Is anyone hiring a photographer for only a few hours?

FYI, I'm hiring a videographer for the entire wedding.

I don't know, I thought about this but the photos of my guests and my husband and I partying at our reception are some of my favorites. I had 7 hours of coverage and the getting ready portion was probably too long - could have done with only 6 - but I love my photos.

My MOH did this. She decided to "crowd source" her reception pictures. She doesn't have a professional photo of their first dance, or her father crying during his speech, or them cutting the cake. The pictures of the dance floor look like amateur pictures of a middle school dance. But in the end? None of that was important to her and she's happy with her decision. I just know I wouldn't be.

Side note: I think video is crazy valuable, but you have to invest time in watching a video and you can't frame it on your wall. I'd be sad if I only had video of some of those special moments.

I wanted a photographer who would be there for the entire day, plus I wanted 2 photographers. I want to make sure that we capture everything about this day since we're putting so much money into it.

Ultimately you have to decide if that's where you want to spend your money. Just make sure that you really think to through, because you don't want to spend all the money and then have that regret.

LoveinDC, you are very persuasive!!!

Yes. We booked an "elopement package"

Cost $300

He will provide all the photos taken for the one hour (though he says he not super strict with that time limit)

Edit select ones and send them to us. He's bringing professional lighting as well. His normal wedding full day coverage is around 2k (so still lower range cost but I love his style (photojournalism))

I wanted the majority of our budget to go to caterer food/alcohol. So this is what we can fit into our budget.

In this hour there should be enough time to get some wonderful keepsake photos of us and our close family. But there won't be time to capture everything. It's a compromise I'm willing to make.

As long as I have a couple GREAT quality photos of us on our special day and some of parents/siblings/us for keepsakes...

I'm OK with the rest of the photos of the day being iPhone quality photos. But photography has never been a priority for us.

We are also skipping a lot of traditional wedding moments. There is no first dances, cutting of the cake, or grand exit. It's more like a big party after a short and sweet ceremony.

ETA: I had a photographer I like turn me down because they wanted to try to book a wedding that was going to book a bigger package. I understood completely. I didn't get my contract signed with my photographer til about 2 months out. So you will most likely have less selection.

Don't get me wrong, there are many people like my MOH and @Kels who choose to cut back on photography and it works for them. It's just all about what you value. I know I'm a very sentimental person and photography was a huge splurge for us. Other people aren't the same way. Just make sure that before you make any final decisions, you get very specific about what you're giving up when you're cutting something. If you know what you're losing and you're still okay with it, then you're making the right choice for you

We're doing 4 hours photo, with a minimum of 120 pictures. I might add more time but unsure for now. I just hope it's enough.

It's a Thursday, most likely midday wedding. 35-50 guests. It's much smaller scale than most Saturday weddings.

Were doing a 7 hour package with 60-70 photos and hour. Pictures are super important to me and I don't want to miss the first dance photos or speech photos. It's all in what you value/prefer!

I was going to hire ours for the entire wedding but she (yes, the photographer) suggested we not have her here for the last hour if we weren't have a send off (which we're not). She says the last hour just ends up being a bunch of people dancing. A few of those are fun, but after a while they just get redundant.

In our area we had a hard time finding a photographer that would only do a few hours. What it boils down to is you want to only pay say like $500 for 3-4 hours of photographer. Your wedding falls right in the middle of a couple who is wanting the photographers $3,000 package. The photographer is going to go with couple who is taking the package. I was going to go with a friend who was going to show up and take pictures of my wedding and leave for $500. I found a photographer who does amazing work and she point blank told me that I had to pick a package. I couldn't find a package that was offered that contained what I wanted. So when she drew up the contract we discussed what I wanted and she priced everything individually for me and plus left some of the package stuff that I wanted. We ended up paying $2027 after taxes. We had 7 hours of shooting. We did a first look in the garden, I got pictures of my daughter and I that I didn't plan on getting, my wedding and reception where completely covered by 3 photographers, and we took pictures for a little over an hour at the covered bridge after we did our grand exit and wished our guest goodbye. Best decision we ever made. Don't regret it one bit. I hope you find what your looking for. Good Luck.

I think its totally up to you. personally we skipped the videographer and got an all day photographer.he will be there from the time we start getting ready to the time we do our send off.hes awesome we are very excited.i say its your wedding day,do what you feel most comferable with.

I'm not having a professional taking photos of us getting ready in my bridal suite. I'll be fine w/ iPhone photos for that. For the rest of the pics, I definitely want a professional.

We're doing the same. FMIL gave us major side eye, but no pay no say! We are on a very tight budget and I would rather hire an amazing photographer for 3 hours than a mediocre photographer for 6. We're only having 25 people and it's not a typical "reception", just lunch at a local restaurant after the ceremony, no dancing, no dj, no frills, photographing it just didn't seem necessary. I just want some great shots of me and FH and the family and friends at the gorgeous botanical garden our ceremony is at.

