How to Hire a Kick-a** Videographer
Wedding planning is here and as the excitement builds with searching for potential vendors, confusion and a little nip of anxiety may arise as well.
If you are a member of any FB groups, this may hit close to home when I say - everyone these days has a camera and everyone these days wants to make a quick buck with their new hobby. This can lead to confusion as to what videographers and photographers really cost. For the sake of this article and myself being a videographer - I will stick to my lane of videography - but this does certainly apply to photography out there as well.
I absolutely LOVE new adventures, new hobbies, new goals and aspirations and I absolutely love to offer my help and expertise to new aspiring videographers. We all start somewhere! So much love to them. BUT, the raw reality of this is that when it comes to your wedding day - this; in my opinion - should be the one day you do not cheap out on.
Weddings as we know, have so very many cherished moments that happen ONCE. There is only one chance to catch the groom’s/or bride’s first glance at his/her beautiful beloved walking down the aisle, one chance to catch them quickly wipe away a tear before anyone notices, one chance to capture the parents quick exchange of loving and proud looks to each other as the two recite their vows, once chance for that first kiss as a married couple at the end of the beautiful ceremony and so on. This requires experience and skill to be able to read the room, the people, the timeline and the fact of instant spontaneity of a live event, being capable of capturing it on camera.
The next thing is equipment. We professional videographers study and know our equipment, we know exactly what we need and what to bring. We know to bring backup cameras for safety and also for extra creative angles, we know to bring multiple mics for the best sound possible and we know to back up our video files and how to always safely store them. (and I personally am that videographer who will keep your video files forever. This is such a cherished day, it just makes sense to me to keep your cherished moments. This is also helpful for if in a year or two you reach out saying “I’d love the full version of our parent’s first dance, do you have that?” And I’m here to say, “Yes I certainly do, I got you!”
Next is passion, of course. We can truly feel when someone just isn’t passionate about the work they do and are perhaps just doing it for the money, this may work but I can guarantee the artful magic and storytelling that I believe needs to be woven in every film, just won’t be there. It may fall flat, like something is missing, like it’s just ok but nothing to get goosebumps over.
When your videographer is passionate and their eyes light up when they speak about how they can make your dreams come true on your wedding day with video…
that is magic in the making. THIS person has the spark of creativity that it takes to capture your most sacred day and convert that day into a visual piece of stunning legacy art.
The next is price/investment. While there are so many different points to make about the price market within the videography world; I will stick to this:
Let’s dissect videography into three different categories based on price. Price will most often determine the level of experience, quality and experience as a whole from start to finish with your videographer.
The Budget Videographer - this videographer is most likely a hobbyist, doing weddings in his/her spare time and just learning the ropes. The main concern here is safety. I see so many people post in FB groups that they are looking for a “budget” videographer to save a bit here and there and I can tell you - videography is the last thing you want to cut costs on. Literally think of videography as a mini movie production because it is. There are a lot of moving parts here. Choosing to opt in for a cheap videographer could cost you not receiving your video at all, not receiving all of your special moments throughout the day because of equipment failure or lack of capturing it at all, malfunctions with storage creating loss of footage etc. Leave these amazing humans for the anniversary or the family shoot (something you COULD re-do if you really needed to.) And not a wedding where nothing can be re-done including authentic in-the-moment emotion. There are literally hundreds of other things to cut costs on, videography should never be one of them. (Typical budget videographer range $1,000-$2,500)
The Upscale Luxury Videographer - this videographer is whisking off to some of the most prestigious weddings and the most luxurious locations. High end names and complete movie-star quality. Nothing less of extraordinary will do. (Typical investment between $15,000-$30,000+)
Then you have professionals right in the middle. The Modern Professional Filmmaker/Videographer - this is what this filmmaker does for a living. She/he is 100% invested and prices her/his services accordingly, just like any other business out there. They have the experience and knowledge, gear and wisdom to make your dream wedding day film come to life. Their bread and butter. Heart and soul. And bringing back the word safety here…your footage is always protected, you know 100% that they are capable of capturing your most precious moments & people and they deliver on-time with excellent communication and customer service skills. Having that safety piece is in of itself priceless. (Typical investment between $3,500-$8,500.)
AND…Make sure your videographer is genuinely a nice person :) We all have intuition and I suggest to lean into that when talking to a potential videographer and also ANY potential vendors.
Can they have fun?
Are they easy to talk to?
Are they excited to potentially work with you?
Are they sharing tips/tricks/resources with you?
What’s their energy like?
Afterall, you will be spending your entire wedding day with this person, entrusting this person to capture your most precious and memorable moments; once in a lifetime moments - so make sure you LIKE who you choose to work with!
I hope this article shed some light, inspiration and knowledge for you. If it did, or some questions or comments arose - PLEASE slide on into my Insta DM’s and share your thoughts, questions or comments - I absolutely LOVE chatting, sharing knowledge and answering any questions!
Let’s be social! (Insta: @fayefilms.ca)
