It is one of the most common messages we receive in the final week before a wedding: "What time will you arrive?" Sometimes it arrives at 11pm the night before. Often it is asked two or three times by different members of the family.
We understand completely. In the last few days before your wedding, the questions are rarely about logistics — they are about reassurance. You want to know that everything is in hand. This guide answers the arrival question directly, and then sets out everything that orbits it: when our coverage ends, how overtime works, how our packages are priced, and where we stand on refunds. Reading it before your final week means there are no surprises — for you, your family, or our team.
What Time We Arrive
The Standard: Ten Minutes Early
As standard, our team arrives 10 minutes before the start time stated on your booking confirmation. Those ten minutes are our setup window — unloading equipment, assembling cameras and lenses, checking the available light, and briefly introducing ourselves to you or your coordinator. They are not additional coverage and they are not billed; they simply ensure we are ready to capture from the moment your booked time begins.
Kit-Heavy and Lighting-Dependent Setups
For bookings that involve more equipment — additional lighting, a second or third camera operator, video rigs, or a venue with challenging light — we allow up to 15 minutes for setup. The principle is the same: we want to be fully prepared at your stated start time, not scrambling into position once the moments have already begun.
If Something Goes Wrong on the Morning
We plan our routes and schedules carefully, but weddings happen in the real world. In exceptional circumstances — heavy traffic, an unexpected equipment issue, or a prior shoot that overran — our team will arrive at your booked start time rather than early. What we will never do is arrive late without telling you first. If we anticipate any genuine delay, we contact you proactively so you are never left wondering. There is no need to chase us on the morning of your wedding; we work to your confirmed schedule and will reach out if anything changes.
For your specific booking, please refer to your booking confirmation.
When Our Coverage Ends
Just as your coverage begins at your stated start time, it ends at the end time stated on your booking confirmation. This is the contracted scope you have paid for.
We mention this plainly because the end of the day is where expectations most often drift. A wedding builds momentum, the evening runs long, and it is natural to assume the team will simply stay until the last dance or the send-off. Our team may sometimes choose to capture a few extra minutes — but, as explained below, that is a goodwill gesture and not something the booking guarantees.
If there are specific later moments you want captured for certain — a grand exit, fireworks, a sparkler send-off — the reliable way to guarantee them is to book hours that include them, or to arrange a paid extension on the day.
For your specific booking, please refer to your booking confirmation.
Overtime and Extensions — How They Work
The £100-Per-Hour Rate Explained
If your day runs over and you would like the team to stay beyond your booked end time, we can usually arrange an extension on the day, subject to availability. Overtime is charged at £100 per hour, per discipline, billed in 30-minute increments.
"Per discipline" means photography and videography are charged separately. If you extend both your photography and videography coverage by an hour, that is £100 for photo plus £100 for video — a combined £200 per hour. A 30-minute extension of a single discipline is £50.
This overtime figure is separate pricing for short-notice arrangement. It reflects the operational cost of re-arranging the team's day at the last minute — releasing them later, adjusting onward commitments, and extending equipment use. It is not the per-hour value of your package, and the two figures should not be conflated. (More on how packages are priced in the next section.)
How an Extension Is Agreed on the Day
We want this to be clear and fair, with no awkwardness in the moment:
- Our lead will typically flag the risk of an overrun roughly 15 minutes before your contracted end time, so you have time to decide.
- An extension requires your confirmation in writing on the day. A WhatsApp message confirming the additional time is acceptable; a signed addendum is preferred.
- If an extension is declined, or not confirmed, coverage ends at your booked end time.
Goodwill Minutes Are Not a Contractual Promise
Sometimes our team will capture a few extra minutes beyond your booked end without charging — because a beautiful moment is unfolding and they choose, in that instant, to keep filming or shooting. We are glad to do this when we can.
But we want to be completely transparent: any minutes captured beyond the booked window without a paid extension are at the team's discretion, as a goodwill gesture. They are explicitly not contractual, and this guide does not promise them.
This matters. Goodwill extended on one occasion does not enlarge your contracted hours, and the absence of unpaid extra minutes on any occasion is not a service failure. If a later moment genuinely matters to you, the dependable route is to book the hours to cover it or to agree a paid extension on the day — not to rely on goodwill.
For your specific booking, please refer to your booking confirmation.
How Packages Are Priced — And Why They Cannot Be Reduced After Booking
Every Cine Events package is a bundled service, not an hourly rate. Understanding this prevents a great deal of confusion about overtime and refunds.
Our entry package starts at £800. That figure is priced for a complete bundled scope — the team, the equipment, the pre-wedding planning, the editing, and the final delivery — not for a set number of hours at a fixed price per hour. A meaningful amount of the work that produces your final gallery and film happens before and after the wedding day itself.
