Videography - worth it?

Snarling Fox

This is one our last pieces we're still undecided on. To video or not to video?? I worry that FI and I will be so busy that we won't even see a fraction of the things going on.I found a video guy that works with mainly documentaries and commercials but has offered to do ours as a "romantic documentary" for the reception and ceremony. Or we could just buy a little handheld camcorder for a few hundred and assign a friend to record.Are you hiring a videographer? If you did, was it worth it? Would you (or do you) watch it?If you don't mind, could you share your price and what it included.Thanks!

BoBride28

I think you should get it! I wrestled with the idea for a long time because its an extra hefty expense, but I think its so worth it in the end. Everyone says the day goes by in a blur and its nice to be able to watch things that you missed during the ceremony and reception. After seeing knottie SanHawaii08's video, I decided to book Studio Red and am flying them over from Oahu. 2 cinematographers with 3 cameras for 7-8 hours came up to something like $3k. Instead of just showing the ceremony and then reception in order, they will weave in the entire day together (prep, ceremony, reception) like a story. It will also include a full cut of just the ceremony too. We get 3 copies of the DVD. There are def cheaper companies out there, but I really loved Studio Red's style and am excited to work with them!

nahokulele

Hi!  I was always very anti-videographer....until I learned of Hawaii Video Memories on this board, and saw their samples.  They turned me into a believer.  As an amateur photographer, I was always much more concerned with photography.  And I still am, but like I said, now I'm pro-video, too! If your budget allows, and it sounds like you have some good options, then I would hire a pro.  If you do hire a videographer, I recommend asking to see some of his/her previous work.We are paying a lot for HVM--I think $1,500.  It's not for everyone, but like I said, I saw their samples and was hooked.HTH!

kaesha

After dining canopies, a videographer was second on my list of things I wanted but couldn't afford.

machan2010

We are going to do it.  I think the total is about $1300 for 5 hours of coverage.  We are using The Big Picture Productions, which was one company recommended by our WC. Another idea I read about in a magazine was to send your wedding footage to a company (they listed www.wellspunweddings.com) and have them edit it into a video.  I never checked out the site but the prices the mag listed were from $695-895 for the editing.  Seems like you could just hire a videographer for a little more than that, but it's another option if you have your friends film it.  HTH!

irishmilla02

Video was at the bottom of my list of things I wanted... I just don't see myself watching the video more than once.  But my step-mom insisted we should have a video made... and then I thought about FI's grandpa that can't make it to the wedding.  The video would be good for him to watch.  So I found a guy on craigslist.com who is charging $250 for the whole event and we get 3 copies.  He is good quality but not nearly the quality of studio red or one of the other frequently mentioned videographers.  Considering we aren't super worried about this item, we are happy with him.  He charges $100 for just the ceremony. 

eacerna

I am all for the videographer! We hired Scott from Big Pictures and was happy we did. His rates were very reasonable and he was very easy to work with. It is true that the day goes by fast. We had a great photographer (Frank Amodo) who was able to capture the special moments in the wedding but seeing still vs. moving/video images is different. Scott gave us a raw copy of our wedding video a week after our wedding. It was fun to watch what went on "behind the scenes". There will be so many things going on around you that you won't have a chance to see. We got our final/edited video about 6 months after our wedding. Watching it brings back all the emotions that we felt that day. Plus, we had Scott interview our guests to give us their wishes/advices. That part was pretty funny.I can't remember how much we paid. We did hire him for 8 hrs.  I can't remember how many times I have watched our wedding video. I have watched it a few times for sure :-). Sometimes, when i miss the wedding planning, i just pop the dvd on and watch our video again :-). So, if your budget allows, hire a videographer. I've had friends who regretted not hiring a videpgrapher.

