How much coverage do you need on your wedding day?

All of it!  Just kidding...seriously, how much coverage do you need on your wedding day?  What pictures do you want?  Deciding on what types of pictures you want is your first step.  Talking to your wedding photographer will help you outline your day's events, and figure out what your priorities are.


Getting ready  There are a lot of classic photos to take during this time, that will help tell the story of your wedding day, including pictures of your dress hanging, your shoes, your mom adjusting your veil.  It is important to talk to your photographer to find out how much time you'll need before the ceremony.  We tell our brides to not get dressed before we get there, so that we can get all of the detail shots that you'll adore.

Sneak Peek  Some brides decide to get their portraits done before the ceremony, to help ease time constraints between the ceremony and reception.  The sneak peek idea, is that the bride can sneak up behind the groom, and when he turns around and sees her, she still gets to see the element of joy and surprise on his face.  These images provide a more intimate and emotional scene.

60-minutes of bride and groom time  Your wedding day is short, and there is almost no time for brides and grooms to spend any time together.  Most couples are busy with receiving lines and family portraits.  There have been countless couples who look at their pictures after the wedding, and wish there were more and better photos of just the bride and groom.  These are the photos that you'll hang on your wall, send out in thank you cards, and put on your facebook profile. 

In addition to the great pictures we capture during this time, it is a very peaceful time for you and your new husband to actually have a few minutes alone that day.

Ceremony This one seems like a no-brainer.  Everyone knows that they want the wedding ceremony covered.  You want the pictures of you walking down the aisle, lighting your unity candle, and giving roses to your moms.  Depending on your location, there may be certain restrictions for the photographers to adhere to, and time restraints as well.

Portraits  This is something to discuss with your wedding photographer.  Are you planning a lot of group shots?  Do you want to go to different locations for portraits?  These things can affect how much time you need for your portraits on the day of your wedding.

Reception  What kind of reception are you having?  A traditional reception can include toasts, dinner, special dances, cake-cutting, dollar dances, bouquet and garter tosses.  In addition to which formalities you want to include, dinner can be a buffet or a sit-down affair, and that affects your timeline, too.  Whether you decide you want to have coverage of all the formalities, or only some, will also affect how much coverage you need on your wedding day.

When you schedule your bridal consultation with us, we will go over your timeline for your wedding day, and help you determine how much coverage you'll actually need.  While every wedding is unique, we typically recommend coverage begin an hour before the ceremony and end two hours after the reception.  Factors that might affect this would be things like getting your portraits finished before the ceremony, a large family or lots of family pictures, locations, dinner type, and formalities included at your reception.