Our Statements on Drones
Why We Don’t Offer Them
Here at The Meyer Photo + Video Group, we don’t like to promise what we can’t guarantee. What can we guarantee? We deliver affordable, high-quality photography, personal and sentimental videography, and a talented staff full of professional knowledge and boundless creativity. Some professionals promise drone coverage at wedding ceremonies, but we think, they are doing a disservice because unfortunately drones can never truly be promised, and here’s why:
Legal Reasons in New Jersey
- Except for the limited and permitted use of fixed-wing model aircraft in several park areas, no other use of aircraft is permitted in some NJ Parks? This means several gorgeous wedding spots are not legally able to use drones for video, and anyone who puts drones in the airs are potentially facing legal consequences.
- Many other areas such as school grounds and college campuses ban the use of drones in their airspace as well. They are also not allowed within certain distances from Military bases designated as Department of Defense facilities, National Landmarks, or certain critical infrastructure, such as nuclear power plants. There are also five-mile buffer zones surrounding airports in Somerset County including Central Jersey Regional Airport and Somerset Airport. Princeton Airport’s five-mile zone extends into Somerset County. Old Bridge Airport in Middlesex County and Linden Airport in Union County also have five-mile zones. Depending on where your wedding is held, it is often unlikely that drones are permitted in the area. Some beaches, such as Seaside, have restrictions on drone coverage, as well. Wildwood restrict drones near piers.
- Each town in New Jersey has different laws for drone use. Certain towns prohibit the use of drones in public air spaces below 300-400 feet, such as Chatham + South Orange. Some towns do lot allow drones over roads such as Ocean Township. Regulations like these are always changing and not always predictable. NJ senators have been proposing even more restrictions on which areas should be included on the banned list.
- Drone operators must legally avoid flying directly over people, vessels, vehicles, or structures and must avoid endangering the life and property of others. However, most brides are imagining their drone to flying over their guests or venue when they ask for drone coverage for their wedding.
- Temporary Flight Restrictions are areas of airspace where drones are limited or not allowed unexpectedly because of temporary hazardous conditions like hurricanes, oil spills, security events or more. Even a government official or diplomat in an airplane above at the time can ground drones.
Practical Reasons – You Want a Stress-Free Wedding
- Drones are create a lot of repetitive and loud sounds as they fly. Many guests, and often the bride and groom, find this distracting and stressful as it takes them out of the present moment during their important day.
- Strong winds and less than amicable weather can turn drones from a photography tool into a dangerous object moving at extremely fast speeds. HIgh winds, even with clear weather, have the potential of harming wedding guests. Drones are also not permitted for use during rain and snow.
- Many wedding venues are not practical for successful drone use. This includes many common wedding spots such as: indoor venues, areas with a lot of large trees, tented weddings and anywhere with overhead wires and telephone poles. Some establishments and businesses that serve as wedding venues do not allow drones due to legal issues.
- Some locations that do permit drones often charge permit fees, which take a lot time to file and will cost you more money on top of your regular videography fee.
The Meyer Photo + Video Group wants your wedding planning to be smooth and full of excitement, and your wedding day to be stress-free. We believe that wedding drone coverage is often not worth your time, effort, and hard-earned money! Our brides are fully satisfied with the touching and memorable coverage created by professional photography and cinematic videography that ensures a bump-free wedding day you’ve been dreaming about.
How can others offer it?
We can’t speak for anyone else. Many great talented businesses within NJ offer drone coverage, are up-to-date on regulations and fly legitimately, however, for the above reasons, and just based on time, risks, added insurance, and overall keeping costs down, drone coverage is not currently offered with us. We simply do not want to offer or promise a service we cannot guarantee, especially when our couples contract us years prior to wedding, and future drone regulations can not be foreseen.
Here’s an example of venue grounds covered beautifully without a drone:
Want to talk to us about our awesome video services? Click here.
*DISCLAIMER: Statements in this blog reflect information found from the following sites. Do not use this blog post as a resource for active/current New Jersey laws and regulations on drone use. We are not affiliated with anyone in the below links and are not experts, or claim to be experts, on drone laws in NJ. The following informations is simply a business statement explaining why, based on our limited research, we have chosen not to offer drone coverage: https://uavcoach.com/drone-laws-new-jersey https://www.dronethusiast.com https://www.state.nj.us/transportation/airwater/aviation/drones.shtm https://www.seaside-heightsnj.org/283/Drone-Status https://www.njfishandwildlife.com/wmaregs.htm http://www.njpalisades.org/regulations.html https://patch.com/new-jersey/southorange/south-orange-cops-no-drones-sloan-street https://www.mycentraljersey.com/story/news/local/new-jersey/2017/07/21/drone-industry-grows-fight-looms-control-sky/497644001/