So you got engaged, you have your wedding date, and now you’re ready to book your videographer. Exciting! One of the first decisions you need to make is how many hours is right for you and your wedding? Every wedding is different, and every couple has different wants and needs.
Do you just want the ceremony and first dance/toasts covered? Or do you want to see each other getting ready before the ceremony? How much of your friends drunken dancing shenanigans do you really want to relive? These are all questions you need to think about before booking your videographer.
The most popular package that Courtney Kent Productions’ clients book is the Gold Package, which includes two videographers for 8 hours each. This package typically can include 2 hours of both the bride and groom getting ready before the ceremony, first look (if applicable), a 30 minute ceremony, portraits (if there was no first look) and cocktail hour, first dance and toasts, parent dances, and 1 hour of everyone dancing Like I said before, every couple has different wants and needs, so it’s not a one-size-fits-all situation. But that gives you a pretty good idea of how a typical 8 hour wedding day timeline would go.
So when deciding, make sure you have a tentative schedule of the day in your head. If you have the videographers traveling to multiple locations, you need to factor in the travel time between locations. If you are having a longer ceremony, such as a full mass, make sure you are being realistic on how long it will be in order to fit everything else you want in. If you have a special event or grand exit happening at your reception that you want covered, either shift the hours to not include pre-ceremony or bump up to the Platinum Package. Time and time again, I see couples go for the cheapest package with the least amount of hours to save some money. But when their wedding day comes, they are often disappointed realizing the hours don’t cover everything they had hoped they would.
While I understand a wedding is very expensive, remember this–there are only two things that last after the day is long gone: videography and photography. I always tell couples, if preserving the memories is important to you, invest in videography and photography and cut back somewhere else. The average wedding day from the time you start getting ready until the last dance that evening is about 14-16 hours. How much of it do you want captured and preserved for years to come?
To learn more about Courtney Kent Productions’ videography, contact us today.