Most couples watch a videographer's highlight reel, like it, and book. The reel is the easy part; every studio has one good film. The questions below are the ones that reveal what your film will actually be like, and our own answers are included so you can compare.
1. How do you record audio?
The single most important question, and the one couples rarely ask. A wedding film lives or dies on its sound: the vows, the toasts, the letter read aloud in the morning. Ask whether they put a lavalier microphone on the officiant and on one partner, whether they record directly from the DJ's board for toasts, and whether they carry a backup recorder. "We use the camera's microphone" is the wrong answer.
Ours: two lavaliers at the ceremony, a feed from the sound board at the reception, and a separate recorder running the whole time.
2. Do we get the raw footage?
Many studios say no, or charge extra. Ask. Raw footage means the full uncut ceremony and every toast exist somewhere other than a phone, which matters a great deal in twenty years.
Ours: included with every film collection.
3. What exactly is delivered, and how long is it?
"A highlight film" can mean ninety seconds or eight minutes. Ask for the length of the highlight, whether an extended edit (full ceremony and toasts) is included, and how each is delivered.
Ours: a three-to-six-minute highlight film with every collection; the extended edit with six-hour collections and up; digital delivery you can download and keep.
4. When is it delivered?
Get a date, in writing, in the contract. Wedding films are notorious for arriving nine months late because editing is the part studios fall behind on.
Ours: the date is written into your agreement.
5. Who is actually filming our wedding?
The person in the sales call is not always the person with the camera. Ask who will be there and whether you can see that person's work specifically.
6. What happens if that person is ill?
A real studio has a bench. A solo operator should be able to name the colleague who covers for them.
Ours: senior shooters from the same team, and the agreement says so.
7. How do you work with the photographer?
The two vendors share the same light and the same moments. Ask how the videographer avoids standing in the photographer's frame and vice versa. Booking both from one studio removes the problem entirely, which is why our combined collections exist.
8. How is the music licensed?
Films cut to a chart-topping song cannot legally be posted online, and some studios will quietly deliver a version with the song swapped. Ask whether the music is licensed for personal and online use.
9. Do you use drones, and will the venue allow it?
Drone footage is included in our eight- and ten-hour film collections, but many venues and all national parks restrict it. Ask whether the videographer checks, and what they do when the answer is no.
10. Is there a travel fee?
Common, and often discovered late.
Ours: none. Travel is included nationwide.
11. How many revisions are included?
One round of reasonable changes should be standard. Ask what counts as reasonable.
12. Can we see a full film, not a reel?
Ask to watch one complete highlight film and, if you are buying an extended edit, one of those too. The reel is the best thirty seconds of a hundred weddings; a full film is what you are actually buying.
If you would like to put these questions to us, we are glad to answer every one of them. Check your date or email hello@olivialaynestudios.com and ask away.
Planning your wedding?
Olivia Layne Studios photographs and films weddings nationwide — travel included, dates limited.
Check Your Date