When you start comparing wedding photographers, every studio seems to package things a little differently. One lists hours, another lists photos, another lists products, and it can be hard to tell what you’re actually getting. Here’s a clear guide to what’s typically included in wedding photography packages, why each piece matters on your wedding day, and what to look at closely when you compare.
At Jaimie Dee Photography, we call our packages collections. You’ll find ours on our Atlanta wedding photography packages page, and we’ll point out how we handle each piece along the way.
Table of Contents
Coverage Hours: How Much of Your Day Is Photographed
Coverage hours are the backbone of any package, because they decide which parts of your day end up in your gallery.
- About 4 hours (half day): a beautiful fit for micro weddings and smaller guest counts. For a larger wedding, 4 hours usually covers the ceremony, family photos, wedding party and couple portraits, and the start of the reception, so getting ready and the last part of the night are often trimmed.
- About 6 to 8 hours (full day): where most full wedding days land. When we say a full wedding day, we mean about 8 hours, which comfortably covers getting ready through your key reception moments.
- Extended coverage: for multi-location days, longer receptions or extra events such as a send-off.
Most studios, ours included, let you add hours if your timeline grows. If you’re still mapping out your day, our guide to how long you need a wedding photographer for walks through sample timelines hour by hour.
Why it matters: the right number of hours is the one that matches your timeline. A package with fewer hours can look like the better value on paper and then leave your getting-ready photos or your first dance out of the story.
Who’s Photographing Your Wedding: A Team of Two
Packages often list “two photographers,” and it’s worth asking what that means. Every one of our wedding collections includes a creative team of two: one lead photographer and one assistant photographer.
Your assistant photographer works in a dual role. They support the lead throughout the day by managing lighting gear, placing your train and catching stray hairs before a portrait, and they photograph the same moments with different lenses from different angles. During the processional, that means one of us can capture you walking down the aisle while the other catches your partner’s reaction. Our team stays together all day because we work better as a team, and your gallery shows it.
Your lead photographer may be Jaimie, Kyle or one of our associate photographers, each trained in our process and editing style.
Photography Timeline Planning
Planning is one of the most valuable parts of a package, and it’s easy to overlook because it happens weeks before the wedding. About 30 to 60 days before your date, we meet with you for photography timeline planning. Together we build the portrait list and family photo order, confirm venue details, add realistic buffers for travel and late starts, and plan your couple portraits around the best light.
Why it matters: the thinking happens before the wedding, so you get to be present on the day. It’s also how we protect the moments that matter most to you when the schedule shifts.
Digital Images: How Many Photos Come in a Wedding Package
This is one of the most searched questions about wedding photography packages, and the honest answer is that it depends on your hours, your guest count and how much happens during your day.
With a lead photographer and an assistant photographer, most of our couples receive about 100 to 150 edited digital images per hour of coverage. For a full wedding day, that’s typically 800 to 1,200 images. Every image you receive is carefully selected and edited for color and exposure in our true-to-life style with a little added pop, and a full wedding takes about 40 hours of careful editing. Your collection also includes a personal print release, so you can share and print your digital images for personal use. You can read more about our editing and post-production process.
Why it matters: a high photo count only helps if every image is one you’d want to keep. When you compare packages, look at sample full galleries alongside the highlight images on a website, so you can see the consistency across a whole day.
Previews and Delivery Timing
Delivery timing varies widely between studios, so it’s worth knowing what to expect before you book.
- Previews: please allow at least a week (and up to two) for your preview images. Most of our couples receive them the same night or the next day, which is perfect for sharing with family and friends while the excitement is still fresh.
- Your full gallery: we present your full gallery at an ordering premiere that you schedule with us, usually about two weeks after the wedding. Many couples choose the date during their photography timeline planning meeting.
Fast, reliable delivery is one of the things our couples mention most in their reviews. If quick turnaround is high on your list, our guide to fast wedding photo delivery explains how we make it happen.
Albums and the Ordering Premiere
Albums are where many packages differ the most. Some include one, some offer it as an add-on, and the quality and size can vary a great deal.
Our full-day wedding collections include a wedding album, because your photos deserve a home beyond a hard drive. At your ordering premiere, you’ll see your full gallery, design your album with us and decide whether you’d like any upgrades, wall art or additional products. Images chosen for your album and artwork receive complimentary custom retouching, and advanced retouching is available if you’d like it. See examples and options on our custom wedding albums page.
Why it matters: an album is the version of your wedding you’ll actually pick up and share for decades. Ask what size and materials are included and how the design process works.
Engagement Sessions
Some packages bundle an engagement session, and many couples love having one. Our most complete collection includes an engagement session, and couples booking any of our wedding collections can add one.
Why it matters: an engagement session is a relaxed chance to get comfortable in front of the camera with the same team who’ll photograph your wedding. By the wedding day, you already know how we guide posing and prompts, and it shows in your photos.
What to Compare When You Review Wedding Photography Packages
Two packages with the same number of hours can be very different experiences. Here’s what to look at, and why each one matters:
- Who will actually photograph your day. Ask who your lead photographer will be and what the second person does. A trained assistant photographer working alongside the lead captures more angles and keeps the day flowing.
- Whether the hours fit your timeline. Sketch your day first, then choose coverage. Adding an hour ahead of time is far simpler than wishing for one on the day.
- How your photos are protected. Experienced studios record every image to two memory cards at once, back up the full wedding to the studio and offsite, and keep the cards until after delivery.
- How planning works. A dedicated photography timeline planning meeting is what keeps family photos quick and protects your golden-hour portraits.
- What delivery looks like. Ask when previews arrive and when you’ll see your full gallery.
- What’s included in the album. Size, page count and the design process all affect what you’ll have to hold onto.
For a deeper list, our guide to questions to ask a wedding photographer explains why each question matters and how we answer it. If you’re also weighing budget, how much a wedding photographer costs covers typical investment and what drives it.
Frequently Asked Questions About Wedding Photography Packages
What Do Most Wedding Photography Packages Include?
Most wedding photography packages include a set number of coverage hours, one or two photographers, edited digital images in an online gallery and a print release for personal use. Many also include timeline planning, and fuller packages often add an album or an engagement session. Our wedding collections include a team of two, posing guidance, photography timeline planning, true-to-life editing, digital images and an ordering premiere, and our full-day collections include an album.
How Many Photos Come in a Wedding Package?
It depends on coverage hours and how much happens during your day. With a lead photographer and an assistant photographer, our couples typically receive about 100 to 150 edited images per hour, or about 800 to 1,200 images for a full wedding day.
How Many Photos Should I Expect From My Wedding Photographer?
Expect a complete, curated story of your day, from getting ready (if it’s covered) through your key reception moments. A count is a helpful guide, and the more useful check is a full sample gallery, so you can see that every image is one you’d keep.
Why Do Wedding Photographers Have Two Cameras?
Professional wedding photographers often carry two camera bodies with different lenses, so they can move from a close-up to a wide view instantly and catch every moment. Many professional cameras also record each image to two memory cards at once, so there’s always a backup. With our team of two, both photographers work this way, which gives you more angles of every important moment.
Can We Add an Engagement Session to Our Wedding Package?
Yes. Our most complete collection includes an engagement session, and any of our wedding collections can add one. It’s a great way to get comfortable with your photography team before the wedding.
Find the Collection That Fits Your Day
Every wedding timeline is a little different. Tell us about your date, your guest count and what matters most to you, and we’ll help you choose the coverage that fits. You can see all of our options on our Atlanta wedding photography packages page.
Prefer to write? Send us a note through our Contact page.
