What is included in wedding videography?

Many things are included in wedding videography. Some of course you will always realize and consider when selecting your videographer but there are many details that you might not think of when deciding or talking with your wedding videographer vendors.

Cameras, first and foremost camera(s) are included in wedding videography. While many in the industry now use DSLR type cameras to film your wedding day most of these cameras. Please understand most of these cameras cannot film an entire wedding ceremony without missing a few seconds as they have a max recording time of right around 29 minutes. This issue is why most wedding filmmakers do not offer complete ceremony films as most traditional ceremonies take longer than 30 minutes from start to finish. DSLR are great and with proper use and lenses can create some beautiful films. We use a combination of DSLR and professional camcorder cameras to film every aspect of your wedding day. We use a majority of professional camcorders during the ceremony to capture great angles while not visually impacting your guests seeing your ceremony. We believe in being as non-invasive to your day as we can possibly be. Yes, you and your guests will see us and realize we are filming but we have been doing this for years and try our best to not impact your day.

Microphones and sound recording: Professional wedding filmmakers will use professional sound recording devices to capture the sound from your day. We will always mic the groom, sometimes the officiant, and if necessary the bride to capture the sound from your day. We also carry a variety of cables to try to collect sound from DJ or church soundboards so that we can have a clean copy of the direct sound from the ceremony and especially the toasts. Sound is as important an aspect of your wedding film as the video itself.

Lights: Some wedding filmmakers will use and set up video lights to improve lighting for your films. We try to limit our impact on your reception set up, when necessary we will set up lights to film.

Software: While this is an aspect you will never see, it is one of the expenses we have in creating a wedding film. While there are FREE editing programs like Windows Movie Maker and IMovie, the amount of editing power these programs have is nothing compared to Adobe’s Premiere Pro, After Effects, and Audition ro create a truly cinematic film of your wedding day. We can color correct footage, adjust the sound correctly, and create unique effects to make even more out of your day with the software professionals use to create films.

Computers and Hard Drives: Wedding Films take up tons of storage space on our computers and hard drives. We purchase a new hard drive each year to preserve films for the future. Over time we have to upgrade computers for many reasons most frequently going from SD, to HD, to 4k now 8k films and with those changes come new demands for computer processing speeds and file storage space.

Insurance: A professional wedding filmmaker will have insurance because well things happen from cameras breaking to computers being corrupted and wedding being lost. Many years ago I have a baggage handler drop my backpack with my computer and portable hard drive. While the computer was fine, the portable hard drive was lost with a wedding on it. $1800 later I was able recover the footage and create the film, but insurance would have saved me if I would not have saved the film and needed to compensate the family of the lost memories financially.

Time: Between initial client meetings, possible rehearsal attendance, pre-wedding meetings, phone calls, or text and messaging, actual day of filming, and post wedding file upload and film creation. A typical wedding with 3 films: ceremony, same day edit, and cinematic highlight film we will spend 40 hours on a wedding couple. Please consider that especially when comparing prices for wedding photography/ videography with other wedding related vendors who are finished with your wedding the day it happens and we keep working on your wedding weeks after your wedding is over..

Vehicles, gas, taxes, and more. Like any business being a wedding filmmaker encompases all of the business world that make things happen.

So this is not a complete list of all things included in wedding videography hopefully it helped you realize there is more to your wedding film than filming on your wedding day.

What are wedding photography styles?

There are a 6 basic wedding photography styles most photographers either specialize in or attempt to emulate in their photography for wedding clients.

They are:

• Classic-These are timeless poses and a bit formal. They will most likely remind you of you parents and grandparents photos. These are very realistic photos with some artistic photographer touch.

• Fine Art or Light and Airy-If you prefer this style you will want an outdoor wedding with lots of natural light for your images! These images are overexposed making them appear softer with that light bright feel.

• Photojournalistic-This type of wedding photographer documents the day by capturing candid moments over perfect poses. A good photographer using this style will understand lighting, background, and be ready to run and gun on your wedding day capturing all those perfect candid moments.

• Lifestyle-Meets the wedding halfway between fine art or classic and photojournalistic styles. While the lifestyle photographer will capture the candids they can also set you up with the perfect pose even poses that look candid and caught in the moment.

