Michigan-Detroit

Cinematographers for our wedding - any good ones and is it worth it?

Hi everyone,
I recently saw a video made of a wedding out of state and it was a husband/wife cinematography team that compiled it.  It was AMAZING!!!  Totally different than any wedding video I've ever seen. It was literally like a trailer for a movie but it documented their entire wedding day from start to finish.  Now I really want to invest in a cinematographer because if I ever lose my memory at least I can look back on a really cool video of my wedding for memories.  Does anyone know of some good (and budget friendly) cinematographers available for hire? 

Re: Cinematographers for our wedding - any good ones and is it worth it?

  • I looked at videographers from the $1000 to the $10,000 range.  I almost settled on one just about in the middle at $4,500.  But it occurred to me that by the time our kids get old enough to see it the technology will be obsolete anyway.  They will be laughing at our dancing and our clothes and no one will care one iota if it's worthy of an Academy Award. The main thing is that it's professional.  So I went with Mike Staff on the lower end of the range and feel confident with them.  They are very affordable.
  • We went with Mike Staff as well, just shy of $2,000 but I've liked everything I've seen from them so far.  I feel that they'll still capture the day and I won't be breaking the bank!
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  • In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/local-wedding-boards_michigan-detroit_cinematographers-for-our-wedding-any-good-ones-and-is-it-worth-it?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Local Wedding BoardsForum:88Discussion:732deb1e-aa93-41e9-af49-70e9566966fbPost:df2cdc09-c65a-4479-8558-30f4649477f9">Re: Cinematographers for our wedding - any good ones and is it worth it?</a>:
    [QUOTE]We went with Mike Staff as well, just shy of $2,000 but I've liked everything I've seen from them so far.  I feel that they'll still capture the day and I won't be breaking the bank!
    Posted by kd1986[/QUOTE]

    Exactly!<img src="http://cdn.cl9.vanillaforums.com/downloaded/ver1.0/content/scripts/tinymce/plugins/emotions/images/smiley-laughing.gif" border="0" alt="Laughing" title="Laughing" />
  • We went with Baran Video Productions. They're just over $1000 and did an amazing job.
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  • I bought a video camera for $200 and will be setting it up on a tripod to capture the ceremony and the toasts...I do not care to watch a long music video of my wedding.
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  • mpicklmpickl member
    500 Comments First Anniversary Name Dropper
    I was totally against the idea of a videographer until I saw the video from 3rd Hat Productions on my photographers website. I literally burst into tears and blubbered to FI, "I want that for us!" Luckily he sweetly replied, "Ok, we can have that for us."

    If you're interested, you can check them out at the bottom of this page: http://studi-osnap.com/wedding-photography/

    They have packages for $1250, $1600, and $2,000. Ian has already been great to work with. I am also very much looking forward to having a videographer that is recommended by my photographer, as I hope this will lessen them getting in each other's way (because they have worked together before). Maybe your photographer can suggest someone?
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  • Thanks everyone!  I looked at mike staff but I heard mixed reviews about that company.  I will certianly check out 3rd Hat. 
  • I looked at Mike Staff, but I did not like the quality of the video. The sound and picture quality were not good. I ended up going with Artistic Video Productions & he has 3 packages. I think we did the van gogh one. He also gives you a ton of DVD copies. I haven't seen our video yet, but he is very nice & was not intrusive at all on the wedding day. I totally forgot he was there! We got his name from a family friend that did her wedding 8 years ago. I liked hers from back then, so with the advances in technology, his video quality also improved. I think all DVD's are HD. 

    I also looked at 11-4 productions in plymouth. It is a husband & wife team & I really liked them. I thought their prices were reasonable, however they did not have a package that really worked with either what we wanted time wise or if it did, it was way more than we wanted to spend. You might be able to negotiate something, but I wasn't too successful. They also do photography. 
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  • I'll check out Artistic Video.  Thanks for the suggestions everyone!

  • I'm using Fairytale Productions - super affordable and a lot of bang for your buck.  My fiance finally (and I'm talking FINALLY) agreed to a videographer based on their work, kindness and prices.  Shon is great and doesn't upsell the way Mike Staff tried to - MS told me that their packages were 1,000-2,000 over the phone - got me in there and the cheapest was 1800, but you don't get jack.  I'm paying around 3k but I'm thrilled with all I'm getting!  Good luck!
    ps - if you have trouble convincing your fi - simply delete the most recent important game from the dvr and tell him the recap - when he asks why he can't watch it tell him that pictures and words do the trick - right?  worked for me ;)
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