Build it from the timeline, not the package
Write down the day in order: hair and makeup, getting into the dress, ceremony, family photos, cocktail hour, entrances, dinner, toasts, first dances, open dancing, exit. Then decide the first and last moment you want a camera present. The gap between them is your coverage, travel included.
Doing it this way usually reveals one of two things: either you need less than the package you were considering, or you need an hour more than you assumed and it is much cheaper to add now than later.
What the extra hours buy
The first hour buys context, details, the room before it fills, the quiet part of the morning. The last hour buys energy: the dance floor at its peak and the exit. The middle is largely fixed by the ceremony.
- Getting ready coverage: roughly 1.5–2 hours before the ceremony, more if two locations.
- Family and group photos: 20–30 minutes for a straightforward list, longer for large families.
- Sunset portraits: 10–15 minutes, scheduled into the reception.
- Open dancing: 45–60 minutes is usually enough to tell the story.
Ways to need fewer hours
A single location removes travel entirely. A first look moves most portraits before the ceremony and shortens the post-ceremony block. And a staged exit, photographed early with a small group rather than at midnight with everyone, captures the same image for an hour less coverage.