How much time should we spend taking photo's?

Hi bride to be! Congratulations!  Your photo time on the day is completely up to you and your partner.  In my experience, if you are at one venue - you need two hours between ceremony & reception time.  So if you get married at 4pm, your reception could start at 6pm.  If you are getting married at a different place to your reception, you will need more photo time as you need to include travel too!  I have been timing weddings for couples for over 20 years so if you need any help just let me know!  Cheers, Kelly x

Your photographer can help you plan out your entire wedding timeline. I don't quote based on hours, my packages simply include parts of the day. If I am there for longer, so be it. Whatever it takes to get it perfect :)

Another trend in the Photography industry is having fixed 6, 8, 10 hour packages. Often couples will say we need a 10 hr package. But seriously the time you need is based on where things are taking place and distances so I really like to tailor a package for clients. Couples are new to this and therefore really need guidance.

Your day might run like this:

1/ Boys home 45 - 1 hour

2/ Brides home 1.5 hrs

3/ Ceremony and family pics - 1 hour

4/ Location shoot 45 - 1hr per location

5/ Reception 1 hour or maybe longer.

Remember there is the time for unloading, parking, set up so every wedding is going to be different so avoid getting a set figure in your head. I sit down with my clients and together we work out a time frame. If you book a 6 hour package before you know it extra charges might apply for extra time.

How long do you need for photography?

What a great question! I think many brides don't consider this until the ceremony and reception times are set and then the photography is squeezed in during the minimal time allowed between the two. Often, the time for transportation between events, be it on foot from the wedding ceremony to the reception can be overlooked and this can cause stress on the day. I want to draw attention to the actual time it takes to travel from each location to the other, taking into consideration the small delays that can occur for couples as the day unfolds. I'll give a few examples to illustrate what can happen.

How delays happen and how to plan ahead - 

One wedding comes to mind that was very large and had a multitude of bridemaids and groomsmen that all ran late with their dressing/hair/makeup and arrived at their ceremony an hour late... Unfortunately their stretch hummer hire car company was inflexible with timing (as they booked the same vehicles for another event straight after theirs) and we ended up with 10 minutes to shoot the garden photos of the entire bridal group between the church ceremony and reception centre. Luckily, I was able to find a suitable location prior to the event using Google images, and then organise everyone and capture the various shots in this limited time we had. A less organised photographer would have struggled with the stressful situation presenting itself. It is my responsibility to plan ahead for the unknown and be calm and organised on the day, so I can do my best with the situation as it unfolds. It is the bridal couple's responsibility to plan for their day with reasonable care and allow enough time to achieve the goals that they may have. If you don't have enought time to capture the special images you dream of between events, you could spend more time at the next part of the wedding to capture the emotions of the day there. 

My recommendations for time needed for photos - 

Melbourne - Registry Office Weddings and celebrations in the CBD

If you are after a simple and documentary style set of wedding photographs, with a mix of natural and posed photos, you need between 30-60 minutes after the ceremony, to feel relaxed, focus on each other and have a bit of fun taking photographs that will capture your wedding day in an honest and joyful way.  For example, if you are getting married at the Melbourne Registry Office (Old Treasury Building) and would like photos in the parks nearby, before heading to a nearby restaurant or hotel, you need a minimum of 45 minutes to capture a range of images. If you want to head up to the Parliament Building, or laneways, add at least 20 minutes to this plan.  You don't want to keep your guests waiting for a really long time between ceremony and reception, but an hour or two is fine. 

Wedding Photographs that are highly planned, fantasy based or highly creative

You have always dreamed of a stunning wedding portrait of yourselves in a special location. You need time to get the right angles, poses and mood to achieve special images that are like artworks of your wedding day. For example, let's imagine you are getting married at Montsalvat, in Eltham, which has a group of stunning buildings, hilly gardens and elegant locations. If you want to be relaxed and enjoy the photographic experience, I suggest you bring a pair of walking shoes to swap with the bride's delicate heels, and leave them out of sight for the photographs. This is going to make a world of difference to you on the day - avoiding sore feet, slipping on grassy hills and worrying about scuffing or dirtying your special shoes. You need to add time for changing shoes, walking across to new areas, up and down hills to new locations. I would usually meet a couple on location a month or so before the wedding, to scout out favorite angles to use on the day, or if this is impractical, use internet imagery to plan the shoot with the couple ahead of time. This avoids disappointment on the day, when you know you have the best locations covered. If you are hoping to achieve a really special set of images in a location like this, you need a minimum of an hour to 90 minutes to do this well. Any more that this will become tiring for the couple and may be excessive. 

I hope this helps you with your own wedding planning!  

It depends on what you want to acchieve and what time of day. But for a newly wed couple shots, two hours would be enough considering you have found the perfect light and spot with allowance to wander and shot.

Welcome!

I have packages starting at 6 am for your wedding day.

But if your question is about the couple's photoshoot after the ceremony, it depends on each couple and the packages they choose.

Some of my couples love spending more than 40 minutes trying to find nice places. I personally like to spend a maximum of 40 minutes because the couple in general is eager to join family and friends.

I hope to have answered your question. If you are interested in my packages, I'll be happy to send you a quote.

Kind regards,

Raquel Pires

Hi approx. 1/2 hour to an hour between ceremony and reception depending on discussion with bride as to type of photos

Hi Bride to be,

That's a great question.

The amount of time you gonna spend on your wedding day is depends on your plan and which package you pick for my service.

Minimum will be 6 hrs.

One hour is plenty to get the newlywed photos (and bridal party photos). That allows time to wander around to different spots searching for that perfect light:)

It really depends on what you want to achieve. If you want a lot of posing in different clothes and dresses and at the various locations, then pre-wedding photo session is a good choice. But on the wedding day, I recommended that you should enjoy your special day and leave everything related to photos/images to us. We will tell you when the proper time for some posing or private photoshoot, e.g. sunset or group photos. 

If ceremony and reception are on the same venue,60 to 90 minutes for a walk-around and group shot. If they are in different locations, I would recommend 3 hours between, so you don't have to rush.