Most couples come to this decision having already read a dozen package pages, and most of them arrive confused. Not because the choice is genuinely difficult, but because of how our industry talks about itself.
Somewhere along the way, wedding filmmakers decided the way to prove competence was to list equipment. Sensor sizes. Codecs. Frame rates. Dual-card recording. Lens focal lengths. It reads as thorough, and it feels like diligence to compare it — but almost none of it predicts whether you will love the film.
The technical detail is mostly for us, not for you
I care a great deal about the tools. That’s my job. Which camera holds up in a dim reception hall, which lens keeps me far enough away that people forget I’m there, how a particular stock renders skin in late light — those decisions shape the result, and I think about them constantly.
But they’re my problem to solve, not yours to audit. You should not need to develop an opinion on recording formats to hire someone to film your wedding, any more than you should need to understand oven temperatures to choose a caterer.
When a package page leads with specifications, it’s usually because specifications are easier to write than a clear account of what you’ll actually receive.
What to ask instead
Can I watch a full film, start to finish? Not a highlight reel. Anyone can assemble sixty seconds of the best moments from a mediocre day. A complete film shows whether someone can hold a story together — whether the quiet parts work, whether the speeches land, whether it earns its length.
Does the work look like the day, or like the filmmaker? Some films are built to be beautiful, cut to music and paced for effect. Others follow what actually happened. Both are valid, and you should know which you’re buying. Watch the faces. You can usually tell within a minute whether a moment was lived or arranged.
How many weddings do they take? This one is rarely asked and tells you a lot. It governs how much attention your film gets after the day is over, which is where most of the work happens.
What do I actually end up with, and when? A clear answer here is a good sign. A vague one is not.
On deliverables
The deliverables question is where packages get genuinely useful, and it’s worth being concrete.
A film of your full day is the thing you’ll return to. Somewhere between six and nine minutes tends to be the honest length — long enough to hold the shape of the day, short enough that you’ll actually rewatch it.
Beyond that, the pieces that earn their place are the ones that preserve something the main film can’t hold in full. Your ceremony, complete and unedited. The speeches, all of them, because nobody remembers the middle of their father’s toast. A shorter cut you’ll actually send to people.
Coverage hours matter more than most couples expect. Eight hours covers a wedding day. Ten or twelve covers a wedding day that starts early and runs late, and the difference is usually the getting-ready hours and the end of the dance floor — often the loosest, most alive footage of the whole day.
What matters less than the list suggests: an enormous number of separate edits. Deliverables that sound generous but that you’ll open once. If you can’t picture yourself watching something, it isn’t worth paying for.
What a package should actually give you
Confidence. That’s the whole point.
You should finish the conversation knowing your day will be well covered, understanding what you’ll receive and roughly when, and not worrying about it again until the film arrives. If you’re still uncertain after reading a package page, that’s information — not about your ability to decide, but about how clearly it was explained.
My local collections start at $5,500 CAD plus HST, and destination collections at $8,000 USD. Films are delivered within ten weeks. The Investment page sets out what’s included; every collection is shaped around the day it captures, so tell me about your day and I’ll put something together.
If you’d rather just describe your day and have me tell you what makes sense, that works too. That’s usually the better conversation anyway.