How Many Hours Of Wedding Photography Do I Need?

How many hours of wedding photography do I need?

Planning your wedding is absolutely an undertaking and yes, you do deserve a drink 🍹. Grab something you love and we are going to help you decide on how many hours of wedding photography you need.

Being Orlando and destination wedding photographers, we get asked this all the time and we are here to help! Each photography company does things a little different, whether they like to focus more on elaborate poses, fancy lighting, or getting tons of candids of grandma getting her groove on. We are going to touch base a little on what you’ll receive when booking with Sonacity Photography as your wedding photographer.

How many hours of wedding photography do you need?

6 Hours

Our 6-hour wedding collection provides great coverage for smaller and more intimate weddings. We do our best to provide and photograph everything you want from your wedding day. For this collection, we would most likely be able to get some getting ready photos and a couple of detail images, like the rings and the dress 💍. We would then really focus on our bride getting ready, this would be her putting on her earrings, getting into the dress, and having someone special put on her veil. Fellas, you guys are next! We will head over to you to quickly get some getting ready images of the groom. We will photograph him putting on shoes, having his groomsmen struggle to tie his tie, and putting on his jacket. Get excited, the ceremony is next! Congrats, you are married! After the ceremony, we will focus on family, wedding party, and bride/groom portraits. We use most of the cocktail hour for this. Then we head to the reception…PARTY TIME 🎉! Most likely we will not have a lot of time here but we can get the entrances and the first dance.

8 Hours

This is our most requested collection. You will receive all of the photos in the 6-hour collection, however, this collection gives us a more relaxed schedule and opportunity for more group photos and details. This collection also allows us to get more photos of you enjoying the getting ready process, like laughing with your girls, and getting hair and makeup done💄. As part of the getting ready, we would obviously grab shots of all the girls drinking their mimosas, Cheers ladies 🥂! We will have time to photograph the groomsmen hyping up the groom and doing important stuff, like chugging beers and watching football 🏈 😁. The ceremony will be photographed beautifully and we’ll head into the portrait session afterwards. With this collection, we will be able to get many more memories of your reception as well! Toasts, parent dances, cake cutting 🎂 are now all in the cards with an 8 hour collection.

10 Hours

The holy grail of our collections! Not only do you get the entire day documented, but it gives us the opportunity to spend more time creating pieces of art and getting creative. If your goal is to have wall art from your wedding, which we recommend, this collection will allow ample time to create the masterpiece of your dreams from your wedding day 🖼️. As well as giving us time to create more, we recommend a first look so that you can enjoy your cocktail hour. You spend a lot of money and time putting this celebration together and you deserve to enjoy all of it! This collection is also great for couples who plan on having a separate ceremony and reception location or for couples who plan on both a religious and civil ceremony as it allow time for travel.

Everything depends on time and what you value. We will be there to help you with a timeline so you do not feel rushed and that you can enjoy your wedding day! Give us a call or fill out our inquire page and we will be happy to help you find the perfect collection for your wedding day!

4 Tips To Help Choose A Wedding Photographer

Here are 4 tips to help you choose a wedding photographer

I’ve seen online that lot of brides and grooms-to-be have been asking how to choose a wedding photographer. I’ve come up with 4 simple tips to help you choose who would make a great fit.

1. Personality - You’re going to be with your photographer more than you are going to be with anyone else that day, even your soon to be significant other. Sorry, you’re stuck with us :P We’ll be photographing from the beginning of the day until the very end and you want to be sure that you have someone there that keeps calm, stays professional, and enjoys the day. I always recommend having conversations and meetups beforehand so you can get to know our personality as well as who we are as a professional. Communication is a big factor in the client | Photographer relationship. Also, engagement sessions are a huge plus, you get gorgeous photos and you can see if you mesh with your photographer before the big day and see how they work! Check out this blog post for more information > Why Do Photographers Recommend Engagement Sessions. <

2. Style - Every photographer has their own style of photography and editing so you’ll have to do your research in regards to what you prefer. The styles range from cinematic, romantic, photojournalistic, light and airy, documentary, dark and moody, etc. I like to describe my style as being vibrant, photojournalist, impactful, and fun.

3. Experience - Time for more research! Isn’t that exciting! At least you have a lot of resources to help you. I love the internet. Experience is going to differ depending on the type of person you hire to be your photographer. Less expensive options might not be as attentive during the time leading up to the wedding, they may offer less communication. More expensive options could offer printed, tangible heirlooms so you have something you can pass down to your children. Find out what the experience is going to be like when you have your initial conversations with your photographer. See if they have that energy you’re looking for. It all comes down to what you value.

