As wedding photographers we get a bit busy this time of year so I decided to reflect on the amount of time (effort) we actually spend on one wedding presenting, preparing, photographing, editing and (again) presenting. I low-balled most of these estimates but I would say it takes at least 60 hours of work for us to produce a wedding and at least another 25 hours on album design. And probably half of our weddings exceed these time parameters. Wow, that seems like a lot of effort, however when you feel that your are putting out an exceptional product for great people it is well worth the effort.

We could probably cut our work flow in half by outsourcing post-production and album design, or by choosing to offer a lesser product to our clients. However, Ashley and I take great pride in our work and presenting that work to our clients, who, in turn, appreciate our efforts. That appreciation drives our efforts and in the end we enjoy all of it, no matter the late nights, early mornings and 10 hour shoots with nothing but a Red Bull and a banana in between.

Here’s a quick breakdown of what we actually do for ALL of our clients.

30 min – Phone/Email Inquiry: Answering initial questions plus scheduling face to face appointment
1 hr – Initial Meeting & Consultation Preparation: This includes prepping the studio, sample albums, forms, brochures and contracts.
2 hr – Initial Meeting & Consultation: This will be our presentation to our prospective clients, plus question and answer.
1 hr – Contract Finalization
30 min – Logging client information/order information into our system
1 hr – Miscellaneous emails to set up Engagement Session
1 hr – Prep for Engagement Session
4 hr – Engagement Session w/ travel
5 hr – Post Production for Engagement session: upload, editing, archiving and preparation for viewing.
2 hr – E-session orders: Submit, log and package orders for shipment
1 hr – Miscellaneous communication regarding orders (phone or email).
2 hr – Meeting wedding coordinator and venue scouting
2 hr – Finalizing the bride’s information sheet, so we know the complete rundown of the day’ events
3 hr – Prepping for wedding: Gear prep, attire prep, logistics

26 hours on the wedding preparation

2 hr – Travel to and from the venue
8 hr – Photographing wedding
20 hr – Post production from upload to preview
2 hr – Preparation for preview meeting
2 hr – Preview meeting

34 hours on the actual wedding

60 hours minimum from initial contact until the images are ready for viewing

2 hr – Album meeting / Style selection
1 hr – Unarchiving selected images
3 hr – Retouching selected images
4 hr – Inital design and layout of album
1 hr – Preparing and sending initial preview for bride and groom approval
2 hr – Redesign and changes as requested
1 hr – Preparing and sending 2nd draft for approval
3 hr – Finalizing and proofing all pages, images and layouts
3 hr – Ordering/tracking/receiving/shipping of prints to the bookbinders
1 hr – Ordering album
1 hr – Receiving and inspecting album for errors
1 hr – Packaging album for delivery
2 hr – Personal delivery of album by Ashley and myself

25 hours on the album production

85 hours minimum from the initial meeting until the album is delivered

Long story short = we work a little more than the avg. person would expect ; )

- (Added since our original post) You can tack on another 20 hours (from prep to order) for those couples who choose to do the Rock-the-Dress session that is included in all our packages.