ABOUT US

 

Who are Mars and The Moon Films?
Mars and The Moon Films is a husband and wife wedding photography and videography team based in Portland, Maine. Bonnie and Jon have been capturing weddings for over 10 years and have covered over 250 weddings across Maine, Massachusetts, and all of New England. They are known for their calm, non-intrusive presence on wedding days and their ability to capture genuine, unscripted moments alongside intentional, beautiful portraits. Their work has earned over 20 industry awards and more than 150 five-star reviews with a 100% positive rating.

​

What makes Mars and The Moon Films different from other Maine wedding photographers and videographers?
A few things set them apart. First, they are a husband and wife team offering both photography and videography, which means a unified creative vision and one less vendor on your wedding day. Unlike many other partner teams where one person is forced into learning video so they can offer both, Bonnie and Jon both independently created their own wedding businesses before they got together: Bonnie Newman Creative and Marsley Photography. This means the skill and creativity of each medium are equally balanced. You are not getting amazing photos with a subpar video, you are getting the best of both worlds. Second, they have over 10 years of experience and have captured over 250 weddings, which means they show up prepared for anything and almost nothing surprises them. Third, their approach is genuinely different: they are known for being so calm and non-intrusive that couples forget they are there, while still delivering elevated, emotionally rich work. And fourth, all editing is done by Bonnie and Jon personally, never outsourced or AI-generated.
 

What awards has Mars and The Moon Films won?
Mars and The Moon Films has earned recognition from some of the most respected names in the wedding industry, including a WPPI Annual Gold Distinction Award and a WPPI Grand Award in Filmmaking, the highest level award for all filmmaking categories. WPPI (Wedding and Portrait Photographers International) awards are peer-reviewed by working photography and film professionals and judged entirely on the merit of the work itself, not on review counts or popularity. Additional recognition includes multiple WeddingWire Couples Choice Awards, The Knot Best of Weddings, LoveStories TV Best LGBTQ+ Finalist, and features and publications in Rock N Roll Bride, Junebug Weddings, Real Maine Weddings, and Love Inc. Magazine.
 

Are you LGBTQ+ friendly?

Absolutely and without reservation. Mars and The Moon Films is a proud supporter and advocate of LGBTQ+ equality and has photographed and filmed same-sex, non-binary, queer, and trans couples and weddings of all kinds throughout their 10+ years in business. Every couple deserves to have their love documented honestly and beautifully, full stop.

​

​

THE EXPERIENCE

What is your photography and videography style?
Their approach is built around one idea: your wedding day should feel like your wedding day, not a photo shoot. Bonnie and Jon are known for being a calm, unobtrusive presence who capture genuine moments as they happen, while also knowing when to step in and create intentional portraits worth keeping forever. Couples consistently describe forgetting they were even there. All photos and videos are human-edited by Bonnie and Jon themselves, never outsourced or AI-processed.
 

Do you pose couples or is everything candid?
Both, and the balance is intentional. Mars and The Moon Films captures your day authentically and candidly while also creating beautiful, directed portraits that don't feel stiff or staged. They direct rather than pose, keeping things fun and low-pressure so the photos look like you actually enjoyed taking them. Couples who hate the idea of spending their wedding day taking posed photos have consistently said working with Bonnie and Jon felt easy, fun, and relaxed.
 

Do you use a drone?
Yes. Aerial drone footage and photos are included in all packages, weather and location permitting. Bonnie holds an FAA Part 107 Remote Pilot Certificate, meaning they are licensed to operate drones commercially and can navigate location-specific airspace requirements, including FAA and Secret Service restricted airspace in Kennebunkport, Maine, a restriction that applies to all airspace near the Bush family compound and requires advance federal authorization. Drone footage adds a cinematic scale to wedding films and dramatic aerial photos that ground-level coverage simply cannot capture.
 

What if we do not want or need an engagement session?
Engagement sessions are included or discounted in most packages, and there is a reason for that. Beyond the obvious benefit of having beautiful photos before your wedding day, the engagement session is genuinely the best way to get comfortable in front of the camera before it matters most. It is also a chance to spend a few hours with Bonnie and Jon in a low-stakes environment so your wedding day feels like hanging out with people you already know rather than strangers with cameras. Because of this, Mars and The Moon Films does not offer a discount if you choose to skip the session. It is a use it or lose it situation, and they would really hate for you to lose it.
 

