Ah yes, the age old question of every bride – maybe ever?! How many hours of wedding coverage do I need? Vegas weddings are very different than the weddings I grew up around as a kid. Southern weddings were long and humid, and involved lots (and lots) of hours of photography coverage. Oftentimes, “bridals” (portraits of the bride alone) were taken weeks before the wedding. This is because the wedding day would be too busy and chaotic to have time for portraits of her alone. I can’t imagine what that would be like for one of my wedding clients.
What are Las Vegas weddings like?
Las Vegas weddings, however – those are something else! We like our weddings short and sweet around here! Many of my clients elope and it’s just the two of them (plus me!) during the ceremony and photo session. Elvis may or may not be there. We may be out in the middle of the desert, or at the Neon Museum, or in an alley downtown. For the clients that bring guests along, the list is usually intimate and intentionally curated. There may or may not be a reception. We may travel to two or three locations – and we always have a good time (that is one thing that is required when booking with me). ❤️
How many hours of photography do I need?
So, what does that mean for photography coverage? Well, that’s a great question! And it’s exactly why I wanted to write this post. It can be confusing and overwhelming – and hard to decide! When I first started shooting weddings in Las Vegas many years ago, I offered a baseline Two Hour Collection, and then offered to customize the coverage from there – all the way up to eight hours. What I found was that most of my clients book for two hours (after a chat with me, of course!) and it’s exactly what they need. I’ve booked the occasional eight hour days – but it’s typically more suited for a traditional wedding day of getting ready, portraits, ceremony and long reception.
Most of my clients fall more under the “elopement” umbrella with smaller, more intimate events. I do believe that it’s important to have a completely custom timeline based on your day – and your vision! None of my clients fit exactly into the same mold, even when we are visiting the same spaces for the same amount of time.
The Elopement Collection
When it comes to booking a wedding photographer, many Las Vegas wedding pros will only book 6+ hour days – and that leaves clients with fewer choices for who to hire, or it leaves them stuck with many more hours than they truly need. For 2019, I have decided to offer a one hour Elopement Collection on weekdays to accommodate clients that may not actually need two full hours of coverage. I want beautiful wedding photography to be accessible to anyone that wants it!
This Collection is best for small events with four or fewer guests, going to one or possibly two locations if they are close together. I would love to help you navigate the timeline planning and provide you with my professional guidance on exactly what you might need. This is, in fact, a huge part of my job! I want my clients to feel like they have everything covered that they want, but not that you booked me for too long. I oftentimes have someone email me, requesting 6-8 hours of coverage (because that’s super normal everywhere else!). But, when we talk about the timeline and their ideas, they may need much, much less than that!
What does one hour of coverage look like?
What exactly can we accomplish in 60 minutes, you ask? Well, I’ve been shooting a long time, and I’ve shot a lot of weddings. This means that I know my gear, I shoot fast, and I shoot heavily – with a fantastic deliverable image ratio, if I may say so myself. 😉 Elopement Collections tend to yield 100+ beautiful images regularly. So, see below for five examples of clients that booked an hour of coverage with me. You can click on the link under their image to go directly to their full gallery. This will allow you to see all of the images that were delivered to the clients!
Now it’s your turn!
So, let’s chat! Ultimately I want to make sure that you have just the right amount of coverage. I average about 150 events a year, so I can definitely let you know what has worked for clients in the past with similar sessions. Planning a wedding in Vegas can easily become overwhelming, especially if you don’t live here, and I would be happy to help you. I can’t wait to hear from you and come up with the perfect timeline for your Vegas wedding!
