Videographer

GinaV0822 · August 2012

For those of you who are already married, did you have a videographer and do you feel it was worth it? I was inquiring on one yesterday and they said that the dvd will be about 1.5 hours including the ceremony. My ceremony will be about 30 mins and our cocktail hour and reception is a total of 5 hours so is an hour of reception stuff enough?

The way she explained it is that they get all the major things, toasts, cake cutting, first dance, etc and then of course they don't video during dinner which is an hour and a half. And then they get people dancing and random stuff. I guess when I first heard a total of an hour and a half it didn't seem like much but I'm just curious if this is the norm. We can purchase the package that has all the raw footage, but I really don't think I'd want 5 hours worth because let's face it, I'll never watch it.

Truthfully, the wedding video itself may get watched on our anniversary and that's it because how much can you really watch it? I do think it will be a nice thing to have in addition to pictures, to remember our day and to catch things we may have missed.

Thoughts/experiences?

Maggie0829 · August 2012

We didn't have a videographer. We just didn't feel that it was necessary or worth the money. We have a ton of pictures, not only from the photographer but also from all of our friends and family so we were able to see pretty much everything that happened. One of our friends even recorded the ceremony on his camera so we were able to watch it again.

Sometimes, after seeing some amazing wedding videos, I have a slight twinge of regret that we didn't have one done but then I realize that we would hardly ever watch it and that the pictures were enough for us.

AdeleDazeem · August 2012

We had a videographer. My mother and grandmother just about drooled over the DVD when it arrived and have watched it several times.

I can't bring myself to watch it. It was an emotional day (with lots of happy tears!) so it's just uncomfortable for me to watch myself. I don't plan on watching it in the near or semi-distant future.

However, I can see that many years from now I might love that we have it. Of course, by that point, DVDs may be obsolete.

MrsKathyC · August 2012

I wish we had had a videographer. A couple guests recorded the ceremony and parts of the reception, but I wish I had something professionally done. BTW, I've watched the videos given to us at least 3 times in the year we've been married

tmwishful · August 2012

I didn't hire a real one, but had 2 BIL's record key moments. Now I can't even remember if I've even seen the videos. I'm old school and prefer still shots anyway.

Meegles4 · August 2012

I was pretty anti-videographer, but we got one because H liked the idea as did our families.

I'm glad we got it. Our DVD is about 3 hours -- but we had a full catholic mass that was over an hour. It's broken up into chapters/scenes like movie DVDs, so you can just watch the highlights, or the pre-ceremony, or reception stuff.

Our videographer basically just followed us around, I didn't feel like he was an extra person. Our photographer directed things, and he filmed what we were doing with her. In addition, he captured the toasts. While I have the still images, it's nice to see/hear some of the fun things that happened that day -- like when half our bridal party got left off the train we were taking photos on and our best man's awesome toast. There's also some great shots of our guests dancing. And there were a few places we took wedding party photos where the photos didn't turn out great, but the video really did so I like that we have that to capture that particular moment.

I've watched it a few times since we got it, but you're right that in the future we'll maybe bring it out on anniversaries. I think if it's in your budget, it's a nice thing to do but don't break the bank.

Summer2011Bride · August 2012

We hired one for the ceremony only because that's the part we wanted to get on video. We've watched it a few times and are glad we did it. I don't sit down and watch it frequently, but we'll probably pull it out on anniversaries or to show future hypothetical children. Our parents also liked having a copy of the wedding ceremony.

cpm1223 · August 2012

We did have a videographer, and I'm so happy that we did. It honestly was one of the best places that we chose to spend our money for the wedding.

The videographer had done a lot of work for H's family members who were married within the past few years, so he came highly recommended. He posted a clip on FB about a week after the wedding which H and I saw while we were on our honeymoon, and it made us both tear up.

I think pics are great, but the thing I love about the video is that I can re-play the entire ceremony, listen again to the priest's homily and our vows, hear/see the WP entrances and see people's reactions to everything, also the MOH and BM speeches are great to hear again.

A lot of things are going on during the wedding, and I honestly don't remember everything so it's nice to get an entire replay of the day to watch whenever I want to.

rlavach · August 2012

I was originally anit-videographer for the cost. Once we saw we were able to afford it (3mo before the wedding), we went for it. It was the best decision. We have our highlight, but not our full length yet. We love it & so do a lot of our family. We did it more for our parents to watch than even ourselves.

I think 1.5h of footage is more than enough. Our final video will be 45min and I think that's plenty. This is a wedding recap, not a feature film.

DramaGeek · August 2012

We hired a videographer. Our video is professional, but it's nowhere near the quality you see today. Even so, we've watched it many, many times over the past 10 years. Yes, we have the photos, but they don't tell the whole story.

Our video is probably about 1.5h. We have some getting ready footage, the first look, the ceremony, some of the receiving line, the toast, cake cutting, my cousins' birthday cake (he turned 9 on our wedding day and was 2500 miles from home so we had a birthday party for him at our reception), first dance, father daughter dance, some general dancing, and us leaving.

Megbo2012 · August 2012

We had a videographer and it was totally worth it. 1:30 almost seems long to me, I know awhile ago the norm was a 3 hour video but now adays it seeks they are like 40mins ish.

stephie25 · August 2012

We wern't going to, but two people made points that really hit home for me. One friend told me that the pictures were wonderful and she will always have them, but her grandfather died shortly after her wedding and she was so incredibly happy to have him on video at her wedding dancing with her. I'm very close to my grandmother and that really changed my mind about it. The other thing that someone pointed out was that they love that they can actually show thier kids the ceremony where thier parents got married.

I balked at the cost too, but we found a videographer who was well within out budget and is going to record the ceremony and the speeches etc - no fancy camera work or anything, just a video to have so we can look back at it and show our kids. I thought that was worth the added cost.

jessicabessica · August 2012

We didn't have one. A family member recorded the ceremony on her phone--we didn't ask her, but we were so grateful that she did. We had an awesome band and lots of dancing, so we kind of regret not having video of that.

kaitpetry · August 2012

I'm a film student and a Videographer is a must for me. Pictures are wonderful, but there's nothing like video to capture the emotions you're feeling on the day. The ceremony is the most important, and have them shoot some footage during your photoshoot, but the reception you don't need much of. Usually the reception is dimly lit and noisy, and there's flash photography going on so you'll need to pay a quite a bit to get quality footage during that time.

Videographer

Re: Videographer

Choose Another Board

Search Boards