Now that you’ve found your amazing wedding photographer, you’re probably wondering how many hours to book your wedding photographer! That was our next question after we found our wedding photographers years ago! We had no idea how many hours we would need to document our day! Brian and I hadn’t created a timeline. We were clueless! Just in case you’re asking yourself that same question, here’s what I suggest!

What is important to you

My first suggestion is to decide what’s most important to you! Do you want lots of photographs of you and your girls in your robes getting hair and makeup done before the ceremony? Or do you want lots of beautiful photos of your wedding details like dress, shoes, jewelry that you’ll wear on your day? Or maybe you really want to end your wedding with a sparkler exit surrounded by all of your closest friends and family! Once you’ve decided which parts of your day you want to photograph the most, you’ll be a lot closer to knowing how many hours you need a wedding photographer!

Create a timeline for your day

The next step is to create a timeline for your day! Even if it’s a rough copy of what you think. There are some key points that I feel are important to know! Your ceremony start time, the time allowed for cocktail hour, and reception start and end times! When it comes to helping our couples decide on the amount of photography coverage needed, I like to ask two questions! What time is your ceremony and what time does your wedding reception end? Based on these two times, I have a general idea of how much coverage would be needed! From there, it’s just a matter of figuring out what’s most important to our couple!

Now that you’ve answered those questions, how many hours do you really need to book your wedding photographer? That answer will vary based on your answers! I’ve found that 8 hours is a sweet spot for wedding photography coverage! 8 hours of wedding photography typically allows us to photograph the following:

• Wedding details like the dress, shoes, jewelry, invitations, ceremony space, reception space
• Bride and groom as they’re putting on the finishing touches and getting dressed
• Ceremony
• Formal photographs (family, bridal party and bride and groom)
• Reception including the first dances, toast, caking cutting, bouquet and garter
• Some of the dancing with your family and friends
• The sparkler exit depending on how long your reception last or we can stage it with your wedding party prior to us leaving

If you’re still a little confused, don’t be afraid to send us a message! I’m happy to answer any questions that you have about photography coverage. I hope that this helps you to decide how many hours to book your wedding photographer!