• Dark & Moody-These images are similar to lifestyle but with a filtered effect from the editing that takes place after the wedding. Depending on photographer settings and skills these images are processed to add emotion and depth that the light and airy style doesn’t embrace.

• Editorial-This style is highly posed with the photographer controlling the environment as if your wedding was a photoshoot for a magazine instead of a celebration of love and life like the Lifestyle style.

Is wedding videography worth it?

This is a loaded question, especially for a wedding videographer to answer. Sooooo

Let me say this, it depends on many factors.

First, what type of film watcher are you? If you like rewatching your favorite shows and movies then yes wedding videography is right up your alley. But, if you prefer to be 1 and done with shows then having a wedding film might not be your bag.

Second, what are your and your fiancee’s family traditions? Do you enjoy watching family films from years gone past? Did your parents share their wedding film with you when you announced your engagement? Do family member regret not having a wedding film? Then you probably need to book the right videographer. But if you and your fiancee’s families are not big on family history ya probably don’t need to worry about it.

Third, what are videographers offering? If they only use a single camera setup and can’t provide you with a complete ceremony film and you really want to be able to share a family film with your next generations make sure the videographer can create what you want for your family. While I love editing and creating highlight films set to music, the long form doc edit of a couples wedding day it truly a time-capsule of their day. With authentic sound you can relive the day and voices as they were. A beautiful highlight film set to music especially music you have no connection with is wonderful but doesn’t always capture grandma’s laugh and comments from your wedding day.

Finally, wedding videography is worth it if you enjoy it and share it and don’t let it collect dust. It’s a great way to reconnect after a fight, on an anniversary, after a child’s birth, and when your kids get engaged too. It’s a part of your history.

What does wedding photography include?

Every wedding photographer is different but there are many similarities in what wedding photographers include in their services.

Wedding photography in general includes: a set number of hours, images, and number of photographers for your wedding day. Past those basic three items each wedding photographer will offer a wide variety of wedding photography services to add to your wedding experience.

First let’s talk time: Many wedding photographers will offer a variety of hours for your wedding day. From as few as 2 hours to as many as 12 hours of photographic coverage. Over the years we have offered many different time packages and are now happy with our current offering of 10 hour lead photographer with an 8 hour 2nd photographer. When considering time for your wedding day photos please understand, YES you can book a photographer for 8 hours but you are short changing your wedding day photo experience here or are going to try and cram all the photos into this package causing both stress for yourself and your photographer. While you might not think there is a big difference between 8 and 10 hours, there is. An 8 hour package could be from noon to 8pm, but then about an hour of that time is dinner at your reception so money wasted here, then if things get delayed during toasts some photographers will of course charge yo an hourly rate to stay later (of course some may be nice and stay for free to make sure they get your formal events and some general dancing photos but should they give you a Free hour when you didn’t book the right package?) With a 10 hour package, when you organize the timeline with your photographer they will be in-partnership with you organizing the day helping you decided 12-10pm, 11-9pm, or 10-8pm. This is based on what time your ceremony is, if your doing a first look, where your dressing is compared to the ceremony venue, what time your grand entrance will be and how the reception is organized for formal events.

With our package, we can adjust the lead and 2nd photographer to create more coverage for the wedding day to fit your wants and needs.

Next to consider: is an engagement photo session included and how many hours, outfits, and locations does the engagement session include. Today many couples like visiting a couple favorite locations, with at least 2 but not more than 3 outfit changes. This takes travel time and dressing time for the engagement shoot. Both you and your photographer should have a clear understanding of what the engagement session will include, what you will receive, and when you will receive it. Engagement photos are great table center pieces for the reception, of course as Save the Date postcards, and as an album and prints for your home.

We include an engagement session with our wedding photography package, we do not have a formal set number of hours, we discuss this with you at booking. We believe the engagement session is a great way for us to get to know each other and have some fun. In general 2 hours and 2 locations is normal for our engagement sessions but we don’t mind doing a little more or less depending on your ideas.

