The Importance Of Full Day Wedding Photography Coverage

Value Of The Full Experience

I understand that every client has their own needs, and every photographer has their own system. However, if you’re someone on the fence about whether you want full-day coverage or hourly coverage of your wedding day, maybe these reasons will help you decide!

Capturing the full story of the wedding

Personally, this is my biggest reason for not shooting hourly coverage. Storytelling is a huge part not only of my photography style, but also of my business branding.

Photographing just the ceremony or selecting random pieces of the day while leaving key parts out doesn’t lead to a cohesive gallery or a full experience. Getting ready with your family and friends before the ceremony, the first look, or the candid moments during family formals are what truly make your photos special.

I promise you that many years from now, you’ll be thankful that every moment of your day was captured. On a wedding day, when everyone is gathered in one room to celebrate something this big, you’re going to want that photo of your grandmother laughing with her friends or your uncle telling his signature jokes during the reception. These photos are what connect us to our loved ones long after the day is over and they’re what lives on.

I would never want to leave a wedding day knowing I missed moments like these, or that the clock was ticking on my coverage and I had to tell the couple our contracted time was up. I’ve even had couples add on additional time beyond the standard 8 hours I offer, sometimes 9 or even 10 hours! But it’s always worth it when they look back at their gallery and are able to relive the day in its entirety. As a photographer and storyteller, this is exactly what we love doing!

Offering more than just the day-of service

This is where a lot of the true work goes unseen. An hourly based photographer usually just shows up to photograph the wedding without any major pre-planning with the couple. Full service photographers will usually send you materials that will give you the best experience not only for your wedding day but for the entire time you’re dealing with us. This is includes, easily structured pricing guides, bridal & styling guides, tailored questionnaires, payment plans, customized timelines and so much more!

There’s also a lot of careful time we spend communicating with your wedding planner/coordinator that you may have hired. Scouting locations is also very important to us whether that’s your engagement or ceremony location, making sure that everything is clear for you is normally something we do outside of our photography time.

We want to get to know you, know your story and know the things that will mean the most to you on your wedding day. Whether that’s surprises, photographing specific sentimental items, or confiding with us about family dynamics we need to know about to avoid any mishaps on your big day. Which would all be discussed prior so you can have the least stressful experience possible, we want you to enjoy every minute!

And finally post-processing time. Usually hourly photographers will give a handful of images or highlight photos because their editing allotment time is limited. For full experience photographers we carefully delivery you a large gallery that is edited and is quality checked to make sure you’re getting photos that represent what we post in our portfolios!

The importance of the engagement session

This is a very underrated reason why choosing a full package is so important and it can truly make or break the flow of your wedding day. An engagement session is so much more than just a set of pretty photos announcing your engagement. It’s where you connect with your photographer in person for the first time and learn key poses that will be vital on your actual wedding day.

I’ve met many couples (especially grooms) who were nervous about their engagement shoots, and I don’t blame them. Standing in tall weeds out in a field in front of a giant lens isn’t something most people have experience with, and the ‘deer in the headlights’ effect kicks in fast. But every couple I’ve worked with, after about 20 minutes, becomes a natural in front of the camera thanks to a simple set of poses I teach them at the start. Everything after that is just a variation of those simple poses. Some couples have even told me they wished the session could’ve gone on longer which, for a photographer, is the biggest compliment!

When we finally get to the wedding day, which is filled with so many other events and emotions, having those poses already learned during the engagement session makes the flow so much easier. During the first look or the ‘just married’ portraits, I’ll often reference back to our engagement session and say, “Do you remember when you did A, B, and C?” or “Can you do your signature pose from X, Y, and Z?” and it always comes back to them! This always leaves the couple feeling accomplished.

Flexibility to adapt to changes

And finally, this is the part that helps everybody. Wedding days can and will fall behind schedule, and while ceremonies are usually set in stone, hourly photographers often arrive just for the ceremony and stay afterward to capture the bride and groom portraits and family formals. However, this is actually the most intense part of the day for a photographer.

Ceremonies can last anywhere from 15 minutes to over an hour, depending on the type of ceremony and any traditions, vows, or rituals the couple or their church may have planned. This often spills over into the time reserved for portraits and family formals. With full-day coverage, if there are scheduling mishaps, we can adjust. Portraits can be moved into cocktail hour, or if there’s a long list of family photos, we can split them between after the ceremony and later in the reception. I’ve even had situations where we did family formals right after the first look and before the ceremony.

Family formals are usually the most intense part of the day because they involve gathering family members, organizing large groups, and keeping track of a structured list to make the process run smoothly. As I mentioned earlier, this is something that’s discussed with the couple well before the wedding day.

That’s why it’s so important for certain parts of the day to stay adaptable based on timing, the light, and the couple’s priorities. For example, if golden hour portraits are important and the sun is setting in 15 minutes, we can make that a priority and move family formals or bridal party photos earlier in the day or even into the reception. Without full-day coverage, that flexibility just isn’t possible!

I’m dedicated to making your Wedding or Portrait session in Albany, Upstate NY, and beyond, a smooth, personalized, and memorable experience. Ready to capture your special moments? Get in touch here!

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Thank you for reading!

-Raf