Curious to know how many hours of wedding photography coverage you really need?  While most photographers offer an 8 hour collection, I’ve found that 8 hours truly isn’t enough time UNLESS you don’t want any getting ready or styled detail photos in the morning AND you don’t want your photographer to stay until the end of the night.  But if you want a photographer to be there from start to finish, without feeling rushed or stressed, you’ll most likely need at least 10 hours of wedding photography coverage – if not more.

Before I send a custom proposal to potential clients, I need to know a few things first.  Do they want getting ready and/or styled wedding detail flat lays? Do they want to do a First Look?  How big is their wedding party?  Are the ceremony and reception at the same venue?  Where will you be getting ready?  Do you want photos downtown or just at the venue?  What time is your ceremony?  How long is your ceremony?  How long is your reception?  Do you want me there until the end of the night?  The answers to these questions will determine how many hours of wedding day coverage you need.

Once I have this information, I can put together a tentative photo timeline for the day.  Most of my custom proposals consist of 10 hours of coverage at a minimum, with most weddings running 11-12 hours in coverage.  Why?  For me, I want my couples to have an incredible wedding day experience – and that means their timeline should include wiggle room in the event that something or someone is running late.  Time is the most important commodity of a wedding day and I never want my couples to feel stressed out or rushed.  I want them to have plenty of time to actually ENJOY the day with their family + friends, not just being rushed from one event to the next.  I also think the best, most authentic photos come when the day is relaxed and everyone can have fun!

I truly want the day to be easy for everyone – including me and my team.  We do our best work when we aren’t rushed or stressed.  If you’re concerned about budget and can only afford 8 hours of coverage, that’s totally understandable.  But if you can move things around in your overall wedding budget to add on the extra hours, DO IT!!  You won’t ever be sad about that choice, I promise!