Is it worth it?

I think for just the dancing, you can skip adding the photographer for an extra hour

300$ to capture a once in a lifetime moment in the grand scheme of things isn’t a lot of money.

Dancing photos are some of my favorites! So of course we are having our photographer and videographer stay late to capture those. However, if you only have 20 guests it may not be worth the extra money. Guests’ photos from that portion of the evening may be enough.

If she’s around even for 15-30 minutes of dancing before she leaves, I’m sure that will be capture enough of the dancing. I probably lean towards not hiring her for the extra hour.

That would depend on how much you like your photographer’s work. The package I chose with my photographer includes an engagement session. After she delivered our photos, I love her work so much that I added an extra hour to my wedding day package that cost $400 (two photographers). It all comes down to whether you think the pictures will be worth it for you.

I say its not worth it. Thats a lot of $, and Im sure you can encourage your guests to take lots of pics. I dont think you'll miss it!

Personally, I would! If it's something you think you'll want pictures of later, I would extend the photographer's hours. You can't go back in time later to recapture them if, after the wedding, you regret not getting them. If you don't want to spend $300, are you able to pay $150 for her to stay an extra half hour? That way, you get some dancing pictures, but also save on cost?

Some of my favorite pictures came from the dancing portion of the night! If you can’t rearrange the schedule to have dancing start before they leave, I would extend the time a bit. It’s so nice to have pictures of our guests having a good time.

I don't think you even would need a full hour - she could stay for the first 30 and get some candids and go. A lot of the dancing photos start to be monotonous after awhile, but if she could capture a few it may be worth it. However, for only 20 people I might just rely on my guests to get the snapshots.

I'm on team, save the $300 and just have guests take pics. I'm in no way trying to say smartphones are comparable to professional cameras but most dancing pics are monotonous and sometimes after like 5 they stop being interesting in my opinion. Just ask guests to take pics and send them to you as well have maybe 2 or 3 disposable cameras for tangible prints.

Pay the $300. We just did the same thing and I know it'll be worth it to me. I want to see people having a good time and not trying to worry about getting photos. Additionally, you will have more time to snap a few extra sunset photos!