Here are the top 10 things you must consider when shopping for a wedding videographer, to be sure your entire experience, along with the finished film, is as good as it can be. If you want to make sure your wedding film is just what you expected and even better, make sure you stick around and find out what mistakes couples have made, and how to avoid getting a film, or videographer that could ruin the memories of your wedding day.
So, this is a must see video if shopping for a wedding videographer has become a little overwhelming. It’s this type of thing that makes planning a wedding stressful, not knowing if you’re making the right choice. There are so many styles, and so many different explanations of what is delivered, I’ve put together this video to make it much easier for you to understand what you should look for when shopping for a videographer, ensuring you get a film you love, without any unpleasant surprises. After watching this video, you should have a clear understanding of what to look for, in order to get a wedding videographer that fits your style, your budget and allow you to book one with confidence So here we go.
1. What is your style?
Finished vs Day of - This actually means two things. What is the style of the finished product, but also, what is the style on the wedding day. Lets talk about the finished product first. Music Driven / Montage - Some people call this a music video style. This means you use very little or no natural audio from the day, but rather use video shots, overlaid with music. This is good for couples who are trying to keep a tight budget, or just don’t like hearing talking. Which gets requested from time to time. Dialog Driven - This is usually what people mean when they stay story driven. Finding sound bytes from the day, using real toasts, real vows, and real audio from the day to form a film that is wholly unique to the couple. This takes more skill, will be more expensive, and for me, is worth much more than a simple montage edit. Natural or Stylistic Color and Editing - Just like wedding photos have different visual styles, so do wedding films.
Some videographers like glitchy style fast, high energy and jarring, and some others edit with a smooth, fairy tale style. Also, pay attention to color style. Some get really stylistic. From Dark and Moody, to Light and Airy. Vintage or Timeless. There are many styles that you might like or not like. What is my style? Cinematic Style, My style is certainly personality centric. Dialog driven, with heavy influence on cinematic camera moves, clear focus in high resolution. When you watch one of my films, you can clearly see the couples personality, or connect with them. I try to remain timeless, and not adhere too strictly to any particular industry trends, so it is less likely to show it’s age in 20 years. So What is the Style on the Wedding Day? - Ask your videographer this question directly. It will help you understand better on whether to expect a lot of direction for more epic shots, or more journalistic. Well what’s the difference between the two. Someone who is good at posing, setups and lights will get you more flattering angles, and a more polished look. A journalistic style would allow for more go-with-the-flow wedding day. You’ll get more shots with imperfect lighting and angles, but for the couples that prefer a little distance who are ok with more imperfect angles or expressions, this would be a good choice.
My wedding day style is pretty journalistic unless I haven’t gotten the flattering shots I need to make the polished film. We use longer lenses so we don’t have to be up in your face. I think we’re a good combination of both styles.
2. Who will be filming your wedding?
This is one of those things that ends up surprising a lot of couples. So be sure to know. Does the same person film every wedding or will some other person be coming to film the wedding? The most common scenario is the company owner is the primary shooter, and the assistant shooter could change.
Some companies use multiple teams. The best ones do this in-house, meaning, each shooter is an employee of the company. If there are multiple teams, having in-house trailed talent will reduce risk for failures, or quality difference problems. However, there could still be variance on quality, particularly during busy months as the teams scale up and down. The cheapest type will hire contracted shooters to be the lead shooter, and a contracted shooter for an assistant shooter. This is very common for the national companies that are in the $1000-$2000 range. Sometimes even higher. Often, this works a treat, but this is the highest risk for quality problems, or incompatibility with your other vendors, like your photographer for instance. I have heard more complaints from this business model that the other two, when it comes to professionalism and product quality. Often these companies are trying to hire a shooter for your wedding on the same week as your wedding.
