How long should your photographer stay? A wedding day, hour by hour

The first question nearly every couple asks me is whether they need a half day or a full day. The honest answer is that it depends on what time your ceremony is and whether you care about the first dance. Here is a real timeline from a two o’clock ceremony.

The full day, ten hours

• 11:00 I arrive. One of you is having make-up done; the other is still in a T-shirt. Details first: rings, dress, shoes, letters.
• 12:30 Getting dressed. This is the part most people say they are glad they kept.
• 13:30 I drive ahead to the venue and photograph the room before anyone sits down.
• 14:00 Ceremony. Usually 25 to 40 minutes.
• 14:40 Confetti, hugs, the slow half hour where everyone talks at once.
• 15:15 Family groups from the list we wrote together. Fifteen minutes, eight groups.
• 15:45 Portraits, just the two of you, 20 minutes away from the crowd.
• 17:00 Dinner. I eat when you eat, so I am back in place for the speeches.
• 19:00 Speeches.
• 20:30 Cake and first dance, then the dance floor fills and I leave at 21:00.

Where a half day runs out

Five hours from 12:30 gets you from getting dressed to the end of the speeches if they happen before dinner, which is increasingly common. It does not get you the first dance.

If your evening matters, book the full day. If your day is a ceremony and a long lunch, a half day covers all of it and costs £1,000 less. You can check your date and build a package here.

The two things that cost more time than you think

Travel between getting ready and the ceremony, and family groups without a list. We fix the second one on the planning call.