How Many Hours of Coverage Do You Need for Your Wedding Day?

Hey everyone! Hope you all are staying safe and healthy during this crazy uncertain time! Today I wanted to jump on the blog and chat all about hours of coverage for your wedding day. This is probably the biggest and most common question I get from all couples I have the pleasure of working with so I thought I’d chat about it here!

Alright! So most wedding days are usually 8 hours of coverage, but how do you know how many hours you actually need? Well, here are some questions to ask yourself that might help!

#1) How many guests will you have?

If you two are having over 200+ guests, and want photos of everyone at the reception, it might be best to have 8 hours of coverage. That way, your photographer can get plenty of candids during the reception and during your dancing time. If you’re not super into getting a shot of everyone and tons of dancing fun photos, then you could probably stick with 6 hours.

---

#2) Do you want certain events covered during reception?

Again, if you’re not super into the dancing photos, don’t need a ton of candids, then 6 hours or less might be the amount of coverage you’re looking for. Usually after dinner, your photographer will want to walk around the reception hall (when people are not eating) and capture some genuine moments from your reception. If you’re not having a bouquet toss, a garter toss, or other various events during the reception, then you probably don’t need 8 hours.

---

#3) Are you having a send off/ grand exit?

If yes, then you might need 8 hours of coverage for your photographer. Just in case you have everything packed into your wedding timeline and want your photographer to stick around for your grand exit at the end of the night, then you might want to consider having 8-10 hours of coverage so you have plenty of time, you’re not rushed, and you get all the events captured you want.

---

#4) Do you want to not be rushed?

Most wedding days that are about 6 hours of coverage, typically don’t have too many events happening and go by quickly. If you’re thinking you don’t want to be rushed and want to take your time with your portraits, then maybe going for 8 hours of coverage works for you. Sometimes, it’s hard to account for all the conversations you’ll have with your guests, how long people getting food will take, etc, so having some extra time to work with isn’t a bad idea.

---

#5) Do Golden Hour photos sound good?

During the summer, the sun sets later in the day, so if you’re wanting some golden hour photos with just you and your lover, and you only have your photographer until the toasts at 6pm, maybe consider adding on a few hours just so you can get some of those bridal portraits you want later in the evening. 🙂

---

So overall, the amount of coverage for your wedding day depends on what all you want captured from your photographer. If you’re just wanting some basic getting ready, portraits, ceremony, reception with toasts and a few dances, maybe 6 hours is your game. Or if you want more coverage of your reception, golden hour photos, dancing photos, and a send off, then 8-10 hours might be best for you.

Moral of the story: check in with your wedding photographer and tell them everything you want covered and they will help narrow down how many hours you’ll need them there to capture everything your heart desires.
Stay tuned for some example timelines in another blog post!!

Thanks for reading! Be sure to follow along on Instagram to see more wedding planning tips!