​

SERVING NEW ENGLAND

What areas do you serve?
Mars and The Moon Films is based in Portland, Maine and primarily serves couples in Maine and Massachusetts, with frequent travel throughout New England including New Hampshire, Vermont, Connecticut, and Rhode Island. They have photographed and filmed weddings at coastal venues, inland estates, barns, summer camps, hotels, national parks, and everything in between.
 

Do you travel outside of New England?

Yes. While Maine and Massachusetts are their primary markets, Mars and The Moon Films has traveled well beyond New England for weddings and is open to destination bookings. Travel fees and accommodation requirements apply for weddings beyond 150 miles from Portland, Maine.

​

Do you have a travel fee?
Mars and The Moon Films includes travel for all weddings within 50 miles of Portland. Outside of that radius, they require a small travel fee of $1 per mile. For example, if your wedding is 100 miles away, your travel fee would be $100 (200 total miles driven, but the first and last 50 miles are included). Weddings further than 150 miles from Portland require reimbursement for one night of lodging. Weddings further than 200 miles from Portland require reimbursement for two nights of lodging.

​

​

PACKAGES AND PRICING

 

Do you offer both photography and videography?

Yes, and it is one of the things that makes Mars and The Moon Films genuinely different. Bonnie and Jon offer wedding photography, wedding videography, and combined photo and video packages, all under one unified creative team. Hiring one team for both means a consistent visual style across your photos and films, fewer vendors to coordinate on your wedding day, and a combined package discount. Their most popular package combines both for $9,900.

​

How much does wedding photography and videography cost in Maine?

Mars and The Moon Films offers wedding photography starting at $5,200, wedding videography starting at $5,500, and their most popular combined photo and video package at $9,900. Their package pricing and offerings are fully transparent and listed on their website home page. All pricing is all-inclusive, meaning taxes are built in and the price you see is the total price. They serve couples with wedding budgets typically in the $60,000 to $100,000+ range who are looking for an experienced, award-winning team.

​

What is included in every package?

Every Mars and The Moon Films package includes aerial drone footage and photos (weather and location permitting), human-selected and edited photos and videos, an easy-to-access online gallery for downloading films and photos, a custom mobile app for downloading images directly to your phone, a full print release for all edited images, a backup of all footage and files guaranteed for three years, timeline assistance and recommendations, and all taxes. The price you see is the total price, no surprises.

​

Is there a second shooter included?

Standard packages include Bonnie and Jon as your primary photography and videography team. A second shooter can be added to either the photo or video package as an upgrade, starting at $500 for photography and $600 for videography.

​

How does payment work?

Booking your date requires a 25% non-refundable retainer and a signed digital contract. No printing, no scanning, everything is handled online. The remaining 75% is due two weeks before your wedding. Payment methods accepted include ACH transfer, credit and debit card, check, and cash.

​

Do you offer wedding albums and prints?

Yes. Once your full photo gallery is delivered, Bonnie and Jon will send you information on album and print options. Layflat photo albums start at $350 and vary in price depending on size, spread count, cover type, and more.

​

How do we book you?

Fill out the contact form at marsandthemoonfilms.com to check availability and request the Info and Investment Guide. From there, Bonnie will typically follow up to schedule a phone or video call to learn about your plans and make sure the fit feels right on both sides. To officially book, a 25% non-refundable retainer is required along with a signed digital contract.

​

​​

VIDEOGRAPHY

What is a Highlight Film?

A highlight film is the cinematic centerpiece of your wedding video package. Typically under 9 minutes, it distills your entire wedding day into the most emotionally charged, beautiful, and yes, sometimes hilarious moments, set to a carefully chosen soundtrack. Think of it less like a recap and more like a short film about the best day of your life. These are the films that make your friends cry and your parents watch on repeat. Every highlight film Mars and The Moon Films delivers is human-edited by Bonnie personally, never outsourced or AI-processed.

​

What is a Full Ceremony and Toast Edit?

