Frequently Asked Questions – UK wedding cinematography
Do you offer photography?
We are 100% focused on wedding cinematography, as we want your films to be the best they can possibly be. This is why we are happy to leave the photography to the photographers and the videography to the videographers!
What areas of the country do you cover?
We are based in a village near Oxford to cover mainly central London and the surrounding areas. However, we are open to consider travelling further afield, so why not drop us a line and we can discuss whether it’s feasible.
Do you do destination weddings?
We are primarily a UK wedding cinematography business, and as much as we would love to do more weddings abroad we are currently unable to cover destination weddings due to family commitments.
How much is the booking fee? When do I pay the remaining balance?
As soon as you decide that you would like to book with us, we require a 20% booking fee to secure your date. The booking fee guarantees that we will not make any other reservations or accept any other clients for your reserved date. In the event of cancellation by the couple, the booking fee is non-refundable in order to offset loss of business. The remaining balance must be paid in full no later than one calendar month prior to the date of the wedding.
Do you film multiple weddings/events in a day?
We only ever accept one booking per day so that we can capture as much as we can to create the best film available. In fact, as we do not outsource any of the filming or editing we only take on a limited number of weddings per year, in order to give the time needed to produce every single wedding film, and to ensure the high standard you expect.
Will you personally be the one shooting our day? How many cinematographers should we expect on the day?
We are a husband and wife team, Andrew and Finola Britton, and we almost always shoot the day together. However, we have a little person in our lives who sometimes has other ideas! So in the rare circumstances that Finola can’t shoot on the day, we will always try our best to find a replacement second shooter.
Do we need to provide you with a meal?
It is a very long day of filming for us and we are constantly on the go, so we would very much appreciate you keeping us hydrated and fuelling our energy levels with a meal so that we can continue filming your wedding celebrations late into the night!
Will you be obtrusive?
Our goal is to capture the essence of your wedding day as it naturally unfolds and we understand the importance of making you and your guests feel comfortable. In fact, we find that our best footage is captured when people don’t realise that they are being filmed so we strive to remain as unobtrusive as possible. That being said, there are moments during the day where we do need to get in close enough to capture the footage we need to produce your cinematic edit.
How do you dress?
Whether it is a formal or informal ceremony, we always work in appropriate clothing. However, we typically don’t wear a suit or similar as this type of attire doesn’t allow us the flexibility we need in order to be in various positions whilst filming – there may be many times you may see us filming on our knees to get that great shot! We try to wear smart dark clothing for indoor ceremonies and lighter clothing for outdoor summer ceremonies so that if one of us is in the frame we tend to blend into the background and become unnoticeable in the shot.
What hours of coverage will we get?
We are not really restricted by the number of hours we offer. We usually start filming when the bride starts her hair & makeup, or in some circumstances we start with the groom’s preparations first. We usually call it a wrap once we have captured a good chunk of the party/disco at the end and we feel we have all the material we need to create a great film for you! Any coverage past 11pm at your specific request is chargeable at our current hourly rate.
Can we meet beforehand to discuss the details of the day?
If you feel more comfortable meeting in person before the big day to discuss the details of your wedding, we are happy to do so however the meeting place must be within the Oxfordshire area. Also, as we do not outsource the editing and with each edit taking 60+ hours we can only afford the time for one meeting per wedding couple. Often though it is more convenient due to distances to have FaceTime™ or Skype™ meetings, which can be arranged as many times as you like!
Do you offer discounts?
The honest answer is No. Our work continues on long after your wedding day is over. Beyond the many hours filmed on-location, it is not unusual for us to spend 60+ hours editing each wedding film. We pay close attention to the details; we focus on creativity; and make sure that there is always consistent high quality. As a result of the huge amount of time needed to produce each wedding film to such a standard, we can only take on a limited number of weddings every year.
Can we choose the music?
We encourage you to make suggestions of songs you like so that we can get an idea of your music tastes and the kind of personality you are hoping for your film to have. However the final choice for the music used in the highlights film will be ours. From our editing experience, we know what pieces of music work best with films. The song choice plays such an important role in emotive storytelling – it is what will make your guests cry and laugh when they watch your film! However, if there are particular songs that you absolutely love or have some meaning to you, then we will definitely try to incorporate them into the long film for you.
Can we give you our input during the editing process & review drafts?
No doubt you have chosen us to capture your big day because you like what you have seen in our portfolio of work. Like any artist, we like you to see the perfectly finished piece for the first time and thoroughly enjoy it! The editing process is an already lengthy and complex process, so we cannot present you with any drafts to review before the final versions of your films.
Do we get unlimited re-edit of our films if we want changes?
You have seen our work and you like our style so have an idea of what we will produce. We encourage your input before the editing process begins in the form of a questionnaire, which we ask you to complete for us. The editing process takes 60+ hours and is not always simple. The re-edit process would cost us a lot of time and money and as a result we do not allow re-edits of your films. However, if a name is misspelled or there is a noticeable problem then we will make an exception to fix that issue. We hope you understand.
Can we keep our films private?
We are happy to keep your full-length films private but highlights films are our only form of advertising. As there is often more than one enquiry for the same date, it is in our interest to accept the booking that allows us to make their film public. So if you really want to keep your highlights film private, please inform us of this before paying your booking fee so that we can consider your booking.
Can we get the raw footage of our wedding?
We do not supply any RAW footage due to the artistic nature of our work. We are a cinematography studio and do not provide the traditional style of coverage like other videographers. Apart from the ceremony, special dances and speeches, we shoot short 5 to 10 second clips from multiple cameras to create a final cinematic edit. For your highlights film, we are creating a beautiful product with only the best moments. And for your long film, we include almost all of the usable footage that we possess.
How long do we have to wait to receive our films?
We spend the time carefully crafting your wedding films to ensure we create the best wedding films possible. Although we don’t rush our edits, our completion times are still much quicker than industry averages. We aim to complete your highlights film within 3-6 weeks and your full-length film within 12-14 weeks of your wedding day. Sometimes we manage to get them to you even sooner. We try our utmost to meet these deadlines but if we fall a little outside of these completion times, we ask for your patience but assure you that it will always be worth the wait!
How do I receive my wedding films?
Both, your wedding highlights film and full-length wedding film are uploaded to a video hosting site for easy access and sharing. This enables you to access and watch your special day in High Definition from anywhere in the world. It is also gives you the freedom to download and make as many additional copies to USB/DVD for family and friends as you wish. Even though we will generally host your videos online for longer, we can only promise to host them for a period of one year so it is advisable to download your videos and make backup copies as soon as you receive them.
How long will our wedding footage be kept?
Once you have received your final films we will keep the raw footage for 4 weeks after which time it will be deleted to free up much needed storage space. We will endeavour to archive copies of your final films for at least 6 months. However, we are not responsible for the safe keeping of your final films, so please be sure to download and make multiple copies of your films as soon as you receive them!
