It’s a question that we’ve been asked many times over the years in many different ways…. “Do I need two photographers to photograph my wedding?”
Not only that, but…
- “What effect will having one or two photographers have on my finished photographs?”
- “Is there a practical difference on the wedding day itself between having one and two photographers?”
- “If I book one photographer, are there any drawbacks?”
- “Will my photographs be worse if I only book one photographer?”
I’ve created a video below explaining the differences a little further, but I’ve also created this blog in written form in case you prefer to read. Shazia tells me people prefer to read, while I’m a “watcher”, so I’ve done both.
It’s probably not the worst idea to watch the video and read the blog as I’ve added a bit more detail into the blog.
DISCLAIMER:
When you watch the video and/or read through the blog, it’s important to consider that the information I present and the examples I’ve used are relevant to the way that we do things at Chocolate Chip Photography.
I can’t say as to whether other photographers will work in a similar way, but if you’re considering booking with us, I can 100% guarantee this is exactly how your experience will be, regardless of whether you book one of us or both of us.
Watch the video below:
The THREE main differences between having one or two photographers at your wedding
1. You’ll receive more photographs after your wedding.
I know it might sound obvious, but when you have two photographers capturing your wedding day, there will be more photographs captured throughout the day. More photographs means more memories so ultimately, you’ll receive more photographs/memories back afterwards.
Now if you look closely at what many wedding photographers offer in their packages, many wedding photographers will limit the amount of images you receive to around 500 finished images. This means that regardless of how many photographs they take on a wedding day, you’ll only ever receive 500.
In this situation, it doesn’t matter if you have two photographers because ultimately, you’ll only ever receive 500 images at most.
Now it’s important to say at this point that we don’t do this. We give you as many images as possible.
It’s always been important to us that you receive as many photographs as possible from us from your wedding day, so it’s for that reason we’ve never put a limit on what you receive.
As for the question “well if it’s more than 500 images, how many do I receive with you guys?” … we never like to put a number on the amount of delivered images to avoid setting unnecessary expectations.
There are also many factors that dictate the number of images you receive from us, such as number of guests and the length of your day.
It’s safe to say though that conservatively, a single photographer wedding will usually deliver at least 600-700 where a two photographer wedding will usually be a minimum of 1000 images. Sometimes we’ve both been photographing and we’ve delivered 1700 or 1800 images. It just depends.
Like I said above, that’s with us and I can’t speak for any other photographers and what they offer, but one of our big selling points has always been that we always deliver lots of images to our clients.
They’re your memories after all, so what good are those memories stored on our computer when we can deliver them to you to enjoy?
Exactly.
2. You’ll receive MORE candid, natural photographs.
I mentioned above that you’ll always receive more photographs when we’re both photographing, but what does that mean in practical terms? Well, it generally means that those extra images are 99% more candid, natural moments that have been captured throughout your wedding day.
That’s because a single photographer can still capture group shots and couple portraits, but while one photographer is handling group shots, for example, that same photographer can’t shoot candid images at the same time. You can only do one thing at once.
When we’re working together, I would typically handle group photographs with family, but at the same time Shazia is floating around capturing your friends and family hugging, catching up, having drinks and enjoying their canapés.
Yes you’re receiving more photographs, but they are more photographs of natural moments for you to look back on later.
So, if you love natural photographs and want as many candid moments captured throughout your wedding day, you should always book us both if you can.
3. You’ll see more of the moments you’d otherwise miss when you’re away or chatting.
Attending a wedding as a guest is completely different than being at your own wedding.
As a guest, you can chill, relax, chat, enjoy some canapés and soak in the day.
When it’s your wedding day, you spend the whole day chatting with people and being pulled from pillar to post. Now I’m not saying that as a negative. It is what is it, but it’s not the same as being a guest.
You’ll also spend time away from your guests while you have your couple portraits taken.
While your guests are sitting and relaxing, you’ll be chatting to every single one of your guests throughout your day.
Now what that means is… while you’re chatting, you’re not soaking in what’s going on around you. All those little moments of people enjoying themselves, having a laugh, singing, dancing… there’s a very good chance that you’ll miss many of them. Certainly the ones that take place while you’re not present.
I remember when Shazia and I got married. The one thing I was looking forward to more than anything else was seeing everyone else enjoying themselves and we knew that the best chance of giving us that was to have two photographers, so that’s exactly what we did… and we’ve no regrets.
We have so many memories to look back on and this is exactly what we deliver to our couples.
- Hundreds of photographs
- Hundreds of memories
- Hundreds to moments of the people who mean the most to you enjoying themselves
Wedding photographs aren’t just for now. They are memories of your loved ones sharing a special day for to keep forever.
If it was me (and it was when we got married), I’d want as much of that as possible.
“Do I need two photographers at my wedding?”
The short answer is… no, you do not.
You will manage with one photographer absolutely fine AND you will love your photographs if you book one of us. Everyone always has.
The longer answer comes down to three main factors…
- The number of guests you will be having
- The time of day you’re getting married
- The time of year that you’re getting married
I’ve explained below how they factor into your day.
1. How does the number of guests matter?
Simply put, the more guests you have, the more people there are to cover. The more that your guests will spread out and the more moments will be happening throughout the day.
Like I said above, with both of us photographing, we can be in more places at once, therefore more of those moments can be captured.
- Generally what we advise is if you’re having a wedding with over 60 guests, you will really benefit from having us both.
- If you’re between 40 and 60, yes, there will be a benefit. We’ve photographed 40 people weddings together many times in the past.
- If you’re less than 40 people, it’s less of an issue to not have us both. You’ll still end up with more photographs, but one photographer can easily cover 40 people.
