What's your turn-around time for weddings?

[Kelsey Emuss]

More specifically:

1.How long do you tell B&G it will be before you have finished? And...

2.How long does it ACTUALLY take you to edit a full wedding? For arguments sake lets say it is a full 12 hour day of shooting (of course each person will capture didn't amts of footage but whatever...)

[Monday Isa]

4-8 weeks. Completed in 3-6 days depending on package. Held for 3 weeks if early.

[Don Bloom]

I tell them 12 to 14 weeks but generally turn it around in 8 sometimes a bit less.
It all depends on my shooting, editing, travel and golf schedule. ;-)
I'd rather give myself a bit of leeway because weddings are not all I do. Last year was a perfect example. One month a I did 3 weddings but spent about 20 days that month doing seminars and other types of work so needless to say my editing schedule got very messed up. Besides, if I tell them 12 to 14 weeks and deliver in 8 to 10 I'm a good guy. Tell them 10 deliver in 11 and you're a jerk. I'd rather be a good guy ;-)

actual edit time from load in to finish printing the cases usually about 5 to 6 days if I sit down and really just do it.
Don

[Matt Bishop]

We tell our clients 2-3 weeks. I usually have everything done in no more than 2 weeks from filming to final completed DVD's.

It takes me 3-4 solid days of working on a video to get it all laid out, color enhanced, etc. Once I do that, I give them a draft to look over and then I'll finalize everything. They usually respond back pretty quickly and never have many changes but this allows me to go through one more time a few days later and polish things up once I've had a break from it. Then it's fresh to me and I can finalize everything and make it the best product possible. Most changes or polishing is just stuff that I see and fix..not usually mistakes or things the couple even notice.

last year it was 4-6 weeks but I've dropped some other projects to focus more on weddings, so during the season, this is 80% of what I do and can put most of my attention towards the videos, thus getting them done faster.

[Blake Cavett]

Contract says 10-15 weeks... had my last one turned around in 6 days. I usually deliver WAY ahead of my schedule so the reaction is, 'Wow! That was fast!'

[Chris P. Jones]

tell 'em 4 months, deliver in 3 after finishing in 2. 1-2 minute preview on the blog the week after, and they love that!

it's all about communicating expectations up front, and if the potential client has an issue with the delivery time, it's better to be able to communicate what makes you different from the competition!

jones

[Travis Cossel]

I state in my contract that the videos are typically completed in 8-12 weeks, but that my videos are custom projects and may require more time.

If my overall schedule is light then it generally takes me 2-3 weeks to complete a wedding, but when things get real busy it can take up to 5 or 6 months. I would say my average from capture to finsihed DVD's is around 3-4 weeks. I've just about completed one of my best edits ever, and if I can finish this week then I'll have done it in 2 weeks, which is amazing for me.

As for hours, I can't honestly say. I know it's important information to have, but my day is so here and there with editing, meetings, shoots, phone calles, paperwork, etc. that it's really hard to track hours for a project (unless it's a project bid based expressly on hours).

[Randy Panado]

Working from start to finish and just logging actual hours, takes me about 8-10 hours not including capturing and burning. That's breezing thru it and being "in the zone".

I currently do very little color grading but that will be changing in the next few months.

Actual delivery time is 6-8 weeks and 8-12 during busy months.

[Robert Bec]

Clients are told between 3 to 5 months

Robert

[SiuChung Leung]

My company stated normally I have to finish the wedding coverage in 10 working days, client will able to see the rough cut after 2 weeks. If everything is fine, I have to output to DVD in next 5 working day. If there is highlihgts, photo montage or some extra stuff, I will have 5-10 more days.

In my area (Auckland, New Zealand), the turn-around period is average 1-2 month

a normal wedding (1.0hr preparation+1.5 hr ceremony+1.5 reception) will take me 8-10hr to do a rough cut, 5hr to do final adjust.

[Joel Campos]

Our turn around time right now is 4-6 months.

[Oleg Kalyan]

8 weeks usually.

[Kelsey Emuss]

Thanks everyone! I'm going to extend my time range based on your responses!

[Robin Hall]

I like to have a draft copy to show by the time they get back from the honeymoon, typicially 2 weeks, and really try to deliver finished product in 4 to 6 weeks tops. But this can vary depending on workload at the time.

[Taky Cheung]

I will always tell them it takes 3 to 4 months. Usually right after I have a rough cut done (in a month or two), send them an email with a list of items I need to finish off. Those things include song selection, high quality photo for the DVD cover and label, slideshow if they have. Also offer them highlights video or honeymoon slideshow at a discounted rate.

It usually takes them quite a while to collect everything from the list. In the mean time, I can start work on the next client video. Since the ball is in their court, they can't blame me for not deliver on time.

I still have a bride got married March 2007 (it's June 2008 now) and not put together things I need.