Six hours is the most popular length of wedding photography coverage we book, and for good reason: it covers everything a traditional wedding day needs, from the last of getting ready through the first hour of the reception, at a price well under the full-day collections. It works, though, only if the day is planned around it. Here is the timeline we recommend, and the two decisions that decide whether six hours feels generous or tight.
The two decisions
First look or no first look. With a first look, every portrait (couple, wedding party, family) happens before the ceremony, and you walk straight from the recessional into your own cocktail hour. Without one, those portraits all land between the ceremony and the reception, which means either a long cocktail hour or a rushed one. Six hours is comfortable with a first look and workable without one.
Ceremony time. The ceremony sets everything else. Start it two to two and a half hours before sunset and the portraits afterwards happen in the best light of the day. Start it at two in the afternoon and six hours of coverage ends before the dancing. Our city pages list the sunset time by month for every place we work.
The timeline (ceremony at 4:30, sunset at 7:15)
| Time | What we are photographing |
|---|---|
| 2:00 | Coverage begins. Details (dress, rings, invitation suite, shoes), the last of hair and makeup, getting into the dress or suit |
| 2:45 | First look, then couple portraits while everyone is fresh |
| 3:15 | Wedding party portraits |
| 3:45 | Immediate family portraits (the planned list, ten to twelve groupings) |
| 4:05 | Everyone hidden; guests arrive; ceremony site details |
| 4:30 | Ceremony |
| 5:00 | Extended family and any missed groupings, then the couple joins cocktail hour |
| 5:30 | Reception room photographed empty, then candids through cocktail hour |
| 6:00 | Grand entrance, first dance, toasts, dinner |
| 6:50 | Sunset portraits, ten minutes, while dinner is served |
| 7:30 | Parent dances, cake, open dancing |
| 8:00 | Coverage ends |
The ten minutes at sunset are the best photographs of the day and they cost nothing but a word to your planner. Plan them in.
Without a first look
Move the start of coverage to 2:30 and accept that portraits happen after the ceremony:
- 4:30 ceremony, 5:00 family portraits at the ceremony site, 5:25 wedding party, 5:45 couple portraits
- Cocktail hour runs 5:00 to 6:15 and you join the last twenty minutes of it
- Reception events begin at 6:15; coverage ends at 8:30
It works. It is simply busier, and you see less of your own cocktail hour.
What six hours does not cover
The getting-ready window before 2:00, which for most couples is hair and makeup that photographs the same at any hour, and the last hour or two of open dancing, which looks much like the first. If the send-off matters to you (sparklers, a vintage car, a late-night exit), either add an hour at $175 or look at the eight-hour collections, which are built for a full reception.
A note on buffers
Everything on a wedding day runs ten minutes late, and that is fine, because this timeline has ten-minute buffers built into it. What breaks a six-hour day is a 90-minute delay at hair and makeup. Book the earliest slot, not the last one, and ask the artist for a finish time that is thirty minutes before you actually need it.
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