Wedding Videography: Is it worth the Money?
When it comes to wedding videography, there are a lot of misconceptions or preconceived notions. Some people think that it’s not necessary, while others believe that it’s worth every penny. Wedding videos can be a great way to capture the story from a different perspective of your wedding day and relive those memories for years to come. Video also provides elements that photography doesn’t necessarily capture. In this blog post, we’ll take a look at some of the reasons why you may want to consider hiring a videographer for your wedding.
What Is Wedding Videography and How Much Does Wedding Videography Cost?
Wedding videography is a trend that has been around for decades but over the last few years or so, it’s become much more common. Part of that reason is that with advances in technology and camera equipment, wedding videographers are able to create cinematic highlight reels to make your wedding day look like a film. What used to be just a camera on a tripod in the back of the church now includes 4K footage with all day coverage, microphones, stabilizers, and drones.
We’ve all seen them on Facebook and Instagram and will watch these wedding videos of people we may or may not know for a minute or so, but that’s about it. We don’t really think about wedding videography until we are faced with the question of if we want someone to capture our day.
Wedding videography can range in cost from a few hundred dollars to around $10,000 and everything in-between. It really just depends on the services that you’re looking for, the length of coverage, and how many people are needed to capture your day.
All my pricing can be found at this link if you’re interested in how much my wedding videography costs – I’m definitely not the cheapest videographer I know and I know that I’m not the most expensive.
Why does videography cost so much when I know all my friends will film on their phones?
Why would you spend thousands of dollars on wedding videography when you know that your friends and wedding guests will also be recording videos from their perspective throughout the day on their smartphone? It’s a good question, and I’m sure it’ll be entertaining to view the films from your friends’ iPhone, but first off they aren’t professionals. You’re paying for better gear and expertise when you hire a wedding videographer.
Having a videographer or videographers do wedding videography at your wedding who only focuses on capturing your day on their equipment gives your event a more professional and cinematic feel. By the time dinner rolls around, they won’t be four IPAs deep, and they definitely won’t inadvertently brush their finger against the lens. Also, many of the videos your friends take will have them be the center of it all – but a videographer knows that the bride and groom are the stars of the show and will keep that in mind throughout the day.
Videographers also bring expensive equipment like cameras, stabilizers, audio equipment, and usually a drone to your ceremony that your friends probably don’t have. They don’t just airdrop you the film after your wedding; they go through all of the footage and artfully construct and edit a video to tell the narrative of your day. The videographer’s job doesn’t end once the wedding ends, but rather the wedding videography just begins – they have so much work behind the scenes to edit the video for you.
For every hour that I spend filming a wedding, I tend to spend two to three hours editing that footage.
What Does Videography Capture?
What is captured throughout the day depends on the videographer that you hire and the wedding videography package that you pay for. Every videographer does it a little bit different, and each offers a variety of packages, but for the most part you can expect the most important parts of the day to be covered.
This includes a first look, the ceremony, toasts, cake cutting, dancing, and everything in-between. I have been to weddings and captured them for a total of 2-3 hours, and have also had weddings that have lasted multiple days.
The final deliverables also have a factor in what is included in the videography package. If you’re paying for someone to just capture your ceremony, it seems obvious, but don’t expect them to stick around for the reception. But if you are paying someone for a 12 minute highlight film, you can probably bet on the fact that the whole day will be covered.
It really just depends on what you want included in your wedding video package and how much you are willing to pay for wedding videography.
Different Perspective
Wedding videographers tell the story of your day by capturing a different perspective. They are hired to create a film that tells the story where the bride and groom are the main characters. They see things that you don’t and are always on alert for any unexpected sweet moments.
At first, it may be awkward to always have a camera in your face. But eventually, you’ll get used to it. And trust me, it’s not as awkward as it feels – especially if the videographer knows what they’re doing and they’ve done wedding videography before.
A great videographer will also bring their own audio equipment and be sure that they’re getting clean audio feeds for the ceremony and all toasts. They’ll put a microphone on the groom during the first look so that you’ll be able to hear what was said. This added factor of audio can’t be included just in photos.
It’s your wedding day! The most important thing is that you should be present and in the moment as much as possible. Hiring a videographer for wedding videography will allow you to do just that. And when the day is all said and done, you’ll have a beautiful, professionally-edited video to watch and re-watch for years to come. It’s worth it, I promise.
Memories for Years to Come
Some of my favorite texts are from past brides and grooms who’s weddings I filmed. They’ll say something along the lines “We just watched our wedding video on our 8th wedding anniversary and we are still so thankful to have it. It took us right back to our wedding day.”
As time goes on and memories fade, having the wedding video to watch and re-watch year after year is something special. You’ll love reliving one of the best days of your life over and over again.
Seasons change and life has its ups and downs, but having a video to watch to take you back to a moment can always be cherished and makes wedding videography worth the price.
Last month, I got a call from a friend who I hadn’t spoken to in a while, and he just called to tell me and thank me for the wedding video I created for him almost ten years prior. Since then, people who were at his wedding had passed away but for him to see them again dancing, laughing, and smiling again was something so special. He wanted to call me to thank me again for some shots I included in his video that he didn’t even notice the first few times watching it.
Wedding videography is a great way to capture your wedding day and all the special moments that happen. It’s a different perspective than just photos, and can be really memorable to watch for years to come. If you’re on the fence about whether or not it’s necessary for your wedding, think about what it would mean to you to have a wedding video not just the month or two after your wedding, but on your 25th wedding anniversary and beyond.