Drone wedding coverage

The 180 minutes are placed with care, because the day has limits the drone cannot argue with. NOM-107-SCT3-2019 allows flights only between sunrise and sunset unless the Agencia Federal de Aviación Civil (AFAC) authorises night flight, so the reception, the first dance under lights and the fireworks are left to the cameras on the ground. The standard also bars flying over people who are not part of the operation, and keeps a small drone at least 10 m from them horizontally, so the ceremony is filmed from the side and from height rather than straight down over the rows of guests.

Location is checked before you book, not on the day. A drone must keep at least 9.2 km from any aerodrome without special authorisation, and some resorts and beach clubs on the Mexican coast sit inside that distance from an airport or airstrip. Venues often add their own conditions on top: where the pilot may take off, whether the drone may fly during the ceremony, and whether an outside drone operator must be registered with the wedding coordinator in advance. A ceremony with a ruin in the background is usually held at a nearby private venue, and any drone flight inside an archaeological zone needs prior authorisation from the Instituto Nacional de Antropología e Historia (INAH).

The pilot is a local operator working in Mexico, because the standard does not allow foreign operators to fly there, and carries the commercial liability insurance it requires. Wind is the open risk: a wedding date cannot move for the weather, and coastal wind can ground a drone on a clear afternoon. What happens to the drone coverage if it cannot fly is written into the agreement before booking. For aerial work on a day without a wedding, drone photo and video is the shorter, stand-alone session.