One of the things you may hear most often when planning for a wedding is the price of hiring a wedding videographer to create a mini-documentary of your wedding.
Capturing these memories from your big day is an important part of any wedding.
You’ll want somebody who is good, somebody who has all the right gear, and somebody who will do anything to get you the perfect shots and knows how to edit it all together.
Unfortunately, a common thing you’ll come across when searching for one is that a good wedding videographer is expensive.
This can be true depending on your budget, but there are a lot of reasons why they are so expensive, and also some misinformation about why this is.
In this article, we’re going to give you a comprehensive guide that will help you with everything to do with wedding videographers.
We’re going to explain what they do, the kind of equipment they might use, and how you can make sure you find the right one.
We’re also going to give you a breakdown of their costs to explain why they cost so much!
What Is A Wedding Videographer And What Do They Do?
It’s probably best to start at the beginning and explain the basics of what you’re hiring when you find a wedding videographer.
A wedding videographer is a person who produces a video that documents the entirety of a client’s wedding.
This has been a thing ever since cameras were made available to the public, but over the years it has become an important piece of modern weddings.
Wedding videographers will typically be trained in the field of videography, photography and editing film.
If they are experienced within wedding settings, they’re likely to have a long list of events that they’ve worked on and have lots of tricks to create a video that will completely document and celebrate your wedding day.
Many wedding videographers are going to be able to tailor the footage to the style you want, or that best fits you as a couple.
Typically, a wedding videographer will move through the wedding (alone or with an assistant), capturing the most important moments, and ensuring they get enough footage to cut together a good video.
What Is The Average Cost Of A Wedding Videographer?
This can depend a lot on the type of wedding videographer you choose. A typical figure that you might expect to see is anywhere between $1000 and $2000.
Depending on your budget, this might seem like an insane figure to you, but it’s actually on the low side compared to what you could pay for one.
Typically, the more professional the videographer is, the more they will cost, with some charging all the way up to $6000 for a video.
With videographers of this level, you can expect some really impressive footage, as well as above-average equipment.
Professional wedding videographers will have a whole host of expenses that can explain why they might charge great deals of money for their time and expertise.
Next up, we’re going to be explaining some of their common costs and how they justify charging the rates that they do.
Experience Costs
This is the first thing we want to mention because it’s often an aspect that can be overlooked when considering the price of a wedding videographer.
In short, wedding videographers have spent a great deal of time and money becoming trained to do what they do.
Skill is something that takes a long time to gain. With a good wedding videographer, they will have already made videos from countless other weddings, and all of this experience comes at a price.
It’s difficult to put a figure next to how much this experience has cost them because this will depend on the videographer you hire, but it’s worth noting that a lot of what you’re paying for is the time and expertise that has been gathered over the course of their career.
It’s something to keep in mind when considering the videographer you’re going to hire.
Equipment Breakdown
This one is easier to put a number to. The average costs of equipment, ranging from physical hardware such as cameras, lenses, and lighting, to video software and a PC to edit all come with costs.
We’re going to give you a basic breakdown of some of these below:
- Canon EOS R: $2000
- Various Lenses: $2000
- PC For Editing: $1000 – $3000
- Audio Equipment: up to $500
- Batteries and Charger: up to $500
- Tripods: up to $500
- Editing Software: up to $250
- Drone: Up to $2000
It’s hard to put definite numbers on some of these pieces of equipment, but this breakdown gives you some examples of how pricy professional video equipment can get.
It’s worth noting that equipment has a sell-by date in terms of dating – what is new and cutting edge one year might be subpar the next.
Editing Time
A lot of what a wedding videographer will do within their job is behind closed doors.
After their shoot on your wedding day, they will take the footage back home or to their place of work, where they will begin their long editing process.
Editing involves looking at all the footage they have, figuring out what the essential shots are, and creating a video from them.
Often wedding videographers will work out a sequence that will act as a framework for the kind of footage they want to include.
From here, they will use editing techniques to splice the footage together and create a narrative that will take the watcher through the day.
More than this, they will use other editing techniques such as color grading and transitions to make something that looks professional for years to come.
The editing skills will vary depending on the videographer you choose, but many of them will have examples for you to watch before committing to a hire.
One of the important things to stress here is editing a wedding video might take almost three times as long as the actual shoot, so this has to be taken into account when considering the cost of a wedding videographer.
Frequently Asked Questions
What Is Better A Wedding Photographer Or Wedding Videographer?
This is a difficult question to answer because it completely depends on what you are searching for.
If you’re looking for some perfect photographs that can be framed and kept for years to come without looking outdated, then you’re going to want to find a photographer.
However, if you want a high-quality video that you can keep to remember the day as though it were a movie, a videographer is going to be your best bet.
The most important thing to note here is that a wedding videographer is going to be much more expensive than a photographer.
A photographer’s gear usually costs a lot less than a videographer, and their editing time is likely to be considerably less.
You can occasionally find a videographer who is also able to take photos throughout the day or vice versa, however, this is much less common than somebody who specializes in one field or the other, and they might charge additional costs!
Is A GoPro Good For A Wedding?
GoPros are a cheap alternative to a wedding videographer, that can give you a whole host of good memories.
If you get one of the guests to wear one throughout the day, you’re going to get a lot of first-person footage that will give you a really cool angle of the wedding.
GoPro’s have great quality, but they’re not likely to be as impressive as something that has been professionally shot and edited together.
How Long Is A Wedding Video?
Wedding videos typically don’t last as long as a movie.
This is down to the amount of footage a videographer can get throughout a day, as well as the way that they will splice it together to make it engaging and representative of the day’s festivities.
The shortest wedding videos will be around 15 minutes, whilst some of the longest can go all the way up to 30 minutes.
This is the kind of thing that you can discuss with a wedding videographer once you select one.
What Are The Main Things To Consider When Hiring A Videographer?
Generally, there are 3 main things you’ll want to consider. Experience level, the quality of their equipment, and the passion they show for their profession.
If they can tick all three boxes, then you’re likely going to get a good end product!
Final Thoughts
A wedding videographer might seem expensive at first, but when you break down some of their common costs, as well as the editing time and experience levels they have, it’s not surprising that they charge the rates they do.
It is very important to be skeptical of their prices, but it’s worth talking with the videographer in question to see the kind of equipment they have, their experience and previous work, and the end products they deliver to clients.
We hope that this article has given you some context as to why wedding videographers charge the rates they do, and that you now feel a lot more confident about where you need to start looking in order to choose one.
Generally, wedding videographers are open to talking about the finer details of their work, so it’s always worth asking questions!
If you still have some questions left over, check below for our extensive FAQ section. Happy wedding planning – we hope that you plan the perfect day!
When I'm not busy scouring the internet for the latest trends, you can find me cuddled up with my fur babies, binge-watching romantic comedies, and sipping on a good glass of red wine. I'm also an avid traveler, and I love exploring new destinations and immersing myself in different cultures.
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