Often, videographers offer slightly less coverage time on wedding days compared to photographers.

The reason we limit our package offerings to 6-8 hours is because this is usually the perfect amount of time for us to capture every major moment, but maybe not have 3-4 cameras in your face all day. Photographers often focus more on the details of the day (flatlays, ring shots) and this is often not as important for video.

Some couples want particular morning moments to be private, and we honestly feel as though an hour of dancing is enough time to get what we need. But, what do you do when you feel like you won’t quite have enough time in the morning, or if you really want your videographer to stay to the end for the exit?

I like to explain the “value of each moment” in what actually translates to your wedding film. Your first look is usually ~30 seconds to a minute of your film. So is you putting on your dress, reading personal vows, your speeches, and your ceremony of course. These moments make up the bulk of your film and create a storyline that can build off of each other (i.e. quiet moments in the morning that build to a first look, which leads to the climax of the film AKA the bride walking down/first kiss). The first part of your wedding day is where you will spend the most time with your closest friends who aren’t your significant other. Your mom, sisters, brothers, and anyone else in the getting ready room have a chance to be highlighted here. We really enjoy getting to know the people closest to you before the events start happening so they’re comfortable with us and our cameras, too!

There are some couples, however, that picture a more upbeat film and are not as sentimental. While we may not be able to differentiate between your favorite grandma on the dance floor or your dad’s bosses wife, we will definitely get to highlight many of your guests in a short amount of time. The “time value” of your reception moments are shorter – each shot will only be used for about a second or less, so we will show a lot of variation this way. If you want to remember how the day felt to your guests, especially if you are incorporating a lot of guest experience moments, this may be where you lean instead. Things like guest portrait painting late night snacks, or confetti popping can give us something great to work off of!

The exit is usually something important to our couples as well, and a reason why they have a tough time choosing morning or evening coverage. I like to tell my couples that your exit is going to be one to two shots, and in my professional opinion, is not typically worth us staying an extra few hours at the reception for. You’ll get more bang for your buck in the morning. A lot of your friends will be there to capture this moment for you, too! A good option is to have an exit earlier in the reception so that you can enjoy the rest of your reception with your bridal party and other partiers without a bunch of cameras in your face.

Hopefully this helped your decision-making process a little bit. This is all just our opinion after doing lots of weddings with different timelines, but please feel free to follow up with us as you think things through! Our priority is always you – we want your film to be all that you are hoping for and more.