How many hours of wedding photography do you need for your wedding?

So...how many hours of wedding photography should you have for your wedding? That's a good question! As a wedding photographer in the Tampa Bay area, I've been part of many weddings and if there is one thing that all weddings have in common is that NO WEDDING IS THE SAME! :)  For that reason, we don't offer wedding photography packages to make couples fit their wedding plans to us...INSTEAD, we rather fit our services to our couples, so we offer our wedding photography via an interactive online quote where you pick the hours based on your wedding needs! 

With that said, we wanted to share on this informational blog post a helpful summary of approximately how many hours of wedding photography you may need for your wedding. BUT before you keep reading, one thing I will say which applies to all weddings is....the more wedding photography hours you have, the more flexibility you'll have to get the photos YOU want!  So, keep that in mind as you read though these times below:

10 to 12 Hours: This would give you the best coverage and flexibility to make sure we capture every detail. Generally this amount of time will cover all of your getting ready photographs, travel to multiple locations, first look photos, ceremony, formal portraits of the couple and their family, and full reception coverage, including grand exit.  This is perfect if you are wanting tons of pictures, have a big wedding with tons of guests and/or have a wedding at multiple venues (getting ready at one location, ceremony at another, and reception at another).

8 to 9 Hours: This would be the second best option for most coverage and flexibility - generally the most popular option for most of our couples. Depending of locations and timeline, this generally would cover a good portion of the getting ready photos of bride and groom, the ceremony, formal portraits of the couple and their family, all the way until the end of the reception, generally including grand exit. This would be good for a typical wedding ceremony of about 100 or plus guests.  

6 to 7 Hours: This amount of coverage would generally only cover the ceremony, formal portraits of the couple and their family, and generally most of the reception. This would be good for a smaller wedding ceremony of about 50 guests and for couples that don't really want any photos of them getting ready but want enough hours to ensure we capture the wedding celebration.  

​4 to 5 Hours: This amount of coverage would generally only cover the ceremony, formal portraits of the couple and their family, and some of the reception. This would be good for a small ceremony of about 30 guests and the couples don't want any pre ceremony photos or full reception, or you have a short reception. 

2 to 3 Hours: This amount of coverage would generally only cover the ceremony, and formal portraits of the couple and their family.  This is generally enough for elopements, a minimony, pop up weddings, micro weddings, or small destination wedding with less than 20 guests.  

I hope that this information helps you out in determining the right amount of hours you need to photograph your wedding.  Again, every wedding is different and everyone wants a totally different outcome of their wedding pictures that will be cherished for years to come.  Stay tuned as I will write another informational blog soon with more details on how much time each individual stage of your wedding (getting ready / first look / portraits / etc.) will take to ensure you get the photographs you want and need. 

Remember, at the end of the night, the food and cake will be gone, the music will stop, but the memories will last a LIFETIME, so make sure to invest in the right amount of wedding photography for your wedding so you have all the right memories that you will pass on to your future generation! 

If you need a wedding photographer in the Tampa Bay area, contact us for a quote and we'll be more than happy to help you come up with the right amount for your wedding!