Hours of Photography and time of Ceremony?

bellathebride

Hi Gals!

Do you think 5-6 hours of photography is enough? I don't really care if I am photographed getting ready, I would prefer the ceremony/reception to be photographed instead.

Is this enough time? Also, what time should I start my ceremony? 5pm?

motoLyn

5-6 hours is plenty if you're just focused on ceremony and reception.  I wouldn't start the ceremony any earlier than 4:30 but that depends on what time of the year you're having it at.  When is your wedding planned for?  Mine is a June wedding and my WC suggested I start at 4:30 the earliest.  Which knowing how weddings go won't actually start till like 5ish.

destiny1108

We ended up with 6 hours of photography and started ceremony at 4pm as we were in November.  We originally looked at 7 hours but our WC was able to change our program and get everything we wanted captured in a 6 hour time frame.

bellathebride

The wedding is outdoors in North Shore in June. Thanks for the feedback!  

I can't decide on Sieber Photography or Joseph Esser. Those two are more around my price range. Visionary is STUNNING! Unfortunately waaaay out of my budget.

fabutan

Agree that 6 hours should be enough for ceremony/reception...  Just a suggestion for the timeline - start with sunset time and work backwards to make sure you have enough time when there's still light out.  We ended up including a first look and bridal party photos before the ceremony and then family photos afterwards.

You can also ask your photographer about keeping the option of adding on hours, just in case you're running behind or feel like it on the day.  See what his/her policy is and how much they'd charge.

bellathebride

Can you clarify? I don't understand what you mean by backwards....

What time is sunset in Oahu? I reallyyyyy love the pictures of the sun setting on the water/sky. I've been doing a lot of research and have found lots of wedding pics with amazing shots with the sky and beach as a backdrop.

fabutan

There are lots of sunset calculators on-line.  This is a good one:

http://www.sunrisesunset.com/predefined.asp

You might want to work out a tentative timeline to figure out hours of photography.  We identified our sunset time first and "worked backwards" from that to figure out our day-of schedule.  (i.e. how much time for couple portraits before sunset, cocktail hour, time for family photos, etc.)  That gave us a good idea of when the ceremony would be.  

It also doesn't hurt to run your tentative timeline by your photog (once you've decided on one).  Ours suggested having extra time for bridal party photos and sunset photos.  That was a good call in the end.  HTH!  

bellathebride

Oh perfect! Thank you! I will definitely check it out....wow there is so much info on here it's amazing!

fabutan

Sure thing!  I had similar questions before, lol.    We're here to help!  

JonGabel

Will it really take so long for this session? With all the weddings I have attended I have not really made a thought of being a part of any pictorials before such a wedding unlike before with my first  try when I was still young which just took awhile with wellness with aloha that I got to attend way back.

CasSwan

I wasn't going to get getting ready photos but I am glad I did. I initially booked 4 hours but had to extend to 6 hours. My photographer took photos not only of me getting ready but of all the details like the dress, shoes, embroidered handkerchief, etc..