It’s no secret that we love wedding videos around here. Even more than that, we love seeing couples find the perfect videographer to capture their special day. Get the most out of your wedding day with these tips for choosing a wedding videographer.
Like with any vendor, you want to hire a wedding videographer that meets certain criteria. Your ideal wedding videographer is one that produces video in the editing style you like best, shares your view on the important details to capture on the big day and is someone you enjoy spending time with. Put our favorite wedding videographer tips to the test and get started researching wedding videographers today.
How to Shoot the Best Wedding Videos
Get the most out of your wedding video by helping your videographer help you. As with all relationships, communication is key. When interviewing potential videographers, it’s important to ask questions, share your expectations and let them know what you want out of your wedding video. Just as you will have questions for your future videographer, they will have questions for you to see if you are an ideal client. They want to best serve you and make sure they can meet your needs. These three tips for choosing a wedding videographer will help you get the most out of your wedding day.
1. Have a Wedding Videography Checklist
Much like selecting any wedding professional for your big day, you’ll want to interview potential videographers to find the one you feel is the best fit. Put together a wedding videography checklist of questions to ask each potential videographer. No one expects a couple to go with the first person they interview, but make sure that you communicate throughout the whole process and do not expect a videographer to hold a potential date open for you forever. It’s okay to tell them if their answers to these questions mean they aren’t a fit for you.
Hours
Let your videographer know what your wedding day schedule looks like. Are you looking for full day coverage from getting ready all the way through the reception, or are you simply looking to film the ceremony? Ask what hour increments the videographer offers in their packages? What is the charge for each additional hour? It’s important to communicate your time needs far in advance so they are built into your contract. You can’t decide to extend the party on your wedding night and expect your photographer to stay.
Videographers
How many videographers will they bring for your wedding day? Will they have a second shooter? A third assistant? Having a second and sometimes third assistant ensures you get the most important shots. This allows your wedding video to highlight the special moments simultaneously, think you smiling ear to ear while walking down the aisle at the same moment your partner is tearing up at the other end. Having a full videography team means one camera is filming you sharing a romantic moment while the other catches your flower girl putting on an adorable show on the dance floor.
Equipment
What equipment does the videographer use? Is it the same equipment they used to shoot over videos in their portfolio? If not, ask to see work they have filmed using the same cameras they will use on your wedding day to get an accurate picture of what you can expect.
Ask how they back up their footage. For example, do they shoot with multiple memory cards in their camera? Do they have several hard drives to store everything while editing? It’s every videographer and couple’s worst nightmare to lose footage so make sure they have backup plans.
Hiring a destination videographer? Inquire how they travel with their equipment. Do they carry it on or is there a risk of it getting lost in checked luggage? What is their plan if this happens? No one likes to think about videography equipment loss or damage, but it’s always helpful to be informed and prepared.
When to Film
What aspects of your wedding day do you want filmed? Will they film you getting your hair and makeup done? Will your first look be private between you and your partner or captured by your photographer and videographer? Do you want your videographer filming your cocktail hour, your wedding portraits, or both? Do you want to contract them through your whole reception or only until you finish the special moments such as first dances and cake cutting?
Extras
It’s important to understand everything you are getting when hiring a wedding videographer. What’s included in the wedding packages the videographer offers? Offerings vary by videographer, so ask what you’re getting and what each package includes.
Are their team’s travel expenses included in the package price? Will they need hotel accommodations for traveling to your venue? What happens in the event they have a personal emergency
Be sure to ask about their deliverables. What size or screen ratio will the video be? Will this age well as technology advances and screen sizes change? Will the final video be delivered as a video file, a DVD, or both? What is the music selection process for the video? How long will the final product be? Do they offer a short sneak-peak video for social media? These wedding videographer tips will ensure you get answers to all your critical questions to help you make an informed decision on who you’re hiring to be a part of your special day.
2. Understanding wedding videography trends
Before interviewing wedding videographers, sit with your partner and watch wedding videos (we’ve got nearly 20,000 videos for you to choose from). Talk with your partner as you watch to identify which videos were your favorite. Discuss what you both agree on and figure out where your personal style preferences vary.
What moments of the video were your favorite? Was it the vows, the detail shots, the dance floor? Did a certain genre of music really set the tone you liked best? What editing style was your favorite? Do you find yourself liking videos that are fun and colorful, romantic and traditional, documentary-style, or more cinematic?
The reason you are hiring a wedding videographer is to have a lifetime of memories. Ask yourself if the trends you love are ones you’ll still like in 10, 20, or 50 years. Go with a videographer whose videos are ones you can imagine yourself watching over and over as you grow old.
3. Advice on wedding videography
Get a wedding video you love by sharing what you want upfront. The more you want to add on to your contract as you get closer to the wedding, the more of a chance you have that your videographer cannot accommodate your requests.
Speak up with your wishes and expectations
These tips for choosing a wedding videographer will only go as far as you communicate with them. Don’t be afraid to share what you like, what you don’t like, what questions you have. As much as you want to get the most of your wedding day video, your videographer wants to give you the most.
Less is more.
No matter how much you loved your wedding day, you won’t want to sit through hours and hours of footage every time you watch the video. A great wedding videographer knows how to pick the special moments from the day and condense a full day of love and laughter into a video you’ll want to watch over and over without feeling like anything is missing.
Tune in and enjoy your special day.
Find a videographer who puts your mind at ease. During your meeting with them, ask yourself if you enjoy spending time with them. Their videos may be the best videos you’ve ever seen, but are they someone you get along with or could see yourself being friends with? Remember that this person will be with you through all your special moments. You want someone you like and trust so that you can focus on your wedding day and not on whether or not you like having them there to film your wedding.
Pick your music together.
Talk with your partner about your music preferences. If you have a favorite song you would like to use or a certain vibe you’re going for, communicate this early with your videographer to see what their music library looks like. Popular songs often come with additional licensing fees and a classical, romantic song will give your wedding video a different feel than a dance floor remix. Make sure you and your videographer are on the same page.
Use examples to communicate your expectations.
This is especially helpful if you have videos that specific videographer shot that you absolutely love. If you are showing examples of other videographers’ work that you love, remember to leave the job to the professional. Don’t tell them how to edit the video or micromanage them. If the editing style examples you provide are not the same style as the videographer you’re talking with, they may likely suggest it’s time to look for new videographers that shoot in your preferred style. Remember, choosing a wedding videographer is about finding the person who is the best fit for you and your partners.
Already put these wedding videographer tips to the test? Here’s how to find a wedding photographer.