Wedding Photography: deciding on the photography package that is right for you

For many couples, photography tops the list of wedding-related priorities.  Choosing the right photographer can be a difficult decision, but even if you find the perfect photographer for you, how do you determine which photography package to select?

Often times, photographers base their packages on the number of hours of coverage to be provided on the wedding day.  Bear in mind that these are almost always consecutive hours.  Be sure to factor in travel time (i.e. going to the ceremony site and then to the reception site) as part of those consecutive hours of time.

If wanting to cover the "getting ready" portion of the day through 'til the end of the reception program, consult the photographer for his/her recommendation of how to allocate time for formal picture taking.  S/he can also help to determine what time hair and make-up styling services should wrap up, and this styling end-time serves as a rough starting time for photography.  Create a wedding day timeline, and a wedding planner can assist you with this.  Determine what time the reception program will end, and this represents a general end-time for photography, adding a bit of extra time, in case things run long.  The number of hours from the end of hair and make-up styling to the end of the program represents the general number of hours you would want to secure from your photographer, again, assuming you would like coverage of everything from the getting ready portion of the day until the end of the program.

Once determining the number of hours of photography coverage needed, it then becomes a matter of deciding whether to include any of the photographer's additional products and services.

Happy planning!
Mona

Photo courtesy of L'amour Photography