Here at Love Stories TV, our goal is to help every couple plan their dream day without stressing so much over every decision. In fact, our little secret? You should do exactly what you want to do as a couple—it’s your day!—no one else’s opinions matter. However, we know it’s easier said than done to not stress over a wedding so we’re sharing some of our best wedding planning tips with you.

Our Head of Marketing, Juliette Dallas-Feeney, shared her top five tips on choosing a videographer that will be perfect for your wedding. She shares everything from the first things to consider when finding a videographer through understanding modern video lingo. Watch the video for all of Juliette’s tips below.

Hi everyone! I'm Juliette from Love Stories TV¸—the first and only video platform for wedding planning and inspiration. Today I'm going to tell you everything you need to know about hiring a videographer for your wedding. Did you know that one of the biggest newlywed regrets we hear time and again is not hiring a videographer for your wedding? Seriously. Maybe you think it's, you know, you don't NEED photo and video, it's a little bit overkill to have both. Or maybe you just can't figure out how to put a videographer in your wedding budget so it kind of goes to the bottom of the list. But trust us, having a videographer at your wedding is one of the best things that you can do.

You will want to hire a videographer for your wedding day and here's the reason why. The speeches and the vows. You're going to be flying around on your wedding day and to be able to go back and watch that footage with sound and motion of the heartfelt speech that your maid of honor gives, the personal vows between you and your partner, your partner seeing you for the first time as you walk down the aisle and all of the special emotions that you both are feeling. Having that film, having that footage from your wedding day, that's something that you, your partner and your family will be able to re-watch and relive so you can feel those emotions all over again. Before I share exactly what you should know, make sure you hit that subscribe button. You'll get notified when we release new videos on our channel, wedding advice like this and also beautiful and inspirational real wedding videos so you can get ideas as you are planning your wedding.

Tip #1: Find a Videographer/Photographer Duo!

There's a lot to capture on your wedding day in a really short amount of time and your photographer and videographer are going to be capturing the same scenes so things like getting ready, first look, ceremony, reception, speeches, vows, dances…all of those big moments from the wedding day itself so coordination is really really key. If you can, try to find a videographer and photographer who have worked together on weddings before because they will have systems in place and they will know exactly how to make it all work with their equipment and timing. If you don't know where to begin, you can ask whoever you hire first, whether it's a videographer or photographer, if they have any recommendations for a vendor who they work with and enjoyed working with. You could also ask your wedding planner, if you're using a planner, and they can make recommendations as well.

Tip #2: Find a Videographer Comfortable in Your Venue

So let's say that you're getting married outdoors and, the filmmaker that you found on lovestoriestv.com, you love their work but all of the weddings that they shoot happen to be indoors, in sort of ballroom-type settings. Raise the questions to the filmmaker before you hire them to make sure they're comfortable shooting in your venue and they can be aware of the different coordination that needs to happen with power and outlets and their equipment, that it will work in that venue type. You can also feel free to request more sample films that may match your venue style a bit more and even show them another filmmaker’s film from your venue just to confirm that they are comfortable shooting in your venue setting nine times out of ten they will be, but it's really important to raise this question ahead of time.

Tip #3: Match Your Style

This might be really obvious but there are a ton of different types of wedding videos out there—you can watch them all on lovestoriestv.com!—but don't say I didn't warn you when you end up spending hours binge watching strangers’ wedding videos and then crying, which is what I do most days. So wedding videos vary a ton, some feature more getting ready scenes and staged moments between the couple, others focus on more of the raw and candid moments and might focus on the dancing and the reception, some feel like music videos and they're really just splicing in the vows and speeches here and there, some are a combination of everything, so the best thing that you can do is watch a ton of different types of videos, mark the videographers and the styles that you like and then, when you're thinking about hiring a videographer, make sure that you send them examples of their own work from their portfolio and be specific with what you like about those videos, what was it about that scene? Was it the editing, was it the cinematography? Be specific and set expectations so that you can end up with the best wedding video for your special day.

Tip #4: Don’t Limit Yourself to Location

Certain vendors like caterers and florists, they make a lot of sense to hire locally but don't be constrained by location when it comes to hiring a videographer for your wedding. While filmmakers do need a certain amount of equipment, it's usually not more than they can take in a car, or even on a plane, so don't be afraid to reach out and ask. And also, sometimes videographers are looking specifically to diversify the geographic location of where they are filming weddings so if you're getting married in Charleston but your videographer is in Colorado, who knows? It's worth asking!

Tip #5: Understand Your Video Package

As wedding films have increased in popularity over the last couple of years, so have the package options and the terminology. Understanding everything that comes in your package will ensure that you aren't disappointed later. When your filmmaker sends you examples of what comes in your package, it will mention things like the Instagram teaser, which is usually a vertical cut that’s around 60 seconds long that you can put on your Instagram, or the Highlight Reel, which is typically also called the trailer and the type of videos that we feature on lovestoriestv.com, they are anywhere from a couple minutes to several minutes long or it's the full edit or the raw footage. Or maybe they're even doing things like a video booth that you can add on to the package as well. Just be crystal clear on what is included in the package and be sure to watch examples of the types of things that are included so you can have the best experience and get the best package and you're not disappointed if you're ending up with less footage or more footage than you were expecting.

So there you have it—the five things you should know when choosing a wedding videographer. We hope this is helpful and make sure to check out all the real wedding inspiration on lovestoriestv.com.