what to expect; from Filming to Video Delivery

What are your rates like? 

Always the #1 question!  Our average cost for a Full Length Film Package is around $2300, with rates ranging from $1200 (for a 2 hour Elopement coverage) up to the low-to-mid 3k range for all day coverage with two videographers (8-12 hours of coverage).  In between we offer four and six hour packages if you don't necessarily need us for the entire day.  Need more than eight hours... even two days of coverage?  There are packages for that, too.  We have a big family team that can handle many events on any given weekend.  Given that kind of flexibility and experience, we can offer a range of packages based on the amount of coverage you'd like.  All of our Full Length Film Packages and pricing details can be found here.   

We also have the option to Build Your Own Video, starting at $1700 for four hours of coverage (with a free add-on like a Highlight Video, a Short film or an extra hour of coverage), with the ability to add more time or video features as you please.  Those options can be found here.     

What do we get as a final product?   

With the exception of our Build Your Own Video options, you'll get the following FOUR videos as part of ANY of our Full Length Film packages.  Click any link to see examples of each:

1) One Minute Trailer- this is a one minute teaser, perfect for Instagram Reels or other social media. 

2) Short Film Sneak Peek Video or a Highlight Video-   Your choice!  Both wrap up your day into a short cinematic presentation.  Short Films run about 10 minutes long, is set to custom curated music and features bits of your real-time vows or other special moments from the day.  A Highlight Video is set to a song of your choosing (any song... if there's a special song for you two, this is the place to use it) and also wraps up the day nicely.  Either  will arrive roughly a week or two after your wedding, but could take a bit longer during the busy seasons (May/June- Sept/Oct).  

3) Full Length Film- Averaging 2 hours in length, this video features all of the main events of your day in real time, broken up with cinematic coverage of pre and post ceremony activities in the form of video montages, all set to the music of your choice (seriously, any music you want!).  The entire ceremony and all important events from the reception that we're there to film will be presented in their entirety, from start to finish.  If we're there for open dancing, a lot of that will be in this video, too!  We cap it off with the aforementioned Highlight Video or Short Film as a nice way to wrap things up.  Chapter markers will be inserted at key points so you can easily jump from one part of the day to another as desired.  

4) Extras and Outakes- For good measure, we'll also send you a video of any footage that didn't make the 'final cut', including all pre and post ceremony raw footage, extra dance footage and video messages from guests (if you opt for this at your wedding).  Due to the raw and sometimes personal nature of conversations in these videos, we don't share samples publicly.  But if you'd like to see an example, let us know!

All videos would be delivered in MP4 format and are sent to you via a Dropbox download when completed.  We'll host your Preview Reel, Short Film Sneak Peek and Highlight Video (all with your blessing) on our Youtube channels for easy sharing with friends and family.  DVD's, USB's and SSD's are  available a-la-carte, but you're welcomed to make your own.  

Is drone footage included?  

Yup.  No extra charge (assuming we have decent weather and are not in a restricted or FAA mandated no-fly-zone).  

Do you need any special time with us on the wedding day?

Nope.  Our goal is to film the day as it happens.  We'll offer some direction here and there when filming pre or post-ceremony details, but our goal is to film your day as discreetly as possible.  Time is precious on a wedding day.  Any time between the ceremony and reception will mostly be needed for formal photos.  We don't want to take any time away from your professional photographer.  They have a job to do, and we want them to do it well.  So we just blend into the background as much as possible and capture things as they happen naturally.  Besides, we want you to remember your wedding day for what it was... your wedding day!  Not us filming it. 

Do you work well with photographers? 

Absolutely!  Because we use professional camcorders that allow us to keep our distance and the fact we don't need special time with the couple (valuable time the photographer needs to do their thing), photographers generally love working with us!  We always do our best to coordinate how they'd like to shoot so we're not in their way.  Our standard approach usually works for them, but we'll adapt to any situation to make sure your photographer is getting exactly what they need without us getting in their way.  I'm a professionally trained photographer myself, so I understand what they need to do their job.  I've crafted our filming technique to maximize not only our approach, but to also make sure your photographer can, too.  About a third of all of our bookings come from recommendations of photographers for that very reason.  

Are you discreet on the wedding day? 

We've pretty much covered that above, but in short, yes.  Most of our clients say they didn't even know we were there.  Check out our reviews if you'd like!

How do you film on the wedding day? 

If we start with you getting ready, we'll come and document that process just like your photographer will, only we'll be capturing video.  We'll make suggestions for the best way to do things to maximize filming if needed, but we're hands-off for the most part.  For the ceremony or reception, you'll hardly know we're even there.  We want your guests to experience the event with no distractions.  So we'll film from a distance and do our thing to capture all of the main events as discreetly as possible.  We'll put a microphone on the groom for clear capture of the vows (including your private vows if you opt to do it that way), and utilize other microphones to capture everything else clearly as needed throughout the day.  We'll never need to plug into any of your DJ or MC's equipment.  It's our job to capture audio well for our videos, not your DJ's.  

What's the benefit of having a second videographer? 

