When do You Leave?

After the cake and bouquet/garter toss, I usually assess what's going on. The reality is, I have about all the dancing/partying/inter​acting pictures I could possibly want to get. If it looks like nothing special is going to happen, I prepare to pack up and say goodnight to the couple. If it looks like someone's about to take the mic or there's going to be dancing on the tables or something crazy, obviously I'll stay as long as I need to. And this is exactly how I describe this to the couples during earlier meetings.

I'm just wondering if this is consistent with what others do. Do you stay until the very end? Do you wait until others begin leaving? Do you simply go when you think you have what you need?

I am with you.

I stay for however long I am contracted for (usually 6 hours.) If I'm doing an unlimited package then I usually just gauge what's going on like you. If people are starting to leave and things are winding down then I'll leave.

I go when the contract says my time is up

Obviously I might stay a bit longer if folks are asking me for a few more informal group shots, but I generally start packing up when it's time to go

Thanks, everyone. I should clarify that my day isn't timed for a fixed number of hours; it's just a vague, nebulous "Full Day". That's why the decision is to leave is up to me. I just want to be sure that I'm not doing anything inconsistent with the rest of the profession.

8 hours after I start. I can stay longer (extra $) or shorter, but that is what the contract says. When you get taken advantage of, you will include a limit in your contract.

When I had a "full day" package it was never very clear to anyone when I would leave;
even if i described it as you do (peacefield) to the client many months before the actual wedding. it was always sort of vague the day of.

I am generally an easy going guy, so I would pretty much like to stay as long as I thought appropriate, etc..
which is apparently much later than my fiance/assistant thinks. we got in a pretty nasty fight one night because of this descrepancy
(no not in front of the client, on the way home
she sat in the car for the last hour that I was shooting. it had been a 13 hour day at the point she left, so i see her point.
but i was still getting great photos. now my rates say full day (up to 10 hrs.) 14 hrs. was a bit much.
she was probably right that the client was taking advantage of my good nature.
but i'm not the type to go up to the bride and tell her that I'm leaving while there are a couple hours of dancing left,
unless of course their "time is up"

bigarchi wrote in post #10956919
now my rates say full day (up to 10 hrs.)

This is exactly how I do it. And during the initial consultation, they're laying out the timing of their day; we know when the reception is going to end and I'm thinking at least 30 minutes before that. If the day grows, it grows at the front end and if it's going to be excessively long (shooting at the hair salon for instance) we can talk about a modest additional charge.

Peacefield wrote in post #10956989
This is exactly how I do it. And during the initial consultation, they're laying out the timing of their day; we know when the reception is going to end and I'm thinking at least 30 minutes before that. If the day grows, it grows at the front end and if it's going to be excessively long (shooting at the hair salon for instance) we can talk about a modest additional charge.

yeah, I don't need to be there up to the very end of the reception. but i do like to stay through some dancing, especially if its a fun crowd.

at the booking i try to figure out if they need 6 or 8 hours...
once all the formal things happen... first dances, tosses... ill stay for a few songs then start packing as its times up any way. they really dont need to pay me 400 an hour to keep shooting dancing all night.

I don't time limit weddings. I just think it would be rude of me to be like "Oh! It's been 8 hours. Sorry you couldn't get everyone together for the bouquet toss in time, I'm outta here!". I do what you do- I have "full day" packages and just get a feel for things. If the cake is cut, bouquet and garter tossed, people are starting to leave, and the dance floor is getting empty I'll just get out of there.

Once the major happenings are done at the reception, then I usually start packing.

no way could i do an "all Day"... if the last item is an hour or less away... im not gonna leave...im not that up tight. makes it real awkward when is it time to leave... there def needs to be a line drawn in the sand.

altho... i had one book me for 6 hours, an i told them ill stay a lil longer if needed... well they took advantage of that, had me come early "since i had that buffer i offered" which thats NOT what it was for, it was for the reception... so my time was up and they only did 1st dances... cake... and they asked me how much to stay another hour... i said 200 since its be my 8 hours package... which was actually 400 more... but since i was there... groom was dissapointed the 50% deal but i said if i didnt then everyone would book 4 hour deals.... and just "buy" extra time.... oh well.. they had gotten a smokin deal anyway.

gravy graffix wrote in post #10957594
no way could i do an "all Day"... if the last item is an hour or less away... im not gonna leave...im not that up tight. makes it real awkward when is it time to leave... there def needs to be a line drawn in the sand.

altho... i had one book me for 6 hours, an i told them ill stay a lil longer if needed... well they took advantage of that, had me come early "since i had that buffer i offered" which thats NOT what it was for, it was for the reception... so my time was up and they only did 1st dances... cake... and they asked me how much to stay another hour... i said 200 since its be my 8 hours package... which was actually 400 more... but since i was there... groom was dissapointed the 50% deal but i said if i didnt then everyone would book 4 hour deals.... and just "buy" extra time.... oh well.. they had gotten a smokin deal anyway.

I'm kind of having a tough time reading this. Are you saying that they asked you to capture the getting ready part of the day and you voluntarily said you'd give them extra time without clarifying what that really meant (and that this extra time was intended for the reception), and then the groom got upset when you tried to charge him more during the reception? Um, yes. I'd be pissed off, too, if I were the groom.

gravy graffix wrote in post #10957594
they asked me how much to stay another hour... i said 200 since its be my 8 hours package... which was actually 400 more... but since i was there... groom was dissapointed the 50% deal.

I know it's a different topic and we all have our reasons for our approaches, but this is precisely why my offer is for a full day. I'm just not interested in going out for a few $'s less to shoot a six hour day. My day is shot whether I'm photographing a wedding for 6, 8, or 10 hours so, in my view, I'm only hurting myself by offering a lower price for a 6 hour wedding. And I definitely don't want the how-much-to-stay-another-hour discussion while the couple are trying to enjoy their own reception. A full day is a full day; the same whether it's 6, 8, or 10 hours (and I price it assuming about 9).

But as I said previously, we get a pretty good sense of the timing of the day right away during that initial consultation. If they want me at the hair salon or to shoot breakfast with the girls or whatever, I'll have the opportunity to say pre-contract that this is beyond the typical expectation for a full day. Then, we can negotiate price in a more comfortable environment.