From a photographer and a bride planning her own wedding on a budget...

As a photographer I can tell you it's not necessarily about "getting dressed" or even the traditional moments at your reception .... it's the moments in between. When your getting dressed and your mom looks at you and you both start crying... the excitement of your bridesmaids when they see you in your dress for the first time.. your dad crying.. the unexpected moments. At the reception when your guest are giving speech - the love and connection that can clearly be felt in the photo of you locking eyes with your maid of honor. A warm embrace... excitement as your favorite song comes on. A fantastic photographer isn't going to just recount the day through photographs, they are going make you feel the moments all over again... and it takes a trained eye to do so. You will treasure those moments especially the ones you didn't even know happened. The day goes by SOOOO fast, it's a blur. Our memory is pretty crappy. That's why you can have 5 witnesses see a crime and all 5 recount it differently right after... ask them to recount it a year later, it's even worse. Your photos will actually affect the memory of your wedding. If you have photos that capture that feeling, you can treasure those forever. You can't count on your guest to even capture those photos - their usually to busy taking selfies anyways. Even if they do capture it, a cell phone and the average person is not reliable. For instance... say you have just gotten dressed right in front of a window. A moment happens, you're crying. Your bridesmaid whips out her Iphone and takes a photo. Well the iphone is set to "expose" for the brightest spot... so you will likely be a silhouette (complete black shadow) and the window will be "properly exposed" Your camera doesn't know better.

We all have a budget. Some are more limiting than others. I think finding out what is absolutely a priority to you and what isn't, is important... and having realistic expectations. For me it was my dress, photographs / capturing the feeling, and having it be fun and laid back for everyone. We have a budget of 10K which is way below the average. So we made it work keeping the things that we hold near and dear in mind. We are renting a house in the mountains and only inviting 30 people (we narrowed it down to people who would be in our wedding party (if we had one), their families, and our immediate family). We're having a laid back "backyard bbq" feel all weekend food provided by friends and family and then having our wedding on a Monday. No chairs, no cake, no decorations, a bouquet made by a friend from flowers from the farmers market. Our budget primary is the house, dress, and photography. We choose a Monday because most vendors don't offer lower packages especially photographers on weekend days. My photographer is amazing and super talented. We got an elopement package of 4 hours and engagement session for $3200. I'm also paying an amazing friend / photographer who has worked with me for 8 years and cut me a super big discount to stay and shoot the Sunday laid back events for $1000. I'm editing them and again.. they hooked me up. So you can see photography is 42% of my budget. It's important to me.

In terms of finding a professional photographer to shoot a 2-3 hours wedding on weekend day (assuming yours is). As a business owner it just doesn't make sense. If we could predict when our bread and butter clients (the ones who have 8-12 hours wedding) would book that would be possible, but it's not. Believe me, I wish that was predictable! I myself only take 15 clients a years so it's important I leave those spots open for those who want to invest in me and my work. I typically only book elopement packages during the week or less than 2 months out.

If it comes down to it and photography doesn't make your top 3 priority list.. then that may work for you. There are always new comer photographers who will take a job that small on a weekend. It's still pretty risky since they don't typically have the experience to be able to shoot in all lighting situations ... but it's not a priority to you and that's ok. Just think it through. I hear so much regret from others when I meet new people and talk about my profession, and they recount their own wedding wishing they had put more of their budget towards photography.

Wishing you a beautiful wedding

Elly

We are only doing 3 hours. I do want the getting ready, storyboard layout and detail shots, but since our ceremony is short and we aren't doing dancing (just dinner) I plan to have the photographer finish as we sit down to dinner. I don't need photos of us eating...

I think you're missing out on important parts of the story, and it's a mistake. What you described doesn't take a few hours....are you sure you meant that the photographer wouldn't do the reception?

Our photographer is flexible on time. I am going to have her meet us where we are getting ready for a couple shots of me with my bridesmaids and groomsmen alone....and then the ceremony/reception. I have never liked the getting ready/dress laying out photos. I just want to relax with my girlfriends without worrying about photos before the wedding!

We hired our photographer for a "short" time. An hour before the ceremony , 30 min ceremony, cocktail hour and dinner with cake cutting. 5 hours I think? He was able to capture 1000 shots.

I do not regret not having him there for the whole reception .

Really, it's not about how many shots, and a photographer doesn't need to be there for the whole reception, but certainly for the first and parent dances and some guests dancing, that part shouldn't be skipped. You can catch the tail end of the getting ready, like finishing touches on hair and makeup / zipping the dress, tying ties and boutonnieres without being there for all of it, it's how well and creatively time is used.