A full ceremony and toast edit is the long-form, full length edit of your entire wedding ceremony and toasts from start to finish, and includes the music you chose for your procession and recession. This is a great heirloom film that captures the most important audio from your day in its entirety. This edit is included in Mars and The Moon Films' standard wedding package. Elopement packages include a Full Ceremony Edit.

​

What is a Full Documentary Edit?

A full documentary edit is the long-form version of your wedding video, typically 90 to 120 minutes in length depending on the length of your events. Where the highlight film is cinematic and emotionally curated, the documentary edit is comprehensive. It includes getting-ready moments, the full first look, complete ceremony, toasts, first dances, cake cutting, and other significant moments from your day in their entirety. This is the version your parents probably think of when they hear "wedding video," and couple's always love this heirloom film. It is available as an upgrade to any videography package, as well as years after your wedding. Full Documentary Edits make great anniversary gifts!

​

Do you offer Super 8 film for wedding videography?

Yes. Super 8 film is available as a videography upgrade and is one of the most unique and nostalgic additions you can add to your wedding film experience. Super 8 is a physical film format that was popularized in the 1960s and 70s, and the footage it produces has a warmth, grain, and texture that digital simply cannot replicate. Super 8 footage is typically woven into your highlight film alongside digital footage, creating a beautiful contrast between the two formats. Because Super 8 requires a second shooter to operate alongside the primary camera, a second shooter is included in the Super 8 upgrade of $1600, and includes up to 2 reels of super 8 film (about 10 minutes of footage).

​

Can we choose the music for our film?

The honest answer is no, and we are confident you will be glad about that. Music is not just a background element in a Mars and The Moon Films wedding video. It is the emotional engine of the entire film, and choosing the right song is one of the most important creative decisions Bonnie makes. All music is fully licensed, which means most mainstream songs are not available anyway. More importantly, knowing the song in advance takes away one of the best parts of watching your film for the first time. Before and during your wedding, Bonnie will learn your music taste, the feeling you want your film to have, and use all of that to find something that fits your story specifically. In over 10 years and 250+ weddings, they have never had a couple unhappy with the song selection.

​

​

PHOTOGRAPHY

How many photos will we receive?
Wedding photography packages include between 600 and 1,000 human-edited images depending on the package, delivered in a custom online gallery with a mobile app for easy downloading. All images include a full print release.

​

What is your editing style for photos?

Mars and The Moon Films edits all photos to be true-to-color, meaning the images look the way the day actually looked, but a little more enhanced. Skin tones are accurate, colors are natural, and nothing is over-processed or heavily filtered. The goal is for you to look at your photos ten years from now and feel like you are right back in that moment, not like you are looking at a trend that dates itself. Every image is hand-edited by Jon personally, and the gallery is human-curated, meaning you will never receive hundreds of near-identical frames just to pad the count.

​

Do you shoot film or digital?
Both. Mars and The Moon Films shoots primarily digitally, which means consistent, reliable results in any lighting condition, from a sun-drenched coastal ceremony to a dimly lit barn reception. That said, 35mm film photography is available as an upgrade for couples who love the warmth, grain, and timeless quality of analog images. The film photography upgrade is $400 and includes up to 2 rolls of film shot on a professional film camera, not disposables. 

​

Do you shoot in black and white?

Yes, selectively. Black and white is not applied as a blanket filter across your gallery. Instead, Jon identifies specific images where black and white genuinely elevates the emotion of the moment, a quiet glance, a father daughter dance, a candid laugh, and converts those intentionally. The result is a gallery that feels varied and alive rather than uniform.

​

Do you provide a shot list?

Mars and The Moon Films does not work from a rigid shot list, but they do work with you ahead of time to make sure nothing important gets missed. Before your wedding, Jon will walk through your timeline, talk through any must-have family groupings or specific moments that matter to you, and make sure the day is structured in a way that allows for both the spontaneous moments and the intentional ones. The goal is to make sure you walk away with everything you want without spending your wedding day checking boxes.

​

​

AFTER YOUR WEDDING

How long until we get our photos and video back?

Sneak peek photos and a short film trailer are typically delivered within 3 to 5 days of your wedding. Engagement session galleries are delivered within 3 to 4 weeks. Full wedding galleries and films are delivered in approximately 12 to 16 weeks. After your wedding you will receive a link showing exactly where your wedding sits in the editing queue with an expected delivery date.

​