Video for your wedding, a must or a maybe?
It’s no surprise that booking a photographer should be at the top of the wedding planning “To-Do” List, but what about a videographer? Is it really worth it to have both photo and video coverage for your big day?? Here’s what I think:
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I got married a little bit before the instagram boom, and I was still fairly early into my wedding photographer career, so I wasn’t quite as aware of wedding trends yet. It didn’t even cross my mind to hire a videographer and I am SO SAD!! luckily some family members were thoughtful enough to take some video footage of the highlights of our day on their phones, so I do have that, and I LOVE watching those phone videos!
Here’s what videos have to offer:
1: Emotional Recall:
Photos are extremely important, they can be turned into tangible prints that can be archival and outlast any sort of digital media (more about the importance of prints coming soon to a bride-tip-blog near you;)). They freeze frame moments for your personal history, but videos are able to bring you back to the emotions and feelings of the day. There’s something about the movement and the audio that truly makes you remember how you felt. I think photos can bring back emotions too—but there is a bit more of a focus on the way things look in a photo than the way things feel. You’ll get to see milliseconds between expressions and interactions that you might not see from photos that don’t capture running, continuous footage.
2: Quick and Easy trips down Memory Lane:
in a 2-5 minute time frame you can visit all of the highlights from your wedding day in real time. It takes much longer than that to go through your wedding photos one by one, but you can get the feels back almost instantly with a video!! Don’t get me wrong, lingering and reminiscing over beautiful images from the most important day of your life is special and important, but sometimes you need a quick fix;) and a wedding highlight reel video is the best way to get one!
3: Remember it, and then remember it again.
Frozen moments have beauty and importance, but so do videos. Why not have double the coverage??
When you hire a videographer and a photographer you’re going to get two perspectives, two art series, two people witnessing, recording and documenting your day. — when all is said and done, the only thing you will have left are the memories, so you may as well get as many hard copies and versions to hold onto as possible right?!
LOOKING FOR AN AMAZING VIDEOGRAPHER? CHECK OUT SOME OF MY FAVORITES!!
so what do I do if I can’t do it?
If Video just is not in the budget, I get it. Obviously in an ideal world where money is no object you could hire your dream photographer and your dream videographer but sometimes that’s not the reality. and that’s ok!!
“VIDEO IS IMPORTANT
…and I’d definitely recommend investing if you can. But if you can’t, here are all my thoughts on videography if it’s not in the budget:
There is a bit less discrepancy between experienced videographers and beginning videographers than there is between experienced photographers and beginning photographers. The photographer generally is responsible for a lot more directing throughout the day whereas the videographer follows along with the photographer’s lead for the most part (In theory, if you hire a photographer who can set up good shots, the videographer will most likely end up with those good shots as well). So, you may be able to shop around a bit more as far as price goes, but look at their portfolio and make sure you like what you see. If at the end of your budget you don’t have room for videographer with a portfolio you like—you shouldn’t waste your money on one you don’t like — but you should ASSIGN SOMEONE ON YOUR WEDDING DAY (a cousin, or friend are great options, maybe the wife or girlfriend of one of the groomsman) Pick someone who will be there the whole day but isn’t so close to the bride and groom that they want to leave their phones in their pockets and experience the day first hand. Ask them to take video on their phones throughout the day, specifically of your ceremony, cake cutting, first dances, and exit. You can even tell your photographer who you asked and tell that person to follow along behind the photographer throughout the day. There are lots of apps that can stitch together video clips for you to have a final homemade video of your wedding day. *Make sure you have them take footage in landscape not portrait. (if you want it to be a more “professional” looking home-made video)”.
— Excerpt from Article by Summer Soelberg: How to Have Your Dream Wedding on a Budget