When it comes to photography and videography services, there are simply too many kinds of packages we can choose from. It gets confusing, most of the times.

While most wedding events will choose the full package to get all the benefits—albums, cinematic highlights, same-day-edit videos, drone photos, and videos—some events do not necessarily require all of those outputs. So, how can you identify what kind of package fits your event perfectly?

Understand what you need

While most weddings and birthdays require the full coverage—from preparation to the reception—this isn’t the case for other events such as product launches, anniversaries, family reunions, and many others. Understanding what kind of photo and video package you need means knowing what kind of output you expect to see by the end of the day.

Do you want a video highlight of the things that happened in the duration of the event? Are you going to show this video to your guests or are you keeping it by yourself? If your guests do not need to see the highlights of the film and you simply want the video taken so you can save these memories for yourself, then there’s no need to pay for a package that will edit the videos.

You may need a basic package that will just take photos and videos of the events and then transfer the raw files to you afterward.

Define your budget

How much are you willing to pay for the photo and video services? What is your budget like? Do not expect to get many things from a small budget. If you just have a couple of hundred bucks, you won’t likely get to see an edited MTV-style video of the whole event.

What that money can afford is to hire a videographer to capture the raw moments and then simply transfer the file to the client as it is—no editing, no cutting, no nothing. It is as raw as you can get it. There will also be no frills such as additional lights men and audio technicians.

Choose the right package

After understanding what you need and defining your budget, you can then choose the package that will suit these factors. Most videographers offer services only packages and classic packages that include printed high-definition photos and edited videos.

Some packages are more expensive because they have aerial photography and videography. This service costs somewhere from $500 to as much as $1,000+. If you have the money to spend, it’s always nice to splurge on photo and video services.