Understanding Wedding Videography - Part 4: What does Coverage involve?

Photo by Emma Gladman via Emma Spring Photo

I’ll just get right to it. Coverage is quite easy to comprehend, and I think most people understand what the general definition of the word means. For example, right now, many news networks are spending most of their time providing coverage of the upcoming election. However, I am not interested in that definition. I am only interested in what coverage means for my business and how it relates to you, the couple.

Often, you’ll notice that wedding packages (whether for photography or videography) include a set number of hours for coverage. This refers to the amount of time the vendor will spend at your wedding, providing their services and “covering” your event. I understand why many companies operate this way—they base their pricing on the services they deliver and the number of hours they expect to work. That’s fair enough.

However, I’ve always avoided setting a fixed number of hours because I envision situations where time runs out and I can’t deliver on what was promised. For example, if I offered a package with ten hours of coverage, what happens if the speeches don’t start until 8:00 PM, but I began shooting at 9:00 AM? Would I just leave at 7:00 PM and miss capturing the speeches? Of course not! The multi-camera speeches are a key component of many of my wedding films.

Additionally, living in Ontario, and specifically Toronto, locals will understand the truly crazy amount of time and effort it takes to travel anywhere. Traffic in the city and throughout the GTA is notorious for being slow and unpredictable, which adds another layer of complexity. With that in mind, it's simpler for me not to account for time in this way.

As a result, all of my main packages include “Unlimited Coverage” as a feature. This means I don’t leave until I’ve captured everything I promised to deliver.

The important part about coverage is that I understand what is important to you. Once you have shot enough weddings, you have an overall idea of how the day progresses and what to expect. It cannot be stressed enough—if there are items that you want me to put extra focus on, let me know. We will do our absolute best to make sure we cover them. There are no do-overs, so let’s get it right the first time.

See you next week for the final article in this series, when we discuss the difference between raw and color-graded footage!

Photo by Emma Gladman via Emma Spring Photo