, what wedding photography coverage is going to be the best for you? The best place to start is answering the following questions:
- What moments are the most important to you?
- What are the moments you want to remember?
It should all fall into place from there.
I hope I’ve helped you get a grasp on what you really want to capture from your wedding day. If you are inquiring with me, I have collections to suit any coverage you desire. Let’s jump on a call and chat about your plans so far. I will make you up a personalized photography timeline so you can see exactly how the photography coverage you want is going to fit into your day. Exciting! I absolutely cannot wait to hear from you!
