What to look for in a Wedding Videographer

You have read the blog post Should I have a wedding videographer and decided you want to book a professional to film your special day. But now the question is what to look for when choosing one?

This is not the easiest question to answer, especially for me as its what I do. But I will try my best to be subjective in my advice and answer using the feedback and experience I have gleamed from the many couples that have booked me.

Feel comfortable around your wedding videographer.

I think the most important thing any couple should look for when choosing a wedding videographer is someone they feel comfortable around. I really can’t stress enough how vital it is on your day that you are both able to relax. Not only for the enjoyment of your day but also to get the best out of the professional videographer or photographer you’ve booked. If you are feeling uncomfortable around them because your personalities aren’t quite aligned then this can come out in the film.

Now I’m not saying you need to become best friends and invite one another on holidays, but if you get a vibe that this person is someone you won’t mind having around you and your guests then that is a great starting point.

Love their style.

When I edit a wedding film I make a point of editing the film to tell the story of the day. The feel and vibe of the wedding I attended is always reflected in the edit and is always commented upon when I see couples have shared their wedding highlights on their social media. “OMG its like being back there all over again” and ‘Its been captured perfectly” have to be the most common comments I read. But although the weddings themselves are never the same, my style is consistent.

Style is something I pride myself on, its often why couples book me and its important brides and grooms like my style when they choose for me to film their wedding day because then its pretty much a dead cert they will love the films I deliver them.

Many videographers follow a format when they shoot and edit wedding videos. Their own personality should come out in those films so it is important you like that as its one of the key ingredients you will be booking and paying for. I’d hope you wouldn’t buy a dress or a pair of shoes because everyone told you that they are the best but when you put them on you can’t stand to look at yourself in the mirror because it is just not you.

Its your wedding day, not theirs.

Now this next bit of advice shouldn’t only apply to the wedding videographer you choose to film your wedding day, but to all the wedding suppliers on the day.

What I am referring to is you as the couple getting married shouldn’t have your day chopped and changed to suit the videographer. You shouldn’t be getting dragged away from your guests every 20 minuets so they can get the shots they want for the film. Your receptions should’t be lit up like the West End or Boardway stage so they can get a video that suits them. Your videographer should in my opinion be there to capture your day as in unfolds. There will of course be things a videographer will know to be better ways of doing things, for example I often give advice to couples on the best way to capture their toasts or speeches. But at no point during to day should the videographer become the centre of attention with tons of kit directing a couple like Stephen Spielberg on the set of West Side Story.

Good wedding videographers provide quality, so allocate a budget that allows you to get what you want.

I must be careful how I word this as I am fully aware that everyone has a different budget and I fully respect and appreciate that.

It is important to understand when a wedding videographer is priced particularly low, it is for a reason. The reason can be a number of things but it is more often than not because the finished product just isn’t as good as those who are able to charge more.

Much like a fast food chain cheese burger is likely to be considerably less than a filet steak from a Michelin star restaurant. The fast food chain might sell a lot more burgers and make a lot more money over all. But the quality isn’t anywhere near comparable to that of London’s Pied a terre or Le Gavroche.

This of course isn’t to say just because a wedding videographer is priced lower the work is awful, but it is to make readers aware that the cheap videographers are cheap for a reason. Allocate budget appropriately. If the way in which you capture your wedding is important to you, don’t put wedding videographer at the bottom of the list of things.

A wedding video will out last the table decorations and lawn games. Make so the budget allocation reflects that.

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