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I have hired a videographer...because from people that I work with to my friends that are married...the biggest regret that they had was not having a videographer.
NO OH MY GOODNESS YOU WANT A WEDDING VIDEOGRAPHER!!!!!!!
I haven't been married yet, and went through the same debate that you're going through -- i thought that videographer would be the perfect place to shave costs.
HOWEVER, after asking around of friends that are married, aunts, parents, and unmarried people -- this is something you can't miss!!! After I started probing, apparently young children i know watch their parents' wedding video monthly --- girlfriends watch theirs together-- MOBs have women over to watch this (who knew)??? WAY more than you'll ultimately read your wedding album.
Again - I was going to nix it until I sought advice. and then after watching wedding videos online, I can't imagine not having one!!
The videographer will (most likely) give you a "music video" (3 minute) version, that you can share anywhere. Watch a number of videographers sites and you'll melt and realize you need this for your kids and anniversaries to come!!
Thanks for sharing this. I've been on the fence about having a videographer. I'll have to talk to the mr. tonight about getting one.
It's funny that you should post this.....I think you must have been reading my mind. I am getting married next month and I had felt early on that I did not need a videographer. Now I am strongly having second thoughts. I was just at a wedding where a friend did the video and his wife edited it and put everything together. I loved it and feel that I really want a video. As some other posts had mentioned not having a video had been several of my friends regrets at their wedding. They cost right around $800. Now I am rushing around trying to see if I can get someone in just one month.
I was in the same boat as well, totally thought videographers were a waste of much needed wedding cash! But...after I stumbled upon an amazing videographer's site, I had to have it. I thought a wedding video would be very amateur-ish (what? it's a word!) looking, just a shaky camera at the back of the church but I totally ate my words. There are people that can make your wedding look like it's own feature film! I highly suggest reconsidering and doing some research to find the type of video that will bring you back to your day every time you watch it!
We compromised and hired a student from craigslist. What he's done is good, but he just graduated college and is getting into business so he's only charging $15 / hour, which ends up being around $250.
We did our own website with iWeb (free) and published it for $86 / year.
When FI first insisted on a videographer I was not very into it. I thought it was a waste of money. But now I've definitly changed my mind. After watching my FSIL's wedding video with her kids I realized I would love to someday show my kids what our wedding was like! And to have videos of my parents and other family members moving around and dancing for us to watch long after they are gone--I think that's priceless. After losing my grandmother recently, I would give ANYTHING to have had video footage of her--to encapture her movements and facial expressions to have always.
Weddings go by so fast and that's it.. for the price we pay for weddings I think it's worthwhile to be able to enjoy them again for many years to come. It's so worth it! I found a great videographer for $600--just for something simple.
To be very honest. I wanted a videographer from the start however my husband did not. Then we both agreed as a couple that it was not worth the money because the kind we would like would be WAY out of budget. Like couple grand out of budget. The only one we would be able to afford are crappy cheesy ones.
Fast forward 2 weeks before the wedding my family is adamant we should have a videographer. In my family there are always videos and a DVD always gets circulated around the families. I began to feel bad that my mom won't have a DVD to circulate of her only daughter's wedding. I succumbed and we hired a cheesy videographer for way more than we should have!!!
Besides the point.
Anyway, at the end of the night as cheesy as the video might be I'm really glad there was someone there to capture it. There were many parts of the day because I was on the other side as the bride I did not get to experience. I did not see all of the bridal door games because I was waiting in the bedroom. I didn't get to see the girls walk down the aisle. I didn't get to see the flower girls and ring bearers walk down the aisle!
So. I think if you can swing the cost and you can't think of anything else you'll rather spend the money on. Then why not?
Definitely! It has been almost two weeks since our wedding and I absolutely can't wait to see it, and I'm one of the people who thought it was unecessary at first. You have your memories from the day; a video brings those memories into focus and shows you everything you missed. One of our guests posted a video of our first dance on FB and even just watching that was amazing to be able to relive it. Trust me, you will want to be able to see the day again fro another point of view.
We didn't think we wanted one either. Then my husband found some video from his parents and he realized how cool it was and how cool it would be for our kids to watch ours in the future. Also, like above posters, a lot of people we talked to regretted not having videography at their weddings. So, we asked our photographer if she had any recommendations. She gave us a name and we fell in love with their style. So far we have only seen the day of edit (played at reception). here is the link if you would like to see it: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qncg0op7-qU
BTW- We thought about having a friend or family member filming it for us as well. We decided this was a bad idea...we wanted our friends and family to just be guests and enjoy our wedding...not have to worry about getting a good angle or making sure they were where they needed to be to get a good shot.
