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How to Hire a Wedding Videographer guides you through the process of choosing the best videographer to capture the story of your wedding day.
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Introduction
- Your wedding day is a special kind of love story. For a few hours, you celebrate your relationship with your friends, family and community. You need a videographer with the skills and insight to turn those special moments into a production that you will want to watch and share with your loved ones. Here's advice on how to choose the best videographer to capture your wedding.
Step 1: Should You Hire a Videographer?
- Are you still trying to decide whether or not to hire a wedding videographer? Consider the following:
- Can you afford a videographer? Hiring a videographer is a considerable expense. According to wedding planning sites, the price for this service starts at $1500 to $2000. If you simply can't afford to hire a wedding videographer, consider asking a friend to shoot your wedding, but be prepared to sacrifice quality.
- The Big Picture: A videographer captures more of your wedding than you will experience firsthand. There will be so many people and so much going on that you will only get to personally experience a fraction of the dancing, the conversation and the personalities that make up your wedding day. A great video will add new memories and show you how special your wedding was to all who attended.
- The Little Things: Time can dull the edges of memory. Consider that there are things, such as the best man's speech or the sound of your voices saying, "I do," that still photos just can't capture.
Step 2: Do Your Research
- Before you start searching for a videographer, work out basic wedding planning details. You'll need a videographer who's both available on your wedding day and able to provide you with the type of wedding video that you desire for a reasonable price. Start your search as soon as possible because videographers are in high demand and tend to be booked far in advance.
- Set the wedding date: You must know your wedding date to book a videographer.
- Book your wedding venues: Choose your wedding ceremony and reception locations.
- Set your budget:
- Make up your wedding budget.
- Plan to dedicate approximately ten percent of your budget to photography and videography.
Choose Your Style
- Envision your wedding day. The first step to hiring a wedding videographer is to learn the basics about videography so that you'll know what you want from your service provider.
- Three Styles:
- For a cinematic or straight-cut wedding video, videographers will provide you with a pre-planned shot-by-shot audiovisual narrative of your wedding day. The straight-cut wedding video typically runs two hours and is less costly than a documentary-style video, which requires more editing.
- For a documentary wedding video, videographers will shoot as much footage of your wedding day as they can, and then edit it down to the narrative of your wedding day.
- For a happy medium, ask the videographer to mix the two styles. Agree upon a time limit and set of required shots for the video, and then let the videographer shoot some parts of the wedding freestyle.
- Camera Packages:
- Consider how many cameras you will want for your videographer to bring. A one-camera package is less expensive than a two-camera package, but if you want to capture both your wedding vows and your mother's reaction to your marriage, you'll need two.
- Many videographers base their packages and prices on the three styles of videos listed above.
- The cinematic or straight-cut video is generally the least expensive because it requires less camera work, less editing and fewer special effects.
- The documentary-style video, which requires more shooting, more editing, a higher skill level and more advanced equipment, is more expensive.
- The mixed package, which often comes complete with interviews and titles, requires the most amount of work and is generally the most expensive.
- Additional Elements:
- Consider if and how you want to personalize your wedding video with photos of your families or your childhoods, photos of your evolution as a couple (yes, in all of your big-banged, rolled-up jeans glory!), interviews with your friends and family or old family videos.
- Consider whether or not you want to enhance your video with special effects: some videographers can work wonders during the editing process. Do you want to add scrolling text, split screens or any clever transitions to the finished product?
- Would you like for your videographer to capture your rehearsal dinner or shoot the scenery around your wedding to help set the scene for the true-to-life love story that your wedding video will tell?
- How about a montage? Your videographer doesn't have to be Eisenstein to pull of a magical montage, mixing photos and interviews that tell the story of your relationship.
Look at Samples of Video Styles
- Watch wedding videos to get a sense of what type of videos you like and what kinds of services videographers offer. The videos below show examples of different elements that you can include in your wedding video.
- Below is a sample of a cinematic-style wedding video that captures the wedding ceremony sequentially.
- Below is a sample of a documentary-style wedding video that captures the bride and groom's preparations for their nuptials and brief interviews with each of them.
- This video shows an interview-based documentary style video with photos.
- This video shows how a slideshow can be made from still photographs.
- This video shows how a videographer can create a wedding video montage with choreographed scenes.
- This video shows how special elements such as wedding accessories and mementos can be incorporated into your wedding video.
Step 3: Search for Videographers
- Search for a qualified, reliable videographer to shoot your wedding. Start your search early.
- Get Recommendations: Ask friends, family and other wedding vendors, such as bridal salons and photographers, for suggestions. People who've hired or worked with local videographers will have a good sense of who will deliver a great product.
