Frequently Asked Questions
Why should we hire you to be our wedding videographer?
I am so glad you asked! ;) What sets us apart is that we have a unique creative approach to our work that our brides and grooms love. Our wedding films are very "Instagrammy" and have a modern feel and tone to them. We pride ourselves in having a booking process that is easy and makes brides feel comfortable, but also empowers you to give any input at any stage that you want. So if you have a special request then we will go out of our way to accommodate it.
Isn't having a wedding photographer enough?
Wedding photos are priceless, but wedding videos are the only media that can offer a true cinematic experience with
moving images and music. Your big day deserves to be captured forever and produced into a moving memory.
A lot of our brides tell us that we captured things that their wedding photographer missed, and that they are so happy
that we caught it. So while traditionally, wedding photographers have been the staple to have at every wedding. In recent years, many modern wedding couples are seeing the benefit of getting their wedding captured with video too. So there is a growing trend with wedding films becoming more and more expected as part of your big day.
Price is a bit steep, especially when my uncle Bob is willing to do it for free. What gives?
Your uncle sounds like a super nice guy if he is willing to shoot video of your wedding for free? And his name is Bob? For reals? Very cool. We get it, your uncle, mom, second cousin, roommate has a tripod and decent video camera. That would save you some dough for sure.
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But you remember that time that your uncle tried to fix the brakes in your car and it never was the same? It would take an additional 5 seconds to slow down, the pads would make a funny noise, and it caused a weird burning odor? Fun times.
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Uncle Bobs are great and likely would get the job done when it came down to it. However, if you were to ask Uncle Bob about proper licensing of background music, how to properly color grade raw footage, the difference between 60 fps vs 120 fps, what a "jump cut" is in editing, or the importance of the "rule of thirds" in composition, video compression settings for Instagram, or even the importance of the 180 degree when shooting video of subjects - would he know what you are talking about?
So what is the process like to book you?
Did I mention that we have an easy process to booking? ;) We have software that automates much of our process from initial contact form - all the way through to final booking, contract, invoices, and the week leading up to the wedding. So nothing falls through the cracks and everything stays on schedule. At the same time, our process is flexible enough to accommodate any request - even changes on your wedding day. The process is both simple and nimble.
What if we need to postpone or cancel our wedding for whatever reason?
We know that pandemics can happen, and/or other things might arise where you need to either move your wedding date or cancel your wedding altogether. This does indeed happen from time to time, and we do have a process in place for this. You can cancel at anytime before or after contract is signed and get a refund minus your retainer fee (20% of total wedding package). You can think of the retainer fee as a non-refundable deposit.
If you need to postpone or move your wedding date for any reason - just let us know and we will work with you on getting your date switched. If we are not able to move your date since we have a booking at that same date/time then we will need to cancel and issue a refund less the retainer fee.
What if something happens and you can’t make it?
In the event that I am unable to shoot, I will have a back-up videographer. If this videographer does not fulfill the signed contract, the client will be issued a full refund.
Is the raw unedited footage provided too?
Yes, raw unedited clips can be provided at no additional cost for all wedding packages, but this is by request only.
Do you offer live-stream services?
Yes, we offer this as an add-on to our base wedding packages. This will be a live-stream on YouTube (or other streaming service) where we have a single dedicated streaming camera that covers the ceremony/reception.
Are drone footage services offered?
Yes, and no additional cost, and available at most weddings. However, depending on coverage, location, time and weather we might not be able to use it - so it is not guaranteed.
Who picks out the music?
Unless specified by the customer, we will choose beautiful instrumental music for your wedding film. But if you want specific music we may direct you to our licensed song libraries (SongFreedom.com, SoundStripe.com and MusicBed.com) so that you have the ability to choose songs.
Does the bride and groom need to provide a schedule of events or wedding day itinerary?
We would absolutely love to get this from you, it reduces stress for everyone, helps us capture what we need, and generally makes things smoother. But if you aren’t able to provide one we will just do our best to manage. There isn’t a time frame for when we need this, as often times the brides will email this to us in the days leading up to the
wedding or just hand us a print-out of the itinerary when we arrive.
What about pre-wedding or engagement videos?
Yes, we offer these, as they are great for capturing your love story and how you met. We often capture either with letter reads or bride/groom interviews. Some brides use these as announcement videos or present them at the recepton. We would need a few weeks to produce a final video edit, so we couldn’t edit together an engagement video a day or two before the actual wedding day for example.
What is the difference between audio and music?