Leave it for the pros!
Thanks for the advice! Its good to know that I'm not the only one that has struggled with this question. I think I am going to go against my mother's advice and get the videoagrapher. Like some of you had mentioned, there are a lot of things the photographer wont be able to capture, like facial expressions and such. The post that mentioned watching the video long after my loved ones have passed greatly touched me. That was actually what made the decision for me. I want to be able to look back at the happy times when I am sad and missing my old family and friends.
We didnt have a videographer and I don't regret it. We had an amazing photographer and I'm fine with the home video footage family members captured. It wasn't a big deal for us and I personally was more comfortable not being on camera the whole day. I think it depends on your personalities but I'm glad we did not!
I know this is atypical and people will think I'm missing out. But honestly the speaches and dances were not that exciting (that sounds lame, but true) and not extraordinarily memorable. I self videotaped a lot of behind the scenes stuff on my iphone and that is funny stuff. I see a lot of the wedding videos that are tear jerkers but only due to the music and details. Don't get me wrong I love them but it's just not for me.
Well everyone knows my answer, I've posted my video on this site. We were always planning on getting a videographer at least to tape our vows, then the cold hard realization kicked in that because of our wedding date and venue, no videographer was willing to do it for cheap. IN fact, they flat out told us we couldn't book the least expensive package. So we spent a fortune, but in my opinion it was totally worth it. You go through so much trouble to plan a beautiful event and it's the most important day in your whole life so you might as well have a professional tape it.
I am having one and it was something we knew we wanted from the get-go. Every one I have talked to who hasn't had one has said that they regretted it.
We hired a videographer that was a sister company of our photographers. We got the cheapest package only $625 for 1 camera for 4 hours. We figured all we really cared about was the vows and the first dance. We are still waiting on the video but honestly I can't wait to see it. Now with everything digital, this company tries to make it "viewer-friendly" by having a movie trailer, full length movie, bloopers, chapter selections, etc. The reason why we really wanted a video was I know marriage is not always going to be easy and I wanted to be able to pop in the video whenever things got tough to remind us what we said and how we felt. I think it will be pretty special
Here's a good post to consider: http://bashertweddings.blogspot.com/2010/08/wedding-videography-great-debate.html
Yes.
I love our photos absolutely to death, but I don't know if I could stand it if that were all that we had to record the day. I'm in the waiting period now where we have all our pro photos but haven't seen the full video yet, and I'm looking forward to it so, so much. This was a splurge for us, since I wanted a videographer who would have the skills, experience and talent to edit our footage to fully reflect all the emotions of ourselves, our families and our friends.
Our same-day edit - when my mom saw this at the reception, she immediately said "Okay, I get it now. WORTH EVERY PENNY." http://elysiumblog.com/?postID=350&a-heavenly-day-in-washington-delille-cellars-wa
GOOD VIDEO IS A MUST!! My FI is new to our family, and I am the youngest. My two brothers and sister were all married to their spouses 7 years or more ago.
When we started planning he asked is he could see their pictures or what they did (he is adorably involved, not too much, but interested). Well, I showed him the albums and I kept trying to describe the feeling of events to him, but it just wasn't coming across. Then we asked to borrow their wedding videos (which they each watch on every anniversary... so cute and they cry every year) and after watching them he understood the energy in the room that I was trying so hard to describe! It captures the moment in ways that photography simply can't. Because of that experience and the fact that we both want to watch it every year, it was our big priority.
Hire one. You will never regret having a video of your wedding, but you will totally regret NOT having one. We do, in fact it's my only regret from our wedding. There are so many moments that I wish I could see because it's all such a blur. And there are things you just can't see, like I missed my niece walking down the aisle, which my all accounts was the cutest thing ever, because of course I was waiting for my turn.
And don't even get me started on our first dance. We took lessons, we practiced, it was great choreography to a 4 song medley and we forgot to ask someone to tape it for us (why yes, we are morons!) We have about 50 seconds of it that I LOVE and dearly wish I had the whole thing.
Hire one. It is money well spent.
My post-wedding response: YES! There are some things we are SO looking forward to seeing on video.
Everyone's raised some really good points. I just want to add a couple things: if you do have a family friend do it, they won't be able to enjoy the day as much because of the added responsibility. (This is assuming that they are an invited guest.) Also, my sister got married two years ago and had a videographer. A year ago, we lost my grandmother. It's so great to look back at the video and see her dancing and enjoying herself and giving my sister and BIL her best wishes. Sure, it's nice to see pictures, but it's totally different to have moving, talking video of loved ones at such a special event.
