It's Always Best To Ask Us!
I book in calls with all of my couples who are looking for wedding videography for their big day. It’s a great opportunity for me to explain how I work and what you can expect, plus it’s also the ideal time to ask me any questions you have! No question is wrong and I welcome you to ask me as many as possible! One of the common questions I get asked is “how long do you need a videographer for at a wedding?”, which is absolutely one of the best ones to ask! It’s also got nothing to do with how tall I am… but if you need to know, I’m pretty short average in height coming in at 5ft 8″!
Wedding videography is still relatively new in terms of a service offering and there is still a long way to go before it becomes a prerequisite for almost all weddings! It’s certainly moving in the right direction, there are still lots of questions that get asked, which are all completely understandable when videography may not have been something you’d budgeted for initially.
Hitched have a fantastic blog all about budgeting for a wedding videographer and the many different routes and options to consider. You can also read my blog all about how much wedding videography costs, which is pretty in-depth too!
If you don’t ask a wedding videographer how long they’ll stay for your wedding, you may find out that they don’t stay beyond a certain amount of hours, or maybe they only turn up half an hour before your ceremony. So it’s always best to ask us! I’ve also compiled another blog on some of the other most-asked wedding videography questions so be sure to check it out!
My aim with this blog is to make sure you’re informed on how long you need a videographer for at a wedding. There’s no right or wrong answer here but I hope that I can shed some light on the process and how long I generally stay at a wedding when I’m filming.
Does a Wedding Videographer Stay All Day?
In most cases, wedding videographers will have different packages for you to choose from. What you will find, however, is that usually there is no option to choose long you want the videographer to stay at your wedding.
Telling Your Story
What wedding filmmakers like to do is tell your story, from start to finish. This usually means arriving early for bridal preparations through to the first dance and beyond that, so you’re looking at around about 10-12 hours of wedding videography coverage. Of course this might be slightly shorter or longer depending on your day and how it’s planned, but this is a good rule of thumb.
Full, Emotive Films
By staying all day and capturing every moment, it allows us to build a story in the editing suite that truly allows us to build a full film that we know you’ll be happy with. If we turned up just before your ceremony and dipped out before your first dance, you’ll have lots of great footage but we will miss so many details from the morning and the evening, which is often used as a backdrop to the films on which to overlay the best audio we’ve captured from your ceremony and speeches.
We’re there to capture all of the details, as I like to say “Capturing the Moments You See, and the Moments You Miss”.
How Long Does Fox Films Stay?
In terms of how long I stay, I really am there all day. Usually 1.5/2 hours before bridal prep through to the first dance and an hour or so after that. But I do not clock watch, if you have things going on after your first dance, just let me know and I’m sticking around to capture it!
So I’ll be with you for bridal prep, the ceremony, couples portraits, group shots, speeches, the cake cut, the first dance and so much more. I’ll even be on site earlier more often than not getting those all-important drone shots (weather and venue restriction dependent).
Of course, if you need me to stay into the late, late hours or even the early morning, there is an hourly charge but I rarely need to charge this! You can find out about what I offer on my package, pricing, and FAQ page.
The only other thing to factor in is that if I’m travelling far and wide to come to film your wedding, I may need overnight accommodation and some travel fees. But again, we can discuss all of this when you book in your pre-wedding videography chat with me!
What If I Don't Want a Wedding Videographer to Stay All Day?
Always remember, with all of your suppliers, it’s your wedding! Of course, we’re here to advise and give you pointers on what’s best in terms of the package we offer, but there is not always a one size fits all scenario when it comes to planning a wedding.
If you’re not keen on a videographer staying all day, just say and we can talk about the options available to you. Perhaps you’re not worried about bridal preparations or having your videographer stay for anything else beyond your ceremony. It is of course, entirely up to you.
Will This Affect What I Deliver As a Wedding Filmmaker?
In most cases, yes – I would say that any wedding where I am not there to capture every moment it will impact the length of your wedding film. However, this is fine as you’ll understand that I wasn’t there to capture as much of your day as usual. This will be reflected in the price you pay and we can agree on a budget and timing schedule on the day to suit us both when it comes to that.
Do I Offer Bespoke Packages?
If my wedding film package isn’t quite what you’re after, I’m always happy to discuss other options with couples. It may be that we’re not quite the right fit, but always happy to explore different ideas!
Can I Cover Just The Wedding Ceremony?
Absolutely! I’m more than happy to film your wedding ceremony and deliver this to you if you’re not so interested in having a feature film and trailer. The only thing to mention here is that it will depend entirely on my availability and where you are based. I am an Oxfordshire wedding videographer and so more than happy to film just wedding ceremonies in and around the area if this is more important to you!
These films are delivered as a multicam edit and are covered on your wedding day if you were going for the full package. You can opt to add these on to your wedding film package at any time, even after your wedding as I keep hold of your footage for around a year after your wedding.
I hope you found this information somewhat useful! There’s so many other questions you may want to ask and no question is a stupid one, so please do just shout if you want to know the answer!
If you’d like to have a chat about your wedding day and videography requirements, I’d be delighted to hear from you. Please just fill out the form below and I’ll get back to you as soon as possible.
