Photographer - How many hours?

Sweet_Adeline

How many hours are you guys getting your photgrapher for?  I want them for the event which is 4 hours... But I have NO idea how long to alot for "getting ready" time... I'm looking at C2 photographers right now, and the other ption is 8 hours, but I can't imagine having a photographer for 4 hours prior to the event... I mean, what would we fill all that time with?

kducharme

im booking mine for 10.  But I am obsessed with pics and want them all day...so it just depends on how much you want them to cover and how many pictures you want

melissa82

Your ceremony and reception together are only four hours? Where are you getting ready (on-site or somewhere else)? If somewhere else, how much travel time is there? If you're doing everything on-site, then yeah, maybe you only need him/her for 5 hours or even 4.5 if he/she leaves a little early.

We had our photographer for 9.5 hours. He started at 2:45 pm (just before I put my dress on), then we did our formal photos, then drove to church (20 min) for our 6 pm ceremony, drove to reception hall for our 8 pm cocktail hour and he stayed until after the ball drop (12:15 am). Had we not gotten married on NYE, he could have left after cake cutting (which in NJ we do later than you guys I think), so maybe we would have only done 9 hours.

tvgal1971

Our package is for 9 hours because we will have getting ready photos and will have all of our couple/group shots taken before the ceremony.  There will then be a half-hour lull in between where she may take arrivals or reception details.  Our ceremony is then 30 minutes, followed by 1 hour cocktail hour and 4 hour reception.  When we met with the photographer, I asked her to come up with a loose timeline and that helped us decide on which package was right for us.

Does your 4 hour event include ceremony and reception?  Is there any travel time involved?  That should all be factored into the time.  Also, if 8 hours is too long, see if they'll quote you a price for somewhat less.  Some packages are made to be flexible!

Sweet_Adeline

The ceremony and reception are at the same place, ceremony at 6:30 with the reception starting around 7 or 7:15.  OUr rental of the venue only goes until 10pm, and then we are planning on going to a bar somewhere for those who want to keep hanging out. 

I haven't figured out yet where I'll be getting ready.  I'm thinking at a hotel because the bridal room in the venue doesn't have a lot of natural lighting.

Getting other pictures done prior to the wedding is a good idea, also.  Voluteer park is really close by, and I think we culd take some pictures there with the extra time. 

jennuinne

You might be OK w/ 4 hours if you don't need the entire reception done.  We are using C2 and we have a 6 hour package, although I know their packages have changed.  I think they do have options for add'l hours though, so you could ask them about paying for an add'l hour or two on the 4 hour package.

Sweet_Adeline

It's still 6 hours or 8 hours for C2.  I just don't know if 6 hours would be enough or if we will need 8.

sarack

I'm having 8 hours. I think that will be plenty. We'll do all of the things that need to be done pretty early in the reception... atleast by like 9pm. My photog mentioned that people just get drunker and sweatier in pics at the reception.. but the pics are pretty much the same.. so we decided to have her come around 2 and stay until 10pm.

ghbride

Honestly I think 8-10 hours is the most favorable....The majority of the pictures are done before the event regardless of if your seeing each other or not...

Alo822

Ours is doing a "whole day" package, so that's probably not very helpful.   

 

We're doing pics before the ceremony, so it works out to about 8-9 hours overall. That includes travel time between getting ready locations and the ceremony/reception. 

amandasw

We did 12 hours (and that's because our photographer was so affordable) and that didn't include getting my hair done actually because during that time she was with the guys.  I think we had her from about 11am-11pm or something like that, so we have pictures from the entire day.

I think 6-8 is do-able if you're trying to save money, but 8-10 is better if you can afford it.

Sweet_Adeline

Sarack - that is a VERY good point!! Last thing I want is a bunch of drunken sweaty pics of our family and friends!

I think we are going to go with C2's 8 hour package.  I really like that we have two photographers so one can be with each of us during the "getting ready" portion.