How long is your photographer staying?

minerva_windsong

This might be more for those who are already married but hoping some of you might be able to help!

We're looking for our photographer at the moment and trying to work out how long we want them to stay for. Most of the ones we've found say they'll take photos of me getting ready, the ceremony, speeches and first dance (though some are charging extra to stay until the first dance). My main concern though is missing out on those candid reportage-style shots from the party as I'm wondering if we'll get better pictures from that as people will be a bit more relaxed than in those more 'formal' bits of the day. I'm also not good at posing for photos and tend to either blink or do a slightly crazy stare which I think comes from wearing glasses as a kid, so I'm leaning more towards the reportage pictures as it might mean I end up with some that look halfway decent!

The only photographer I like in the area where we're getting married (York) who will stay after the first dance is quite a lot more expensive than the others we're looking at so I'm debating whether it's worth the investment for those extra couple of hours, or if we should just let family and friends take over after the first dance and then nick the good ones from Facebook...

So, how long is your photographer staying/how long did they stay, and do you think it was enough time? Did you spend more to have them stay longer and was it worth it, or would you have preferred to have them leave a bit earlier?

sarah69696pink

Ours package was until the first dance and we paid extra for an another hour after that. I'm not sure how 'worth it' the extra hour was - the photos are nice in that they are quite natural, but they tend to be of people dancing rather than chatting and people just don't tend to look great dancing!! It is nice to see some of people letting their hair down though. I think only you can decide how much the extra shots are worth for you - in one sense I feel ours are not worth what we paid, but in another sense they really are priceless, I found that friends didn't take that many pics later in the evening (or if they did it was of each other sat around in between dancing). HTH.

MrsMGtobe

We have our main photographer for the bridal preparations and the ceremony. We aren't having speeches as such but our photographer will be hanging around for a bit...

My sister was a photography student so it looks like one of her photography student friends may come along to the evening to take the candid photos and the first dance type stuff.

We are hiring a photobooth too... More for entertainment, guest book and favours.

CompBunny

Our photographer is staying until we sit down for the wedding breakfast. They are quite expensive, but great work. I'd love to have them stay through meal and speeches until the first dance but they want to charge £200 for the extra time and I don't know whether its worth it..

Trixsie1989

We're having a photographer for the day from getting ready to cake cutting and then a friend of ours is doing a video of the speeches and photos on the night as a wedding present. Xxx

ennui

Ours left at the beginning of the meal. This meant the speeches were covered as we had them before dinner (though, to be honest, that wasn't a priority as pictures of people standing holding a microphone aren't that interesting and loads of guests took their own shots at that time anyway). I considered paying for the photographer to stay on for some of the dancing, but glad I didn't as we have literally over a thousand pictures guests took of the evening party. Obviously not all are keepers, but there are so many to choose from we really don't need any more. I suppose it depends how snap-happy your guests are! You can get reportage-style pictures taken earlier in the day if that's what you want.

Of course, it's all down to what's really important to you and your OH.

jimmy_81

We had ours from my wife-to-be's preparations before the ceremony in the morning, right through till the first dance at 8 in the evening.

Our photographer worked very much in a reportage style - although we did have a few formal group photos too.

We found there was plenty of time both before the ceremony, and between the ceremony & reception, for the photographer to wander around & take those candid shots. I totally agree they look a lot more natural!

I guess that will depend on the timeline for your day though - if you don't have much time between ceremony & meal, or between meal & first dance, then the evening might be the only option.

Do look at any potential photographer's portfolio to see their style and the type of "reportage" they do. Some appear to mean just taking random snapshots; well, a relative could do that. The better photographers really do have a knack for spotting those moments of humour or affection - and that's what you'll want to see in your album for the rest of your lives!

No idea if it's always the case, but certainly with our photographer, we chose him based on style but he was also AMAZING on the day. Apart from some direction during the formal photos, we hardly even realised he was there. Don't know how he did it, really...

northern_munky

I think it's a matter of trawling through endless websites and seeing what's on offer or just asking outright how much extra the charge would be to stay on for an hour or so.

I'm a wedding photographer myself and my full day package includes the first dance but after that I set up a photo booth which usually lasts another hour and I'll keep bobbing back to the dance floor for a few extra shots if anything exciting is happening.

I'm sure most photographers would be happy to stay on for an extra hour for a fee.

SarahBubbles

I just set up my wedding photography business last year, so thought I would input my tuppence worth. As mentioned above, it's definitely worth the trawl though it might take some time, comparing packages and asking what's on offer. You might find that you'll get someone less established for longer for a price closer to what you're after.

I generally stay 30-40 mins after the first dance in my package simply because I think that part is quite flexible and fun - you can divide time between regular dance shots, 'fun' dance shots, and people chatting.

If you're worried about the formals, look for photographers who mix documentary style and formals - lots of people nowadays only do a few posed pictures with the rest photo journalistic style. If you've got an engagement session included in your package, that's an invaluable time to get to know your photographer and get used to how they will direct you for that short posed time. The rest of the time you will not notice them at your wedding!

I hope that's helpful for you

Stephb1986_2

Ours is staying all day and night until we all go home lol But so is his wife as she is our videographer they do a combined package for £800

Steph xx

northern_munky

Stephb1986 wrote: »

Ours is staying all day and night until we all go home lol But so is his wife as she is our videographer they do a combined package for £800

Steph xx

All day and night Steph? You'll have to watch they don't jump out of the wardrobe on the wedding night :rotfl: