Wedding Videography

I talked to all of my friends who didn't get video, and they said they always regret not getting it! I know one day we'll want to watch our ceremony with our grandkids and having the video will be such a great keepsake! We ended up booking BOXTOP Film after we saw their wedding film with The Bachelor Canada! https://www.boxtopfilm.com/laurenAndTim.html Just be careful - there are a lot of terrible quality videographers (who probably aren't worth the money) so do your research!

I had hired one because memories are always something to look back on the years growing old. Its one time celebration that you will have to see yourself in the dress you wore once and all the family then.

We initially decided against it. But knowing that many friends and family will not be able to attend due to covid we decided to have just the ceremony recorded. The videographer was very open to working with our request. About 30 mins of footage with 3 different camera angles. We were quoted $290. My parents had their wedding recorded and although cringey at times, it is really sweet to see and hear their vows. I think if you are on the fence about it and don't care to have it then you are probably fine with just a photographer.

We didn't bother. I knew that I don't like seeing myself on video so the likelihood of me watching the video was very slim. We considered it after we realized that not everyone could attend, but we recorded the streamed version for the grandparents instead (and I hated every second of watching it with each of them).


If you think it's a keepsake you want and will cherish then go for it!

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None of the slow motion laughing while curling your hair and frolicking in a field sort of stuff with audio of vows playing at the same time...

When my fiancee was a bridesmaid for someone's wedding. the bride and the videographer had then spend two hours faking scenes like chatting around a fireplace (unless you're a professional background actor, it's weird to pretend to talk about something), pretending to giggle and laugh with each other on the bed while getting ready, walk across the park/field a bunch of times, posing as a group, and toasting with champagne glasses (apparently they "toasted" five times before the shot was good) - all for the wedding highlight reel's b-roll.

View quoted message All good points. And I know tons of people love the highlight reels so it obviously works as a business model.
I guess if I ever were to hire a videographer I’d want certain things in full and not any of the filler video you often see in the highlight reels. Like full ceremony, full speeches, etc. You know what I mean? None of the slow motion laughing while curling your hair and frolicking in a field sort of stuff with audio of vows playing at the same time... Sort of what you get when you watch your parents’ wedding video from the 80s lol 😂I guess what I mean is I just wish the highlight reel wasn’t the standard package - I’m sure many videographers are willing to work something else out though with couples that want to do it differently.

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It's because they can use the highlight video for marketing purposes. And they don't want someone to share raw footage that looks bad because it's not properly edited and attribute it to them. Which is totally understandable. A lot of Toronto videographers won't even give the option of raw footage. It's take their edit or leave it. It's like how photographers will only give you final prints after editing instead of dumping what's on their SD card into your computer at the end of the night.

For me personally, I always tend to watch videos over looking at photos. I want to see and hear the moments. That being said I searched for a videographer that didn’t do over dramatic or cinematic videos - I want to feel like I’m in the moment again! Our videographer also does the full speeches into a video and provides all raw footage (although she warns this isn’t “pretty” but it gives you loads of organic moments) on top of a (in my opinion) not cheesy 10ish minute highlight real and a 1ish minute taster.


I’ve had loads of friends and family regret not doing video as the day goes by so fast!

Since my wedding will be happening when I'm 34, I've had lots of friends and family get married before me. I don't personally (or mutually) know anyone who spent the money on having a videographer and no one I know that have been married in the past 5-20 years wishes they had a video.... even in the world before camera phones.

Can you imagine watching the videos many times over your lives?
Photos will last generations, video formats have changed multiple times in the past 20 years. I can look at my parents wedding photos and my mother can remember the moments. My grandmother remembered the moments looking at her photos.
The vhs baby videos of me got watched once in 33 years and no one in our family has a working vcr anymore.
If you can honestly say I will regret not hiring a videographer, I say go for it, splurge on something you'll enjoy. If you're on the fence about it, I personally would say use the extra money to invest in something else.

I think if it fits comfortably in the budget then it's probably nice to have. For me personally I just can't justify the cost though. Photography is already so expensive and essentially doubling that cost to also have video doesn't make financial sense to me. I'm also not a fan of the highlight reels videographers seem to do as the standard package and it seems like you have to pay extra for the raw footage which doesn't really make sense to me since you'd assume them not editing together a video would be less expensive.

My fiance and I have decided against one for two reasons. One, we didn't to spend additional money on something like this just because it's the cool thing to do now. Two, we have our photographer for 12 hours and we're very confident that she'll have amazing photos for us to see for years to come

I wanted to ensure we had quality videos of our first look, ceremony, first dance, speeches etc. so we opted to have a friend rent the equipment to video our day (he makes movies as a side gig) so that helped with the cost. We do NOT care about the 5 minute highlight reel it seems is all you get with most videographers unless you pay extra. In the end, given it was a pandemic wedding, we wanted it live streamed and done so professionally (ensure it works out and we didn't have to deal with it) so we hired a video/photography company. They were worth every penny! We also got to download the videos after (ceremony and reception). Our friend still videod our first look (and the best man's first look 😂 he wore my sister's wedding dress and tricked my husband) but just on his phone (which was fine because we didn't need our voices picked up). I would definitely recommend to find a way to capture these moments live unless you think you'd never watch it again. We're wondering what we missed in speeches and can't wait to listen and watch again!

I would love to have one but unfortunately it is not in our budget to have one so I just try not to think about it too much! I might just get someone to film the ceremony with their phone so I can look back on it when I want. Obviously it wouldn't be amazing quality and could actually end up being bad quality but I think it would suffice.

Video is great for being able to capture things that photos can't like audio from speeches, people's movement, etc but at the same time, ask yourself how often you would rewatch/share a video of yourself vs photos. Some people like the idea of sending a glamourous packaged cinematic reel of their wedding day to friends and family whereas others are content with seeing a particular moment captured on someone's phone camera. So I guess it depends on what you want one for.

One thing to note is hiring a videographer means one less spot for guests in your gathering count. And a videographer sometimes work in teams of two (the other person assists with lighting/audio, or shoots a second angle) depending on your needs.