Im going to go against the grain - I did not have a videographer and I do not regret it at all. Yes, I love seeing a good wedding video clip on the internet for a few minutes. However, a 5 minute DVD trailer isnt really worth the money that would be spent on it to me and I dont think I would ever watch our wedding video on more than one occasion. My SIL has never even watched her wedding video all the way through and shes been married 6 years!! Whereas I have looked at the photographs already a bunch of times and I know I will pull out the photo album many times in the future to look at or show to others. The only thing I cared about having on video was parts of our ceremony and one of our guests filmed that so I will have that.
I think you should figure out whats right for you. Dont just get one because others have told you that you would regret not having one, because that might not be the case. However, if you want one then splurge on it so that its the best quality you can get!
I'm very torn on the videography issue. FI doesn't care either way. I don't want to spend a lot of money on it, but if I were to have one I don't want to get a cheap one and hate it. Then I would be kicking myself for either having one at all or for not splurging for a better one. I'm so conflicted!
Really I don't know how many times I will watch it I'm an awkward person and don't want to watch myself! I've even been looking into supposedly the best companies in my area and they just look cheesy.
I'm about to go out and buy a video camera and hand it to a family member then atleast I can use the camera again and it won't feel like a waste.
We can't afford a videographer, although I'd really like to have a video to watch way in the future (it's unlikley I will watch it within in the next 3 years because I would feel awkward). We're hoping to pay a college-student cousin some money to film at the reception, as we will put the camera on a tripod for the ceremony. We aren't trying to get him to film all of the reception, because we want him to enjoy himself as well. But I want the important parts and a few minutes of random dancing, etc. I'm lucky to have a brother who is awesome at video editing, so he will make our video from the raw footage... and he can use our wedding music! Just be creative to do what you can afford. You can always ask family and friends for a responsible college student they know who would be happy to get a free meal at the reception and $75-100 for an hour or two of film work. Even if it's not "awesome" footage, you still got some and you didn't shell out a fortune. It's not a guarantee that a profession videographer will do something that's $600-800 better than a nice student who is wiling to try to do a good job for you.
Please consider the following if you are thinking of having a family member or friends video your wedding. We did it and I regret not having someone who knew what they were doing. We can barely hear our vows because the mic on the camera was not able to pick us up (not even from the first row where my sister-in-law was). When guests were asked to join in on our first dance, the cameras all got turned off so I only have half of my first dance. You can't hear the toasts clearly. We have no cake cutting and almost no dancing on the video - I was lucky to get a few seconds of me dancing with my grandfather who has since passed away. If you really want a video, don't diy it. We thought we would be okay with it, but when I see what my sister got from her videographer, I wish we had just sucked it up and found the money somewhere for a videographer. Her video is so much better than ours.
I don't know if you are familiar with my wedding saga-
FI did not want a videographer, thought it was wasting money. But I sort of overrodde him and said "too bad I am paying ofr it". Mt father has a drinking problem, and I obviously had a memory problem because at the rehearsal (he was drunk) and I forgot to tell him that he was to pass me to my stepdad while walking down the aisle. Well he caused a big scene, was escorted off the property and almost was arrested because he tried to attack pretty much everyone in my faimly. Then he left said said, "FINE, you can rot in hell and pay the bill for the wedding yourself".
SO I was trauamatized, had a bad wedding day, no fun at all.
BUT ONCE I GOT THE VIDEO, it was amazing to see. I don't remember having any fun at all, but the video shows the complete opposite. From having such an awesome video, I am now able to remember the good things that happened at the wedding and Im not so focused on the bad things anymore. It was the BEST decision I made for the wedding.
Chances are, your drunk father won't almost get arrested and try to beat up your family at the rehearsal. But if something goes wrong and it distracts you at all, you'll probably feel the same way when you see your video and how everything turned out so well. :)
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Hello all!
I have already hired and booked a photographer that I absolutely love! It was one of the few things I was sure I was going to spurge on. Now I'm not sure if I also want to get a videoagrapher. I found a newer company that will record and edit my entire ceremony and reception, and they will also build us a wedding website for 726.00 (including travel) Before finding this site the least expensive place I was found started at 1,200.00
I want to know what you think. My mom thinks a videoagrapher wouldn't be worth the money since it will just be a boring dvd that wont be watched very often. However, I do want something to capture things that the photographer wont, like the speeches and dances.
Mom thinks it would be better (and more financially responsible) just to have a family friend record the wedding.
I'm conflicted because my parents are paying for my wedding. However, I'm considering just paying for the videoagrapher out of my own money since its such a reasonable price.
Any advice is welcome! Thanks!!