How Many Wedding Photos Will We Receive?
“How many wedding photos will we receive?” is a fairly typical question that most couples will want to know. Obviously, there are a few factors that will influence this number, which I’ll discuss below, but usually, we will deliver between 500 and 800 photos from a full-day wedding.
Every wedding is different and therefore it’s impossible to give an exact number. However, I can tell you from my long experience of photographing weddings that quality always beats quantity. For example, on a typical wedding day I will personally shoot somewhere between 1800 and 3000 images. Many of those will be almost exact duplicates: six photos of the same group to ensure that no-one has their eyes closed, fifty photos of confetti being thrown to ensure that there are five or six where there isn’t confetti covering your whole face, ten shots of Uncle Barry on the dance floor because… well, I needed solid evidence of his crimes against dancing!
When Anna and I sat down to look through our wedding photos – there were 475 – we didn’t want to look at twelve photos of the back of Anna’s dress as it was being fastened, even if our photographer had taken all twelve. A single shot was enough to tell the story.
Therefore, whilst editing your wedding photos, I’ll start by selecting the ones that best tell the story of your day. I’ll choose the very best photos from each series of nearly identical images. These aren’t necessarily the best technical shots – although clearly lighting, exposure and composition are very important to me – but rather I’m looking for the image that clearly defines that moment.
The total number of photos will usually depend on the length of your day, whether or not you have a second photographer and the number of guests you invite. Here is a very rough guide to the number of images you might expect to receive from each part of the day.
Getting ready: Between 100 and 150 photos, depending on how many people are with you in the morning and whether you both have a photographer or not.
The Ceremony: Around 100 photos, typically.
Drinks Reception: Around 100 images of you and your guests arriving and socialising.
Group Shots: It’s up to you how many of the more formal group photos you choose to have. These will be planned before the wedding day; as a rough rule of thumb, most couples have between 10 and 20 group shots.
Details: Typically, we’ll provide you with around 50 – 100 photos of details such as your dresses or suits, jewellery, wedding rings, shoes, flowers, table decor and all the other little items that you will have planned so carefully. The more details, the more photos!
Portraits: 20 – 50 portraits of the two of you. These are the shots that we’ll take of just the two of you, often in the twenty minutes or so before you sit down for the wedding breakfast. It will also include another fifteen minutes in the evening, around sunset.
Speeches: I love photographing the speeches! We’ll focus on the speaker and your guests’ reactions and usually capture around 50 – 75 photos.
Evening Reception – Usually another 100 – 150 images in the evening, including your first dance, your evening guests and general dance floor fun! If you’re planning on having sparklers or fireworks, we’ll capture photos of those too.
The above is by NO MEANS an exhaustive, complete list. There are lots of photos that we’ll take during the day that don’t always fit into a category – and if there’s a particular photo that you want, you only have to ask. Hopefully, it gives you an idea of how many images you might expect to receive. Again, every wedding is different and yours will be no exception! But as ever, we’ll work with you before, during and after the big day to ensure that your photos beautifully retell all the details and moments that you’ll want to treasure.
