Deciding who the right people are to create the story of your wedding day is huge decision and investment, so having the piece of mind of knowing that you understand the process of securing your date, and what to expect from us along the way, reassures you that you’re in safe hands. Here are the questions we have been asked most often from couples we have worked with before.
In our opinion, both are as important as each other, but they provide you with different memories. Being able to hang a frozen moment in time, on your wall, to enjoy everyday as you sit on your sofa or walk past it in the hallway, is where still images thrive. A video is more focussed, you have to purposefully watch it, but when you do, the sound and movement combined really brings the memory back to life. Modern videography allows for greater creativity, potentially way beyond what you have previously seen!
Before your wedding we will have sent you a questionnaire to find our a little more about you both and details about the wedding day timeline and the key people involved in your day, these questions are key to us creating your unique story. Then a week or two before the big day we arrange a video call to go through all the fine details and become acquainted with each other before we spend the day together!
Your balance is usually due 2 weeks prior to the date of the wedding, unless you have requested an alternative arrangement with us. Before this date an invoice reminder will be sent via email and the final payment is preferred via bank transfer but card payments are also available.
The booking process is really simple and can all be done online through our client portal. When we send you a quote over you will be able to select the options you want from a list, and once you accept the quote you will be provided with an online contract to review and sign electronically. Following this there is a short form to complete collecting your contact information and following this an invoice for the 20% booking retainer will be generated. This can be paid via bank transfer or card payment, the process is then complete and we are officially your storytellers!
After you enquire with us through our contact form, or email/call we will send you some more information and invite you to have a video/phone call consultation. We love to get to know people and give you the opportunity to ask any questions directly. You are welcome to visit us in person if you prefer.
Absolutely, we would always encourage you to look through full photo galleries and a variety of films before you choose your wedding storyteller. Once we know a little more about your plans we will send you more of our work which matches the style of venue and the time of year you plan to get married.
Typically with photo and video work the copyright remains with the creator apart from more complex commercial arrangements. We give you permission to distribute, use or print your images however you like as long as it is for personal use – they are your memories. If you wish to sell any of the work we produce for commercial gain then we would expect to be included in this arrangement.
We always aim to deliver your films or photographs within 8 weeks of the wedding, on many occasions it will be much sooner than this. Our contract does say it may take up to 6 months, this is in case unexpected life events happen that delay our progress – we never want to rush the quality of what we deliver.
That is dependant on how long you book us to stay, but most weddings we are there between 10-12 hours, starting with preparations in the morning and leaving around an hour after 1st dance. We want to make sure we capture everything you want to see in your story, so if we need to stay to do that, we do.
Of course, it would be daft not to have our gear insured and we have public liability and professional indemnity insurance. When using the drone we use a pay as we go drone insurance service.
Most people don’t need to know how the sausage is made, they just want it to taste good! But if you want to geek out with me about camera gear, we use a number of Sony Mirrorless cameras and we currently have the Sony A1, the A7siii the A7 iv and a number of other cameras as well as a range of Sony, Tamron and Sigma prime and zoom lenses. We use DJI drones and gimbals, rotolight LED video lights, godox strobes and rode/zoom/tascam/sony microphones etc to capture nice clear audio. We have your wedding covered – but we use all this stuff sparingly because we don’t want you to feel like you are on a film set!
That is completely up to you. We can advise you what will work best once we understand a little more about your plans and the logistics of your day. For example, capturing both of you getting ready in separate locations, or where there are multiple venues incorporated into your day, are likely to require at least 2 storytellers. If all of your plans are taking place in one venue it is likely 1 storyteller will be able to capture everything. It may also depend on the service we are providing and the final products you would like to receive.
It may feel like the prices you are quote seem expensive for providing a service on your wedding day. However, consider that we have invested tens of thousands of pounds into equipment, even more into education, and there are the ongoing costs of running a business.
Thats before we add in the time spent planning and consulting with you before your day and the days after the wedding it takes to edit your story into the finished product we send to you. Although we love what we do, we have to charge enough to run a sustainable business and have a reasonable standard of living.
Expensive weddings are a luxury and we are providing a luxury service – but we know how valuable our service will be to you in the future.
Absolutely. Although we offer both photo and video for some weddings, we enjoy working alongside other photographers and have been fortunate to spend wedding days with some amazing talents in the photography industry. If you have already booked a photographer or have one you specifically want to take your photos, we would always prefer you go with them for your stills and we can make you an amazing video!
The benefits as we see it are you can have just one person, or one team capturing your day, so it keeps communication before, during and after the wedding simple, you only have one invoice to pay, and there will be consistency between the aesthetics of the photo and videos. Depending on what you are looking to book there may also be some cost savings compare to hiring two separate businesses.
Historically the equipment used for photography and filmmaking was very different, high quality video production required a lot of expensive equipment that was heavy and complicated to use. In recent years technology has advanced to a point where cinema quality footage can be captured on photography style cameras. This enables us to switch between still and moving images quickly and with ease.
The ability to compose images and tell the story consistently between the two formats comes from many weddings worth of experience, and focussing on capturing people and the emotion in a natural way, rather than sticking to technical rules and old fashioned methods.
The short answer is yes. If you can afford both video and photo they will probably be the best investments you make for your wedding day. If I had to choose just one it would be video because I get to feel more emotion through moving images accompanied by sound.
In our opinion, both are as important as each other, but they provide you with different memories. Being able to hang a frozen moment in time, on your wall, to enjoy everyday as you sit on your sofa or walk past it in the hallway, is where still images thrive.
A video is more focussed, you have to purposefully watch it, but when you do, the sound and movement combined really brings the memory back to life. Modern videography allows for greater creativity, potentially way beyond what you have previously seen!
It’s difficult to work out what constitutes being ‘qualified’ in a creative industry, as anyone has the ability to learn how to do something and offer a service.
We would suggest the most important thing to look at is the consistency in the work a videographer/photographer produces, and take some time to learn a bit about them, and if you will connect with their personality and their approach to capturing your day.
We have years of experience capturing weddings, with lots of reviews from happy couples, and I a first class honours degree in Media and Photography.
If you have a question that we haven’t answered, we’d love to hear from you.