Photographer - How many hours?

PetalPockets2012 · September 2011

I would like some advice on how many hours to have a photographer.

Saturday wedding at 5:00
Ceremony/reception at same venue
Cocktail hour in between

I know I will want getting ready photos and some group pics before the ceremony. How many hours do you think would be needed? Do I need to have them stay for the entire reception?

utegoggles · September 2011

We have ours for 6 hours. We start taking pics at 3:45 and they leave at 9:45. Ours aren't staying for the whole reception, but I want them to get the toasts, bouquet/garter toss, cake cutting, and dances. It helps to make a timeline, here is one I made that may help:

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/pub?hl=en_US&hl=en_US&key=0AvtYiQwIGdZPdDA0dl9NWUN5ekV0LUJHSjJsSzlVVnc&output=html

kimbo1781 · September 2011

I would say eight hours is good and covers pretty much the whole day.

fallbride1109 · September 2011

I wanted mine there from the time I got ready until the very end so I contracted with her for 8 hours although she showed up an hour early so I really had her for 9.

angybanez · September 2011

Like the above, 8 hours is standar and some will have even up to 12 hours since not all wedding fit the 8 hour period...getting ready for example may occur very early, and then your toast and cake cutting may not be until way after the 8 hour mark if there's a lag in between. But since you're stating everything is close proximity, 8 hours is a safe bet :-). Best of luck!