When picking a photographer for your big day, most couples are faced with a budget constraint. Reality is, they usually need to make a choice between having more hours of coverage or a better photographer with less hours of coverage. In this quick read, we will help you make this decision and let you know how to go about it.
Photo credits: Creative Photos
Photography packages
In today's busy world, everyone calculates their work by the number of hours they spend working. Reality is that all photographers price their packages around how many hours they are committed to you for the day of the wedding. However there is always a little catch.
When you see 8 hours of coverage for instance in a package you will think okay, they will be there to capture 8 hours worth of work. However, a lot of photographers will calculate the 8 hours from the moment they walk in to the moment they leave. This causes a lot of miscommunication and frustration on the day of the wedding. Why is that? Because there is always some down time. Some slow moments when nothing happens for instance between the ceremony and the reception. You shouldn't be billed for this time wasted! Be careful of this, its widely popular.
Photo Quality
Studies show that on an average it takes a couple at least 6 minutes before they can make an educated decision on whom they should pick as their photographer for their big day. We covered earlier how to pick a photographer in a previous post.
The quality of the photos that you should get on the day of your wedding should be the second most invested item that you should have for your big day (after the reception of course if applicable). It will be the photos that you will cherish and remember the big day by over the many years to come. Make sure you are well invested in your photographer. It is critical that you take your time and make the right choice that makes you comfortable.
Which to pick?
In an ideal world you will have the best of two worlds, long hours of coverage along with high photo quality that you desire. However, that is not always the case due to budget constraints. If you want to get the best deal out there for time versus quality you have to understand that the more hours the photographer spends on the day of your wedding with you, the less they should be getting paid by the hour.
If you get a photographer for 6 hours, you have pretty much ruined their entire day. They cannot go shoot another wedding that very same day. They are invested in you for that day. So taking the same photographer for 8 or 10 hours shouldn't increase the overall rate per hour, it should in fact decrease it. In order to get the best coverage, peace of mind and best quality, communicate with the top 3 photographers that you would like for your big day. Find out their 8 and 10 hour packages (usually those are the sweet spots) and after you get that, inquire about their full day package.
Having a photographer for a full day provides you peace of mind and keeps you relaxed. You know that they will be there for A-Z. They will not leave midway through cutting of the cake since the time is up. However, once you get the 10 hour package you know that the photographer is invested in you for that entire day. In most cases, the full day package will be a very little stretch from that. Reality is 95% of the time you will save money on every single hour since the rate per hour for that photographer will drop significantly and you will get an incredible deal while having the quality that you want.