Videographer or not??

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I'm glad I could help

I think it depends on your budget/ also what you want.

Originally my Fiance and I were just going to do photos but we ended up going with a package for photos/video combined, getting an edited video also getting the unedited video clips too as my photographer is someone I know and gave us a bit of a deal, also 8 hours with over 300 photos at a decent price.

I would look around at different people n get a feel of the pricing if videography is something you truly want. another thing is you can always get small clips of your wedding filmed by someone (first look if you are doing that etc) You dont have to get a videographer as its your day and you can do whatever you feel like

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When I got married last September, I found a ton of videographers in the GTHA who are willing to just shoot footage without the edit for half of that cost. Hiring someone to shoot pro-level raw footage could be that middle ground of No/bad video to amazing super short cinematic highlight reel.

It sounds like you like the idea of video but don't care for the short highlight video. A ton of videographers will make a 30min documentary-style video if that's what you want.

If price is a factor, and you're willing to go with someone less experienced or get a product less polished/cinematic, there are a ton of people looking to get into the field and build a portfolio. They'll charge accordingly based on their experience and offering.

You can also contract a professional for a shorter day vs a full day. A lot of videographers are willing to do shorter "engagement style" sessions. Maybe have them only come during the ceremony and bridal photos instead of the full day with the getting ready and the dinner party.

View quoted message That’s really nice ! A true sentiment for those people for sure !

View quoted message A majority of the vendors I reached out to for this sort of thing like the highlight and the full were well over $3000-$4000 which i do understand how much time effort and equipment needed and the quality of their work was amazing. It’s just hard to try to budget this amongst everything else that’s just as important so I’ve been stuck 😩

I had wanted to hire just a photographer as I know I won’t really go back and watch the video often, but my fiancé’s family really wants one so they can send to overseas family who isn’t able to attend. I thought that was a nice idea for them to be able to watch the video and feel included

Because we live streamed (using professionals) we were able to download it all after (ceremony and reception) and are SOOO happy we did this. We also did not just want the highlight reel but all of the footage. We wanted a well done video of the whole ceremony, speeches, etc - not just snippets. Most companies have packages to get most of the footage from what we found. I don't think anyone ever regrets getting the video. Any of our friends that did are so happy they did... My sisters both did in 2001 and 2008 and neither regret it either.

View quoted message I agree !! I wanted the videographer in the beginning, however getting tons of quotes and realizing it wouldn’t be more than a 8 min video turned me off. I’m just going to use my photographer to my advantage for the whole night and capture everything that I could get in video

My fiance and I have decided against one. Simply because we don't want to spend money on something like this and because we have our photographer for 12 hours which is more then enough time for amazing photos!
Everyone is different and if it's something that you and your fiance want and is in your budget go for it! It's your day!! But don't do it just because it's the new thing to do.

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Thank you so much for your response! Makes me feel like I'm not crazy, haha! I would just rather even pay our photographer a little more in order to get more photos, and use the money we would pay towards a cinematographer to even bring more guests, or use it towards something else. In the end, it just makes more sense to us to have a complete, full wedding photo album to hold on to

Hi Amanda!

I struggled with this myself when my fiancé and I were looking into photographers and videographers, and we collectively decided on just hiring a photographer. You make a fair point by saying you'll get more use out of just having photos that you'll be able to use as much as you'd like to your desire, meanwhile, will only watch a happy video a couple of times within a year, if that, and an expensive one at that. Having a video of your special day would be lovely, don't get me wrong, but at the end of the day, I believe it all comes down to if you're willing to expense that cost. Photos are just as amazing because you can display them all over the place whereas a video has to be sat down and watched.

I hope this helps! Happy planning