The world of wedding videography is complex, uplifting, and extremely demanding, but at the end of the day, it is all worth it!
Wedding videography has generous room for creativity, but there are certain things that are obviously expected by newlyweds thanks to tradition. There are things that used to look great a couple of years ago, or even a decade ago but nowadays, shouldn’t be done.
Many wedding videographers have developed and enhanced their skills around certain moments that could be easily found in wedding packages.
But some couples want to get a little bit more quirky and think outside the box, and even though it isn’t wrong, it could be a waste of talent to ask for things that aren’t in fashion anymore. After all, the budget will be built around the expected shots and styles, so any additional requirements will increase the total cost.
In this post we’ll share some tips for enquiring about a wedding video. So, without further ado, here are the most important dos and don’ts when hiring a wedding videographer.
Don’t Include Your Entire Relationship History
It is fun to see how the love story developed through time, but honestly, many of your friends are pretty aware of how everything happened, after all, you’ve probably been showcasing it through social media all along.
If you want to include some iconic milestones of your relationship as an introduction to your wedding video, it is fine, but get straight to the point and curate those moments as much as possible.
This section should be 5 minutes long tops, but we consider that 3 minutes of it is effective and still fun to watch.
The Documentary Approach
Filming weddings with a documentary approach inherited by photojournalists and documentary cameraman has become pretty much a standard.
Nevertheless, there are still plenty of couples that aren’t aware of this videographic approach with weddings these days. It is all about capturing the whole array of precious moments happening prior, during and even after the wedding.
Posing could still be done, but is not a recommended style anymore. Videographers should always be working hard, pursuing the most beautiful wedding moments with the best possible lighting to capture it in the most meaningful of ways.
So, if you are about to hire a videographer for your wedding, look through their portfolio, and search for 100% natural moments filmed with their cameras.
Ask for the Entire Ceremony
The entire wedding ceremony is something that should be kept separate from the main wedding video itself. It is the most truthful evidence of the lovely and solemn pact that weddings are.
So, whenever you are asking for a video service for a wedding, you should make yourself clear that you want two different things, the ceremony video, and the real deal wedding video. This last one is where style comes into play.
Don’t Ask for Guests’ Interviews
Alright, this was kind of cool some years ago, but honestly, when weddings are mildly large, this becomes exhausting, not for the videographers (well, a little, but that’s not the point) but for the guests as well. And these interviews end up piled up somewhere.
This can distract the videographers because the budget covers certain things, and rather than capturing truly meaningful moments, videographers are forced to restrain themselves from capturing those moments while filming awkward and less meaningful interviews from the guests. The gift cards and the guest log are the ideal places to know what guests mean from their hearts.
Highlights Reel > Raw Footage
There is a huge difference between the raw footage of the whole wedding, and the entire ceremony. The last one includes only the ceremony itself, and not the entire day of filming. We as videographers are entitled to give it to you, but honestly, you’ll just get hours and hours of footage that have no cohesion with each other.
It is important for you to know that the ultimate product of a wedding videographer is the final reel, which usually spans between 10 to 30 minutes tops. Here all the highlights are included, and the true cinematographic magic takes place. After all, you are paying for that cine look, asking for the other thing is just a waste of time and resources.
Wedding season is just around the corner, and we hope that this brief yet truthful guide will help you out into making the wedding videography decision process a less stressful experience.
Contact Us
Oh, last but not least, we talked about the act of looking at a portfolio, so here is ours for you to take a look of what we are passionate of doing. Feel free to contact us if you see something you like about our style in it!