Deliverables: What all are you getting from your photographer after the wedding? Albums, printing rights, flash drives, prints, and more are all options. Please understand yes, this is a business and of course when delivering printed material we are attempting to profit from these services. The printing companies we use in the industry should and normally will offer archival printing meaning this is higher quality longer lasting prints and materials than you will find from companies like Shutterfly in general. With this quality there is a high quality price for us and you. If a photographer offers printing rights they (we offer them) are giving away an opportunity to earn more money allowing you to go to someone else to print photos. Please always consider at least asking about prints from your photographer even if you are on a tight budget and see what they can do for you.

We offer a full range of printing services from metal and canvas prints to albums of your wedding day. We would love to talk with you about options and pricing and how we can help you get the best hard copies of your wedding photos within your budget. We no longer offer albums in our package because the current market fluctuations have made this difficult to anticipate price changes 6 months or a year out from a booking. Supply chain issues have affect our printers.

Does you photographer meet with you and work out the timeline details with you for your wedding day? In many respects your photographer is like a prepaid wedding planner. We can help in more ways than just taking photos, use us as the experts we are in weddings. If you book a photographer that doesn’t help you organize your wedding day timeline, they are not doing your wedding the justice you deserve. We know how long to allow for family photos, what time you should be in the dress before the 1st look, when to make sure you have eaten before the fast paced day really gets going. How long to allow at the reception for toast and spacing for sunset photos and golden hour shots.

These are just a few of the things a professional wedding photographer will and should include in their wedding photography for you.

Congratulations to the Kube's

Congratulations to Anna & Collin Kube who were married October 23rd at Brophy Creek Farm in Dewitt, IA.

We spent a wonderful day with Anna and her family and bridesmaids before meeting up with Collin and the guys to take a few shots, and I do mean shots check out the beer can muzzle loader for his gun and the actual smoke from the shot he took in the corn field.

It was so much fun tying in their love with things they love to do. Like fishing where later in the day they could sit back by the pond and enjoy a moment of peace just the two of them with their fishing poles the sunset and their love.

We would like to thank Anna & Collin for choosing us to photograph their wedding day!

Wedding Night in Savannah, GA

Ashley and Eric a wonderful couple from Savannah, GA! This was such a great weekend and to get to photograph their love and excitement was special.

This is a small example of our destination wedding photography and wedding rewind option too. We go on location with you to celebrate your love. It doesn’t have to be your wedding day it can be a wedding rewind where we create stunning images for wall art in your home. Put the dress back on and pamper yourself once again.

Or are you thinking of eloping or doing a destination wedding? We have you covered! With our inexpensive travel fees we are happy to be there to photograph the special moments in life.

It's not always once and done, follow the link to read about this special couple!

How often do you plan to wear your wedding dress? A few weeks ago I saw a Facebook post asking how many still fit in their wedding dress. I won’t ask that here but would love to hear how often you have or plan to put the dress back on?

Follow the Her vow to keep wearing this wedding dress sparked a sweet travel tradition link to be inspired to use that dress each and every year! I would even image that putting the dress back on will also help on those days and times when your not feeling your best and need a pick me up to remember all the fun and energy your relationship once had.

So ladies, pull out the dress, put it on and watch your wedding film, look through your wedding photos, and hold each other like the first time!

Congratulations Ben & Jess Buhlman

Congratulations to Ben Buhlman and Jessica Grier who were married yesterday October 2nd, 2021 at the River Music Experience

This fabulous couple, their great family, friends, wedding party, and fur babies were so much fun to get to know, work with, and film their love!

Ben and Jess are traveling nurses and such fun people!

Jess's day started at PURE Hair + Beauty Lounge before heading to the The Radisson Riverfront Davenport, IA to put on her gorgeous dress!

Please enjoy this special teaser film they received last night during their reception!

A special thank you to: to Mary and Ashley Jess's wedding day attendant's! They rocked helping the day go smoothly for Jess and Ben!

Also thank you to Cadenza Photo Imaging - Quad Cities Photographer -Kelly Rehnberg, Massetone Entertainment-DJ!, 3 Guys & A Barr Party Bus Line-Best Party Bus driver, knows how to blow that horn and make the tuff turns, Chrissy Boyer at RME and Lisa Vesalga at the Raddison. Also Rookies Sports Bar and Grill

Mac’s Tavern Music for teaser by bensound.com