Do you stay for the entire reception?

[surfidaho]

<p>Howdy!</p>

<p>On another thread, somebody mentioned that they never stick around past the cake cutting. I always stick around until I wave goodbye to the happy couple in the limo, or if they are staying at the reception venue, until the party dies down.</p>

<p>Does anybody else take this approach?</p>

<p>Later,</p>

<p>Paulsky</p>

[betty_lowrey2]

<p>I have to wonder about all you miss leaving after the cake cutting. Normally my couples cut their cake right away. If I left then I'd miss the dances, the bouquet, the toasts......<br>

I normally stay until after the bouquet toss. But, I have stayed for the entire reception on New Years. That was too fun to leave.</p>

[martindomok]

<p>Huh here they cut cake at 23.00ish then there is the bride's dance at midnight - or alternatively a special tradition - vail is taken off, groom gets a hat, they sit on chairs that are risen up in the air by young friends and drink a shot of home made, that is the last tradition of the wedding. Pictures of wave goodbye AND I usually leave at 1.00am, party continues often till 4-5 am...<br>

Slovak way :)<br>

<br /> Also, if there is an early ceremony and party strats 14.00 or 15.00 this a dead hour or 2 as everyone just eats and people start drinking slowly and dancing starts at about 17.00 not much shooting. I have a wedding coming up where they requested only a 4 hour job, ceremony and few hours at reception and formals, might be 5 hours... and then I can leave...</p>

 

[picturesque]

<p>I do what the couple wants me to do. But I charge for time, so the longer I stay, the more I get paid. What you do is up to you. You will probably find a wide variety of answers. If you charge by the day, then I can see staying for however long the reception takes. However, there are always going to be people who take advantage of you. If you go that route, be sure to put some kind of limit or you may find yourself starting at 6:00am and going through midnight.</p>

[anna_bravington]

<p>Mine always varies, as I'm booked by the hour, will do anything from 3 - 12 hours. Normally around 6 hours is popular, but it varies on the size of the wedding and their budget. That's just my business model though and it works for me.<br>

Normally the longest people tend to book is from brde getting ready till first dance and that's fine with me.</p>

[rachel_peek]

<p>We stay if the couple has a big exit planned. Otherwise, if it's just dancing till all hours and the crowd is dwindling and no other events are scheduled, and if we've hit our 10 hour limit, then we let the couple know what time it is, check with them to make sure there aren't any other shots they want us to take, then pack it up.</p>

<p>Lately it seems that if it's an unusually late party (perhaps the couple has booked the venue until midnight) and there aren't any big exit plans, we usually end up leaving about the time that most of the guests have already left and the caterers are starting to clear the tables, which is usually about an hour before the official end time.</p>

[c._f.]

<p>I stay until the client tells me they don't need me there anymore and sign me out.<br>

Adam</p>

[daverhaas]

<p>My standard is 5 hours of coverage - if the couple wants more then it costs more... Typically 5 hours gets through the formals, couple shots, ceremony, cake cutting and first dances.</p>

 

[david_schilling___chicago_]

<p>When I'm shooting for myself I'll stay till things die down and there isn't much more to see or do. If I'm shooting for another studio, it'll depend on their contract time, I'll typically allow them an extra 10-15 minutes over the scheduled time....I'm also giving them a "heads up" when we're an hour from the contracted quitting time to help make sure we get anything they really need before time's up.</p>

[garydem]

<p>to me, if you are the wedding photographer you stay till the b&g leaves AND/OR what your contract states. the wedding really is not over till the b&g make their exit. it is their wedding after all.</p>

[William Michael]

<p>I think it depends on what the set up is at the front end - what I mean by that is how you set up your business and what you are actually charging for. . .<br>

Over the last few years I only contracted (was employed by) a studio. I was paid a flat fee to cover the Wedding - that suited me in fact I asked for it that way. I stayed until the B&G left for the evening - but other point of note is, I often worked the same venues, and they all had a finishing time - which was set in concrete, irrespective of the Bride's (et al) wishes - so in that regard I knew what time I would finish. <br>

On the other hand when I first started out I did contract work and was paid by the hour, so the studio owner wanted tangible print sales from that extra time, if I stayed after the cake cutting and the first dance . . .<br>

When I was working for myself, I did the whole gig - but the whole gig was what the client paid for.<br>

<br>

WW<br>

</p>

<p > </p>

 

[cjogo]

<p>I stay as long as the B&G contract us. As I have mentioned the 8 hour weddings are slimming down to 4. They seem to just have friends shoot/video the reception.....I take the formals 2 hours prior to the ceremony --hour for the post shots & ceremony --- not much quality images during the dinning << maybe a first dance and fake shot of the cake --depends on how well they stay on their time line.</p>

<p>The venues ~ usually only allow a total of 6 hours max ~ from ceremony to doors closing. Hey, this is ultra quiet village :-) Not much happening after 9 PM </p>

<p><br /> Would love to shoot further into the wedding day >> just the budgets are setting the criteria. Many are even opting for no prints -- DVD only.</p>

[cjogo]

<p ><a href="../photodb/user?user_id=1824461">M M</a> <a href="../member-status-icons"><img title="Frequent poster" src="http://static.photo.net/v3graphics/member-status-icons/1roll.gif" alt="" title="Frequent poster" /> </a> , Jul 21, 2009; 03:24 p.m.</p>

<blockquote>

<p>Huh here they cut cake at 23.00ish then there is the bride's dance at midnight - or alternatively a special tradition - vail is taken off, groom gets a hat, they sit on chairs that are risen up in the air by young friends and drink a shot of home made, that is the last tradition of the wedding. Pictures of wave goodbye AND I usually leave at 1.00am, party continues often till 4-5 am...<br /> Slovak way :)</p>

