2Nd Photographer? Help

Daughter had a second shooter (for both photography and videography) and was VERY glad. They have multiple perspectives of so many things throughout the day. As mentioned, some of the most important were getting the two perspectives of their faces during first look, first look with dad, the processional, the ceremony/vows/rings, etc. One amazing example of the advantage that daughter never would have expected was during the ceremony. The primary photographer had been at the back of the ceremony site (usually shooting with a telephoto lens so it looked like the photos were taken from right next to the B&G) and the second shooter was at the altar (shooting from the side or over the G's shoulder). Once the ceremony was well underway, the primary sprinted up the stairs in the venue and got the most amazing shots of the entire outdoor ceremony, framed through the beautiful windows of the upper floor of the venue building. He then sprinted back down, and between the two of them, they got seamless coverage of the ceremony through the recessional. Photographer, who has shot 400+ weddings, claims that shot from the window above is one of the best ceremony photos he's ever taken.... There's no way he would have shot that picture if his was the only camera. Also, one photographer was able to be with the women and the other with the guys at various times before the ceremony, and while the primary was doing TONS of prewedding shots with the bridal party, the secondary was able to take care of all the background shots of the venue, rings, flowers, decor, etc. During the cocktail hour, primary was doing amazing bridal party shots and the secondary was getting guest shots at cocktail hour. I believe the secondary left after cake cutting around 8, and the primary remained until the end of the night. Daughter is VERY glad she had two shooters. If you can afford it, and have confidence that yours are a good team (they should not both be getting the exact same shots...), then I'd keep two.

Its been 3 weeks for me and by having 2 photographers, we were able to have 1 with the bride, 1 with the groom so that helped timewise then we hope that they were able to capture different shots and then at the reception they were able to walk around separately and capture different things as well. It's really up to you and depends on how many pictures that you want but I will say develop a list of pictures, that's the one thing that I didnt do and I feel like I may have missed out on some photos that I wanted at the venue that I cant go back and get now

My husband and I decided to add a second photographer for the first half of the package to save money but still get more shots. Honestly, I regret it. We choose our main photographer and really liked him but since we added the second one later on we didn't get to choose the person. Unfortunately she was terribly rude, and really didn't serve the purpose I wanted her to. I thought that having 2 could save time because one could take pictures of the guys and one could take pictures of the girls before hand and it went like that for a bit but then the second photographer that started with the guys came to my room and it was so overwhelming. The first photographer was doing great, getting the before shots I wanted, everything was calm and organized and then the second comes in and was pushy and rude. She took a photo of the flower girl changing (she put her dress over her clothes and took her clothes off underneath so she wasn't naked but still that's messed up) I had to basically scream at her to leave when I wanted to get dressed. She freaked out when my mom had to use the bathroom and wasn't there at the exact moment she wanted to take the picture. Then during cocktail hour (we didn't do a first look) she just took pictures at the same time as our main photographer which was pointless. Our main photographer was awesome, it would have been way better if we just had him.

I think a second photographer is great for the actual ceremony. I want to get reaction shots from both sides, one of behind the bride focusing on the groom and guests, and one of the bride.

I think it will also be great to get a second photographer for cocktail hour to get all of the family photos I want! Its so rare to get everyone together, I want professional shots of everyone and don't want to dip too much into the scheduled events.

I wont be having the second shooter into later into the evening but for sure through cocktail hour.

We had two, but I felt it wasn't what I thought it would be. Our photographers worked more as a unit than as two separate individuals (not bad, but just different than anticipated). It was nice for the ceremony pictures, particularly the processional and the first look, but other than that it wasn't super necessary. I would probably do the second shooter for before the ceremony and the ceremony and then just keep the main photographer for the cocktail hour and reception.

Professional planner here-

Talk with your photographer and tell her your concerns. Nothing beats good communication. If you want to make sure both of your expressions are captured one photographer can absolutely do that. Trust the professional you hired to make the call for your wedding day. Tell them what you want and they will make it happen.

A second photographer for me is a MUST! Especially while we're getting ready one for guys one for girls. while we're doing portraits, the other is at cocktail hour etc

Maybe she has a photography colleague she would be able to get work with her on that day