You Probably Don't Need Your Photographer There All Day: WEDDING PHOTOGRAPHY COVERAGE

How to Decide How Much Wedding Coverage You Actually Need

One of the first decisions couples have to make when booking wedding photography is how many hours of coverage they actually need.

Six hours? Eight? Ten? From getting ready until the last person leaves the dance floor?

There isn’t one right answer. And more photography coverage does not automatically mean a better wedding gallery.

What matters is whether your photographer is there for the parts of the day that matter to you.

Start with what you actually want photographed

Before choosing a package based on a number of hours, think about the story you want your photographs to tell. Do you care about having photographs of both of you getting ready? Do you want the quiet parts before the ceremony documented, or would you rather have your coverage begin closer to the ceremony itself? Are speeches important to you? Are you planning a first dance, parent dances, cake cutting or other reception traditions? Do you want photographs once the dance floor gets going? Those answers tell us considerably more than simply saying you’re having a wedding from 2 p.m. until midnight. Your photographer doesn't necessarily need to be there for every minute of it.

What six hours can look like

Six hours can be plenty for a smaller or simpler wedding, particularly when everything is happening in one location. Coverage might begin toward the end of getting ready, continue through the ceremony and family photographs, give us time for wedding party and couple portraits, and finish after the important parts of the reception. Where six hours gets difficult is when there is a lot of travel involved, the couple is getting ready in separate locations, there is a long gap between the ceremony and reception, or you want substantial coverage at both ends of the isn't necessarily too little coverage. It just requires a reasonably efficient timeline.

Eight hours is often the sweet spot

For many weddings, eight hours gives us enough room to tell the story without having to watch the clock constantly. There is usually time for some getting-ready coverage, the ceremony, family and wedding party photographs, portraits of the two of you, reception details, speeches and some of the evening. It also gives us something I value quite a bit on a wedding day: breathing room. Wedding days rarely run exactly on schedule.

Hair takes longer than expected. Someone can't find their shoes. A grandparent needs another few minutes to get to the family portrait location. Dinner runs late. A good timeline should be able to absorb some of that without the entire photography plan falling apart.

When ten hours makes sense

There are absolutely weddings where ten hours of coverage is worthwhile. If you're getting ready in different locations, travelling between venues, having a longer ceremony, planning several reception traditions or simply want the story documented from the quieter beginning of the day well into the party, the additional time can make a real difference. Larger weddings can also take longer to move through. Two hundred people don't get from cocktails to dinner quite as efficiently as forty people do. Ten hours isn't necessarily about getting hundreds more photographs. It's about having enough time to photograph a longer or more complicated day properly.

Do you need photographs until the end of the reception?

Usually, no. Once the dance floor has been going for a while, another hour of dancing often produces variations of photographs we already have. There are exceptions, of course. Maybe you're planning a sparkler exit, a late-night tradition or something important is happening later in the evening. But if nothing significant is scheduled after the party gets underway, that may not be where your photography budget is best spent. I'd rather use that time somewhere else in the day if it gives us photographs that matter more to you.

Don't underestimate portrait time when deciding on your wedding photography coverage

I photograph a lot of a wedding day as it actually happens. The expressions during the ceremony, your friends laughing during cocktails, your dad talking to someone he hasn't seen in years, the chaos while everyone is getting ready. Those photographs matter. But so do portraits. Your wedding day is one of the rare occasions when many of the people you love are going to be together in the same place, dressed up and expecting to be photographed. So I don't recommend eliminating portrait time in an effort to make photography completely invisible. We just don't need to turn the wedding into a photoshoot. A well-planned family portrait list can move quickly. Wedding party photographs don't need to take an hour. And portraits of the two of you can often be divided into shorter pieces throughout the day instead of disappearing from your guests for a huge block of time. The goal is to make enough space for good photographs while still letting you actually attend your own wedding.

Consider the light, not just the clock

This is something couples don't necessarily know to think about. The best time for portraits isn't always immediately after the ceremony. A ceremony ending at 4 p.m. during the middle of summer can put us outside in some of the brightest and least flattering light of the day. If the timeline allows it, we may do some portraits then and step outside again later when the light has changed. That might only take ten or fifteen minutes. Those few minutes can produce some of the strongest photographs in your gallery. This is one reason I like being involved in the timeline before the wedding. Small adjustments can make a surprisingly large difference.

Your timeline matters more than the package name

Two couples can both book eight hours of photography and need completely different timelines. One wedding might take place entirely at a lakeside property in the Shuswap. Another might involve getting ready in Salmon Arm, travelling to a ceremony location, stopping somewhere for portraits and then driving to a separate reception venue. Those are very different photography days even though the weddings might technically last the same number of hours. That's why I don't think couples should have to figure this out entirely on their own.

So, how many hours do you actually need?

As a general starting point:

Six hours can work very well for smaller, simpler weddings or couples who don't need extensive getting-ready or reception coverage.

Eight hours is enough for many full wedding days and usually gives us a comfortable amount of flexibility.

Ten hours makes sense for longer days, multiple locations, larger weddings or couples who want more of the beginning and end of the day documented.

But those aren't rules.

Your wedding isn't a photography package. It's a collection of people, places and things happening over the course of a day. The photography coverage should be built around that. If you're one of my couples and you're wondering whether you've booked enough time, ask me. We can look at your actual timeline together. And if I think you need another hour, I'll tell you. If I think you don't, I'll tell you that too.

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Are you planning your wedding?

Whether you’re just starting your search or you’re already considering The Dark Room Studio, there’s plenty more wedding advice here to help you plan.

And if you think we might be a good fit, I’d love to photograph your wedding