A few consequences follow from this:
- The implied per-hour value of a package is not £100 per hour. Dividing your package fee by your booked hours does not produce a meaningful refund rate, because the fee is not built that way.
- Reducing scope after booking does not create a refund. If you choose to use fewer hours than booked, release the team early, or not deploy a component of the package, this does not entitle you to a partial refund. Packages cannot be downgraded after booking.
- The £100-per-hour overtime rate is separate pricing for instant arrangement. It is the cost of extending the team mid-event at short notice — not the per-hour value of the package. The two must not be conflated.
- A smaller scope must be agreed before you sign. If you want fewer hours, a smaller team, or a lighter package, we are happy to discuss it — but that conversation has to happen before the deposit, not after.
For your specific booking, please refer to your booking confirmation. Packages are confirmed at the point of deposit and cannot be reduced in scope thereafter.
Our Refund Policy
This is the most sensitive part of any photography agreement, so we have set it out as clearly and fairly as we can. Throughout, our benchmark is the standard set by UK law, not our own discretion.
When Refund Consideration Applies
We will consider a refund — full or partial, at the studio's reasonable assessment — only where:
- Our team failed to attend your event for reasons attributable to the studio, save for circumstances addressed separately under our backup-team or cancellation and postponement policies; or
- We materially failed to deliver the contracted scope due to fault attributable to our team — for example, a complete equipment failure during a contracted ceremony that resulted in no usable footage being captured.
When Refund Consideration Does Not Apply
The following do not, in themselves, constitute grounds for a refund, assessed against the Consumer Rights Act 2015 standard of reasonable care and skill:
- Subjective dissatisfaction with creative decisions — including framing, angles, colour grading, edit pacing, music selection, or sequencing. Photography and videography are creative arts, and the final deliverables reflect the professional judgement of our team on the day.
- Specific guests, moments, or details not appearing in the deliverables, where coverage was booked without a contracted shot list, or with a team size insufficient for the scale and complexity of the event.
- Wrong package selection by the customer at the point of booking — including under-booking team size, coverage hours, or scope for the scale of the event. You are responsible for selecting an appropriate package; our team will advise on request but cannot override your chosen scope.
- Conditions outside the studio's control — including, but not limited to, weather, venue restrictions, lighting conditions, guest behaviour, simultaneous events outside the booked coverage window, or the event running over schedule.
- Comparison of delivered work against portfolio examples. Our portfolio reflects work delivered under specific conditions and is illustrative — it is not a contractual promise of identical output for every booking.
The Standard Against Which Any Dispute Is Assessed
The UK Consumer Rights Act 2015 requires services to be performed with reasonable care and skill. This is the legal standard against which any dispute is measured.
Reasonable care and skill means professional execution to the standard expected of a competent photographer or videographer working in the same field. It does not mean the deliverable will match the subjective preferences of any individual customer. Creative work is inherently subjective; reasonable care and skill is the objective benchmark.
Your Statutory Rights Are Preserved in Full
Nothing in this policy excludes or limits any rights you have as a consumer under the Consumer Rights Act 2015 or any other applicable UK consumer protection law. If you believe the service has fallen below the standard of reasonable care and skill, please follow our complaint resolution process.
How to Raise a Concern
We treat every concern as a process to work through together, not a wall to be turned away at:
- Raise the concern in writing through our complaint resolution process.
- If it is not resolved between the studio and you directly, either party may pursue alternative dispute resolution (ADR) or the small claims track of the County Court.
- Disputes pursued via card-issuer chargeback or a Section 75 Consumer Credit Act 1974 claim will be defended where the studio has performed the service with reasonable care and skill, with reference to the booking contract, this policy, and the evidence of the work delivered.
For your specific booking, please refer to your booking confirmation. This policy describes the studio's general position on refunds and does not replace any term in your signed contract.
Reaching Us on the Wedding Day
You will have a direct day-of contact so that you, a family member, or your coordinator can reach the team if needed. [POLICY: confirm preferred day-of contact channel] We would always rather you reach out than worry.
For your specific booking, please refer to your booking confirmation.
In Short
Our team arrives ten minutes early, works to the hours on your confirmation, and leaves at the booked end time unless a paid extension has been agreed in writing on the day. Any extra minutes beyond that are a goodwill gesture and never guaranteed. Packages are bundled and cannot be reduced after booking, and our refund position follows the Consumer Rights Act 2015 standard of reasonable care and skill — with your statutory rights preserved in full.
If anything here raises a question about your particular wedding, the answer is always the same starting point: please refer to your booking confirmation, and if it is still unclear, get in touch. We would far rather have the conversation now than leave you wondering in your final week.