We can capture the essence of the day with one videographer, no problem.  But, in some cases, you may need or want us in two places at one time.  Maybe the guys are getting ready in a different location nearby and you'd like comprehensive coverage of that.  Perhaps you'd like great coverage of the cocktail hour and your formal photo shoot, or would like to get video messages from guests... in either event, having two videographers would be ideal.   We'll get a lot more b-roll and general footage of everything with two videographers.  At the same time, it's not necessary to get a great final product.  

What are video messages? 

If you have two videographers as part of your package, we can set up a camera during the cocktail hour or the reception (after the initial wave of important events) with a sign on it inviting guests over to leave well wishes at their leisure.  We usually target putting it near a bar or on the way to the restrooms (everyone has to pee!) to maximize what we can get.  We'll also have the DJ or MC make announcements reminding folks to roast or toast you at some point during the reception on camera.  Video messages get really popular during open dancing and a great way to get commentary from your loved ones as a nice bonus for your Outakes video:)  Don't like this idea?  No sweat.  No need to do it if you would rather not!

What happens if we have to cancel or postpone our wedding? 

Simple... if you postpone, as long as we're available on the new date, we'll film on the new date.  If you have to cancel outright, or in the unlikely event we're not available on your new date,  you would get a lifetime credit for any deposit you've already paid.  During COVID, we were able to reschedule all 70 or so weddings that had to reschedule.  And the few that cancelled entirely got a lifetime credit.  That credit can be gifted or used toward any other event that you'd like filmed (we can film any type of celebration, corporate event, TV commercials, etc.).  The flexibility of having a big family team is a true blessing when it comes to rescheduling events. 

How can you offer so much coverage of everything?  Most other videographers only offer a Short Film, and that's it.  

We utilize professional camcorders when filming a wedding.  One videographer can operate multiple camcorders at one time and do it discreetly.  Camcorders can film 100 feet away from the action, yet still get amazing footage.  They can also film non-stop, all day long.  This allows us to keep our distance and get a ton of footage to work with in post production, all the while doing it in a non-obtrusive manner.  The vast majority of other videographers are using SLR cameras.  SLR's are great, we use them too for some things, but in our opinion, they're not ideally suited for live events.  If you'd like to know more, feel free to ask!  In short, we can do a lot more and film a lot more with camcorders than we can with SLR's, and do it discreetly.  

Other videographers are much more expensive, why?

Most photo and video folks are usually solo acts... it's just them and maybe their spouse or a colleague if they need a second shooter.  If it were just my wife and I, our minimums would be a lot higher.  Reason being, in that event, we'd only be able to film one event per weekend.  But since we have a big (and very experienced) team, we can film a lot more events any given weekend.  Instead of one event, maybe we can do four or five.  That allows us to offer a range of packages at different price points, making us more affordable for our clients in the process.  We're also located in of one of the largest wedding markets in the country (northern VA, DC, MD and southern PA), also the richest per capita, so rates for some vendors will be astronomical simply because of our geographic location.  If you do your homework though and look for vendors who do what they do full time and cater more to the suburbs and not DC, you'll find more reasonable pricing across the board, and chances are, get a lot more for your investment, too.  

How many weddings does your team film on an average weekend?  When is your busiest time? 

We film, on average, 2-3 weddings every weekend between April and November.  About 80 weddings per year. Things ramp up in May... June is nuts with a lull in July and August, before things going haywire with pumpkin spice in Sept/Oct.  November is a nice wind-down period and, honestly, my favorite time of year to film (things are generally more festive and I don't mind a little nip in the air).   It's not unusual for us to have some weekends in the fall where we have 5-8 events.  So September and October book up very quickly.  Even years in advance.  

Do you offer military discounts or offseason rates? 

Yes!  We offer $50 back to anyone in the military (active duty or retired), teachers, EMS, doctors, etc.  We also offer discounted rates for weekdays (non-holiday M-Th) or the offseason (most of November through March).   Read about our discounts and offseason rates here.   

Who will film on our wedding day? 

Members of our family team!  If we're a year away from your wedding date, we won't know who specifically.  But once we get to within a month or two, we'll start assigning everyone depending on what their schedules are like.  We have six videographers who can film a wedding on their own, and a host of associate videographers.   We've all filmed hundreds of weddings, each, since 2002 (around 1600 total to date).   Learn all about our team here!

Everything sounds great!  How do we book?  What's your deposit? 

Simply shoot us an email with what package you'd like to book on what date and we'll send you a simple contract with instructions on what to expect next!  Easy-peasy.  Deposits are 50%, balances are due on the wedding day (or even after if you need a little breathing room).  We accept Venmo, Zelle, Paypal and personal checks. 

What happens after booking?  What information do you need from us in order to film our wedding day?

There's a form for you to fill out that will go over all of the information we'll need to film your wedding day.  Times, locations, important contacts and information we'll need for editing like your music selections or editing preferences are all covered on that form.  We ask for it to be filled out a week or two before your wedding day (when all details are finalized).  Once submitted, we'll have all the info we'll need to do our thing!  No meeting in person required.  You can learn more about that (easy) process on our Preparation Page. 

Anything else I should know?

If you want to take an even deeper dive about all things videography, visit our FAQ page.  It covers some of what we talk about on this page, but goes into some  finer details as well about other aspects of what we do.