Timings for your wedding day - How long do you need?
Wedding day schedule
How long do you need a wedding photographer for? Getting an idea of the kind of images you will receive during each part of the day can be a helpful tool to help you work out just how many hours coverage you would like. What parts of the day are important, what will a photographer capture during the different times of the day? Here is my run down on a full days wedding coverage, from the morning to the evening dancing. With my handy hourly coverage rate you can make sure you only pay for the amount of coverage you actually require (*hours booked must be continuous)
Morning Preparation - 2 hours
Morning prep photos aren’t everyones cup of tea. The thought of having a photographer capture you before you are properly dressed or have you hair an make-up done is a lot of peoples worst nightmare. However, from many years of experience in capturing weddings, the morning is actually my favourite part of the day - both to capture and to edit. I would usually have around 2 hours to capture morning preparations, this allows to get with you early enough to capture the last moments of hair and make-up and then if all timings have gone to plan a few posy shots of the girls or guys together.
Ceremony - 1 - 1.5 hours
The length of time for your ceremony will very much depend on what kind of service you are having. Whilst a civil ceremony will only take about 20 - 30 minutes dependent on readings, a church service can be up to an hour long, sometimes longer. Whichever kind of service you have I will always arrive at the venue 15 - 30 minutes prior to capture the nervous groom and the guests arriving. I will also always have a chat with the reverend or registrars to introduce myself and discuss where they are happy for me to be, as this can vary. During your ceremony I will always be as discreet as possible and generally stay in one place. This moment is for you to enjoy. At the end of the ceremony, during the signing of the register I will be ready in and position to capture you walk back down the aisle as newly- weds.
Reception Drinks - 1.5 - 2 hours
Reception drinks, following the ceremony and preceding the wedding breakfast will usually last about 1.5 - 2 hours. This is an exceptionally busy time for a wedding photographer, but I time that i love. During this time I will capture your group family photos and it is also the time that I will head of with the newly weds for a short time for shots of the two of you alone. (Whilst I have put all of this in together as one time I have also broken this down into sub sections below to give you a good idea of the full timings required) I will also during this time capture lots of candid guest shots, lots of photos of your guests laughing, smiling, drinking champagne and feasting on canape. I will also head in to the wedding breakfast room during this time to capture the room all beautifully set up, tiny details and all, before your guests are seated.
Group Family photographs - 20 - 30 minutes
The group family photographs will take part during your drinks reception (above) and the length of time will vary greatly dependent on the amount of group shots your require. For a more in depth chat about group shots head here. However as a rough guide for here I would suggest you need to allow about 20 - 30 minutes. This would be based on around 6 - 8 group shots, allowing approximately 3- 5 minutes per group photo.
Couple Photographs - 10 - 20 minutes
Your couple portrait photographs will generally take place during the reception drinks, with extra time after the wedding breakfast for some golden hour photographs if needed. The amount of time spent during this time really depends on you and how long you want to spend, but on average I would say i spend around 10 - 20 minutes. This gives enough time to have photographs in 4 - 5 different locations around your venue giving you a great set of beautiful photographs of the just the two of you. I would always aim to do this away from you guests where possible so that you can really focus on each other. It also gives you the time to have a moment to yourselves.
Wedding Breakfast - Speeches - 1.5 - 2 hours
The wedding breakfast and speeches can take up to 2 hours, dependent on the number of guests you have and the kind of meal you are having. Generally during this time the only time I will be in the room taking any photographs will be when your guests are being seated and during the speeches. Once food has been served I will disappear to have a little break myself. There are many variations in the timings for when couples choose to have their speeches. You can choose either before the meal, during courses or most traditionally at the end of the meal. Whenever you choose to have your speeches, I will be there to capture every moment.
Evening celebration - Party time - 2 hours
Your evening celebrations begin as soon as your wedding breakfast ends. This is a great time for me to capture more candid shots of the guests and grab some more time with the happy couple to grab some golden hour sunset photos (dependent on time of year) Once the party gets going I will be on the dance floor ready to capture the first dance and then the dance floor shinanigans with your merry guests. I will usually hang around on the dance floor for 20 - 30 minutes past the first dance to get a good amount of dance floor antics. At this point, unless you have booked me for extended hours in to the evening this is the point of my departure on a full day wedding photography booking.
One of my absolute favourite parts of a wedding day is the morning bridal prep. I love spending the morning with the bride and her bridesmaids as it really gives me the chance to get to know all the girls and have a giggle