Don’t get me wrong, one photographer can cover 100+ people. It just means that out of all the possible moments and memories that could be captured on your wedding day, if you only have one photographer, you won’t get all of them.
2. How does my ceremony time factor in?
The later you get married, the less time there is to capture everything. It’s also common that the later the ceremony, the more rushed the day is.
The theory goes that if your day is shorter (say a 2-3pm ceremony or later), two photographers can capture everything quicker in a shorter timeframe.
If you have an earlier ceremony (say 11am or midday), one photographer could cover it okay as you have more time on the day and it’s less rushed. Of course guests numbers still play a factor in this, so an 11am ceremony with 150 guests still needs two photographers, but an 11am ceremony with 60 guests would have more time to capture everything.
2. How does the time of year come into it?
When you’re getting married in May, June or July, you’ve got late nights and lots of sunlight. If you’re getting married in October, November or December, it goes dark earlier. This means that you’ve got less time to capture photographs on the day while it’s still light.
Now yes, you can take photographs when it’s dark, but it’s great to have lots of photographs captured while it’s still light outside.
The question shouldn’t be “Do I need two photographers?”
The questions should be “Can I comfortably afford to book two photographers and if I can, would I prefer to have as many memories as possible captured from my wedding day of all my friends and family enjoying themselves?”
Only you can answer that question, but that’s what it boils down to.
“I’ve only got the budget for one photographer”
Great. Just book one of us.
If one photographer is where you comfortably sit, don’t blow your budget out of the water if you can’t afford to. I don’t want you re-mortgaging your house to have more photographs.
Everyone (including us) has an idea of what they’re happy spending on a wedding AND on wedding photography. It differs for everyone and there is no right or wrong. There is simply what is possible.
If you can only stretch to one photographer or you’re happy with one photographer then book one photographer.
You’ll always love your photographs and you’ll never, ever regret booking with us.
If you were looking at booking with us and your choice was between either myself or Shazia OR the option of booking two photographers elsewhere for the same money, you need to consider the possibility that there might be a reason you can get two elsewhere for the same money as we charge for one. The likelihood will be that they won’t offer the same experience and level of service as we do.
Hand on heart, I’d rather you book one amazing photographer who you love than two photographers who aren’t quite as good just because there’s two of them.
Remember, after the cake is eaten and everyone has gone home, all you’ll be left with is your marriage and your photographs. That’s why it’s so important that your photographs are the best possible capture of your day.
“Are there any other benefits to having you both?”
Yes, there is. We’ve already established that you’ll receive more photographs and you’ll receive more candid moments with us both photographing your wedding, but there is one other huge benefit to having us both.
This benefit is related to how things run on the wedding day. Let me explain…
When we’re both photographing a wedding, we have our own little jobs.
- Shazia will do one morning prep (Bride, for example) and I will do the other morning prep (Groom, for example).
- For same sex weddings, we tend to find that people might get ready together so in those situations we just divvy up the tasks to get things done more efficiently.
- I would typically arrive at the venue to capture guests arriving while Shazia will arrive a little later, often travelling in the wedding car. Sometimes we even drive couples to the venue in our car.
- For the ceremony, sometimes we’re both at the front together on opposite sides. Sometimes one of us will be at the back of the aisle to capture different angles.
- Post-ceremony, we’ll both help to organise confetti (if you do confetti) and again, we often capture two different perspectives of the same moment.
- Once the confetti is over, I’ll take care of group photographs (because I’m the gobby one) while Shazia will start capturing candid images of guests enjoying themselves and catching up.
- Once group shots are done, I will take over snapping away candidly while Shazia goes into the breakfast room to capture the room set up and breakfast room table details. You know, all those little details that you’ve spent time, effort and money on? Well those are important too.
- Around 20 minutes before you’re announced into your breakfast room, we’ll take you off for some couple portraits. Now there’s two reasons we do this here:
1) We’ve given you time to catch up with your guests first before taking you away.
2) We’re only taking you away for 15 minutes while your guests take their seats for the wedding breakfast. This means they’re not standing around looking for you. They’re busy doing other things so it’s a better use of the time on the day.
- We’ll both photograph your speeches but we can cover more people and more reactions throughout.
- After your wedding breakfast is over, we’ll typically take you away for some more couple portraits. We again time this while your guests are finishing deserts and enjoying teas and coffees. They’re busy, so they’re not missing you as much.
This is also important as it gives you guys a bit of time by yourselves away from everyone else.
- Once we get you back to your guests, we both just crack on and capture the evening celebrations. Whether that’s a game of beer pong, guests enjoying the entertainment or dancing the night away… we’re just blending in to capture those moments candidly.
- If the occasion calls for it, we’ll take you out again later for some more couple portraits. This could be if there’s a nice sunset or something happening that makes us think “Ooo, this would make a cool shot.”
When we’re both there, things just run a little more fluidly. We’re working as a team to cover all bases in an efficient way.
We also bounce off each other creatively. We’ll come up with ideas together and we often spot something the other one of us might miss.
It’s just more of a well oiled machine when we’re both there.
BUT …
If there’s only one of us, you’re still in safe hands. Your photographs won’t be inferior or anything like that.
We’ll still get everything captured for you and you’ll still love everything we deliver to you.
Remember, you’ll always love your photographs either way!
I feel like a broken record here but I’ll say it again…
You’ll always love your photographs whether you book one of us or both of us. Always. Everyone always has.
I hope this blog has been helpful and given you some food for thought on booking your photographers. It hard to know what to do sometimes and you’ll never know what could have been if you’d picked the other option.
All you can do is make the best choice for you at the time of booking and have zero regrets. We can promise the latter. It’s just up to you to decide what’s best for you.
Peace out,
Chris
