The ultimate guide to hiring a wedding videographer
Going through the wedding planning process, wedding videographers tend to be a last minute addition. For many it’s a definite choice, for others, a “maybe” and for some, the idea of being filmed is not desired or within their budget.
Even though it may not occur to every couple on their big day, wedding videographers have experienced so many different approaches to how some couples may view filming their wedding. When you see the work come to life, naturally capturing your favourite moments, having a wedding videographer is always described post-wedding as a must and an incredible way to relive your big day (with many regretting not having their wedding filmed!).
What is a wedding videographer?
The role of a wedding cinematographer is to tell your wedding story. There is normally one or more members of a team to capture all angles and perspectives. Find out more about the people behind Heritage Wedding Films here.
How many cameras will be present at the wedding?
It is normally optimal to have 1-2 cameras operating at a discreet level for the ceremony and speeches. This will typically look like a wide angle shot from the back of the room and a close up of the bride. Even though there is more than one camera, the videographer will very subtly film your day, blending into the environment so that you can enjoy yourself and the experience whilst barely noticing the videographers.
Why choose a videographer?
Your wedding day is a hugely important day, and some say one of the happiest days of our lives.
Memories of that big day may slip away throughout the years, so having it on film is a perfect way to remember each moment as it happened.
It is an opportunity to capture the natural emotion from the bride, groom and all guests at some of those significant moments, from walking down the aisle to the first dance, and is an opportunity to relive some of those truly special moments that are an addition to professional photos, bringing the professional photos to life.
Your wedding day will also go by incredibly quickly! It’s a busy day, with lots of family and friends surrounding you. On your wedding day, many memories are being made at once for you, your partner and your guests. With so much happening (and many champagne’s flowing!), it’s easy to miss or forget all the details, emotion and the story shared across all wedding guests.
It’s also a great chance to have something to show to those who were not able to experience the day themselves. Now with the internet and technology, there’s no better and easier way to share your wedding film amongst all your family and friends. Especially for long-distance family members, or in uncertain times such as Covid-19, the ability to view the special moments alongside the bride and groom are incredibly special. It also shares the moment between generations, in years to come watching back over with children and grandchildren.
Watch some examples of how a wedding film can capture your big day here.
What happens in the process before the wedding day?
You will have meetings before your big day with the wedding videographer to discuss your desired outcome of the film. This is where you can discuss:
Packages
Where you’d like the film focus to be
When the wedding is and where
How long you’d like the videographer to be there - e.g., just the ceremony, or the reception as well
How you’d like the film to look and demo videos
How you’d like to receive the film
How many copies are
The length of the film
The pricing to meet your requests
If prices include travel expenses
What packages are on offer?
Many wedding film companies have different levels of packages such as “bronze”, “silver” and “gold” packages which clearly highlight which package will work best for you and your budget. This includes things such as the quality of production, the amount of editing, the length of time both at the venue and the wedding film itself, varying locations and the size of the team attending may differ between each package and price point. It is important to note that often these are negotiable if you want to adapt the package to suit you, and there tend to be additional charges for more coverage.
Entry-level: (average £500 - £700) include basic coverage (5 hours) from arrival of guests through to reception.
Mid-level: (around £1000) includes more coverage of the entire day, including bride and groom prep, with more ways of accessing your footage after the wedding.
Premium level: (more than £1500) includes best quality, a larger team of videographers, full day coverage, and more, varying personal features for your wedding film.
At Heritage Wedding Films, we offer a single wedding film package which has been carefully curated to include everything you need from a video package without a ridiculous price tag. Find out more here.
Different styles of wedding video include:
Montage: A montage video uses snippets of all the best bits from your wedding, often referred to as a highlights film, against emotive background music. The Heritage Package comes with a 5-7 minute highlights film featuring the best moments from your big day. Watch some examples of our films here.
Same-day teaser: A short, quickly edited video to share almost immediately after the wedding (to help with the anticipation of the final result!).
Documentary: This is also known as “journalistic” or “reportage”, this style captures the wedding without the videographer getting too involved, capturing the events in a linear fashion, as they happen, from morning preparations through to the reception at the end of the night. They may not be as “polished” as a cinematic video, as they feature the unstaged, personal moments, sometimes using the combination of storytelling to show the informal moments with the formal audio moments. The final film is normally 60 - 90 minutes long, and may include interviews with guests, with comments after significant moments or offering congratulations to the newlyweds. However, other than this interaction, the team acts as a fly-on-the-wall to let the events unfold naturally capturing every key moment. Sometimes this storytelling from the guests is used in the background alongside the music, but this may be more common with the cinematic style wedding video.
Cinematic: Often using state-of-the-art technology, the cinematic style almost looks like a movie. It emphasises the emotion of the day, filmed and edited like a movie, with the final product lasting on average between 60 - 90 minutes. It will use tone, music and effects such as slow motion, aerial shots and soft transitions to capture the story in less of a linear fashion, and more like a montage focusing on themes from the day. This means the filming style may have more motion and brighter colours with more interaction with the guests. The cinematic style is very similar to the documentary style, and most wedding videographers will use elements of both and discuss and research different wedding video businesses to see what their approach is and how you can incorporate your favourite elements into your own video.
