How long of time frame for photography?

When planning a wedding day, how long does one plan for photography to take... you know the formal photographs? I know a lot of people say 2-3 hours but I have heard a lot of people plan for that amount of time and say it wasn't nearly enough. Opinions/Advice?

The truth is that it really depends on your photographer's style and how much time you want to spend away from your actual wedding. If you provide the photographer with the after ceremony shots you want and stick to it, the process goes a lot quicker than if you just start screaming out, "Let me get one with him, oh and her, and them." (I have seen this happen.) Not only will you look like Bridezilla; but your photographer may start to get annoyed because you didn't prepare him or her. Also, a good way to cut time is to not have everyone standing around when taking the formal pics. It just slows down the process if every time the photogarpher shoots Aunt Sally and your 3rd cousin Lou have to shoot too. In my experience, 2 hours is more than enough. More questions? Ask stacyrenea@stacyreneaimages.com

We had ours for 8hrs and we we're still cutting it close. Our ceremony was at 2pm so she arrived to take pics one hour before, while I was getting ready. After the ceremony we took pictures at the park. Then on to reception at 5pm. By the time we took care of the formalities first dance, cake cutting, bouquet toss it was very close to 9 o'clock.

Depends - will you be going to various locations? Generally, you hire the photographer for the entire day and that person will visit the bride and groom separately as they get ready, then do the ceremony, then formal photos (or vice versa), then do location photos if you want (like the beach, for example) then shoot the reception ( a lot of candids and sometimes they setup formal backgrounds there too).

This is something to discuss when interviewing photographers. Some have different packages where they will shoot a certain number of pics (like 80 or 150 or 300) so you have to decide where you want most of the shots to occur. Photographers have their own methods, packages and preferences/styles, so whatever you do, be sure to see portfolios and interview early. I had to book mine about 13 months out!

For the photos themselves, leave two hours. Depends upon your driving time, when you plan the schedule for the day. You should be able to get an idea from your photographer.

entirely depends on how many people will be in the photos,and you have to account for travel time to and from the place where you're getting married, to the place where you're getting photos taken, then to the reception. Best person to answer this question is your photographer - but be prepared to tell him/her how many people are going to be involved in the photos - if you have a large wedding party and or family/extended family you want to be a part of the photo shoot.

I had mine 8 hrs and could have used 3 more! w/ getting ready pics/ceremony/formals then the reception