Tips on Choosing a Wedding Videographer

Choosing your Wedding Videographer

A wedding video captures the spirit and emotions of your day.   An experienced wedding videographer knows how to capture the most important moments, tell your story, work effectively with your other vendors, manage stressful situations, and make adjustments for everything from poor lighting conditions to overly rowdy guests!  Whether you are certain you want a wedding video and don't know where to start or you are still considering your options here is some advice from the  experienced wedding videographers of Rock Life Studios to help you get started:

1.  If it's too good to be true it probably is.  There are plenty of videographers on the internet offering bargain basement prices to shoot your video.  Everyone loves a deal (myself included) but be careful of a company offering to do your video for well below market price.  Making a top quality wedding video is an expensive business.  Pro videographers have top of the line cameras, lenses, microphones, editing software, lighting, etc.  Additionally, a true pro has likely spent years building their business and perhaps working as a grunt for other companies to learn the trade.  Like anything in life you get what you pay for.  You can't re-do your wedding day so be wary of amateurs trying to turn a quick buck at the expense of your wedding day memories.  

2.  Consider your wedding day style.  There are several videography styles available and its important to know which one you are getting when you sign with a company.  Cinematic style, which we at Rock Life Studios use, provides you with a high quality movie of your day and is edited together to tell a story and evoke emotion. Documentary style or "point and shoot" is also available from some companies and usually is just a straight forward recording of your day burned to a DVD.  Do your research on the styles your company provides so their won't be any surprises with the final product.

3.  Watch video samples  It seems to make sense that you would want to see a sample of the work your potential videographer produces, but you would be surprised by the stories we hear of couples booking a company, hating the product, and then saying they never even watched a work sample before signing on the dotted line!  Any experienced company has work samples.  Period.  If someone says they don't have samples I urge you to run, not walk away from this company.  The vast majority of companies have work samples right on their website for you to view but if they do not make sure to ask if samples are available before you take the time to sit down for a meeting.  

5.  Experience and Equipment  Ask your videographer what kind of experience they have shooting weddings and film.  Many videographers currently in  business are accomplished cinematographers with impressive credits to their name.  Also, ask about the kind of equipment your videographer uses.  You don't need to know anything about cameras to ask this question!  Many of today's videographers are using small  but powerful DSLR cameras which shoot in HD.  The type of equipment can make a big difference in what your overall product looks like.  You should also be able to get an idea of the quality by watching samples (see #3 above).

6.  "I'm interested in booking, so what do I get?"  Most videographers have pre-bundled packages for you to choose from.  Some important things to look for are the number of hours your videographer will actually be at your wedding, what type of edits you will receive, and what the format of your final product is (e.g., Blu-ray or DVD).  Also be sure to read the contract and if needed have your videographer explain anything you don't understand.  

Wedding videography has certainly come a long way in recent years.  Having a high quality video to share with family and friends and to enjoy for years to come is something no couple regrets.  Good luck in your wedding planning!

Rock on,

Melissa

www.rocklifestudios.com

facebook.com/rocklifestudios