Our pricing continues to be a work in progress. However, after a client call this morning, I am thinking about just scraping our 4-5 hour coverage package and guaranteeing at least 8 hours at our lowest package price. (Of course this would basically mean I'd be raising prices as well.)


My reasoning is that A.) I think the client deserves and will want the whole day documented. And B.) I freaking love shooting the details before the ceremony, and want to spend a good chunk of time at the reception too. I'd just rather do full day coverage than a few hours. Also, if it's somewhere that's a bit of a drive, it just seems silly to go out there, stay 4 hours and go home, especially when I know I'm missing great shots.

If I'm shooting a wedding, I'm pretty much going to write that whole day off anyway, so it seems to make sense that I should be there for as long as it takes.

Just wondering who offers "half-day" packages and who doesn't.

I do - and many of my bookings this summer are my half day package. We'll see how it goes.

A lot of mine are as well - either 4 hours or 6 hours. Although, I am thinking about dropping my 4 hour package for next year, but still undecided on that.

My packages start at 8 hours. I'm the same as you; love the detail shots.

An answer not the answer...

I offer partial coverage on Fridays only...coverage not to exceed 8 hours and can't start before 3 PM otherwise it's full day. I probably only do a couple of these each year...

We don't offer half-days anymore. I too like to capture the whole package and when I was doing 4-6 hours, I felt like I was missing my favorite parts. It made it feel too much like an assembly line job. Portraits, Ceremony, Portraits, Reception Main Events, Go home. There was so much of the story of that day missing.

So we switched to Unlimited packages and raised our prices accordingly.

Steph

We in the south think a full day wedding is 4 hour "cake & punch" at the church/fellowship hall.

Not really, but that does happen pretty often.

I do a five hour and a ten hour.

This year's the first for that and I seem to have booked a nice selection. I don't mind the five hour sometimes so that I'm not quite as wiped.

I have a couple of back to back's this year. I would only book the five hour on the Friday weddings.

I made sure my five hour was priced so that I could afford to lock up a prime day with it and it seems to have worked.

OMG, apparently I'm in the minority but I LOVE the half days. I also like not being so exhausted at the end of the day, and I also charge enough to make it worth it to book the date (I'll let them do Saturdays).

I usually find that with good scheduling, it's plenty of time to catch the end of getting ready, which is the good stuff anyway, formals, ceremony, reception details, and a few important reception things (dances, cake, etc.) if they're mindful of the time, and most people are. It's really been win-win for me and the bride who wants to save a couple bucks!

Also, Evander, I was offering a four and a six but found no one was taking me up on the four so I dropped it this year.

I have 2 this Saturday, a 5 hour and a 6 hour. I love short weddings!

I do hourly coverage, which is sometimes a headache to figure out. But I agree with you that 4-5 hours of coverage doesn't always give us the time to shoot what we want. There were 2 weddings I've done, however, where the 4 hour worked out perfectly, because the couples met before the ceremony (enough time for pics), and the receptions were very close to the ceremony location (one was at the same spot, while the other was 5 minutes away). So maybe think about offering that to clients who have that sort of wedding day. If you ask your clients up front what they're looking for, and then they tell you they only want a few hours, you can probably work something out with them. If you display your packages on your website and don't list that you do 4-5 hours of coverage (or that you are flexible), then clients who want that might be turned off. So I would consider how you display the info, and when you give clients the detailed pricing.

I have decided though, that I'm not offering 4 hours of coverage to anyone who is not meeting before the ceremony, because it's just too stressful to fit everything in.

I'm not as exhausted with 4-5 hours. I always tell my prospective clients too, that no matter how many hours they hire me for, we can get some great shots (so then they don't feel like they need 10 hours of coverage if they can only afford 7.)

There's no real right way or wrong way on half day coverages. I normally don't offer them and would only consider it if someone wanted a short-notice kind of booking and there was little chance of booking that date otherwise. Some people like to only offer it in the off-season, presumably to avoid "leaving money on the table."

I'd kick myself if I went ahead and booked half days during the summer weekends, and then had some later inquiries for those same weekends with full day coverage. Just some things to think about, everyone has to find the system that's comfortable and makes sense to them!

Our packages are all full day coverage for many of the reasons you mentioned. We sell this as a bonus for our clients because we only book one wedding a weekend. We want them to feel like they are getting the best we have to offer and our full attention on their day.

Also, with long breaks between ceremony and reception and the grand march being a popular part of wedding receptions here in Wisconsin, it would be nearly impossible for us to capture all the important reception events/dances with a 4 hour package.

I have considered having an unadvertised half day option for last minute bookings. We don't get many of those since brides around here seem to want to book a year in advance.

our coverage is unlimited. we only have one price. (albums sold separately). so, if you only want 5 hours that's fine, but the price is the same. i don't want to take the day off the calendar for less. now, if it's very short notice, i'd work a package, but not if i think i'd book it for a full day. i also limit the number of weddings i shoot at this time.