You’re planning your wedding and have found the perfect photography and videography team! But what package do you want from them? Will you want photos of the whole day, from getting ready to leaving the reception, or would just half the day do? Do you need to add on extra hours? Is there a difference between full-day and all-day coverage? This seemingly simple concept can easily become confusing.

Every wedding and every couple are different, and the amount and type of coverage you need for your big day depends on a variety of factors, but there are a couple things you should definitely keep in mind:

Photography coverage is contiguous

When you book a wedding photographer or videographer for a pre-determined set up of hours, those hours are contiguous and without splitting up the coverage. For example, if you have eight hours of coverage, that’s eight hours from the time they arrive at the venue. So if the coverage needs to begin at 10am, the 8 hours of contiguous coverage would end at 6pm.

Terms vary from Studio to Studio

When looking at package options, you may see phrases like “half-day coverage” or “full-day coverage.” Exactly what those terms mean depends on the photographer, so be sure to ask before you book so you know just what you’re getting. Some photographers consider eight hours a full day, while others mean 12. Don’t assume you know what “full-day coverage” means! At Shoreline Weddings, we have specific exactly how many hours are included in each package to make it simple and straightforward to understand. That way you won’t have to guess how many hours are included.

What Events Need to Be Covered?

Every wedding is different, but most weddings can be broken up into getting ready, the first look, the ceremony, family portraits, and the reception. Depending how important these moments are to you will determine whether you want to have coverage of them. Let’s take a look at how long on average each part of the day will take.

Getting Ready

A safe assumption is that each bridesmaid will take about an hour and a half to get ready, while the bride should have about two hours, just in case anything doesn’t go according to plan. However, if you only have one person doing hair and makeup, add a little extra time to everyone’s preparations as a buffer. 

One of the most emotional and memorable moments of the wedding day is when the bride is putting on her wedding dress and is being helped into the dress by her closest family and friends. There are always great moments during this time that deserve to be captured.

Getting ready may not seem like a huge deal, but it takes a significant amount of time, and couples often don’t schedule enough time for hair and makeup. If this part of the day takes too long, it can mess up your entire timeline and throw off the whole day, which is definitely the last thing you want!

Additionally, while you are getting is when your photography and videography teams will capture footage of things like your dress, shoes, jewelry, invitation, etc… If having footage of these items is important to you, you may want to give your photo and video team some time to arrive early and capture these items before you put them on.

Most times, our photography and videography coverage starts about 60-90 mins before the bride gets dressed. This gives us the right amount of time to shoot those bridal details, get the last few touches of hair and makeup and document the excitement as the bride gets dressed.

The First Look

If you choose to have a first look with your partner before the ceremony, allot about 30-45 minutes for photos and videos. Your first look should be an intimate, special moment, and it shouldn’t be rushed, especially if it’s just you, your soon-to-be-spouse, and the photographer. This is one of the only times that you and your partner will have time alone together on the wedding day. Try to keep parents or the wedding party from hanging around and causing distractions or taking away from the moment.

The Ceremony

The length of your ceremony is entirely up to you and depends on what traditions you choose to include. Regardless of the length of your ceremony, consider adding 15 minutes of buffer time, just in case your officiant is running late or something else goes wrong. 

Post-Ceremony Family Portraits

After the ceremony is over, guests will head to the reception venue, leaving the couple, the wedding party, and family members to hang around for formal portraits. How long these portraits will take depends on the number of people being photographed and whether you have a first look because, if you choose not to have a first look, couple portraits will take place after the ceremony as well.

If all the formal portraits are going to be taken post-ceremony, consider allocating 4-5 minutes per grouping for those images to be taken. So 6 different groupings can take up to 30 minutes to complete. And that is if everyone is present, cooperating and the list of photos is highly organized. If That may seem like a long time, but you’d be surprised how much time it takes to get everyone together and posed. If family members are missing or have migrated to other areas after the ceremony, this process can take longer.

Bridal Party

You have your best friends all together and all dressed up. Be sure to allocate enough time to have a photo taken with you and each one of your besties and then the entire group together. If you have two photographers, we typically recommend about 20 minutes of time for photos with the entire bridal party as one will work with the bridesmaids and the other with the groomsmen. A single photographer package might make this process less efficient.

Sunset Photos

This is the most romantic and prettiest time of day for photos. It’s called “magic hour” for a reason. 15-20 minutes of photos with just the bride and groom only and no one else around is the perfect amount of time here.

The Reception

Like your ceremony, your reception will last for a specific amount of time, depending on how long you have your venue. However, your photographer doesn’t need to be there for the full four or five hours, just long enough to capture all the big events, like the first dance, parent dances, toasts, and cutting of the cake, as well as a few shots of everyone grooving on the dancefloor. You can usually end your photography coverage about 30-45 minutes after all the events conclude and the dance floor opens for the evening.

Stay in conversation with your photographer and videographer

To make sure you get the coverage you want of your wedding, it’s important to talk to your photographer about what details and moments matter most to you. Maybe you only want images of the ceremony. Maybe you want to capture every second of your day. No matter what you want, your photographer can work with you to make sure you have the coverage you need.