Personality Personality is pretty important when shopping for any vendor. Videographer especially. Are they good to be around? Can they make you, and your other vendors feel comfortable for the best results? Try to talk with your specific videographer to make sure there’s a good personality match. Photographers have often told me that videographers who are too aggressive, or not accommodating can make the portrait session unpleasant for everyone. Show Me The Other Things Most people can produce good results when conditions are perfect, or even make a pretty reel, once they have enough shots to choose from, but professionals produce great results, each time, even when things go sideways. So if they have a pretty highlight film, it’s usually their best possible work and it’s not necessarily an indication they will be able to do so every time. So, you have to see some of the other stuff. This is something to keep in mind specifically for the regional companies that run multiple teams. Most people can make a pleasant looking highlight film, ask to see the longer films to see if they can keep it polished for a longer edit. The more you see, the better you’ll understand their ability to create something special for your wedding. Remember when I said there are regional companies, or even national companies that run many teams to film as many weddings as possible? This is quite common. Some are really good at finding good talent, and producing consistently high quality work. Others will find a shooter at the lowest bid, and then send them to film your wedding. They’ll never tell you this, so make sure you see films done by the specific person from the other teams, if they can’t show you, that should be a red flag.
3. Can I see the Other Edits?
For example, if you’re getting a full ceremony edit, what does that look like? Most companies will offer the option of a full ceremony edit, or a longer-form edit that contains shots that aren’t quite as polished. Make sure you see what this looks like, so there are no surprises when it gets delivered. For example, some companies will have a ceremony edit be a wide angle from the back. Others will have an edited ceremony with multiple angles, but not color adjusted. Even others will have a fully polished, great looking edit. Because of this, these services are offered at different prices and shouldn’t be compared apples to apples.
4. Can you tell me about your wedding filming experience?
How long has your wedding videographer been doing this? You want your wedding videographer to have a good amount of experience. The longer they’ve been doing it, the more they have learned, and will be able to respond effectively if things go unexpectedly. Have you filmed at this wedding venue before? When your videographer has filmed at the venue before, they know the best places for the best shots, they’re usually familiar with the staff, and where they put gear to keep things tidy, and it just helps the day go more smoothly. Have you worked with my photographer before? This is a wonderful question to ask your videographer, and talk with your photographer about this as well. If the photographer and videographer aren’t able to work smoothly together, this is going to affect your photos, your videos and perhaps even your personal mood. An effective videographer will be able to adapt their style to give the photographer enough freedom to create their best work, but if the photographer is more comfortable shooting in a certain style, say shooting closer up, or farther back, a good videographer will be able to accommodate these different styles and still make magic happen with the film. If they can’t, this will negatively impact both photos and video. So is it better to hire a company that does both? Well, not necessarily. Often with a company that does both, you may like their photos, but not their video style. Or maybe they’re perfect for you. Either way is wonderful. Just choose your vendors that you like best.
Have you filmed a catholic, Jewish, Vietnamese, Chinese, Korean, same-sex, Indian, Muslim, Persian etc wedding before? As you know, culturally specific wedding traditions vary widely, and if you’re having one, it’s important to know if your videographer is familiar with the traditions, so they can capture them appropriately.
5. What Kind of Final Products Do You Make?
Figuring out what sort of final products your wedding videographer makes, is probably the most confusing part of shopping for a wedding videographer. The reason is because everyone sells different items. Additionally, most people even call the same items by different names. Teaser/Sneak Peek/Trailer/Instagram Edit These are similar names for basically the same thing. A nice short, bite-sized edit that is usually between 1 minute and 4 minutes long. These are usually the films you first watch when perusing the internet for wedding films. Highlight Film/Cinematic Film/Feature FIlms These are also similar names for similar items. These are stylistic like the other type, but they’re longer and will include more items from the day. Between 4 minutes and 15 minutes usually, and will be the main item people will hire a videographer. Often times, you’ll have to request to see these, and aren’t always publicly visible on a videographer’s page Non-Stylistic Edits Most videographers make non-stylistic edits. These might also be called archival edits, or even documentary edits. They’re not stylistic like the other edits, but are great for seeing events as they happened, in order and usually without added music.
