Wedding Photography and Videography Forum

Photo coverage needed for whole event?

I'm close to signing a contract for a wedding photographer.  She is someone I knew in hs and her website is terrific and another friend works with one of her staff.  Not worried about her company but we're not meeting prior and no engagment pics.  Question is, I'm getting a great rate and I think the package is fairly good, however it's not a "full" day but rather 6 hours.  Any thoughts on if 6 hours is enough time?  I don't care if I have pics of me getting ready or the very end of the night when I may not look my best.   We're paying for whole thing ourselves and this saves us good $ for other stuff.  Does it matter or am I being cheap? 

Re: Photo coverage needed for whole event?

  • You're over-thinking this.

    No one but you and the photographer will know the details of your photography contract, so the only question is, Does it matter to you?

    It doesn't sound like it does. I know I hated it when photographers asked for a day-of schedule a year before the wedding, but casually come up with a rough outline to see if you can fit everything in 6 hours. For photography, here's mine:
    12:30-1:30 groom's side photos, venue photos
    1:30-2 seating guests
    2-3:30 ceremony (full nuptial mass)
    3:30-4:30 post-ceremony photos
    4:30-5 travel to reception venue
    5-5:30 toasts, speeches, blessings
    5:30-6:30 dinner
    6:30-7 cake cutting and service
    7 first dance

    no tosses, no send-off
    Obviously, 6 hours wouldn't be enough for me, but we want lots of photos of and at the ceremony venue, and we have a very long ceremony.

    A more typical schedule would be:
    1:30-2 seating guests
    2-2:30 ceremony
    2:30-3:30 post-ceremony photos
    3:30-4 travel to reception venue
    4-4:30 first dance, toasts
    4:30-6 dinner
    6 cake-cutting
    6:15-7:30 tosses/general dancing
  • edited July 2012
    In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/special-topic-wedding-boards_photos-video_photo-coverage-needed-for-whole-event?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Special Topic Wedding BoardsForum:30Discussion:32fed2c6-c1c3-4fb0-ba85-99885261acaePost:a34b912a-d205-405b-b57a-9fcda3b3fb3c">Photo coverage needed for whole event?</a>:
    [QUOTE]I'm close to signing a contract for a wedding photographer.  She is someone I knew in hs and her website is terrific and another friend works with one of her staff.  Not worried about her company <strong>but we're not meeting prior and no engagment pics.</strong>  Question is, I'm getting a great rate and I think the package is fairly good, however it's not a "full" day but rather 6 hours.  Any thoughts on if 6 hours is enough time?  I don't care if I have pics of me getting ready or the very end of the night when I may not look my best.   We're paying for whole thing ourselves and this saves us good $ for other stuff.  Does it matter or am I being cheap? 
    Posted by jdcoker1[/QUOTE]

    You should definitely make a timeline based on the logistics of your wedding (ceremony/reception at the same venue? length of ceremony? pre-ceremony pics?) I think that you could fit it all in to six hours. I'd check with her about the cost of adding in a couple of extra hours just in case though. I'd also ask a couple of friends to make sure they take lots of pictures of the reception and you guys leaving so you capture some memories of that part as well, even if they aren't professional photos.

    Also, even though she is an old acquaintance, the bolded part slightly concerns me. Make sure you at least sign a contract beforehand!
    "When life hands you lemons, make a beef stew." Andy Milinokis
  • I wanted my photographer from the time I got dressed until the very end of the night so I scheduled her from 4 to midnight (8 hours).  She actually arrived early and began shooting.

    We did a first look so I figured I would just have her come a little early and do shots of me getting dressed, etc. but she ended up taking getting ready shots and all my details and accessories also.  In the end, I probably could have lived without these.  It definitely depends on your timeline like the PP said, so I would write that out first and share it with her so that you can decide.
  • My contract with our wedding photographer is also for 6 hours.  After booking her I didn't do the day of timeline for several months and am still working on adjusting and fiddling with it, so we're keeping the option open to buy an additional hour of time but I don't know right now if I'll need it, and you probably won't either for awhile but it sounds like you got a good package!
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