Welcome back friends!!

It’s good to see ya! Ashley and Camden here- your favorite Richmond wedding photographers and self proclaimed “pocket sized wedding planners”. Every week we like to dive in to a new topic that couples around the world are dealing with when planning their weddings- and this week is no different! Today’s topic: wedding coverage. Every photographer you inquire with is going to ask the same question, “So, how much coverage are you looking for?” And chances are, you’re scratching your head reading this and going “How on earth do I know???”

It’s okay. We’re here to help.

Let’s break it down:

Coverage simply refers to how many hours you’d like your photographer to be there on your wedding day. And this number can vary quite a bit depending on your wedding day and what you’re planning on doing! Here are a few things to keep in mind-

Time it Out:

The average ceremony is 30 minutes to an hour. Then typically there’s a “cocktail hour” or at least an “intermission” in between the ceremony and reception. If you are hosting your ceremony and reception at the same place, this will usually be an hour. If not, you’ll need to add in some travel time. Then the average reception is about 3-4 hours long. So at MINIMUM- you’re looking at 5-6 hours of coverage just for the ceremony-reception if it’s all at the same venue.

HOWEVER!!

You’re probably going to want some photos of you getting ready! Perhaps you want to add in a first look. Maybe you have a large family so portraits are going to take longer than an hour. These are all things to keep in mind when planning your coverage.

Variables:

Like we mentioned above, there are a lot of special moments you want to capture on your wedding day, and if you try to cut your photography coverage, you’ll either be rushing around like madmen to get all the photos you want, or missing some of those special memories. If your ceremony and reception are at two different places, consider the time it takes to get to the reception from the ceremony. If you’re getting ready somewhere different than where the ceremony takes place, that’s also another time constraint. All of these variables factor in to how much coverage you want!

Now, you may not have your full timeline in place when you inquire with a photographer. That’s normal! Be honest in your inquiry, and more than likely, your photographer is willing to help you and be honest in how much coverage you really need. (We certainly are!) If you hire the right photographer, they’ll be more than happy to give you a hand in deciding how much time you really need, and most of us are pretty flexible in adding hours on to your package later on if you decide you need it (or moving events around so you get the most coverage of your big moments!)

As always, thanks for keeping up with us! Make sure to follow us on IG and FB for all the dad jokes and cat videos you can imagine. And shoot us an email if you need some help deciding on your coverage!

Until next time,

Ashley and Camden