4. Portfolio - This is going to be the fun part! Scour the interwebs and find all the profiles you love. I say ‘love’ because you want to love your wedding photos. The best way I found to do this is in a Google Sheet or a tool like that so you can come back to it later. Check their portfolio images but also see an album. A lot of the time, blogs have a bunch of images you can see from a wedding, for example, > Stefanie + Jesse's Bella Collina Wedding. < Stefanie + Jesse’s blog has a bunch of images that aren’t in the portfolio tab of our website. Enjoy this part of the wedding planning journey. Picture you in these images, imagine where you’ll hang them up in your home, and how excited you’ll be to relive your wedding day!

I hope you enjoyed these 4 tips to help choose a wedding photographer!

Frequently Asked Questions...

What is your preferred style?

• Bold. Fun. Classic

How many weddings have you photographed in your career?

• I love weddings so I try to photograph as many as possible. I would say around 100 and always looking forward to photographing the next one. Know anyone that’s engaged? ;)

How many weddings will you photograph on my wedding day?

• Each wedding will have its own primary lead photographer. That way they will be able to focus on your big day!

Have you ever shot at my venue?

• If I have not photographed a wedding at your venue, I will meet with the staff and do a walk through beforehand.

Do you bring your own lighting?

• Absolutely! We work with natural light for most of the day because it’s beautiful but when the time calls for it, or we’re getting creative, we use a variety of different lighting setups depending on what or who is being photographed.

Do you work from a shot list?

• At the beginning of my career I used a printed out shot list but we know the layout of the wedding day and what needs to be photographed.

Can I request certain images are taken at my wedding?

• Absolutely, I know Pinterest has some intriguing photos on it. If you do see something you like, let us know. I do like to say that the more epic images take time to create so keep that in mind when working on your timeline.

How many hours are included in my collection?

• We offer 3 collections. 10 hours, 8 hours, and 6 hours. If you’re having a smaller or larger gathering, give us a call and we’d be happy to put together a custom quote for you.

How much does an additional hour of coverage cost?

• Each additional hour is $299 for the main photographer. For the second shooter, it’s $149.

Do you bring a second shooter?

• The top 2 collections come with a second shooter. I always recommend having a second shooter because you get different angles, another creative thinking process, and a lot more images.

How many images can I expect to see from my wedding?

• Each wedding is unique and different in its own way. We can’t tell you exactly how many images you’ll receive day of. Some of the variables include how many hours you book us for, if you get a second shooter, etc.

Do you have a limit to the number of images you edit?

• Nope, We just delivered a gallery to an awesome couple with 900 images from a 6 hour wedding!

How long does it take to see proofs from my wedding?

• We ask for 6 weeks to go through and edit your images to perfection.

Do I receive a disc of images, or do I order the prints through you?

• You will receive a link from us that will allow you to download the images from your gallery.

How much are the prints?

• Pricing for prints vary, especially with what we can print on nowadays. You do receive a print credit towards an album or wall art and we would be happy to help you find something special for your wall!

Is an album included?

• Albums are not included but you do receive a specified print credit amount that goes towards the purchase of an album or wall art!

Will you use my images in advertising?

• We do reserve the right to use the wedding day images in our advertising but if you don’t feel comfortable with that, please let us know!

Will you request the photography guidelines from the ceremony and reception locations?

• Most venues are good with us having a certain amount of freedom to photograph what we need but we do talk with the coordinators to see if there are any restrictions. We know that churches and more religious venues don’t like us using flash so we absolutely respect that.

What will you and your second shooter wear?

• Depending on the weather and venue, normally a button-down shirt and nice slacks in a dark color

What is your plan if you are ill or there is an emergency and you can't photograph my wedding?

• We will appoint another professional photographer whom of which we have full trust in, to take over the Lead photographic role at your wedding.

How much is the retainer?

• There is a $750 retainer due at the contract signing. We accept Cash, Online payments, and Checks.

When is the balance due?

• A second payment is due 90 (Ninety) days prior to the date of the wedding date. The final payment is due 30 (Thirty) days prior to the date of the wedding date. The Photographer, or their associates, are not officially booked as your wedding photographer until the retainer is paid, and this contract is signed. 

What is your cancellation policy?

