Wedding Package Definitions, Terms, & Conditions

The information presented here is in no particular order, though is considered to be up to date and final, however we will always be available to answer questions. In many cases, we can consider modifications to some of these items, though these will be considered on a case by case basis, and we of course reserve the right to consider any of them to be firm and un-changing in any given situation. But we’re always here to explain further in such a case! Contact us any time using the form at the bottom of the page.

• “Coverage by the events of your day, not by the clock,” “I’m watching your wedding, not the clock,” etc. - I believe in covering your day, as it happens, and not having you worry about watching the hours, or what happens if traffic is slow or something interrupts the schedule, or things run long, etc. For an Essential Moments collection, we generally plan to start about a half-hour before your ceremony start time, however that package includes portrait sessions, so if you’d like to do some portraits, or a first look, or something along those lines BEFORE the ceremony, then we plan for that! For the “Dressing to…” collections, and the “Big Day…” collection, we generally start our coverage about an hour before the bride plans to put her dress on, and in weddings where this isn’t an element, such as two non-bride partners or something else, then we approximate this in a similar manner - when the grooms are getting dressed, or as hair & makeup for the bride is wrapping up, etc., or just at a similar arranged time. As for ending times, on a “Dressing to Dancing” or “Big Day” package, we normally look at 10pm as an ending time, though we adapt based on the schedule as it happens - we’ll communicate with the DJ to be there to cover bouquet tosses, etc., and will allow for something in this approximate time span. While we have flexibility, in nearly all cases, 11pm would be considered a “hard-out” time. In general, I’m there until the dance party is off and running, bouquets are tossed, and I have the images of your party and celebration and dancing that I need to round out the package for the day. We’ll also always be up for those beautiful sunset images and dramatic ‘blue hour’ images when the weather allows, so you can be sure we’ll be around until then!

• “Create your Own” packages: the “Basic Ceremony & Portrait” coverage is normally time-limited to 3 consecutive hours (this is the only wedding photography ‘package’ where we watch the time). To create your own coverage, you can begin from this base, or you can start with another package, and add as needed. For example, one of the most common ‘create your own’ options we’ve seen in the past few years is starting with the Essential Moments and adding coverage through cocktails & toasts; and also starting with Dressing to Dinner and adding coverage to speeches & toasts after dinner.

• “We don’t need an engagement session”: While we consider an engagement session to be a very important part of the process of working together, of helping you get to know how we work, the time involved in a portrait session, there are times where it isn’t practical. Or, perhaps you’re booking quite close to your wedding date and it just doesn’t need to be squeezed into the process! When booking any of the collections, we can turn your engagement session into something else - we do this by giving it a value for exchange only (no cash value). Most commonly, couples will use this as $250 that can then be applied to extended coverage on the wedding day, or $150 that can be applied to an album upgrade or wedding photo printing. We’re open to considering other ideas too - let me know what you have in mind! For example, I had one couple ask if they could gift the session to a family member as a family portrait session, and we made this work.

• “Two photographers” and “Second Photographer as needed”: For the Essential Moments and Dressing to Dinner and custom ‘create your own’ packages, I photograph alone, and you can optionally add a second photographer with the listed options. With nearly 20 years of full time dedicated experience, with every size and type of wedding you can imagine, you can trust that I can more than handle working on my own! For the “Dressing to Dinner” package this most often means we cover only one party dressing, unless the scheduling & location of each party’s dressing allows me to cover both - and I’ll help you with scheduling suggestions to make it work! For “Dressing to Dancing” packages, we will normally cover the dressing of both parties - I will do this alone in most cases if scheduling & location allows. In cases where we find it’s needed, I will bring a second photographer for this portion as needed, at no additional charge, and for larger weddings, tight schedules, or for some other specific needs, I’ll provide the second photographer - I normally assess this on a wedding-by-wedding basis. For the Big Day & Beyond packages, the second photographer is included from the start of the day normally through to around the end of the portraits, or sometimes until the first dances are done, and then I finish the rest of the evening alone. For multi-day cultural weddings, this normally applies to the primary ceremony day, and for additional evening events a second photographer will be added as needed using the add-on options listed.

• “Two Photographers”: for weddings outside of roughly 150km from Winnipeg or so, I generally shoot alone, rather than bringing a second photographer. This includes Kenora, Morden, Winkler, Carman and area; Brandon, Clear Lake; etc., and out of Manitoba. You can rest assured that I’m more than prepared for this - 20 years of experience matters! There are some specific types of weddings, such as large cultural weddings, or some types of schedules and locations, where I may still opt to bring an assistant, but this is assessed in a wedding-by-wedding basis. And I can help you with your day’s schedule to make sure I’m able to cover it all! I’m always happy to discuss this with you further. In some cases a second photographer can be added for a fee, depending on travel and schedule specifics - weddings beyond 100km from Winnipeg may have mileage limits or fees for second photographers.

• “Additional Sessions”: The “Big Day & Beyond” package includes two additional sessions, and additional sessions can be added to any coverage. Our non-wedding portrait sessions (family, pet, children, boudoir, etc.) are normally $475 for a ‘full’ session, which is most common, or $275 for an “Essentials” session, a shorter, scaled-down session, and both of these sessions include a social sharing file set, with the number of images varying by the type of session. The included sessions with the “Big Day & Beyond” package are full sessions. Note that these sessions are all for personal and ‘lifestyle’ sessions - family, pet, children, engagement, couples, boudoir, lifestyle, ‘just for fun,’ etc. - these are not normally for commercial/business sessions such as headshots, business & personal branding, or other commercial work. However, as always, if you have something in mind, contact me and we’ll see what works! Included sessions have no cash exchange value; no credit/exchange value to other items without; normally non-transferable to other parties, though we can consider this on a case-by-case basis, for example, if you wanted to gift this to someone.

• Retainers & Reservations: A wedding date is considered to be booked and reserved for you once both the retainer and a completed full contract are received. Dates are considered to be first-come-first-served, with the retainer portion being the determining factor. In nearly all cases, we can accommodate two weddings on a given date, and the couple completing their retainer first gets me, with my trusted associate managing the second booking. Retainers for all packages are $1000, except for wedding packages of over $5000 (normally multi-day weddings), in which case the retainer is 30% of the fully booked amount. Retainers also act as the first payment, and are, in all cases, non-refundable, and this is without exception. The balances are most often covered monthly after the retainer, and other options are available. In all cases, the full amount of the wedding must be received 2 weeks prior to the wedding start date.

• Delivered image files: The images files that will be delivered to you in your final set are ‘print ready’ and sized for any type of digital display at full screen (or larger) and ready for printing to 5x7” in size. The files you’ll receive will never have our logo stamped on them! If you opt to add the ‘enhanced resolution’ copies of the files, these will be individually prepared to print at full wall print sizes at a minimum of 8x10” in size (by far mostly larger though this depends on the specific images due to the nature of camera differences and artistic cropping needs) at full photographic 300ppi sRGB JPG quality.

• Other Promotions - see our other web page for information on the promo card handed out at wedding shows. These promotions are available as-shown, to all couples booking, and do not require you to have received a card or to have been at a wedding show.

This is not necessarily a complete list of items! But I’m always here and available to answer any questions you have. Contact me through the form below!