Ceremony Edit These can vary quite a bit depending on how they recorded your ceremony. Some videographers don’t record the entire ceremony. Some record it with 4 or 5 camera angles. Find out how your videographer records your ceremony, and if they offer a ceremony edit. Then ask to see what a sample ceremony edit would look like. Toasts Edit Just like the ceremony edit, sometimes videographers don’t recorder the audio from the toasts, so ask about this to see if they offer it. Long-Form Edit/Archival Edit/Documentary Edit/FOMO Edit Again, this style of edit might have many names, but it’s mostly the same type of product. If your videographer offers a longer form edit, ask to see a sample one so you know just what to expect.
Sometimes couple will be surprised that with 8 hours of coverage, only an short video is available to be seen. Don’t worry, this is normal. A TV commercial which takes up to a week to film, might only be 15 or 30 seconds long. The camera isn’t recording all 8 hours, rather the videographer is looking for the best moments to film and capture. RAW Footage Unlike photographers, your videographer may offer raw, or unedited footage from the wedding. Raw footage means something different to various videographers. Sometimes its hundreds of individual clips on a harddrive, sometimes its one long file, exported. Ask to see if your videographer offer this, and what to expect. Again, don’t ask your photographer to send you raw photo files, they won’t like that.
Video Resolution With the speed of technologies these days, video resolution has been changing so fast people can’t keep up. But you do want to find out what sort of resolution yoru wedding videographer is delivering films in. High Definition, or HD, is the standard. It’s Blu-Ray Quality. It’s what most TV and netflix shows you’ve been watching in 2020 are displayed in. Fairly common. No one should be filming in Standard definition, or VHS quality anymore. 4K - This means 4,000 pixels across. And for simplicity sake, we’ll go with that. Videographers have started shooting in this recently. It’s quadruple what HD looks like. The digital theaters you’re watching movies on? Those are usually displayed in 4K resolution. 6K and 8K - this is the new hotness, almost no one will be offering this anytime soon, but simply put, it means each frame of video is roughly the same resolution as your photographers photos. Does this mean eventually a photographer won’t be needed? Couldn’t be further from the truth. But if a videographer does shoot in this resolution, it means the technology will be more future proofed and it will look good, resolution wise, for decades to come. However, HD, or 8K, what it looks like to your eyes is all that matters.
Delivery Format DVD, Blu-Ray More and more people do not make these, but some more experienced videographers will still offer this. Ask to see if your videographer does such a thing. Thumbdrive, Harddrive, sometimes your videographer will mail you a physical drive to watch and share your film. You’ll just plug this into your computer or even your TV to watch. Digital Delivery Most of the time your videographer will deliver in this format. This will come as a link where you can watch, or download your final products.
6. What do you do to protect against equipment failure?
This is a question that should have a good answer. No one can predict when a card might fail, a camera might die, or something else unexpected. But there should be a good plan in place for dealing with these occurrences. If Your camera fails For us, we film with many different cameras and audio sources, and have stand-by cameras in case of failure. Against Failure for Cards or lost footage Corrupt cards are something that can happen, and lost cards too. Experienced videographers will have a method to mitigate against this type of event. Perhaps its additional cameras, or cameras that shoot to multiple cards. Ask to find out what they do to protect your memories, both on the wedding day, and after they get it home to a harddrive.
7. When would I get the final product?
This is going to vary widely. And there’s a filmmaker for everyone, if you want it. But they also come in every quality or price point. An analogy is with cars. To build a Toyota, the total manufacturing time is about a day and in Japan, they make 3.2 Million per cars per year. A Rolls Royce on the other hand, takes over 6 months. They only make 4000 per year, and each one is painstakingly crafted by hand so that every aspect from the leather, to the sound of the engine, is perfectly calibrated. There’s a reason people choose this type of luxury to drive away in at the end of a reception verses a Toyota Camry, and a reason car owners don’t mind waiting the 6 months for Rolls Royce to get it right. Just like videographers, there are two sides to the spectrum. You have to make your mind up whether a faster delivery, or a higher polish is more important to you. Some top videographer do as much as 8 months, most is 1-2 months, and sometimes, you can get it in just a week or two. But understand that a faster delivery usually will mean less polish, but a longer timeframe doesn’t always mean a better film. No matter the timeframe, be sure you ask, so you understand in advance, and that you’re not disappointed or left wondering if something is wrong.