With regard to wedding films - music is pretty straightforward and easily understood. Essentially, the wedding highlights are edited as a montage over background music. However, audio is considered anything that is captured or field recorded. For example, the pastor’s message, bridge and grooms vows, wedding speeches, etc. Capturing event audio, generally means more attention to using higher quality mics and audio recording equipment.
What does "full-day coverage" mean?
All-day or full day coverage essentially means we are there to cover all the significant moments of your wedding day. Generally speaking, that means we arrive in the early afternoon and get some shots of the bride/groom getting
ready and then through the first few dances at the reception that evening.
What if we don’t like how the wedding film turns out?
We can certainly make revisions upon your request. If it’s minor, like there is a clip that you want removed from the wedding film or some other edit you want to make - we offer a courtesy revision. After that, there might be additional editing fees that are based on our hourly rate for our editor.
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If it’s something more significant, for example making the wedding film 4-5 minutes longer, than we would need to discuss the options of making another longer edit. Essentially, this request is for a different longer edit - which we can do, but it will incur additional editing fees.
What kind of camera and audio equipment do you use?
We use full-frame professional DSLR cameras that can capture ultra high definition (UHD) video in 4K resolution. This helps to create that cinematic look and feel. We use professional, studio-grade audio recording equipment as well.
Do people typically hire an audio guy for an outdoor wedding?
Yes, most couples will hire someone with audio or sound experience (typically a DJ) to setup microphones, speakers and a soundboard. Many outdoor venues have their own sound equipment that is typically provided as part of renting out the venue, and they may have someone on staff or provide preferred list of audio professionals for you to hire from.
Outside of the wedding photographer, the DJ is someone we will likely work closely with as we sometimes connect to their sound system to capture audio.
What if all the footage that is captured is poor quality?
In a theoretical worse case scenario, all the footage is so blurry you can’t even make out the faces, or weird ghosting appears making it look like a zombie apocolypse, or the lens cap was on the entire day. In this case, we would simply offer a full refund. The chances are very slim for this however (especially the zombie apocolypse) - as we do quality
checks and monitor our gear constantly.
Can we - as the bride and groom - offer creative input?
Absolutely! Some couples want to provide a lot of unique and creative ideas, while others would rather just trust our creative eye, experience and vision. We try to work with every couple based on what their comfort level is and how much overall input they want to give us. While we do our best to accommodate getting specific shots that you are hoping for us to capture, for example a special heirloom ring close-up, or special family member, when it comes to editing we try to maintain a look that is consistent with our brand and creative style.
Are you able to capture interviews of the wedding guests?
Modern weddings have so many moving parts and locations that we are not able to offer this in way that meets our threshold for high quality production value - as we are primarily focused on getting ready for the wedding day moments of the bride and groom.
What if we decide later we want to get an add-on, but we have already signed the contract?
We can always add the add-on services at any time. If you want us to cover more (like a pre-wedding or engagement session) than we can add that later if you decide you want it.
How do you structure the pricing for your wedding packages?
Their is essentially two different philosophies when it comes to pricing that wedding videographers will typically employ.
The first is hourly-rate pricing. In this case, wedding packages are priced strictly on hourly rates.
The second is day-rate pricing. This is where, each wedding package includes all-day coverage.
While many videographers still base their wedding packages on hours, we prefer to go with day-rate pricing since it has some advantages. The benefits to the client is that they get an “all-inclusive” package which is very convenient and a worry-free experience - since they don’t have anxiety about us missing a moment since we “clocked out” or if we are going to add more fees later since we stayed longer.
And it also provides a benefit to the videographer team since they are not watching the clock, but instead focused on the wedding moments that they are their to capture.
How does one send payment, and can we just pay for it all upfront?
We can take check, cashiers check, or Venmo payments in addition to secure online payment (through our booking software). We use a very popular booking software (HoneyBook.com) which is used by many wedding professionals to both book and take online payments.
In a typical booking we would take a deposit to secure the date, and then we would have our booking software scheduled to send payment requests via email that would have a link to make a payment online. This would be
in the months leading up to the wedding day. So by the wedding date, the wedding package is paid in full.
However, some couples prefer to pay everything upfront with a check that is mailed to us, and that is perfectly fine too.
Ok, so I think we are ready to hire you, what is our first step?
The very first step is filling out the form on our Contact page, as that will get you into our system and move you through our process. You are under no obligation or contractually bound at that point, you are simply getting in touch with us to get our availability and wedding package pricing.