Snarling Fox

Thanks ladies.. that helps, I'm probably leaning more towards hiring one - now I just have to scrape up more money in the budget

HappyGoLuckyGal

We hired one. This was really important to FI, but (like Liz) I was more focused on the photography and could care less about having a video. FI ended up booking the videography, and now I'm glad we'll have it.

kltopacio

we didn't hire a videographer . and now i totally regret it..the day went by so fast i'd like to watch it to see it in slow motion... luckily our relatives have tapes it so i would suggest to hire one...

tifani27

We aren't hiring one but are "assigning" the task to a friend at the wedding. I wish wish wish we had the money to hire one, or even to have the wedding webcast would be nice, but we don't. This way we will still have a video to play at our receptions in our respective states but it won't be pro quality or anything. Which I think will be kind of cool, or at least I am hoping it will be cool! Let us know who you choose!

inamra

I highly recommend it. We hired one for raw footage only. He was also our skydiving videographer and we loved the skydiving video so we asked if he'd like to do our wedding one. It was only $600 for the whole day (7-8 hours). I'm working on the editing still =P Been too busy to make real progress on it though =(

MrsIH

Sorry, I'm late to reply but I'm with the other girls... I *highly* recommend hiring a videographer.  For me, it was somewhat of an afterthought but I quickly shopped around and booked ours and we are SO happy we did.  We've watched the video a few times and have shown our families that could not come to HI the video as well   We went with Chrissy from Blue Cricket Productions, not sure if she has a website but we only paid around $500.00 for 2 hours of coverage.  Good luck.

MauiWedding08

I absolutely love our video.  I'm glad I splurged on Hawaii Video Memories and did the 8mm film add on.  We watched it on our anniversary and I had fun showing it to people that couldn't make it to the wedding.

ginajade

If you can afford one, you should totally get one!  We went with Video Dreams Hawaii - kind of pricey- around $3K, but this included getting ready shots, and a ceremony highlights video that Ray did on site to show at the end of the night - I'm working on getting this posted to my bio. Even if you don't spend a lot of $, you should get someone to video - like our speeches were all so awesome, I would hate not having those on camera - and I've already watched our ceremony highlights like 10 times.One thing a professional videographer will do that you can't get with a friend, is that they used a special mic so that we are guaranteed that all the speeches, vows, etc, are captureded on the video.  If a friend records, you might not catch all the sound.

AJAALEXANDRIA

I agree with Tifani in that "assigning" someone to record the cermeony is a good option if it doesn't fit within your budget. My FI has a 15 or 16 year old cousin who is really in to cinematography so we are renting an 8 mm camera (for a real earthy vintage look:))and letting him take on the responsibility. I'd say making sure your special day is filmed is the important thing; and different options that fit with every budget.

aggiem

Remember that it is only worth it if you will watch it in the future.  I think it's better to just have family members record everything versus paying someone $300 to just record.  But if you want cinematic style or something heavily edited then it can get pricey.We had a same day edit (shown at our reception) that I will post once I get the link, but everyone loved it.  Some brides who just got married this year were so bummed that they didn't do something like that.  But most importantly, we really enjoyed watching it!  And know we will watch it many times the future.  If the final video is anything like the SDE I'm sure we'll watch it many times.

mauidandy

GREAT post. I have been thinking about this all week because it's the next decision I need to make. What do you think you'll decide on?

maui2011

Mos def go for it...stills and motion compliment each other so well...we well actually I...lol...am looking at increasing the video portion of our wedding budget.  J. :-)

M&M's_Maui

A little late in my reply here but for us, venue, photography, and videography were the biggest priorities for us so my answer is going to be a little bias.    If you can fit it into the budget, I would definitely get a videographer.  Your wedding day is going to fly by so fast and you're going to miss some of the little things.  I loved our video trailer and have watched it several (hundred???) times since we got it... and it's only less than 2 minutes long!  Heeheehee!  Even if you just get an inexpensive one to just capture the basics, it'll be great to be able to show everyone who couldn't make it to your wedding or even to your future kids! 

SanHawaii08

i'm very, very late to the thread, but i definitely recommend getting video.  we didn't think it was important, so it was the first thing cut from our budget, but then my mom insisted - so we added it back.  and then we were so glad we did!  even MH has remarked that he was glad we did it, and that he really likes the video.  we watch it every year on our anniversary   i definitely agree with pp that watching the video is so different from looking at stills.  it's also nice to have the entire ceremony captured on video.  we went with Studio Red (8 hr, "wedding day feature" edit, can't remember how much we paid, but i'm sure it's changed since then), and I am so glad we did - I LOVE our video!  but really, you don't have to go super-fancy.  i think it'd still be worth getting whatever you can fit into your budget.  you won't regret it   like everyone says, the day flies by, and it's so nice to be able to watch it unfold

SanHawaii08

oh, one more thing - if you do your own handheld, make sure you hook up your FI to a mic for the video camera, or you won't be able to hear anything during the ceremony.