How much coverage

time do I need?

When you look at your wedding day start to finish, it might not be so easy to tell how many hours of wedding day coverage you’ll need to adequately cover your wedding day. Most likely, the day for you is going start well before the photographer arrives. So what’s the best way to determine how much time you need from your photographer? 

A bride in a flowing white ballgown twirls on a dance floor during a wedding reception.

First things first...

The first thing we’ll want to do together is make sure we’re on the same page about what’s most important for us to capture and how much time we should plan for each part of the day. Every wedding is a little different, and building the timeline around your priorities helps everything flow more smoothly.

For example, if you’d love candid moments during the getting ready portion of the day, along with photos of hair and makeup, we may recommend starting coverage about two hours before you’re scheduled to leave for the ceremony. If your preference is to focus mainly on the staged/posed details and just a few portraits, then starting about an hour before departure may be all the time we need.

Close-up details of intricate gold embroidery and beadwork on a red traditional Indian bridal lehenga.

Another example is deciding what time we’ll end coverage. Some couples are perfectly happy having photography coverage end after the cake cutting, while others prefer for us to stay until the very last song of the night.

Either way, we’ll want to talk through what’s most important to you so we can make sure we’ve planned enough time to capture those moments without anything feeling rushed on your wedding day.

A couple dances in an elegant ballroom with crystal chandeliers and ornate architectural details.

The second thing you’ll want to do is add up the amount of time it will take to cover all of the sections of the day, and then add any travel time between locations. For example let’s say your ceremony and reception are not in the same location. If you’re ceremony is 30 minutes long and 30 minutes away from your reception venue make sure those two events reflect an hour of time on your timeline . And, if you think there might be a chance of traffic or any other delays between locations, add a bit of buffer time to make sure you can arrive to each part of the day with enough time to keep things on schedule.  

Wedding ceremony guests gather at an outdoor garden gazebo surrounded by lush greenery and blooming flowers.

Here are some rough estimates of how much time we usually recommend for the different parts of the day

  • BRIDE PREP/GROOM PREP - 2 hours
  • Bridal Party - 15-20 Minutes (Depending on size of bridal party)
  • Family - 15-30 minutes (Depending on sizes of family or number of groups that will be included)
  • Travel Time: Add 15 Minutes to each travel segment for loading/unloading

Adding up the time needed for all of the wedding day events as well as any travel time will give you a great starting point for determining exactly how much time is perfect for your wedding day coverage. 

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Additional Tips

Here are a few additional tips to help keep the right perspective when figuring out how much time you actually need.

  • Do what’s right for you. Every wedding is unique, and what worked for a friend might not be exactly what you’re looking for. Instead of focusing only on the number of hours, we encourage you to start by making sure your timeline includes everything that’s important to you. From there, we can help make sure we’re allocating enough time for you to enjoy each part of the day while also capturing the images you’re hoping for.
  • Give yourself time to enjoy each moment. When we think back to our own wedding day, we still can’t believe how quickly it flew by. One minute we were taking the tux out of the bag, and what felt like five minutes later we were already back from our honeymoon. It all moved so fast. But we can still clearly remember what we felt during so many moments of that day because nothing felt rushed. That’s something we always keep in mind when helping couples plan their timeline. Your photos should reflect how you felt throughout the day, not just what everything looked like. We’ll help make sure your timeline allows enough space to capture the images you want while still giving you the chance to fully experience everything happening around you.

We hope this helps. And if you have any questions about how much coverage time might be right for your wedding day, we’re always happy to talk it through with you.