Menu

Wedding Photography Coverage: Why You Don’t Want Just a Few Hours of Coverage

November 15, 2021

Tips, Wedding

Wedding Photography Coverage: Why You Don’t Want Just a Few Hours of Coverage

If you’re looking for a wedding photographer, you’ve probably been spending time checking out different wedding photographer portfolios and comparing various wedding packages. This is super exciting, but it might also be a little overwhelming! You might be wondering “Wait for a second – many hours of wedding photography coverage do I really need?”

It’s a great question! So much of the wedding planning process is expensive, and you end up talking with a lot of vendors about things you might not be an expert in. Throughout it all, you want to make sure that you’re really making good decisions and getting the best deals. But if you’re considering skimping on your wedding photography coverage and only booking a photographer for a few hours, this could be a huge mistake. Here’s why!

Reasons You Don’t Want to Skimp on Your Wedding Photography Coverage

If you’re running off on an adventurous elopement or if you’re planning a very simple, brief celebration, a few hours of coverage will likely cut it. But for your best possible experience, 8-10 hours of wedding photography coverage is the way to go! Here’s why:

#1 – You want to remember all the in-between moments

Weddings can be a blur! Emotions are running high, there are so many people, and you’re running high on adrenaline and elation. It’s a beautiful thing – but plenty of couples look back on the wedding day and find it hard to distinguish those special in-between moments out of the overall day.

That’s one of the most magical things about great wedding photography coverage. When you get your photography album back to you, it’s such an amazing feeling to go through it with your new spouse. The camera has captured so many sweet or hilarious moments – both ones that happened with your guests while you were busy elsewhere, and ones that you’ve forgotten. It all comes flooding back! Not to mention, these are memories that the pictures will keep fresh forever.

If you only have a few hours of wedding photography coverage, you just aren’t going to get as many of these beautiful in-between moments. All the emphasis will be on your formal group photos, which are wonderful – but don’t carry memories in the same way.

#2 – You want to tell the whole story

Here at Translucent Photography, we are all about telling your stories. You want your wedding photography coverage to tell a story too – your wedding day has an arc to it from beginning to end. If you only get a few hours of coverage, you won’t get to record and celebrate the whole process.

When you just cover the ceremony, the group portraits, and the beginning of the reception, the story doesn’t get a beginning or an end. Those precious moments getting ready – when your dad sees you in your dress for the first time, when you read the note she slipped under your door – they matter. And your joyful exit from the reception, surrounded by sparklers and cheering friends – that matters too! When you only go for a few hours of wedding photography coverage, you miss out on the chance to record those once-in-a-lifetime moments.

#3 – You don’t want to feel rushed

A wedding day can feel busy enough, the last thing you want to do is add a sense of hurry or stress because you know your photographer is leaving. Group portraits always take longer than you expect, and it would be awful if you spent the whole time tapping your foot, worried that you won’t get enough time to do couples portraits or concerned that the little details won’t be caught on camera.

When you book a photographer for a healthy amount of hours – eight to ten hours, usually – you don’t have any of those concerns. You know that every moment of the day is going to be photographed, and that gives you the peace of mind to truly relax and enjoy the photoshoot elements of your wedding day, instead of hurrying through them.

#4 – You want the joy-filled, unstaged, candid shots

These are our favourites! It’s the moments out on the dance floor when the bride has her skirt tied up to really let loose and the little kids in the family are being spun around. It’s the faces during the speeches when the groom breaks into laughter during his best man’s speech or the father of the bride sheds a tear during his toast.

These little, unstaged, candid moments – they’re real. They’re precious. And they convey how your wedding actually feels. A few hours of wedding photography coverage will hit the highlight reel and make sure to convey the way your wedding looks, but only enough time to roam around and catch all the quick, casual moments will give your photographer the chance to convey how your wedding actually felt.

#5 – You want to cherish these photographs forever

When you think about it, the food from your wedding gets eaten and the flowers get thrown away. The music ends and the dress gets tucked somewhere special, likely never worn again. Of all of the vendors you hire for your wedding day, it’s only really the photographer’s work that you’ll cherish forever.

These pictures will be the ones you hang in your home and show your grandkids! We might be slightly biased here, speaking as wedding photographers, but when you think about the longevity of the wedding photos, it seems like a no-brainer to splurge on full wedding photographer coverage. You will not regret it!

Final Thoughts on Wedding Photography Coverage

At the end of the day, your wedding photography coverage is a real investment! Booking your photographer for a decent number of hours guarantees you peace of mind, an unhurried pace, the space to enjoy taking the photos, and best of all, it gives you a solid, tangible record of the best day of your life – in all its spontaneous, tender, and joyful glory.

If you’d like to talk more about what a full day of wedding photography coverage actually involves, feel free to get in touch!

DID YOU ENJOY THIS BLOG POST? PIN IT FOR LATER…

Translucent Photography is an Australian Wedding Photographer specialising in Candid & Authentic Wedding, Elopement & Family Photography. Based near Wollongong on the NSW South Coast, we often capture moments across the Southern Highlands, South Coast, Illawarra, Canberra & Blue Mountains regions.

Share with friends

want more information?

we can't wait to hear from you!