How many hours of wedding photography do you need?

At some point during your wedding planning, you are going to ask the question, “How many hours of wedding photography do you need?” Booking the right coverage ensures that there are no regrets later.

Determining the Right Coverage

First of all, the amount of coverage and what you will get for it will differ from photographer to photographer. Since this is a common question from brides, I want to help answer it based on my experience as a professional wedding photographer.

Usually, for us wedding photographers, time is money. A full day’s wedding can mean an 8 to 12-hour day. After that, we have to back up and organise your photographs, cull through them, edit them, and back them up again before delivering the photos. Sometimes, the work after the wedding can take longer than the wedding day itself!

How Many Hours of Wedding Photography Do You Need?

It depends on how much of your day you want to be photographed. Often, I get inquiries from clients who, after checking my availability, ask for coverage of their wedding day. But is that 4-hour coverage? 6-hour coverage? 10-hour coverage? Figuring out the size of your wedding and looking at your wedding timeline will help you choose the right coverage that meets your expectations and budget.

Continuous Wedding Photography Coverage

First, we must understand that any photography coverage you choose will be continuous. There is no start and stop or breaks in between stages of the wedding day unless you make special arrangements with your photographer. For example, if you book a 10-hour coverage, your photographer will not provide photography from 8 am to 1 pm, break from 1 pm to 5 pm, and then resume coverage from 5 pm to 10 pm.

The Wedding Day

Bride and Groom Preparation

This part of the day can take 1-3 hours. How many bridesmaids and groomsmen do you have? A bride with two bridesmaids will need fewer hours than a bride with eight bridesmaids, a flower girl, and other family members all waiting for hair and makeup.

You may want your photographer to document the fun, natural shots of the bridal party getting their hair and makeup done, as well as the groom and his best men’s preparations. During this time, the photographer will also take detailed images of the dress, shoes, bouquet, rings, and other jewelry.

Things to Consider: Would you be willing to pay the photographer for the time to be there, as well as a second photographer if the bride and groom are getting ready in two different locations?

Individual Portraits

Right after prep is the best time for individual portraits of the bride and groom (separately), while makeup and hair are fresh. Allow 15-20 minutes each for the bride and groom.

Pre-Ceremony Photos

What do you plan to do before the ceremony? Exchange gifts? Prayer? Reveal the dress? Family picture? First look?

Some brides choose to have a special time with their mother, father, or both parents when they see her for the first time in her wedding dress. Moments like this are very special and worth your photographer capturing. You may also want some family pictures or pictures with the bridal party.

Things to Consider:

• • How long does it take to travel to the ceremony location? The photographer needs enough time to go to the second location.
  • Allow 20 minutes for the photographer to take pictures of the ceremony site, completely set up with no guests or vendors in the area.
  • Plan for extra time if things are running late—hair and makeup taking longer than expected, limo getting stuck in traffic, decorators being late, etc.

The Ceremony

The amount of time for the ceremony varies, but civil ceremonies wrap up in less than 30 minutes. Traditional Asian wedding ceremonies can be up to two hours long.

Things to Consider: After the ceremony, photos such as certificate signing, group photos with your guests (at the ceremony site), and pictures of you being congratulated can add to your time frame.

Formals and Couple Portraits

This is the time to take advantage of all the beautiful locations at your ceremony for family portraits, bridal party portraits, and romantic portraits.

Things to Consider:

• • How many group photos do you want? Gathering the right people can be a challenge and it can take some time, so plan for 3 minutes per group on average. For example, if you have ten groups, schedule in a 30-minute time slot.
  • Couple portraits should be done away from the guests to avoid interruptions. You may need to travel to another location for this. Allow a minimum of 30 minutes plus travel time between locations. The best time is just before sunset.

The Reception

Typically, your wedding reception will include various events that you’ll want photographed—grand entrance, cake cutting, speeches, first dance, dances with parents, fun dance photos of guests, bouquet toss, and the sendoff. Receptions are usually 5 hours.

Things to Consider:

• Decide if you want to pay for your photographer to stay for the entire reception to capture all the events.
• If you are working with a budget, you may opt to have the photographer finish just after the first dance to save costs.

Recommended Coverage Packages

2-3 Hours of Wedding Day Coverage

Ideal for a civil ceremony only, with onsite group photos and couple portraits at a nearby park or another location. Allow time for travel.

6 Hours of Wedding Day Coverage

Six hours of coverage is ideal for small weddings with fewer than 50 guests. In intimate settings, there are fewer people to manage and photograph, allowing the event to progress smoothly. This duration works well when the ceremony and reception are held at the same location.

While six hours of coverage typically does not include photos of the bridal preparations, it ensures that all the essential moments are captured. This includes the ceremony, family photos, couple portraits, first dance, and cake cutting.

8 Hours of Wedding Day Coverage

An 8-hour package will be enough for an average-size wedding. This coverage allows your photographer to capture the last part of your getting ready shots, some of the detail shots of the ceremony and reception, and the start of the dance floor at the reception.

10-12 Hours of Wedding Day Coverage

For large weddings, I recommend 10-12 hours of coverage. This is more than enough time to capture all the details of the day, including multiple moments of travel between locations, a longer ceremony, and changes of outfits for the reception (common at Asian weddings).

