When trying to figure out just how many hours of wedding photography coverage you might need on your big day, the answer that you're searching for can be found in deciding which group of photos is most important to you.

The main idea is that some parts of your wedding day might carry more meaning than others, and others less so.  One example might be that the "getting ready" portion of your wedding day may not be something you wish to be photographed or perhaps you have a "grand exit" planned at the end of your day complete with a sparkler send off and really want this big moment to be documented professionally.

 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.

On average, a minimum of 5 hours of coverage will work for capturing the get ready time, ceremony & formal portraits or your ceremony, formal portraits and the beginning of your reception.

The best advice here is to sit down and look at what a full day of wedding photography actually 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 on what elements are included then you can narrow down the things that most appeal to your heart, sense of style and your overall wedding 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 the photo will take less than 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 that's 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.