A wedding at home usually lasts one day. A destination wedding in Italy usually lasts two or three. That single difference changes the answer to this question more than anything else.
If you are still deciding between photography and video in general, we covered that in Wedding Videographer or Photographer?. This guide focuses on what is specific to destination weddings.
Why destination weddings last more than one day
Two- and three-day weddings are now common on Lake Como and across Italy, and there are good reasons for it.
Many of the couples we film travel from the other side of the world – from the United States, for example – and so do most of their guests. Nobody crosses an ocean for a single evening: when people travel that far, they stay for several days, and the wedding naturally grows into a weekend.
Large productions also take time. Elaborate floral designs, lighting, tents and staging often need days to be installed in a villa or a garden, and it makes sense to enjoy them for more than one night.
How a destination wedding weekend is usually structured
From the weddings we film on Lake Como, in Tuscany and abroad, the most common formats are:
- Three days: a welcome dinner or rehearsal dinner, the wedding day, and a farewell brunch or pool party.
- Three days, with two welcome events: for example a welcome party and a rehearsal dinner on the first two evenings, with the wedding on the third day.
- Two days: a welcome or rehearsal dinner, then the wedding day.
Each event has a different atmosphere – relaxed, emotional, festive – and different people take centre stage. Speeches often happen at the rehearsal dinner, not only at the reception. Grandparents may attend only one event. Friends arrive from different countries and see each other for the first time in years at the welcome party.
What a single day of filming misses
If only the wedding day is filmed, the film tells the story of a ceremony and a party. What is missing is everything that made it a destination wedding: the arrival, the first evening together, the relaxed day after.
That is why our multi-day collections cover the welcome dinner, the wedding day and the farewell brunch, and the events are edited into one film rather than three separate videos. The welcome dinner gives the film its beginning; the brunch or pool party gives it an ending.