How Many Hours of Wedding Photography Coverage Do You Need?

One of the most common mistakes couples make is not booking enough coverage. Here is an honest breakdown of how many hours you actually need.

Typical Wedding Day Timeline

How many hours you need depends less on any one company’s package names and more on your wedding’s own shape. The biggest drivers are guest count, whether you’re using one venue or several, how long your ceremony itself runs (a full Catholic Mass or a multi-hour cultural ceremony needs more coverage than a 20-minute civil ceremony), and whether getting-ready happens at the ceremony location or somewhere else entirely.

4 hrs — The sweet spot for micro weddings, elopements, and single-venue days with a shorter ceremony and a small guest list. Covers preparation, ceremony, and portraits.
6 hrs — Getting ready through first dance for a mid-size wedding (roughly 75-150 guests) at one venue.
7 hrs — Full ceremony, cocktail hour, and reception start — the right range once guest count climbs past 150 or the day includes a longer or multi-part ceremony.
8 hrs — Full wedding day, getting ready through send-off — typically needed for larger weddings, multiple venues, or ceremonies with extended cultural or religious traditions.

As one illustrative example, these same hour ranges line up with Alphares Studio’s own package tiers: 6 hrs is the starting point for Premium, 7 hrs is included in Elite, and 8 hrs is included in Luxury.

Hour-by-Hour Breakdown

• Hour 1–2: Getting ready — details, dress, prep portraits
• Hour 3: First look and wedding party portraits
• Hour 4: Ceremony
• Hour 5: Family formals and couple portraits
• Hour 6: Cocktail hour candids
• Hour 7: Reception — grand entrance, first dance, toasts, dinner
• Hour 8: Dance floor, cake cutting, golden hour portraits, send-off

Want the fully mapped-out version of this timeline, hour by hour? See our step-by-step wedding photo timeline guide.

When to Add More Coverage

• Getting ready at a different location than the ceremony
• More than 150 guests
• Multiple venues or ceremony locations
• Wanting a grand send-off captured

Adding Extra Hours

All Alphares Studio packages can be extended with additional coverage at $249 per hour (add-on rate for photo or video). This is the most cost-effective way to extend coverage beyond your package if the day runs long.

Prefer to build from scratch? Use the Build Your Own tool to choose exactly how many hours you need — with live pricing as you go.

View Alphares Studio package coverage hours — or get a free planning consultation.