• If the Client cancels the Wedding or Photographer’s services 6 months, or more, prior to the wedding date, then any amounts paid by Client will be refunded, withholding the retainer, which is non-refundable. If the Client cancels the wedding or Photographer’s services 6 months or less prior to the date of the wedding, the amount paid is non-refundable, as the Photographer has forgone other means of employment or services to other potential clients. If the Client has rescheduled their wedding date and the Photographer is not available, and the Client has chosen to not proceed with a Sonacity Associate Photographer, any amounts paid by Client will be refunded, withholding the retainer, which is non-refundable. 

Are you stress free about your wedding day?

Awesome Wedding Intro!

Ladies and gentlemen, if I've said it once, I've said it a thousand times. YOUR WEDDING DAY IS SUPPOSED TO BE FUN! Will it be hectic, hell yeah. and you should be ready for that. Prepare. Take some yoga and relaxation classes. Get your pilates on. Should it be stressful? Hell no. You know how people get these gorgeous, smiling photographs on the craziest and most hectic day of their lives? Besides downing a bottle or so of wine, half a bottle of whiskey, a pack of Yuengling, and taking a Xanax bar or two, they remember they get to spend the rest of their life with the person they love. You've spent months and/or years planning this day to be perfect, but the honest truth is that who knows how the weather will turn out, how traffic will be...damn you I4, or what will happen that is out of your control. You can only control how you perceive the day. Fact, you will be surrounded by people you love, people who you admire and who admire you. People who want the best for you and want you to be happy. These are the truths that make your wedding day stress free and wonderful. Have fun with your friends, soon, you'll be marrying your best one!  

Who else would you be able to do fun stuff like this with? Your best friend ;)

3 Considerations You Need to Make Before Choosing Your Wedding Photographer

There a ton of photographers in the world that produce beautiful work. The amazing aspect about this is that each individual has their own style. A certain facet about their artistry that they possess that makes it their own. Each creator has a distinct personality which drives them to that design. A different way of thinking. How their upbringing was. Who taught them, and how they practiced mastering the craft. 

The same goes for the future brides/grooms. You both have certain tastes when it comes to art, music, and photography and getting down on the dance floor. We all know you know how to Walk it Out. With this knowledge, one of the main ingredients to choosing your wedding photographer, is their style.

A photographer molds their style over time. They do so by shooting different subjects, angles, events, and then taking them into a photo editing program and playing around with everything they can touch. They are like a kid in a candy store that just ate everything he could without his mom seeing. This includes the highlights in an image, the shadows, contrast, clarity, how sharp the image looks, how sharp the eyes are, the list goes on and on. I want non-photographers to know this information so they know how to choose and understand what we go through as artists to get to the point we're at. Some photographers go with a light and airy touch while some enjoy a darker direction. My personal style is bold and vibrant with a connection to human emotion. I love when colors stand out in a photograph. To me, it just seems like it's taking a life of its own.   

L'chaiM!

The second ingredient to deciding on what photographer you should choose for your wedding is cost. Now, I may be biased but I think you should splurge ;) Seriously though, it's one of the biggest days of your lives and you should kinda remember it. There's going to be an open bar and who knows how much ya'll drank before the ceremony. Make sure you budget properly with your vendors. Your sought after photographer most likely has a tier of sexy looking options that all look good. Their most expensive collection will give you the most bang for your buck and you will remember the hell out of your wedding. I'm not saying spring for that if you don't have the means. Your photos will keep your heart and mind warm and fuzzy but if you are living on the street, it's not a sound investment.  

The last ingredient is a double-header. I'd like to mix these ingredients to finish off the cake. Wow I want cake now. The last two are what they shoot, which goes back to style in a way, and their personality. Would you look at that, we've come full circle! As wedding photographers, we know most of what you want before you do. Each photographer has a different way of going about the day. While some take a more photojournalistic approach, others are more traditional classic and pose each shot. I don't like to limit myself so I lean more towards an illustrative side and do both, photojournalistic and traditional. The photojournalistic style allows photographers to capture those special candid moments. The latter part to this double wammy is your photographer's personality. First ask yourself, what kind of person would I like to spend the entire day with? Are they someone I can grab a drink with? Do they like beer or wine? Shots? I love shots. Are they strong enough to speak out and give people direction? You will say to yourself, "Oh man...my uncle is crazy, I hope he listens." Your uncle isn't going to want to ruin one of the greatest days of your life, so we make him listen. We got your back.

This is why we do it :D

Those are the 3.5ish considerations I feel that any couple getting married should ponder about when deciding on a wedding photographer. I'd like to hear what you have to say, comment down below!