How Much Does Wedding Videography Cost?
Shannon // Liam | Elsick House, Aberdeenshire, Scotland
A must for some, maybe for others, deciding whether to have wedding videography in addition to photography is one of the most difficult decisions to make. But why? Who wouldn’t want a cinematic masterpiece of their wedding that they can look back on and relive whenever they so wish?
One thing with wedding videography is that it can be very expensive. Whilst wedding photography captures moments of your day in real time, wedding videography is a whole different ball game. The film captured at the end needs to tell the story and emphasise those emotions felt on your special day, and it’s a skill that is hugely underestimated. Wedding videography requires a tonne of work. In this blog post we’ll take a look and tell you why wedding videography is worth the expense…
Experience
Wedding videography isn’t something that anyone can just pick up and do. There is a high level of creativity and skill needed throughout the process. Some wedding videographers are just starting out, whilst some have been in the game for years and are true professionals. With years of experience under their belt, videographers have dealt with many situations, captured many moments and produced many films and honed their style of creativity and their skillset. More experience means higher prices, but you can look at their examples of work and feel secure that they’ll get you the exact film you want.
Time
Videographers spend a huge amount of time on each wedding video they capture. It’s not a case of merely capturing the moments and then uploading them to watch. Tons of time and effort go into the planning, prep and capturing a wedding film. Initial meetings, reviewing the location beforehand to capture the best parts of any grounds, endless hours of studying filmmaking techniques, filming, backing up, organising files, music search, editing, and then sound design and curating the final film. There are so many hidden aspects of planning and creating the perfect wedding film. Creating film is an art form that requires skill and patience.
Crew & Equipment
Your videographer might have extra cameras and assistants to ensure all the amazing moments of your day are captured. If each camera has 8 hours of footage, it’s a lot of material to go through and select. Extra video cameras, lenses, drones, storage such as hard drives, mics, tripods and transporting all this equipment is essential to creating a high quality wedding film. Equipment is a huge part of the cost of videography. Think of how expensive a professional 4K camera is, they can range anywhere from £3000 to £40,000!
Travel
If you’ve found a wedding videographer that you absolutely love but they’re not local to you then travel to the venue and accommodation will need to be considered. It’s likely that they’ll also visit the venue beforehand to review and plan the best locations for shots. On the day they’ll need to ensure all staff and equipment get there safely so this can all impact the cost of videography.
Editing
Editing is probably one of the most time consuming processes when creating a wedding video, with as much as 14 hours of footage potentially being captured in one day it requires a lot of mental focus and creativity to select all the right moments and compile them into an emotional story that best reflects your day. Professional videographers need to have the most up to date editing softwares, and licenses and these alone can be very costly. Think of how sound can change the mood of scenes during TV and film. Sound can heighten moments and transform the mood. Sound is so important because it engages people and can completely transform the way a moment or memory is perceived. Videographers need sound and music licenses to be able to use sound properly in films.
Completing a wedding film is no mean feat, it can take a couple of weeks to complete the final wedding video. However it varies for each individual videographer. Editing requires uploading, labelling, selecting, culling, cutting, editing, adding effects and sound, reviewing, exploring and delivering. Completion time can vary during peak and off peak periods but summer is the peak season for weddings. This means during summer you might have to wait a little bit longer for your film. So if your wedding videographer is booked to the brim, they might have a whole host of other wedding videos to edit.
Insurance
Everybody wants a smooth running day and nothing to go wrong. But it’s better to plan for any mishaps and disasters should they happen, that’s why it’s important for wedding creatives to have insurance. Insurance means videographers are protected financially in case anything does go wrong and it covers anything from equipment, public liability, damages, loss of footage, drone or loss of income. Wedding videographers obviously need to prepare for when things go wrong, but look at how amazing wedding filmmaking is when things go right.
When all is said and done, film is beautiful. Video captures so many amazing moments that photographs can’t, it captures that moment in time to be rewatched forever! Think of how emotional you’ve been watching a film as opposed to looking at photographs. Film brings everything to life. And there’s no doubt that you’ll love watching your wedding film back as the years go by and showing family and friends. Getting your wedding captured on video is a once in a lifetime moment.
Thinking of booking your videographer or photographer? The earlier the better, read here to find out why…
More Wedding Planning Guides to Help You Plan Your Dream Wedding
Meet Your Fine-Art and Luxury Wedding Photographers and Videographers Aka us ;)
We’re Aryan and Shay, your wedding photographers and videographers aka someone who will laugh with you, cry with you and capture the authentic you and your big day in the most honest form.
Our signature style is a mixture of editorial, documentary and fine-art - think of it as cooking a meal - it’s the combination of multiple ingredients that make up the final delicious dish - and in photography and filmmaking, it’s the combination of these three styles that make up an elegant wedding gallery.
By air or camper van, we travel anywhere in the world where beautiful photos and videos turn into timeless memories and life-long friendships.