Photographer - how many hours/pics?

I dont have a time based price structure because with weddings you never can tell what will happen, like my last wedding when the rings were left at home which was realised just as they were needed so best man left the church to get them and then realised he had not got the keys to get in - came back for the keys - then got the rings.

Or the other time the coach for all of the guests did not turn up.

Or when the bride forgot her flowers and went back for them.

So I just price by event - to first dance or start of reception as you sit for your meal, it doesn't matter how long it takes to get there and any overuns wont require extra money for the extra time.

400 (edited ) images should be fine, but if you can stretch to first dance with the 400, 800 is a lot and may well include multiples of the same thing and black and white duplicates - best ask. yes the guests will be snapping away but they wont be taking the kind of shots a professional will be doing, for me its not just about the first dance shots but also shots of the evening reception room - after all you may of spent extra money on the decorations, or a band. Then there is shots of the evening guests and perhaps some sunset -night-time floodlight shots.

What time is your ceremony and does it include bridal prep shots, is it at a church, 6 hours may well cover to first dance anyway

Ah thank you, that's really helpful. Sorry, I got it wrong and the longer option would be 600 images, not 800.

We haven't been able to book our registrar yet (we can do it a year to the days before so getting on it as soon as we can!) but hoping for a ceremony around 2pm, all in one location (not a church and separate reception location) and we would like some bridal prep yes. I suppose it's just about working out logistics, costs etc and seeing what we can realistically do!

thanks for your advice! X

I see your day like this

Bridal prep shots start at 12 mid day ( along with dress shoes flowers room set up, venue shots groom arriving)

wedding at 2

out by 2.30

sit for 4 pm

2.5 hours -3 hours with speeches brings to 6.30 -7

eve guests arrive at 7

1st dance at 8

leave at 8.30 after a few extra dance floor/ other shots.

6 hours would bring you to the end of the meal but unless you are having the speeches at the end as has been mentioned in another post about feeding the photographer they may well not be doing anything during the meal and could be eating themselves if its in their contract.

You could have the speeches before the meal and get them pulled in on a 6 hour booking.

6 hours almost seems too long for a short coverage and 8 hours would cover most weddings, the main reason being that almost what ever the time of the wedding the first dance is mostly between 7 and 8.30 otherwise there is no evening to be left. So what makes the coverage longer would be an earlier wedding that also involves travel from home to a church and the travel from church to venue which could easily add up to more than 9 hours.

Speak to them and in view of it all being at 1 venue and at 2 pm which isnt an early wedding see if they can do something in between, time wise and number of photos wise, so long as they are not counting duplicates in the numbers 400 should be enough. I tell people it will be at least 400 for an all day coverage.

Ah great, thank you, that's really helpful! X

400 photos from the whole day is a good number - plenty of coverage without being overwhelming or with too many similar photos. 400 photos from 6 hours is a lot - possibly even a bit excessive, but it depends on the photographer and the flow of the day.

Whether 6 hours of coverage is enough is a slightly different story. As Bill pointed out, things not always go according to plan and even if they do, 6 hours may not be enough to cover all important moments. It's worth checking with the photographer how much an additional hour or two would cost in case if there is a delay.

Hope this helps

Andy

www.annazofka.com