How many hours of coverage do I need to book my wedding photographer for?

As a wedding photographer who charges a flat hourly service rate, this is the number one question that am asked by clients when booking their dates. I've written this post to share a bit of advice using what I've learned in regards to the time it takes to photograph a typical wedding day. 

When faced with the somewhat daunting task of deciding just how many hours of wedding photography coverage you think that you'll need, the answer that your searching for can be found in deciding what group of photos is most important to you and your fiancé. The idea is that some parts of your wedding day might carry more meaning to you then others and others less so. 

An example might be that the "getting ready" portion of your wedding day may not be something you wish to be photographed. Perhaps you have a "grand exit" planned at the end of the day complete with a sparkler send off and really want this big moment to be documented professionally because how many times in your life will you have the opportunity to walk down a tunnel of sparklers? 

Maybe your not quite sure if the "get ready" photos really matter to you in the first place or if having a  "grand exit" series of photos is really something thats worth paying for by the end of the day.

 To help you figure this out I've posted a visual timeline for the hourly "photo-group" breakdown of a typical wedding day. Please note that this time slot breakdown contained in this article reflects my actual time taking the photos, not the time in between such as travel to and from venues/photo session locations so don't forget to budget in our "time to travel" requirements in your total wedding day schedule. The best advice here is to sit down and look at what a full day of wedding photography looks like to help you judge what moments captured throughout a wedding day are most valuable to you and your families. Once you've got a handle of what elements are included then it can help you narrow down the things that most appeal to your heart, sense of style and photography budget.

* Time estimates used in this post are based on my own experience photographing  8 1/2 hour to 10 hour weddings with 10-200 guests in attendance. Actual times may vary slightly depending on how large your wedding guest list is. An example of this time variation would be a formal family portrait consisting of 4-10 people in frame will take less then 5 mins to capture vs. a family group of 50-250 people which can take anywhere from 10-30 mins to photograph.

Now that you can see how a day of wedding photography is broken down, all thats left to do is figure out what group of photos you think will be most important to you once your wedding day is over. Once you’ve narrowed your preferences down you can decide which hours to book your photographer for depending on your wedding day itinerary.  

Thanks for taking the time to check out my work. If you have any questions in regards to this post or want to learn more about my flat rate wedding photography service please contact me anytime!

-S. Siko

Investment information regarding Silvercord Event Photography's Raleigh  engagement and wedding photography price and service packages may be found here.