How Long do You Need a Wedding Photographer at Your Wedding For?
The MILLION dollar question…. How many hours of wedding photography do I need? how many hours of coverage do we need to get from our photography and videography services?! Well…. what it all boils down to is - What do you want captured?
The first thing I advise couples to do is to take the time to sit down together and make a list of all the must have pictures on their wedding day. This includes everything even the obvious like the ceremony and family formals. What may be important to one couple might not hold as much significance to another. Once you’ve made the list of all your must have pictures have a look at your timeline even if your timeline is not finalized you’ll be able to get a rough idea of how many hours of coverage you’ll need. Don’t worry, before selecting your wedding photography package we will chat and go over the details together to make sure we book the right service together!
Here are a few items to think of that might influence how many hours you’ll want photography coverage for on your wedding day:
1 - Getting Ready Pictures
Are you hoping to have pictures of you and your wedding party getting ready? If so… Think of the location you’re getting ready at and if you need to include travel time to the ceremony location because as the photographer for the ceremony we need to arrive before you. If you’re not interested in having “Getting Ready” Pictures this will easily shave off a couple hours.
2 - Location and Multiple Destinations
Following up with what I mentioned in the previous item on this list, travel time! Don’t forget your coverage time does include traveling from one location to the other. If you’re doing everything in one location this will save us a lot of time!
3 - First Looks
First looks aren’t limited to Brides and Grooms seeing each other for the first time before the ceremony. This could also be first look with parents, wedding party, special family member or friend… etc! So, if you’re planning a first look, letters or anything like that and you want have that captured we need to make sure to add this to your timeline.
Here is a general idea of what each photography package would generally cover
Choosing the 3 hours of coverage
Ceremony
Family Formals
Couple Portraits
*Depending on Ceremony length and if everything is at the same place you might be able to include photographs of your grand entrance.
Choosing the 6 hours of coverage
Ceremony and Reception Details
Ceremony
Family and Couple Portraits
Reception Grand Entrence
Speeches and Dinner
First Dance and Parent Dances
Cake Cutting, Bouquet/Garter Toss
Choosing the 8 hours of coverage
Getting Ready Pictures
Details
Ceremony
Family and Couple Portraits
Reception Grand Entrence
Speeches and Dinner
First Dance and Parent Dances
Cake Cutting, Bouquet/Garter Toss
Dance Floor Pictures of Guests
Hi I’m Veronique and my husband Andrew is my trusted assistant! We are the team behind Now Forever Photography. Based out of Carleton Place we love capturing weddings in Ottawa and the Ottawa Valley!