NOT ALL COUPLES START THEIR WEDDING PLANNING KNOWING THAT THEY’LL INCLUDE VIDEO IN THEIR DAY.
As a matter of fact, video is often a last minute planning decision tacked on at the end as something a couple has decided they can’t do without.
Unfortunately, when it comes to popular wedding dates, most videographers are already booked which can make getting your ideal videographer impossible and a more stressful search that it needs to be.
THESE 5 QUESTIONS WILL HELP YOU FIGURE OUT IF IT MAKES SENSE FOR YOU TO GET VIDEO FOR YOUR WEDDING DAY.
1. Are we really going to watch our wedding video?
How do you figure out if YOU are actually going to watch your own wedding video? Not the other people in wedding forums who loved or hated their wedding videos. Someone's going to tell you that you have to get it. Someone else is going to tell you that it's FOMO and a waste of money. But in the end, you're the only one who matters and the only person who knows you and your fiancé is you.
Consider your personalities. Are you introverted, extroverted, or an ambivert (a combination of the two). Do you watch wedding videos online of perfect strangers, get addicted, and cry? If so, then a cinematic wedding video is going to be up your alley.
This fact is still true: 98% of couples who decided against getting video regretted the decision immediately after their wedding because they didn’t realize they would miss so much of the day that they took over a year to plan.
An off the cuff “no” might be jumping the gun. It’s important to think long term and of your family and friends, too. Do you have close relatives that would love to watch this? Are you planning to have a family of your own? Would you want to have your film for them to watch as they grow up?
We asked Cape Cod Celebrations, a wedding planner on Cape Cod, to give couples her best advice about what to do with a wedding video after you receive it. You can read all about her suggestions here.
2. Do we want to add a wedding videographer to our growing vendor list?
Planning a wedding is both exhilarating and exhausting.
The average wedding uses 13 different vendors to pull their big day together and the thought of adding one more vendor can seem like it’s just too much to handle.
That said, video is a special kind of time capsule that even photographs can’t compete with.
Unlike photos which snap just a fraction of a moment, video captures the fluidity of your entire day. All of your wedding day's special moments, both big and small, are then edited together in a way that sweeps you both back up in that moment like it was just yesterday.
But you aren't going to find this experience with everyone. It's going to take extra effort into finding the right videographer for you—but it'll be worth it.
The earlier you start with your search for the perfect videographer the easier it’s going to be on your planning process.
Sometimes you don't know you want video until just a couple months before your wedding day. It's trickier than you'd think to find a wedding videographer you're going to love so close to your wedding, especially if you're date is during a popular month. Here's what you need to know about getting a good wedding video at the last minute.
3. Can we afford to get a quality wedding video?
Price alone should not dictate your wedding videography choice when you have room for videography in your wedding budget. So many times I see brides contemplating what to do with the extra money in their budget.
Zola's wedding planning survey actually found that couples #1 regret was not spending more on a wedding videographer. Not. Spending. More?! I know... hear me out.
Most of the time when people hate their wedding video is not because they're not wedding video people or unsentimental but because the wedding video isn't high quality. It doesn't represent them. The video doesn't tell a story. It doesn't have the intimacy that it should and therefore no connection. Of course you'd hate that! I'd hate it and think it was a waste of money, too.
Budget wedding studios tend to hire inexperienced freelancers who don't know the shots to get that will make a good story. The edit the videos indiscriminately, just kind of chopping and sticking it all together without feeling.
High quality wedding video is something you’ll have forever and that brings a lot of worth to the table.
Your wedding video has some of the highest return on investment of any wedding purchase you'll make because the wedding video watching experience is unlike any other. It's such an interactive experience and it's one you get to enjoy as often as you like. The feeling that returns when you watch your wedding video is incomparable to any other product because it takes you back in time.
Plus, many videographers (like us!) will be happy to work out payment plans with you but be wary of negotiating for low prices. Videographers know what they’re worth and they won’t offer a lower price without taking something away, usually time and effort, and a rushed product is hardly worth the savings you're trying to squeak out.
4. Will it be awkward to have a video camera on us all day?
Rarely do you find someone who jumps up and down to have a camera pointed at them all day.
To some degree we all kind of feel odd when we have a camera pointed at us. But when we think this way it's not in the right frame of mind. First, videographers are nearly indistinguishable from photographers so you can't tell you're being filmed vs having a picture taken. Second, when you're in the thick of your wedding you are not going to be thinking of performing for a camera. No one will be.
You want to make sure you hire a wedding cinematography team like us who have stand-back approach.
The first dance should just be you on the dance floor, not you and any camera people. Unfortunately, sometimes even some very nice videographers end up in your face during your first dance (which is not only distracting to you but it ruins the shot for your wedding photographer who won't be able to commemorate the moment for you without getting the videographer in there).
This makes for a VERY cool shot for them. But you want to make sure you ask them about their method of shooting. How do they work with their clients? Be point blank. Ask them the exact thing you don't want to have happen. Get your answer up front, there's no need for you to be guessing and hoping.
A studio like ours respects your space. We don't get in your face, we don't direct, we don't orchestrate scenes, you aren't asked to perform. Everything comes out entirely natural.
5. What if I end up with a bad videographer and I get a wedding video I hate?
There’s plenty of proof throughout the internet that bad videographers exist but the best way to avoid a wedding video that you won't watch is to make sure you hire someone with a solid reputation that understands your vision.
What do I mean by someone who understands your vision? I mean make sure this is a cinematographer who's style fits yours. If you love vintage film, a modern videographer isn't gonna cut it for you.
Love the idea of feeling like your life is a movie? Make sure you hire someone who films and edits with a cinematic technique in mind because the sequential timeline of a documentary style wedding video isn't going to blow you away.
When you have something you love, you cherish it.
This goes for clothing, furniture, the same dish you order at your favorite restaurant. You know the quality you love.
Your wedding video is not the place to go with a studio that's OK enough. OK enough is watched once or twice and tossed in a drawer until your 10 year old kid finds it and watches it out of novelty for the weird clothes everyone was wearing and they make fun of your hair (I *never* did this to my mother, ever... ahem).
Trust your friends recommendations. Trust your photographer. And if you're the first in your crowd to get married, do what you need to do to get to know your vendors. We take pride in developing relationships with all our clients. We're very invested in the outcome of your wedding and your final film.
USE YOUR BEST JUDGEMENT WHEN PICKING A WEDDING VIDEOGRAPHER.
Seasoned professionals will be a higher investment. But it's worth it. You only buy one wedding video in your lifetime. You want to make sure you get exactly what you want because there are no retakes with this. You can't shoot a wedding video like you can reshoot wedding photos if you really need to.
Invest in a true professional. Their value is in their years of experience, eye for artistic composition, and stringent professionalism when it comes to working with you and other vendors (your photographer will thank you for this).
It’s the video chop shops and inexperienced weekend warrior video companies that are going to have a much different experience. Your gut can usually tell whether or not you’re dealing with a good person. If a deal sounds too good to be true, it probably is.
Pine Events Co. has been granted permission to republish this content and these images by Harborview Studios
