Videographer: yay or nay?

I'd love can't really afford it :-( just going to take a video camera and a tripod and try to film the ceremony and speeches and anybody who fancies a play with it x

Personally, I would much rather invest in a good photographer rather than waste money on a dvd video that only end up gathering dust on the shelf, unlike great wedding photos that will go on the wall and we can see everyday :-)

I had mine videoed back in 1990. We have only watched it together once in over 20 years of marriage! I've watched it a couple of times alone.

My view is that if you can afford £1500 for cinematography then go for it. If you can only afford £500 for a low quality video then don't bother.

I had a cheap as chips video the first time round and I'm eternally grateful I did as my dad passed away 11 days after the wedding and he features quite heavily in the video. The quality isn't great, we were the woman's first wedding, I think, which is why we got it so cheap (literally just paid for her travel costs) and the sound could be loads better. No, I don't sit and watch it on a regular basis (especially now I'm divorced!) but I wouldn't be without that video.

Having had one last time, I'm having one again this time. This time I'm paying over £2k to have it done properly.

Big yes for us.

When we first started out in photography, we always agreed that one day, when we got married ourselves we absolutely would not have our wedding filmed because they just were not for us. We didn't like the look of the more traditional wedding videos at all. Then we met a cinematic wedding film maker, ended up seeing a few cinematic films and completely changed our minds. They made us look at wedding films differently & now there's no way we'd be without one.

Would I sit down and watch a 4 hour long traditional style video more than once or twice? Probably not. Would I sit and watch a 20-30 minute cinematic film of the day again and again- you bet!

For us, the crux of it came down to this. In 5, 10, 50 years there's a good chance that many of our loved ones will no longer be with us. Whilst beautiful photographs will capture a static moment and seamlessly tell the story of your day, they will never be able to immortalise certain things- such as an audible wobble in someones voice (little things that can mean so much) In years to come, I want to have the option there to just be able to hear my dads voice again for example. I really do see a wedding film as an investment, not just for ourselves, but also for nieces, nephews and perhaps sons and daughters who've not even been born yet. I can't even imagine how much happiness & comfort it would bring my family to be able to sit and watch grandparents wedding videos had there been one available.

I know that they aren't for everyone and I know they're not the cheapest things in the world, but for me personally I'd sooner have one and perhaps end up thinking "I wish I'd saved my money" than for it all to be over, never have the chance again and think "I wish we'd invested in a film" And that's not to downplay the importance of having an amazing photographer at all, but an attempt to express how wonderfully the two mediums compliment one another.

We're having one; I was concerned by the amount of money it was costing but I spoke to my dad (has no idea how much any element of our wedding is costing) and he said if he could change 1 thing about his wedding to my step mum it would be to have had it filmed- booked the videographer later that day

Hi, I've found a great photographer who I really love, he asked if we were having one and was overjoyed when I said No. He said when you have a videographer and you can see the photographer in the shot it looks good, and you can see people having their photograph taken etc but when you have the videographer in the back of some of the photographs it can ruin the pictures - and I kind of agree.

We also decided that we probably wouldn't ever watch a video (DVD, showing my age ?) But you have photographs up on the wall etc - also, one last point is that my photographer will put all of our chosen shoots onto a DVD with music, so if we wanted to watch that we could. Hope that helps, I guess ulimately its personal choice x

Not trying to change your mind at all, but just to make it clear for others who may now be worried- That's genuinely not much of an issue when you have two professional teams working together. As long as both sides are respectful of one another and realise that they are both there to get the best results for the couple, it should be a breeze (and usually is, in our experience)

This^^^^^^^^ the thing a lot of photographers will not work with a videographer, probably through a previous bad experience with one, lets face it we are all professional and should be working together for the couple but if you cant work with a videographer then there is something wrong.

I have worked with some brilliant videographers but then I have had I think 3 really bad ones where they will step in front of you while you are taking a photo☹️ but then take a look on youtube at the amount of videos showing photographers doing the same to the videographer, swings and roundabouts, it depends on who you have as a photographer and videographer, I get on with anyone no matter what they are like.?

No apologies needed, you were giving advice from your experience. I can tell you now there are both photographers and videographers that think they are the only ones that matter on the day and wont give a damn about the other supplier. I think in the last 3-4 years I have had 2 really bad videographers but you have to be professional and get on with them even if they are pushing you out of the way to get a shot.??

I feel sorry for the videographers, when ever I turn up to a wedding and there is a videographer I can see by there face they are not looking forward to the wedding until I go up and introduce myself and explain how I work then ask them how they work, they then come out and say something like they dread the photographer on weddings but I can see this is going to be easy working with you?? I even take them on the couple shots as well?, if you get on like a house on fire then you are going to get a set of stunning images, that's the way I look at it?