LJ Morelli Films

Two published floors, $1,495 and $1,100, from one business

The lowest tier on ljmorelli.com is Tall, six hours, at $1,495. That is a first party figure, printed on their own pricing page. The marketplace tells a different story. WeddingWire carries the business as L. John Morelli Wedding and Event Films, based in Hicksville, with a starting price of $1,100.

Neither number is wrong on its face. Marketplace starting prices are often entered once and left alone for years, while a rate card gets edited. We are not going to promote the $1,100 into a fact about what you will pay. Ask which figure is current, and ask what the $1,100 covers, because a 30 percent gap between two published floors is worth one phone call.

Where $1,495 and $3,195 sit against the rest of the market

WeddingWire's Long Island videographer page runs from $895 to $5,500 in starting prices, with most listings between $1,100 and $2,900. Those are marketplace figures, not rate cards. Read against that band, the six hour tier sits near the bottom and the ten hour tier at $3,195 sits above the crowd.

There is no second opinion to check it against. The Knot's Long Island videographer page carries 61 businesses and shows price tier symbols instead of dollars, so nothing on it can be compared with a real number. That is the gap this rate card fills.

A 60 to 90 minute feature ships on every tier

All three tiers deliver a full feature edit of 60 to 90 minutes plus a highlight trailer. That is a long deliverable. Much of the Long Island field sells a short highlight film and prices the long edit as an upgrade, so compare like for like before you decide $1,495 is cheap or $3,195 is dear.

Grande and Venti add cameras running through the main events. Raw footage comes on request at no charge, but only on media you supply, so buy a drive before the wedding. Delivery is stated at 4 to 12 weeks. Video delivery windows are frequently left uncommitted in contracts across this category, and a twelve week wait is a very different thing from a four week wait. Get the short end in writing.

The $800 retainer, the 40 mile line and the $295 assistant

Travel past 40 miles is billed at $100 plus $1 per additional mile plus tolls. Every mile of that is on their pricing page. Ask where the 40 miles is measured from, because the answer decides whether an East End date carries a travel line at all.

Some locations require an assistant at an extra $295, and the site does not say which. Overtime is $250 for the first hour and $150 for every hour after. A second camera operator is $595 to $795. A drone operator is $350.

On the drone: flying a camera commercially requires a Part 107 certificated pilot, and several Long Island venues sit under controlled airport airspace where flight is restricted or barred. Ask whether the $350 operator holds Part 107 and whether your specific venue can be flown, before you pay for footage that cannot legally be shot.

What the pages do not tell you, and what to ask for instead

No portfolio venues are named on the pages we read. No team size is published either, so a ten hour booking with a second operator and a drone operator is three people whose names you do not have. The site states more than 30 years in business.

Audio is where wedding video actually fails, and nothing published here commits to how many sources get miced. Ask for one full film start to finish rather than a trailer, and ask how many audio feeds run during the ceremony and the speeches.