If you’re still struggling to decide how many hours of wedding photography you need, don’t worry. I am happy to chat and help put together a package that is suitable for you. You can contact me HERE

For more inspiration and updates, visit my Instagram Page.

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Hello, I liked to share one of my Winter weddings in 2018.
Richard & Laura had a small civil ceremony at the Glenfield registry office and then an intimate reception at the Winstanley house.

Winstanley house is a lovely boutique hotel and event venue in Leicester. As an expertly restored historic building. It includes all the conveniences from a modern venue while retaining the charm, class and elegance of a stately home.

As it was a winter wedding in December, it was already dark before we had time to do the couple portraits. But the artificial lights at the venue allowed us to try some night portraits outside.

below are a few highlights, I hope you enjoy browsing through these photos – Ashok

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As well as wedding photography I also offer environmental portrait photography. These are relaxed photography sessions where I apply my wedding photography style for portraits. I am happy to do these shoots anywhere in the Midlands or travel further afield anywhere in the Uk. Finally, here is a sample of such shoots with Gosia & Matt.

Having done plenty of shoots in Various parks and venues in Nottingham but none in the city centre, So I was keen to do this session in the centre. Gosia & Matt are a lovely couple who were very eager and willing to try anything unusual for artistic poses. We started the session with Gosia & Matt outside the Nottingham contemporary art museum, and we chased the light and the sunset around the city looking for the best views and beautiful spots in the city.

You can check out another city couple shoot HERE.

I hope you enjoy browsing through these photos – Ashok.

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Wedding Photographer Loughborough | Joe & Abbi Pre-Wedding Shoot

Joe and Abi will be marrying next week in the beautiful Mythe Barn Venue, An exclusive wedding venue in Leicestershire. So now is the time to share Joe and Abbi’s pre-wedding shoot from last year.

We met one early morning in Loughborough. At the Quorn & Woodhouse Station to start our Session, these two were naturals right from the start in front of the camera. Particularly Joe who used to model as a child in Asia. In short, it was a great shoot in Leicestershire. After the Quorn station, we drove to nearby farmland. Where we saw a curious herd of sheep wanting to join in on the photos.

I am looking forward to seeing Joe and Abbi again and documenting their wedding day in a beautiful venue.

I hope you Enjoy browsing through these photos – Ashok.

UPDATE: Joe & Abbi’s Wedding Photography up on the blog HERE.

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Here is a West Midlands wedding and of my favourite weddings in 2018 — Tim & Gabriella’s intimate wedding. Tim & Gabi had a Stunning traditional Church wedding, followed by a beautiful Marquee and country garden reception – held at the family home in Worcester, Worcestershire.

The couple booked my FULL DAY WEDDING COVERAGE PHOTOGRAPHY + VIDEOGRAPHY package, which meant we covered their special day from morning preparations till the end at midnight. Of course, my video package is in partnership with the very talented Chris from Lifestyle visuals. You can see the video from this fantastic wedding HERE.

The ceremony was at St. George’s Church in Worcester, It is decorated beautifully and kept in spotless state. The reception venue was walking distance away, at Tim’s parent’s house within their beautiful gardens, in a marquee.

Above all Gabi is a wedding & events planner and runs her own company specialising in breathtaking weddings and unique events. So as you imagined the standards of planning were high. Indeed, the wedding included many nice touches including a brass band who walked with guests from the church to the reception. Canapés on arrival, a pizza oven, live singers, DJ, drummer & saxophonist to name a few!

Check out Tim and Gabi’s Pre-wedding photography HERE.

Wedding planning – Gabriella Dale

Flowers – FloralRoundabout

Videography – Lifestyle Visuals

Below are a few highlights, I hope you enjoy browsing through these photos – Ashok.

The post Tim & Gabi | Wedding appeared first on Ashok Suren Photography.

Tim & Gabi got married in 2018! We met up in the summer for their pre-wedding Engagement Shoot. OK, So how do you think I felt when I found out Tim and Gabi wanted their pre-wedding shoot in Tim’s parent’s gardens? Little restrictive?. Well, it was instead a large garden which also hosted Tim & Gabi’s wedding reception a few days later.

The couple brought along Saffa, their pet dog for the shoot. Saffa even has her own Instagram page. As many of my clients are, Tim was a little nervous before the shoot. But, overall we had a great time with plenty of laughter, and very quickly the camera fears went away. Even, Saffa, the dog, turned out to be natural. I also got to take home some free eggs from the families home chicken farm!!

I will put a link to their fabulous wedding here shortly, and I hope you enjoy these photos – Ashok.

Remember to follow me on Instagram to keep up with my latest work HERE.

UPDATE: The link to the wedding is HERE.

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Hola amigos! I am happy to share some images from one of my favourite weddings in 2016! A small, sweet and simple wedding in the heart of Barcelona. As a Leicester wedding photographer, I work mostly in and around Leicestershire. This wedding was a special occasion for me as it was the first wedding outside of the U.K and in my favourite City Barcelona!!

Ivan & Desi chose to have a small wedding surrounded by close friends and immediate family. It was a privilege to be part of their special day and to share these pictures with you. Also, I am available for International assignments as long as my flights and hotel are covered. Please see my INVESTMENT page for more detail.

Check out Ivan & Desi’s pre-wedding shoot HERE.

Remember to follow me on Instagram to keep up with my latest work HERE.

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