From the Wedding Tip Series, providing a new piece of advice every Wednesday to help brides get the most out of their wedding photography. This Wednesday, we are proud to unveil tip ten:

“A full-day’s coverage is 8 hours or more.”

One of the most common questions I get from brides is “How many hours should I book?” I always tell them that depends on two things:

1.) How much total coverage are you looking for. For me, a full-day is everything from some getting-ready shots (even if it’s not hair/makeup – just details/you putting the dress on/hanging with your girls and a bridal portrait if there’s time) to the bouquet toss at the reception. If you’re on a tight budget and you need to book fewer than 8 hours, you should think about what you are willing to sacrifice. Do you need getting-ready photos? Do you need the bouquet toss? Prioritize what is most important to you, but if you try to do it all in too little time, certain parts of the day may suffer. And don’t forget Tip Five… that’s not a part of the day you want to shortchange if you decide to book fewer hours.

2.) How you schedule your day. If having artistic hair/makeup shots is super-important to you, and you schedule your hair appointment to start at 8 a.m., you’ll pretty much need the all-day package (12 hours) to get everything from hair/makeup to the reception… and that wouldn’t even take you to the END of the reception, unless your reception ends at 8 p.m. Usually to get the hair and makeup to bouquet toss in a well-scheduled-day you’ll need 9 or 10 hours. Just hanging out with the girls/getting ready details to bouquet toss can usually be done in 8. However, if you have a Catholic ceremony with a three-hour gap between ceremony and reception, that gives you plenty of time for bride-and-groom photos (awesome! I love it!), but you may have to sacrifice getting-ready or reception cake shots/bouquet-toss shots with an 8-hour package.

I get a lot of brides contacting me just before their weddings asking to add more hours, which in most cases, if they are within an hour or two of what they need is totally fine and I’m happy to accommodate! It makes my life easier to not have to try to rush through everything, and results in better photos for the couple. The unfortunate thing, is that rates are constantly rising and additional hours must be booked at current prices, so if the budget is tight, the most economical way to approach your wedding photography package is to book the hours you need up front.

This tip is just to suggest you take an extra moment to think about your day and your timeline before booking, and try to book the number of hours closest to what you need. Usually, booking one extra hour from what you THINK you need, is a pretty good way to go and gives you some breathing room. The last thing you want on your day is to be worrying about the fact that you still haven’t cut the cake and your photographer is scheduled to leave at any minute! It really is better to know you have enough coverage, be able to relax, enjoy your day and just forget I’m there! 🙂