8. What if I need changes to the film?
Sometimes people ask for changes. It's unusual for us to get change requests to a finished product, this is because we have a few steps before to make sure that we understand you, your style, and your requests well before we arrive on the day. Things like questionnaires, meetings and talking with your planner ensure that we capture things that are special to you, and edit in a way that you like, including music and pacing. If you don’t like too much posing, your videographer should know in advance, if you don’t like a certain type of music? A good videographer will know this too. If you wanted a certain shot, that wasn’t included, most videographers aren’t going to charge you for a simple adjustment, but if you want songs changed, or entire portions of the day re-edited, there will likely be a cost associated with it.
9. How much do you cost?
A wedding videographer can literally cost anything. You can spend as much or as little as you want. Just like the variance we talked about with the price and quality of a Toyota vs a Rolls Royce, you can indulge in any budget you see fit. This is part of what makes it so hard to shop for one. It’s a creative service in the end, and because of that, the price range can quite dramatically. Even within the same company. A seasoned videographer is going to be at least, or more expensive than your photographer. A videographer will often have more gear that can cost between $10,000 and $50,000. So trying to find a videographer worth their salt, to film a wedding for $500 is going to be unlikely. Off-season rates are sometimes discounted, amazing locations are sometimes discounted. If you’re a couple that seems fun, who values wedding video, and who is working with wonderful vendors, you might be able to get a better deal than someone who says “we didn’t originally want to get a videographer, but we were told we should.” For us, every year we book wedding films at more than $10,000, or some for just $3000
10. Am I willing to take the risk of hiring someone with little experience?
The last question is really a question you should ask yourself. Well, let me put it to you this way. After your wedding is over, you can always make more money, but you can’t redo your wedding day. In short, you can always get things cheaper, if you’re willing to take the risk. Now what do I mean by this? I highly experienced, skilled videographer will capture a wedding in ways that a budget videographer simply can't. Skills and Experience of a higher priced videographer goes above the final look and sound of the film. For instance. Too low of a budget videographer often will Negatively Impact Your Wedding Photos I hear from photographers all the time, how the videographer ruined special moments for photos. This means, the aisle shot, or the first kiss, or the special dances. Moments that can’t be redone, and spending a good amount on a photographer, but saving money by hiring cheap for a videographer has proven to be a costly mistake, beyond the dollar amount. When you round the corner to see your groom, you want to remember his face, and not the awkward videographer who setup his tripod in the center aisle. You don’t want a sloppy looking camera guy immortalized in your heirloom wedding photo. Ask any working photographer, and they’ll be happy to describe stories of this happening. Some photographers even flat out refuse to work with videographers because they’ve experienced this too often. Less experienced videographer are more likely to not have a backup plan when cameras, recorder, cards or harddrives fail. Hiring experienced professionals make sure the important things are what is captured. Low budget almost always means low quality product, and you’ll never get another chance to get a better film.
When you’ve spent a certain amount of money to look your best, at a gorgeous venue, with your most cherished friends and family, to remember this day for generations to come, you won’t have a second chance to have it captured. Why do people spend a lot of money on weddings? Because they know that these moments in life, where this many people come together to celebrate love. Looking their best, pouring their hearts out in a room full of people to say how proud they are of you, or laugh together recalling a story from your past. These are moments that should be preserved. And when our couples look back, years later to see what was captured, they can laugh, and cry, and remember the love they felt. This is the real job of a wedding videographer.