Uncovering the Reasons Behind Longer Waits for Wedding Films

Some of the Reasons Behind Longer Waits for Wedding Films

Your wedding day will be the best day of your life, excluding the arrival of little ones somewhere along the line.

So it's no surprise that most brides and grooms are eager to get their hands on their wedding day photographs and videos as soon as possible. 

However, there is a problem - the happy couple is forced to wait 2-6 weeks before they can see any of that, with photographs tending to be ready before the wedding video.

But ‘why is there a delay, surely a video can be ready as quickly as my wedding photographs’ I hear you wonder? Let's take a look.

Photography vs videography delays

After both teams of professionals have captured your special day, your photographer and videographer will retreat to their respective computers to get to work.

Both will back up everything they have taken for safety before filtering through the material.

The last thing I want to do is lose any of your special footage.

I capture roughly 250gb of video during your wedding day. If you aren’t familiar with what that is…just realise, it’s a lot!

Over 4 memory cards, these then have to be backed up onto special hard drives (twice). Card can corrupt and I guarantee that I’ll have another wedding to film shortly afterwards - the last thing I want is to overwrite your vows!

Then I upload all of my footage to the cloud (in case there’s a fire (yes, I’m a fireman, I think about these things) in my house). This makes sure I’m extra protected.

This backup process takes between one and two weeks, and is before I’ve even started editing your wedding footage.

What are photographer timescales?

For photographers, the process is a whole lot quicker.

The first step is identifying the best images and culling the ones that didn't work. With modern software and a good PC, it can take just a second or two to instinctively yay or nay an image. With a starting point of around 1000 images, they can have this culled to the best few hundred in just 15-30 minutes.

Once they have identified the best shots, they need to edit them.

Editing can be achieved in batches to adjust colour balances to something pleasing to the eye. Depending on your agreement with the photographer and the intended result (such as digital-only or with an album), the photographer may then individually edit the key photographs, often to remove intrusions, such as emergency exit signs in annoying places.

Once that is all complete, they can send them to you via an online gallery or USB stick. Overall, it's a quick and easy process that can be easily done in a day. The quickest, properly edited sets, may be offered to you in as little as a week, but most professionals will want to take the time to check through them again with fresh eyes and do a little more editing, which is why most will give you a 2-4 week timescale.

How a wedding videographer does it

Wedding videography is much more laborious, especially if the team has filmed anything in 4K resolution or higher.

I film my weddings in 10-bit 50fps. Again, if you’re not technical, this means the file sizes are HUGE!

Even with the most powerful computers, playing back and checking the clips can take a long time.

If your videographer was filming for 8 hours in the day, that's 8 hours of watching the footage just to get an idea of where the best bits are.

After that, it's time to watch all those clips again and begin noting the timings of all the clips that will make it into the final films. If there are to be several wedding films made, such as separate videos of the ceremony and speeches, a highlight film, and a full-day video, there will be a significant amount of time required to collate, edit and render all those clips. This depends on what package you select.

Once ordered and clipped together, it's then necessary to grade (that's colour correct and stylise in videographer language) the videos, add music and titles, export the videos and then send it to you.

All this is a long process, but one that's necessary to create something beautiful for you. You should expect a 4-6 week delay in receiving your wedding videos.

If it’s the middle of a busy wedding season, then this delay can turn into 4 months. It’s just the fact that it takes me roughly 6 solid days of editing to create your required wedding films. If I’m away for days shooting more weddings then this backlog quickly mounts up.

Conclusion

When it comes to the waiting game of wedding photos vs videos, your wedding photographer is usually the faster one.

However, both are worth the wait - after all, you want amazing photographs and beautiful wedding videography that render your memories in the best possible quality by experienced professionals.

If you're looking for the most passionate wedding videographer Northern Ireland has to offer, one that is keen to capture all the candid moments and special memories of the big day, then I’d be happy to help!

FAQs

I've seen someone offering faster and cheaper wedding videos; what gives?

Absolutely, you can find providers who offer faster timescales and lower prices. However, it's worth considering why they can do it so quickly.

It doesn’t take too long for these vendors to take on far too many films and edits and then burn out. Take a look around facebook forums and you’ll quickly realise just how many brides and grooms these videographers are letting down.

Professional wedding videographers will take their time in editing to ensure your wedding video is the best it can be for you. If someone offers a low price and fast turnaround, it might mean fewer hours of editing, lower quality, or a template-based system. It's worth taking your time and thinking about the results you want to achieve before making any decisions.

What can I do while I wait for my wedding photos and videos?

We know that these days, social sharing is one of the most keenly awaited parts of a wedding, and the wait is hard.

However, you can still share some of your day with family and friends who may have missed it or couldn't attend.

Photos of the venue, ceremony space, behind-the-scenes shots and even iPhone videos will help bring your guests up to date while they wait for the professional photos and videos to come - or ask me for a sneak preview and I’d be happy to provide you with one - just to keep everyone on their toes!

Is there anything else I should consider when looking for a wedding photographer or videographer?

Yes, definitely. When you're looking for a professional wedding photographer or videographer, you should consider not only their portfolio and price but also the personality and experience of the person you'll be working with.

Speak to them in person and get to know the creative vision they have for your day.

After all, you are entrusting a huge part of your wedding memories into someone else's hands - it pays to choose wisely! Remember, once you've made your choice, sit back and enjoy the wait - both photos and videos will be worth it.

For more information on wedding videographers check out my guide here.

My wedding day will be abroad, can I hire AW wedding films?

Although my home is in Northern Ireland, I am available for hire worldwide.

I've been producing wedding videos for years, and I love creating beautiful wedding videography.

I'd be honoured to help create wedding day memories that you will treasure for years to come.

For more information about my style of videography just check out my films here.

Thanks for reading! 

I cover weddings across Northern Ireland, Ireland and destination weddings across the globe. For more information just get in touch today. I look forward to hearing from you. 

Thanks,

Adam White 

Wedding Cinematographer

Photo credits: Sam McDermott Photography