- Search Directories: Search online for lists of videographers in your area. Wedding and party planning websites such as The Knot, Brides.com and Onewed.com offer useful directories of wedding vendors in almost every city and town in the country.
- Consider Videographers' Websites: While you're searching online, look at videographers' websites. Anyone who can produce and edit a digital wedding video should be able to produce a fairly professional website. Many videographers post sample videos and even testimonials on these sites.
- Go to Bridal Shows: Visit local bridal shows to find vendors such as photographers and videographers. Wedding planning websites such as Onewed.com and WedAlert.com provide directories that list upcoming bridal shows in many different areas.
Step 4: Choose a Videographer
- Once you've found a few promising videographers, it's time to narrow the list down to the best service provider within your price range. Here's how:
- Check Availability: Call the videographers you're considering to find out who's available on your wedding day.
- Interview Videographers: Schedule interviews with promising vendors, and find the right service provider by weighing the following factors:
- The videographer's personality.
- You will spend your wedding day with this person and rely on his or her judgment to shape your most dynamic wedding keepsake. So, make sure you're working with someone you like and trust.
- Also, choose a videographer who will mesh with your family and friends. Whether your crowd requires exquisite manners or someone with the vocal power of a bullhorn, you need to find a videographer who can meet your needs.
- The videographer's experience and style:
- Does he shoot weddings in the style that you desire? Can he do the cinematic, documentary and mixed styles? What additional elements and effects can he provide to personalize your wedding video?
- How long has she been shooting weddings? Has she won any awards, or does she belong to any professional videography associations?
- The videographer's video and editing equipment:
- Does he use a special kind of camera or sound equipment? How many cameras does he have? Does he shoot in digital video?
- Does she use wireless microphones or digital sound recorders to capture the sound? How does she ensure good sound quality?
- What's his editing process like? Does he use in-camera editing to create cheap packages, line editing, or the non-linear editing process, which is typical for digital?
- The videographer's personality.
- View Video Samples:
- Don't just look at demo tapes. Ask to watch a wedding video they've shot and edited in its entirety.
- View a video that's similar to the product that you want. Ask to view videos that are shot in the style that you want or that contain similar stylistic elements. Also, ask if they have videos that were filmed at your wedding location or at the same time of day that your wedding will take place.
- Consider Packages and Prices:
- According to the Wedding and Event Videographers Association Internation (WEVA), the price of wedding videography packages ranges from $1000 to $10000.
- The packages should include: the number of hours that the videographer will spend shooting your wedding, the number of cameras he will use, an unedited tape and a master edited tape, the soundtrack, any special effects and copies for your friends and family.
- Other cost considerations are: the talent level of the professional you hire, the type of equipment that she uses and the complexity of the editing process.
- Check Reputation:
- Ask the videographer for references from previous clients and call them. You should not work with a photographer who refuses to furnish reference. This is an indication of inexperience, poor performance or lack of organization.
- Check in with the Better Business Bureau to make sure that any service providers you're considering don't have black marks on their records.
Step 5: Confirm Details of Service
- Once you've chosen your videographer, choose a package, agree on a price and draw up a contract.
- Choose a Package: Consider the various packages that you've discussed with your videographer and choose the one that suits your style preferences and budget.
- Determine Contract Points:
- Include the full names and contact information for all parties to the contract.
- Specify the date, start and end time and the wedding location.
- Write out the package details, including the number of cameras and type of equipment and the date you will receive the final product.
- Write out the price points: Put the total and item-by-item costs on paper. Make sure that the contract states the amount of the deposit and amount still owed.
- Include cancellation policies as well.
- Sign the Contract: Once you're comfortable with the details, make sure that the videographer has signed the contract and then sign it.
- Photocopy the Contract: Keep the copy on file for your records.
Step 6: Make a Wedding Day Plan
- Make a wedding day plan with your videographer to ensure that you get all of the key shots for your video and that her needs are met so that she can effectively provide her services.
- Determine a time to meet up with your videographer. If he's going to shoot the bride and groom preparing for the wedding, he needs to arrive well before the start of the ceremony. Also, set a time when your videographer is finished.
- Provide your videographer with the wedding schedule to ensure that she knows what's happening where and when.
- Unless you're going for a totally candid, documentary-style wedding video, make sure that you and your videographer have a shot list for the day.
- Introduce your videographer to important people whom she should pay special attention to, such as your immediate family and the wedding party, so that she can focus on all of the key players.
- Designate a time for your videographer and any assistants to stop to eat or to take breaks.
