How much wedding coverage do I need?

Hello, I am Holly Selden and have been a photographer for 17 years! In my time being a photographer I have been asked many times, how much wedding coverage do I need? You may think you are fine with shorter wedding coverage but find out quickly you needed a lot more time! Let’s break the wedding packages down for an easy to understand description so you can make an educated decision when you choose your wedding package.

To view my wedding packages visit here.

Wedding Photography

3 hour weddings- 3 hour weddings are perfect for a more intimate wedding experience. All the bells and whistles are not what is most important to you. You are having an intimate wedding with your closest friends and family (usually a group of around 20 or so), having a short ceremony and you really want photos with your new spouse, your family and your bridal party if you have one! You do not need reception coverage. This allows you to have less pressure on your wedding day by keeping it more lowkey and allows you to have a priority on photos and spending time with your new spouse. You can expect approximately 300 photos within a 3 hour wedding.

6 hour weddings- 6 hour weddings are great for those who are having a more traditional wedding but still on the smaller side. You do not need full wedding coverage or you may be able to condense your timeline more by keeping your ceremony and reception at the same location. With a 6 hour wedding you will be able to cover your ceremony, couples photos, individual photos of each spouse, family portraits as well as bridal party portraits. If timed well you may have the ability to fit in getting ready photos as well as first dances. You may need to sacrifice on a few traditional aspects of a wedding day due to time, but you can fit in what is most important to you with a well planned timeline. With a 6 hour wedding you can expect approximately 500 photos but this is dependent on moments that happen during the day. To optimize your wedding coverage the best it is recommended to do a first look before the ceremony so there is no rushing your photos.

8 hour weddings- 8 hour weddings is the typical time chosen for a wedding day and is the most recommended. Wedding days fly by but this allows you to fit in just about everything you have planned for your day! 8 hour wedding coverage covers wedding detail photos, getting ready photos, individual photos of each spouse, bridal party photos, ceremony coverage, family photos, candids, first dances, beginning of open dancing and allows you to be at more than one location if planned well. 8 hour weddings allow you to tell more of the “story” of your wedding day by trying to cover just about all aspects of your day and people tend to love this time coverage the most. Many times couples choose to do first looks or first touches with your spouse which gives you many more photos, many also choose to do first looks with a parent! You can expect approximately 800 photos for an 8 hour wedding day.

Hopefully this breakdown of packages and what is typically covered will help you in deciding how much wedding coverage you need! If you have any additional questions feel free to reach out to me through here!