Videographer: worth it? any budget options?

We didn't really have the budget and only two guests. My friend offered to video me walking in and the service. She videos two minutes then put the cameramdwn and took photos instead. I had a professional photographer! My oh also set up a go pro camera in the chapel and one of the guestsmstoodmin front of it for the whole service. Check out my post trousergate' lol. I also asked my oh for him or best man to video me arriving by reindeer sleigh. They didn't!

My advise is if the budget allows do it and don't trust friends. If it's important to you pay a professional if you can.

OMG that video is amazing!

I've been toying with the idea of booking one but they are all so pricey around here! I did find an option that we were considering which is to hire two cameras, have your friends & family take the footage & then you send it back to get edited, & that was £400 - might be a compromise?

I'd only ask family or friends to video if you are confident in their abilities. My sister videoed my first wedding and had such shaky hands it was completely unwatchable - it made you feel a bit sea sick!

If you can afford a vog then go for it and that sounds like a good price to me

In general like with most things in life, you do get what you pay for.

The cost of a videographer varies massively just like photographers do.

Wedding videography is actually very difficult to do correctly. The camera themselves are cheap. It's the cost of lighting and stabilisation that costs. Steadycams can go into thousands. A good video tripod can be several hundred. Also the expertise in getting good quality sound. When I do video, I have shotgun mics and hook the groom up with lapel mic and voice recorder. A camcorder halfway back in church simply will not capture clear enough sound.

From an equipment point of view, that is what will separate a friend/family capturing video handheld on their camcorder and what you are paying for.

So I think you have a decision to make really. Will the £500-£750 videographer do a better job than your friend/family? Or would you rather save the money and use it elsewhere?

At the risk of sounding biased, I'm very glad we got our wedding videoed. I watched a few clips the other day and it's amazing what I forgot that happened.

Ok Thanks guys that helps ?

I think we are going to go for it, provided I can get OH on side ;-) and sounds like if we think its worth doing, its worth doing properly and get a professional to do it.

Martin: I'm not sure how amenable the church will be, would the right (professional) equipment pic up the sounds without wearing mics etc?

Have you spoken to the church yet? Usually they ask for a 'license fee' to be paid too before they allow you to video the ceremony. That will also bump up your costs.

As for picking up the sound it really depends on the church itself and where the videographer is standing. Generally I use a lapel mic as it's pretty discrete and close enough to pick up good audio from the groom and yourself. The shotgun mic on the camera most of the time does a decent job if I am at the front. On occasion I've strategically positioned voice recorders on a table, in a bouquet (not the brides) just as backup in case something went wrong.

Photographers can get away with a lot using Photoshop nowadays. There's much less latitude with video so it's imperative they get it right.

Ah ok that makes sense, thank you!

Initially, I didn't want a videographer. My friend hired a terrible one at her wedding who bugged me all night to leave a video message and it really out me off!

When I got engaged and thought about it, I changed my mind! My friend didn't have one and told me that she regrets it.

Choosing a videographer was the hardest decision so far. I agonised for hours! There are videographers who charge £2000 - £3000 who will provide amazing cinematic films but I couldn't justify it and my OH wouldn't let me book with them (one had a drone that would fly over the venue and everything!)

I found that a lot of the cheaper videographers weren't very good. I finally found one that was acceptable for £895 and booked him out of sheer desperation. My friend, who is also getting married, then told me about a lovely videographer who is a young female and is really current and only charges £950. I looked at her work and loved her style so I cancelled the first videographer and booked her instead (losing our £100 deposit with the first guy. OH wasn't impressed).

So, my advice would be to have a videographer if budget allows and do lots of research to find one whose style you like and who fits your budget. It can be done X

We are having a videographer, my OH didn't want one at all, he point blank refused as he hates himself on video. I worked at him for weeks and weeks and finally managed to persuade him that if I managed to find a cheap enough one to film the ceremony and speeches then I could have one. I then spent weeks looking for one that I liked within my budget of a few hundred pounds, I showed him a few videos to compare the difference in quality and he finally agreed that if we are going to have one then we should have one we like. I dragged him along to meet someone that a friend recommended, once he had met him and watched a few more of his videos he was sold and then spent the rest of the day thinking about the backing music for it all! ha ha

As someone else has said, videos capture the day in so much more detail than a photo ever could. If this is important for you then go for a professional, as it takes the pressure off your friends to do it for you on the day.

Keep working at him....I'm sure you could convince him if you kept on at him for long enough xx

I didn't particularly want a VOG until I read a thread on here about what people regretted about their wedding, and not having one was a recurring theme. I'll see if I can find the thread to give it a bump.

We've since done a complete 180 and really splashed out on a VOG who does beautiful cinematic footage. It's one of the most expensive things we've paid out for, but by far the thing I'm most excited about.

I'm glad I've come across this thread. We have only just started planning and haven't spoken about a VOG I've just read this thread and txt h2b and said if the budget allows next year (we are getting married 2018) can we look into getting 1. Fingers crossed he says yes lol xx

I'm glad I've come across this thread. We have only just started planning and haven't spoken about a VOG I've just read this thread and txt h2b and said if the budget allows next year (we are getting married 2018) can we look into getting 1. Fingers crossed he says yes lol xx

KatieJ2B: haha, maybe I need to keep pushing! He's still dragging his heels about it. Mentioned I was thinking about getting one and he wasn't keen and she said 'Remind him how many times him and his sister watched ours when they were little' haha if that doesn't win him over nothing will!

Karen84: that's what I'm worried about, I dont want to regret it after and would rather trim the budget down elsewhere to do it properly.

An VOGs out there west mids way with 24th Sept free, give me a shout ;-)

We really want one but they do seem so expensive. We have amazing photographers, great venue etc. We love the thought of a video to see everything in detail. Here people's voices etc. I just hope we can fund a good one for a reasonabe price?