How long did you hire your photographer for?

We hired ours for 8 hours - we did a first look and the majority of formal portraits pre-ceremony. So our photographers (our package included a 2nd shooter) arrived at 1, ceremony started at 4:30, and they left at 9 (one hour before the end of the reception). My husband and I didn't want any getting ready pictures, except for me getting into my dress. And we didn't do a grand exit at the reception so we didn't need her to stay till the end.

So it really depends on what pictures are really important to you - do you want the pictures of you and your bridal party getting hair and makeup done? Do you want detail pictures of your dress/rings/shoes/etc? Do you think you'll do a grand exit at your reception? I think 8 hours is generally enough time, but again it depends on what you really want pictures of!

8 hours is pretty standard and your photographer should be able to tell you based on your timeline.

Our ceremony is at 5:30 & reception ends at 10. We’ve hired our photographer for 6 hrs, but will probably add an hr to the end since we don’t want to do a faux exit. She arrives at 3 to capture getting ready pics & individual pictures alone & with WP (we are not doing a 1st look).

Most photographers will discuss this with you if you get on a call & explain everything you are hoping for, but the general rule of thumb is:


6 hours for short ceremony, small # of guests, one location8 hours for longer ceremony, more guests, maybe two nearby locations10+ hours for lots of locations, cultural events, huge # of guests, etc.
But there are nuances to this—if you really want them to stay the whole time AND do getting ready photos, that’s probably more like 10 hours. We have two locations & an hour ceremony, but are hoping to do 8-9 hours by being willing to cut getting ready & front loading the reception events. (Our photographer was never going to stay until the end.)

I'm only hiring for 6 hours, but I could always add more time if I need too. I personally don't want all the getting ready shots though

We have our photographer for 8 hours. She'll arrive at 1pm for venue shots, our first look is at 3pm, ceremony is at 5pm and she'll leave around 9pm after cake cutting and the bouquet toss. We decided to skip out on getting pictures of our sparkler exit at 10:30pm

When you book ask can you hire another photographer because some. Contracts are against it.. plus ask if they come with another photographer besides them.. look around be4you book our try to go to a bridal expo in you state or area.. I found mines directly at a bridal expo and I waited 5 or 6 months after I got engaged to book mines.

Our Ceremony starts at 5pm and reception ends at 10:30pm. Our photographer will be there 4pm-9pm. We felt we only needed 5 hours to capture the special moments. We didn't so much care about capturing photos of dancing throughout the night plus our videographer will be there one hour longer. We are having him arrive at 4pm because capturing prep/behind the scenes photos is important to us.

We initially hired ours for 6 hours with the intention of knocking out as many pictures as possible pre-ceremony (first look, etc.) and then have her leave before the reception is over. Her next package up was only a couple hundred more to upgrade to 8 hours plus a second shooter, so we figured why not. We'll have getting ready and general dancing pictures, both of which we don't need, but we also didn't want to feel rushed to take all the pictures we wanted beforehand or to do all of the typical reception events all in a row so she can leave early (spotlight dances, cake cutting, etc.).

We have our first photographer for 10 hours, the second one for 6. The first one will be with me and my girls getting ready and the second will be with my FH while he and his guys get ready. Then they'll come together at the ceremony and get shots there and for the big moments of the reception, then leave. They won't stay until the end unless we choose our hours to have them there until the end. We don't see a reason to though.

View Quoted Comment Thank you all! There’s not much of a wedding party and neither of us have huge families for pre-ceremony portraits, but there’s some great locations at my venue for a first look that I want to take advantage of! We are doing a sparkler send off, but I don’t think we’ll need to have the photographer there for that. This is all really helpful!

Our photographer's standard package was 8 hours. I don't believe we will need that much time since I won't have a bridal party and I also don't see the need to have pictures of me getting ready or of the entire reception (how many pictures of guests eating or dancing do you need?). So we probably only really 6 hours of coverage to cover our bride & groom portraits, ceremony, family shots, cocktail hour, and a couple hours of the reception.

Our ceremony will start at six and go until 10. We also wanted pictures before the ceremony. We hired our photographer for 4 hours.

Booked our photographer from 3:30-8:30pm and videographer from 4-7pm and honestly, that all I can just about afford.

We hired ours for 10 hours (2 shooters for the full 10 hours). We did getting-ready photos, had an hour long photo shoot with the wedding party at a different location near our venue, and got all formal photos out of the way before the ceremony. They left about about an hour before our reception ended.

My current contract with her is 8 hours, but I've considered adding an hour. Right now the plan is for her to be there 3 - 11. We aren't doing a first look so she would do getting ready pictures, then the separate girl/guy pictures (with second shooter). We'll do the bridal party pictures during the cocktail hour and I want to capture our sparkler exit. The picture below is one of the reasons I picked her. She regularly shoots at our venue and I really want a picture like this one.

Mine was split so she came about 12:30 to where I was getting ready at. Left about 4:30. Then for the party they (had her friend assistant for double photographers) 4:30 to take pictures of us and the room. They left 10:30 maybe little later they finished their work at 10:30.

We're looking at 8 hour rates. We haven't decided a ceremony time or anything yet, but we want them there long enough to get "getting ready" shots too. I also want to make sure we have 2 photographers, so we have more shots from different angles.

We hired ours for 8 hours (which includes 2 shooters) and our wedding start times are the same. Our venue's bridal suite opens at 2pm and we're doing a sparkler exit so I think he'll be arriving by 2:30 so he can leave at 10:30 with the rest of the guests. We're doing a First Look, getting ready pictures, ceremony, reception and exit.

Hi,

Just had my wedding and we hired a photographer for 6 hours and it was the perfect start time. She came at 2 and left at 9:30 PM. Make sure you have them come early enough to get photos of the bridal party getting dressed and the groom getting dressed and so you can do bridal party photos.