(5 minute read)
Aside from filming weddings, I’ve also been a bride who planned her own wedding. I get it! There’s SO MANY videographers all seemingly who do the same thing. How do you choose the perfect wedding videographer? What should you base your decisions off of?
Continue this 5 minute read as I’ll give you some insight from both a bride perspective & behind the scenes videographer perspective, and hopefully make your decision making process a little easier. Enjoy ☺️
1. where’s videography on your priority list?
If you’re reading this, I’m assuming you really care about what type of wedding film you want. In my opinion, if you want a high quality, story driven wedding film that’s been uniquely crafted stay away from Ads or paid advertising on Google’s 1st search page that say things like “Wedding Videography for only $600” or “$500 off wedding videography”. When I was wedding planning, I found these to be more of a quantity over quality. Now these could be fine though for someone who doesn’t care too much about how the wedding film is but just wants the day documented.
2. what you’ll get for your budget (ill give ya some insider tips!)
Since most wedding filmmakers are freelancers and small businesses, you’ll get an array of prices but hopefully I can steer you in the direction of what the norm is if you’re still unsure about what you should pay for videography: in a recent poll of 5,000+ videographers in a worldwide wedding filmmakers group I’m in, the most common price range of their work was $2,000-$4,000. This is for work that is storydriven, curated, crafted and then given the artistic attention a wedding film should have. Other ends of the spectrum were filmmakers who’s niche is luxury or high end weddings averaging $5,000+ for their work versus filmmakers still building their portfolio and honing in on their comfort & skills offering work at $1,000-1,500.
See where wedding videography falls on your priority list and take it from there. For us, wedding videography was in our Top 3 priorities when we planned a wedding, and while we had a small intimate wedding, we still invested a good chunk of our budget on photo & video. If you’re reading this, you might feel the same.
3. what film style do you resonate with?
If it’s the aesthetic, the narrative, etc – but you’re unsure how to explain what you like about it, save it. Then when you reach out to videographers, and see some of their work that you like too, you can share with them those other wedding films that inspire your vision for your own, and talk about it with them.
First, start by Youtubing different types of wedding films. Save any that inspire you. Next, search hashtags like #orlandoweddingvideographer on Instagram to find a variety of local videographers near you (a local videographer will always cost you less vs. flying someone in). Consider an out-of-town videographer if you truly can’t find a local videographer that has the same style & production quality you’re looking for. Also, it’s beneficial to ask your photographer if they have recommended Wedding Videographers they’ve worked with. Also never underestimate the power of your social network, friends and family as they’ll lots of recommendations too.
bright and airy
Do you feel more drawn to bright and airy imagery? Do you like strong, saturated and bright colors in photos?
If so, then a “bright and airy” style might be up your alley.
moody and muted
Desaturated colors. Lower contrast yet deep blacks and soft muted whites.
If you like this style, you can describe it as a “moody” cinematic style. This is a coloring style you’d see in a dramatic film, or adventurous action movie.
4. have they filmed your type of wedding before?
What type of wedding are you having? Is it outdoors maybe in the mountains, on a beach, or farm? Are you having a ballroom wedding? You’ll notice some videographers specialize in 1-2 types of weddings and that’s their niche. Watch their weddings films that are similar to what you’re having and align with that for 100% confidence that they’ll capture it how you’d like. For us, it’s definitely outdoor weddings with strong landscapes. So we’ve chosen the best camera gear for that type of shooting. Balancing color and dialing in our settings for bright, daylight, and the quick changing colors of sunset is like second nature to us (living in the sunshine state where there’s TONS of outdoor & beach weddings!). Other filmmakers that specialize in perhaps ballroom or indoor weddings, have the second nature of dialing in camera settings for indoor light. As a contrary, they might not have the gear to diffuse the bright afternoon light or dialed in settings for getting shots during the quickly-setting sun during sunset.
5. what matters most to you in a wedding film collection ?
Take a mental inventory of what matters most to you in a wedding film collection because all videographers make different things a standard with their packages. Do you want options for more coverage? A longer highlight film? Do you want a social media trailer to be standard with your videographer’s packages? For us, our collections vary in hours of coverage and length of wedding film along with a social media trailer complimentary to all of our collections. We also offer value in turnaround time being quicker than the industry norm. Aside from collections we have a-la-carte options for our couples to customize and add on other films such as their full ceremony or toasts. Each videographer is different but a good start is finding one that has preset collections that you like along with a-la-carte options to customize.
