“Should I book a wedding videographer?” is one of the most debated questions between couples when booking wedding suppliers. Many couples are on the fence for several reasons; budgeting – “do we have the cash spare to afford both a photographer and videographer?” “Maybe it’s something you hadn’t originally thought of until you started looking into wedding suppliers?” “Maybe you know couples who regret not having their wedding filmed and have no way to watch back their wedding?” Truth is wedding videography and photography go hand in hand when preserving your wedding day. One captures quick snapshots of emotions, the other captures the moments that lead to those emotions, the special words spoken and the action in motion.
As a Lancashire based Wedding Videographer, I get so many people enquiring about and booking wedding videography as a last-minute decision change. For a variety of reasons, wedding videographers are typically low on the priority list when booking suppliers for your wedding and I’m never sure why, I love to look back on old family videos especially when hearing my nan and great aunt, who I’ve recently lost, having a good giggle with some happy memories. I’m here to tell you the reasons why you should include a wedding videographer in your budget from the very beginning if you really want to preserve the memory of your wedding day as best as you can.
1. VIDEO CAPTURES EMOTIONS IN A WAY THAT NOTHING ELSE CAN.
My first argument and one that can’t really be argued against. There are several moments on your wedding day where emotions run high; from the excitement of getting ready, the good kind of nerves walking down the aisle, the laughter when you hear what your best man has prepared for your speeches. The power of being able to watch and listen back to your vows or speeches is something in itself to treasure over time. You can relive every word, exactly as it was said and perfectly preserve the emotions when you said those all-important words or if you’re like me, you’re a family orientated person and would love to remember the moment your nan busted some moves under the disco lights of the dancefloor!
A creative videographer will use music when editing highlight and feature films of your wedding day. Music plays a huge part in carrying emotions in films, I’ve talked about all that in a blog post here. Pair your favourite song with every, laugh, tear, reaction, dance move all crafted into one place that you can easily look back on, you’ll be so glad you had your wedding professionally filmed.
2. A KEEPSAKE THAT WILL LAST GENERATIONS
There’s so much thought and preparation that goes into your wedding day, but fact is that once the day is done, without a video you’re trusting your memory to bring the photos to life. Accurate, true to life memories only last so long! Without video, over time, who knows what your celebrant said in your bespoke ceremony, or what you said in your vows when you threw away the paper and spoke from the heart. Investing in photo and video means that you can easily look back on all those details you carefully chose. Your video will keep all those special details safe in one handy place so in the years to come when your children ask about your wedding- maybe they are planning their own! You will have the video evidence that you can sit down and watch together.
Side Note- My parents got married 30 years ago now, and recently moved their wedding video onto a DVD. Once the DVD was returned, my parents, my brother and myself sat down and watched back their wedding and being able to see my grandad’s brilliantly written, hilariously charming speech- and even re-live this again with him, was a lovely experience to share. As well as seeing all my now adult cousins – who have their own children- as little flower girls!
3. VIDEO CAPTURES LIFETIME MEMORIES
If you’re a family orientated person like myself, having the means to watch back on friends and family at various stages of life is priceless and so precious. As I’ve already said, I love to watch back and hear my nan and great aunt giggling away during our holidays in Devon, it’s a precious memory that I’m so glad we have! So whether you’re inviting your new tiny baby niece or your great grandparents, having a memory of them all together on that night in a way that will last forever, is invaluable.
4. YOU CAN RE-LIVE YOUR DAY OVER AND OVER AGAIN
Being able to re-watch and re-live your day over and over again, is a blessing. Whether you are worried that your day will fly by in a blur and you’ll miss or forget details, or that your friends and family can’t be there to celebrate with you, having a wedding video means that you can re-experience your wedding day however and with whoever you choose. You’ll have a perfect means to watch back and laugh about everything that did (and didn’t!) go to plan.
Sidenote- I know plenty of bride’s that are so glad they had their wedding filmed when they sit back and watch their wedding video again. Especially when they’re in that happy, newly wed bliss bubble!
5. VIDEO CAPTURES THE TIME EVERYONE IS TOGETHER IN ONE ROOM
I’m lucky in the sense that I have a close family and friends that live fairly close to each other and we spend a lot of time together. I realise that this can be a rarity for most people and that there is rarely an occasion when everyone is all together in one room. Your wedding day is special because it involves everyone you love, all your favourite people together in one room and that is surely something to celebrate and be remembered. Especially if both sides of the family haven’t properly met and are dying to get to know each other!
6. THE QUALITY THAT A VIDEOGRAPHER CAN GIVE IS BETTER THAN ANY IPHONE
Trust me when I tell you that you’ll regret saying “We’re not getting a videographer; we’re going to film it ourselves and put it together after.” When you choose to hire a professional videographer, you’re hiring someone whose job it is to have an in depth knowledge about cameras, lenses and the best way to film scenes and events. Every camera setting, camera position and lens is carefully sourced and considered prior your wedding day to give you a stunning, emotional film that won’t miss a detail and will be preserved for the future. Would you rather have a videographer that you’ve carefully selected and understands the best possible way to capture your “I do” moment, or would you rather your Uncle Bob shakily filming on his iPhone peering over the heads of your lovely guests on a device you can barely hear the vows on? Let your Uncle Bob enjoy your wedding without worrying whether its recording or not and invest in a videographer!
P.S. I’ve also had enquiries from bride’s who filmed their wedding 10 years ago asking if I might be able to edit together what they filmed because they never got round to doing anything with the footage. Which of course I’m happy to do but it goes without saying – life moves fast, people! Editing takes a significant amount of time, even without having to learn how to use the software! Save yourself the everlasting job on your to-do list and invest in someone to do all the hard work for you. Which leads me on to my next reason…
7. DON’T GET STRESSED ON YOUR WEDDING DAY!
Don’t get me wrong, I love a good DIY wedding wherever you can and totally understand that budgets are there for a reason. But your wedding day only happens once, and your wedding video is something that you’ll regret attempting to do by yourself (unless you’re a professional videographer!) It’s likely that your wedding will have been a year in the making, especially if you’re wedding was due to happen in 2020! Enjoy it! Live it! Why add the extra pressure of remembering the GoPro’s or wondering whether your Uncle Bob remembered to press record on his iPhone- a job that will turn into a huge hassle when you struggle to transfer the full video I might add! Why not relax knowing that your wedding is being preserved in the hands of a professional?
I could go on with all the reasons that you should hire a videographer for your wedding, but hopefully the select few that I’ve spoke about in this post are enough to convince you to put a little section of your budget aside for your wedding video. Weddings are a special occasion and ones that should really be treasure. So to answer your question, yes, you should start looking at wedding videographers!
If you want to find out more about wedding videography, please get in touch. I’d love to have a chat!
All images shown in this post are stills from my wedding videos. If you’d like to check out the full films, head on over to my films page!
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