The Why Series - All-Day Coverage
Do I need all day wedding coverage? One of the most common things in wedding photography coverage is an hourly limit. This is pretty common and a really big focus for most photographers. And I see why! It really allows the photographer to control how much work they have on the backend. It also means less work, it’s easier on the body, and it’s much less exhausting. That said, hourly wedding coverage has some serious drawbacks, not just in the types of moments you miss, but also in the way you feel and approach your day. In this blog, I want to go over the benefits of true all-day coverage and give a couple of examples of real weddings, and what would have changed had I not been there for all day.
“Hourly wedding coverage has some serious drawbacks”
One thing to note is that in both of these examples, the bride was told I could “show up whenever she wants”. Typically, I recommend showing up about an hour and a half before the bride gets into her dress. This lets me get the bride and groom getting ready, get the details, and be ready for when the bride gets into the dress. It allows me to tell the story of the wedding fully, but I also don’t think we need 300 photos of the bride getting her hair done.
With 8 hours of coverage, this photo would have never existed.
Similarly, I always recommend that I leave a wedding about an hour after dancing starts. I don’t think we need 500 dancing photos. It is with these recommendations that these brides made plans for their day. It is knowing this, they built a day without the stress of extra hourly costs, without worry about if the photographer would leave before that one surprise, or that one dance. Instead, they had the chance to have fun, to party, to laugh, and enjoy their day - however long or short it went.
So let’s look at two real-world examples. One is a large wedding out of town that featured multiple locations, multiple shooters. The other is a much smaller wedding that took place at the Coeur d’Alene Resort and only had one photographer, one 5-minute location change, and no first look.
CJ & Caitlin’s Wedding
The Zita wedding was absolutely incredible and was a highlight for me. These two are energetic, fun, but also incredibly kind. They have engaging friends and family, and had so many sweet moments throughout their whole day. The first photo I took on their wedding day was at 8:39 a.m. as the bridesmaids were getting ready. It didn’t take me long to move into details, along with traveling down the road to get CJ getting ready. The last photo I took on their day was taken at 10:49 p.m. It was a full, long, fun, eventful day. But what would happen if I covered it for just 8 hours? What would this incredible couple have missed out on? Well, all four of the photos above for one. If I had shown up when the bride wanted me to at 8:30 and stayed for 8 hours, I would have left before the reception. I would have taken virtually zero couple photos, no toasts, dances, or that awesome surprise when CJ realized that Caitlin was in fact the one singing the song at their reception (his reaction is the last in the photos above). None of those moments, along with 649 fewer pictures than what I delivered. That’s a lot of memories lost. Here are some more that wouldn’t have happened if I had shown up in the morning.
No sunset photo, no dancing, no portraits. It wouldn’t really capture their day - and it wouldn’t even be what the bride wanted. But perhaps you say I should get all those things, and I should show up 8 hours before the end. Well, in that case, I would have arrived at the start of the ceremony. I would have never photographed any bride prep, groom prep, or details. I would have missed out on getting bridal party photos, or capturing all the family photos. I never would have gotten the first look between these two amazing people. I would have delivered 490 fewer photos than what I did. And that makes me sad. Here are some photos that would have never happened had I shown up at the end of the day.
The thing to remember here, is that not every wedding is the same, and I don’t want to pretend it is. I want to be there to cover your story, whatever that looks like. For CJ and Caitlin, it meant a lot.
It isn’t just about the coverage
Moving beyond that very real-world example, we can factor in many other things. What if something goes wrong on your wedding day? You had it all planned out great, but now Uncle Joe is coming late, and you can’t get married without Uncle Joe (he’s like a dad to you), so you decide to wait. And that’s great. But now your cocktail hour is 30 minutes late, and your dinner is late. Then Dad takes 15 minutes on your toast instead of the requested 3, and all of a sudden, the photographer is leaving before your first dance and not after. And you realize you don’t want to miss out on that, so you ask to add another hour - but he’s $500 an hour, and your groom doesn’t want to spend $500 an hour for dancing photos. This, of course, causes all this stress and anxiety that you don’t want, the photographer doesn’t want, and in the end, can really ruin your day. Being able to say “It’s all included.” is a huge factor in how you enjoy your wedding day.
“Being able to say “It’s all included” is a huge factor in how you enjoy your wedding day.”
Joe and Nicole’s Wedding
The question then arises, what if my wedding isn’t like CJ and Caitlin’s? And what if I’m convinced nothing will go wrong on my day and there won’t be any surprises? Well, Joe and Nicole had a wedding day a lot like that. They got ready about 5 minutes away from the Hagadone Event Center where their portraits, ceremony, and reception all took place. They had only one photographer and did not do a first look - meaning there was much less time for portraits. In short, weddings like these typically have some of the lowest total photo counts. For this wedding, Nicole had me show up at 11 a.m. - a little later than normal. My last photo that day was taken at 11 p.m. exactly. So even with a “smaller” wedding, the bride, given the chance to plan the day the way she wanted to plan it, asked for 12 hours of coverage. What if I showed up at 11 a.m., what would I have missed? Well, 8 hours later I would have been leaving right as the bridal party was being introduced to the reception - no toasts, no sunset, no dances, no party. All missed. Similarly, if I had stayed till the end and shown up earlier, I would have been there just after Nicole got into her dress. No photos of her mom getting her into the dress, no prep photos, no gifts, or note exchanges. So many emotions and moments missed.
All the above would be missing if I had shown up based on my end time. The below would all be missing if I showed up based on my starting time. It’s amazing to me what is missed, and how much a vendor can alter how brides and grooms go about planning their day based on when the photographer will be there. My hope is that with all-day coverage, you can plan the day the way you want it.
There are so many great reasons to have an incredible photographer at your wedding. The photos are the one thing you take away from the event. You don’t get to keep the food, the flowers die, and the location may be a place you never visit again. But those memories, those moments, those people, can be there forever. That’s why we want to be there for the whole thing, so you can not only share the photos with your friends now, but with your kids in the future. Because of this, you should always think about getting a photographer that offers all-day coverage on your wedding day.