Short form: This style is a highly edited and shrunk down highlight video, ranging between 3 to 15 minutes, focused on bride and groom preparation, the ceremony and the reception, used in combination with a full feature video. These short-form videos are snippets that you can use on social media, and send on to other guests that could or perhaps couldn’t make it. It’s not always used by wedding film companies, so this is something to discuss with your desired team.
Traditional: This is a professional, but generally unedited, style of video that can last between 2 - 3 hours, with less focus on the behind-the-scenes, and more focus on the ceremony and reception.
Story-telling: This style is very popular, that sometimes uses a narrator, test, music or a combination as a voiceover to focus primarily on the love story of the couple, sharing key moments of the wedding day. Due to their similarity, is often used in cinematic styles.
Marryoke: This approach takes snippets of the guests lip syncing a song (of your choice) from the day, to create a wedding music video. This is a fun play on the traditional elements of a wedding film for something more cheeky and informal.
Fusion approach: The Fusion style combines video with still photos to create a highlight-reel montage of the day.
How can I ensure that the wedding film is of high quality?
We cannot stress how important high quality is to a wedding film. High quality audio is what sets apart the good from the bad wedding cinematography. Portfolios will clearly show the style and tone that will best suit your dream day. View our film portfolio here at Heritage Wedding Films to find out if our style suits your vision.
Ensure your videographer uses high quality equipment
Ensure that your videographer uses high-quality, professional audio so that the video is clear and masterful. As well as a main microphone, backup options should always be used in case there is any signal loss or interference with the main microphone. There should also be multiple backups of your footage from your wedding day to ensure that storage of critical moments of your day are secure and backed up.
What video options are right for our wedding day?
The aims of the wedding video should be discussed with the wedding cinematographer before the wedding day. This is where having all day coverage can really shine through as there will be more than enough footage there to allow incredible edits, naturally-captured mementos, and the flexibility to upgrade if you wish to.
All day coverage comes as standard with our packages.
How will I receive the video?
The delivery method varies per company, but can include live coverage, high-quality streaming, a YouTube link/digital download, a wedding DVD disc or via USB memory stick. The number of the products you receive will depend on the package, price and the agreement between you and the wedding film company.
What happens after the wedding day?
You may like to have a post-wedding meeting to discuss the shots taken, and to be shown a rough-cut (a basic, draft edit) to ensure that you are happy with the final product. With the feedback you may have, they can then produce a final version based on the elements you’d like to keep (or not to keep!).
Getting your wedding film back from a company can also vary massively: from 2 weeks to 6 months. Sometimes this will vary depending on the season, as in a busy wedding season the turnaround time may be slightly longer. The more precise a company can be with their timing and delivery usually indicates a strong sense of experience and knowledge.
Check out our 3 step process below to find out what to expect if you book with Heritage Wedding Films.
The 3 step process at Heritage Wedding Films outlines exactly what to expect when you book with us.
Questions to ask:
1. How many hours of coverage are included? Will there be extra charges for more coverage?
2. How long will you be there on my wedding day?
You want to know if bridal and groom preparations are covered, even if they are at separate locations. And when will the videographer be there until in the evening. Will they hang back for evening entertainment?
3. How many videographers are included?
Although one videographer can create a nice film from your day they can’t be in two places at once and therefore could miss important angles. Take the ceremony for example one of the most important moments are the bride and father walking down the aisle and the groom reading to his bride. 1 camera angle on the bride and father and another solely dedicated to the groom and his reactions is what’s needed here to capture all the emotion of the moment.
4. Will the audio be high quality and do you have backup microphones on the day?
We cannot stress this enough. High quality audio is what sets apart the good from the bad wedding films. You want to know if there will be a main microphone capturing all the audio and backup options in case there is any signal loss or interference with the main mic.
5. How will I receive my video?
There are plenty ways of receiving your wedding films and these could be on a USB, DVD, digital download or YouTube link.
6. How long will it take to get my video?
Getting your wedding film back from a company can vary massively in time from 6 weeks to 6 months. The more precise a company can be with their timing and delivery usually indicates a strong sense of experience.
7. What if I want to upgrade my package after the wedding will you have enough footage to do that?
This is where having all day coverage and a second videographer can really shine through as there will be more than enough footage there to allow you the flexibility to upgrade if you wish too.
8. Do you have insurance?
You want to check that the videographers have wedding insurance and public liability insurance.
9. Will the footage of my wedding day be securely stored and have multiple backups?
You want to know that there is multiple backups of your footage from your wedding day. And on different types of storage devices is a bonus e.g. on a hard rive or cloud based storage system.
10. How many cameras will you use?
It is optimal to have 3 - 4 cameras for the ceremony and speeches. For example, for the ceremony this will typically look like a wide shot from the back of the room and two close ups from either side of the bride groom and celebrant then a camera angle on the audience for there reactions.