</blockquote>

<p>I shot 2 weddings in France ---same time line --- you are up until sunrise</p>

[kiva]

<p>I work the same as David ... you can always tell when the celebration is over. </p>

<p>I always go to the groom and ask if they'd like any special type of final photograph which is really a polite way of asking if it's ok for me to head on home since the party is over. </p>

<p>When "the love" dissapates into alcoholic silliness I generally know the party is over and the "genuine" celebration is morphing into something that is different than the intended celebration of marriage.</p>

[g.e._masana]

<p>Sometimes I stay until the Bride tosses the bouquet, the Groom tosses the garter and the catering venue tosses the drunks out.<br /> <br /> Seriously, it depends on what's happening (photo ops) +- how much fun I'm having. And if I've been invited to chill at the after party or not.</p>

[cjogo]

<p>In our market I only find 20% even wearing a garter to even toss ---seems to be a tradition falling out of trend >> round here.</p>

[think27]

<p>Since most of my brides don't toss the bouquet or don't care if it is photographed, I stay for the amount of time contracted which is 5-6 hours max with very few exceptions. We all agree on this sentiment... "How many candid dancing shots do you really need" at $350 per hour above standard contract time (5 hours)... They can always opt for an extra hour later if they wish and/or I will give 15-20 min if things run late.</p>

[dawn_kelly]

<p>We contract for a set amount of time, more if the B&G or who ever is paying us wants it, which they can add on when their clock is ticking down. I work with the B&G to fit everything in that they can and want me to photograph, and I kindly help keep them on schedule. But I do have to agree, paying me a few hundred an hour to photograph open dancing doesn't need to last to long. They should spend that money on something else for the wedding, on their honeymoon, or for living expenses. But if they want me to stay, I will stay. Here in the Central Valley, California, contracted times have considerably shortened. In fact, I had my first wedding cancellation due to job loss and mother-of-the-bride serious health issues. The couple has gone from a nice small church ceremony to probably the courthouse. I'll take care of them so that they will get some value out of their retainer they gave me. Sorry for going off subject.</p>

[cjogo]

<p>:: Next weeks wedding time line ::<br>

<<< 4 hours max for me >><br>

**Please be on time – Transportation will not wait for you**<br /> 11:45 am Wedding Party meets in Lobby <br /> 12:00 pm Limo leaves and proceeds to<br /> pick up remaining Wedding Party at Hotel <br /> 12:10 pm Limo Hummer leaves Hotel <br /> <strong>12:30 - 1:00pm Bride & Bridesmaids take photos at the Church<br /> 1:00pm - 1:30pm Groom & Groomsmen take photos at the Church<br /> 1:30 - 2:00pm Groomsmen seat guests<br /> 2:00 pm Wedding Ceremony (see wedding program for details)<br /> 3:00 pm Family Photos at Church<br /> 3:30 pm Cocktails & Hors d’oeuvres at the Country CLub<br /> 4:30 pm</strong> Guests seated for dinner followed by introduction of<br /> Wedding Party and First Dance<br /> 5:00 pm Dinner Service<br /> 5:30 pm Speeches in the following order (Father of Bride,<br /> Father of Groom, Maid of Honors, Best Man)<br /> 6:15 pm Father Daughter & Mother Son Dances followed by<br /> dancing for all guests<br /> 7:45 pm Cake Cutting<br /> 10:00 pm END<br /></p>

[mark_ridout1]

<p>I am offically done after they are introduced into the hall. Most couples will shoot over to the cake for the exciting traditional cake shot and then I leave. The only time I stay later is if I'm out of the country ....because of the long walk home.</p>

[tina___cliff_t]

<p>We usually stay for the entire recetion, and in some cases even into the drunken blackmail hours. Depends on the couple, the guests, and how many good shots we can keep getting.<br>

If the party has died down a lot we ask the couple if they have any other pictures they would like before we leave. :)</p>

[aimee_pieters]

<p>We offer 5 coverages: 2, 4, 6, 8, or "up to 12" hours and they all include an album with a minimum number of images. All coverages are specified to be <em>consecutive</em> hours. If there's a "break", then we charge a fee so it doesn't use up their time, but compensates us and people feel this is fair. The longer the coverage, the larger the minimum album is. Our price list also states "IF overtime is available, it's billed at $xx.xx per half-hour." I always check with the couple about a half-hour prior to the contracted ending time to see if there's anything else they might want. If I work an additional 20 minutes, it's difficult to charge for a full hour, so I changed it to half-hours. This has worked both ways, because it's also a subtle way of keeping someone from taking advantage of our time.<br>

Over the years, as customers have found loopholes in my pricing or contracts, I've sealed them up. I've added things like <em>consecutive hours</em> and removed words like <em>unlimited</em>.<br>

Take care of your customers AND yourself....-Aimee</p>

[cjogo]

<p>I think many of our clients would like to have a stay over 4 hours ----we always ask before leaving >> but the $ dictates our duration. We kindly bow-out and home before the dancing even starts....... No books ~ even rarely a reprint these days.</p>

[cjogo]

<p>SO :: if you have a $3000 average package ---- and a B&G contact you and only have $1500 budget.</p>

<p>You decide you need the job ~ SO ~ What is the first way to lower your price ??<br>

<em> Hourly/ labor?? </em><br>

Emit albums??<br>

No CS time ??<br>

Lower your quality ??</p>

[aimee_pieters]

<p>If they want to spend less and you feel that you probably won't book the date at your regular rates, find out what they're looking for. If they're insisting on the same package at half the price, it's obvious that you can't do that. You can offer shorter coverage and less product, but DON'T do the same lenght of coverage with less product at half the price. That's where all your time and sweat is....-Aimee</p>