honest thoughts on videography

NurseCassie88 · August 2012

hi ladies, so my fiance and i just made another check..we reserved a dj. now while we were there we look briefly into their video services as well. they offered us their most elite package which includes 8 hours of coverage (i.e. the 1st look and photo shoots, ceremony, cocktail hour and reception). this would then be edited into a 2 hour or so dvd with chapter selections, a movie trailer, recap, etc for $1295. i keep thinking it would be nice to have a video to actually recap on our ceremony and vows as well as see a lot of the other footage that my fiance and I may miss throughout the day. however, what are your ladies honest opinions. is a video reall worth it, have you ever watched it more then once? Everyone keeps saying "oh the one thing i regret is not having a video," but is that really the case? I really need HONEST thoughts ladies. Thanks!

vbjoanna · August 2012

We aren't doing official fancy videography, we're just setting up a video camera in the corner and letting it run for the ceremony. I have a feeling that it's going to go so fast I won't remember any of it, and so I just want the ability to watch something that shows it -- it doesn't have to be pretty, I don't even care all that much if we can hear everything or see our facial expressions. The photographs will be way more important to us, so we have a professional photographer. Our wedding is Sept 1, so I'll know within a few days [of that] if this plan works out!! : )

soontobespitzer · August 2012

Well I got married just a few days ago so I haven't even seen my photos yet, but the day does go fast and I don't really remember all of what our officiant said. I don't know that it would be worth that much money, but I would definitely record the ceremony also because as the bride you don't get to see the wedding the same way as a guest does. Maybe hire a second photographer so you get two perspectives, but I wouldn't think you would ever watch a two hour long movie of your wedding more than once or twice.

HobokensFury · August 2012

I loved my video for the simple fact that I could not remember DH's vows. Hearing them again made me cry.

jennh073 · August 2012

Hi, we got married about 2 months ago, and got our wedding video a month ago. I think I have watched it 3 times already. We went with Inspiration in Motion, which are in CT, but they do a cinematography style of videography. We got the full footage on a flash drive, our day edited down to a 25 min "feature film" and edited versions of our ceremony, first dances etc. I am so happy we go the video, and I 100% think it is worth it. Watching it I saw things that I didn't notice on the day. I got to see how happy everyone was dancing at the reception, and how much love was there that day. My pictures are beautiful, but my video really brings back all the emotions of the day. It gives me that butterfly feeling! Hope this helps, we spent a lot of money on a videographer (it was one of our splurge items) and I don't regret it for a second.

Cortney1982 · August 2012

If you have the money, I'd go for it. I enjoy watching videos of my past.

MoonlightSilver · August 2012

Yes, a video is definitely worth it. You don't have to get the elite package- all I got was my videographer's all day, unedited video. There was so much I forgot, even just a month later. I love listening to our ceremony. There are a ton of funny things my MOH did throughout the day that would have been lost without the video.

itzMS · August 2012

I'll be in the minority, but I'm glad we didn't get a video. DH and I certainly could've found room for a videographer in the budget, but ultimately agreed we wanted to keep the memories of the day in our hearts.

I tend to be an overanalyzer and seeing myself on video, I would bet I'd end up with some regrets. Wishing I would've said something more, done something else, and/or wanting things to have gone differently, etc.

Just my two cents.

rlavach · August 2012

If you do a board search, you’ll see that this question is brought up often. I’d say that more often than not, women who didn’t get a videographer wished they did. Not all, but many of them. And except for when the quality was poor, I haven’t seen any bride who DID get a videographer, regret that they did. There is just so much that goes on that day & you can’t see it all. Reliving it later, not just in pictures, but in sound & movement, brings so much more meaning. For us, it was to be able to give this video to our parents & grandparents. For them to be able to watch it & proudly share it with their friends. Especially DH’s mother who lives in the French West Indies. That meant so much more to us than even seeing it ourselves. We only have our highlight video for now, but I’ve seen it at least a dozen times. Absolutely worth it.

gurrlballa10 · August 2012

I wish we would have. My H and I came up with our vows on the spot. While we know the gist of what we said, it would be nice to have it word for word. Also, as nice as it is to have a ton of pictures to look at, it would have been cool to see it in action.

Miss_2010 · August 2012

We didn't want a professional videographer because how often do you watch a video? BUT it would be NICE to have a video. Plus I didn't want somebody chasing us around all day with a camera.

Pricing for videos here is much the same as what you stated. Last week we went out and bought a Canon T3i camera which has HD video. 2 stores had advised us "why buy a camcorder when the T3i is both". So we have that and we are getting a guest that we know at the wedding to set it up and take our video. Nothing fancy or edited, just that, to capture the moment. And we get a kickass camera in the same breath, too! All for about $699

rlavach · August 2012

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/wedding-boards_wedding-recap-withdrawal_honest-thoughts-on-videography?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Wedding%20BoardsForum:12Discussion:03e7c47b-7275-4ec2-851c-686337cc182aPost:8c22f077-19df-40ce-9bc7-506ec0ce503d">Re: honest thoughts on videography</a>:
[QUOTE]We didn't want a professional videographer because how often do you watch a video? BUT it would be NICE to have a video. Plus I didn't want somebody chasing us around all day with a camera. Pricing for videos here is much the same as what you stated. Last week we went out and bought a Canon T3i camera which has HD video. 2 stores had advised us "why buy a camcorder when the T3i is both". So we have that and we are getting a guest that we know at the wedding to set it up and take our video. Nothing fancy or edited, just that, to capture the moment. And we get a kickass camera in the same breath, too! All for about $699
Posted by Miss_2010[/QUOTE]
<span style="font-size:9pt;">Unless you have a very unprofessional videographer, they won’t be chasing you around. I never saw our photographer or videographer after we did our photos. They just blended in the background, completely unobtrusive. This isn’t the 80s anymore where they use giant camcorders with annoying cords. I actually didn’t even know that our videographer was still there until the night was ending & less people were on the floor, so I could see them in the corners. </span>

ARAvery · August 2012

I'm glad you posted this! I've been wondering the same thing. I think we may just get a family friend to record the ceremony.

acaponi87 · August 2012

You probably know better than us.

My H and I had nixed a videographer pretty early in the process due to money and the fact that neither of us felt like we'd watch it.

My MIL's brother has pretty nice camera equipment and got him to video all the ceremony and the important parts of the reception for free. We received the DVD about a month ago and we still haven't watched it lol.

I mean we knew we probably wouldn't watch it. I'm glad we didn't pay for it.

HoneyBunny13 · August 2012

We simply can't afford it.

But I may entrust my 20 year old sister with my phone during the ceremony and have her record it. Something will be better than nothing.
I originally thought no way, would never want one, but now it's more a money issue. If we had it, I'd get one.

theelusive1 · August 2012

Two of our friends said they would take video with our little video camera and theirs. Our daughter said she did not want video of her falling up or down the aisle. But we do have one friend that wont be able to attend she is bedridden. My daughter is very close to her and wanted her to be able to see the wedding. All of our friends have watched their video one time, the day they got it and never have watched them again. So we have the other end of the spectrum.

SmallenForever · August 2012

Most couples I know regretted spending the money. It's a nice keepsake but after awhile, no one really watches their video enough to make it worth the money. I say if you want a video, ask a friend to do it with a video camera.

random4180 · August 2012

I got lucky and my older brother (who has a film degree from NYU) agreed to shoot it for us. I told him I would just like the ceremony and maybe some of the stuff from the reception and he had the camera running the whole evening! (It was on a tripod and he wasn't constantly by it but also my brother kind of hates social affairs and I think was thankful for a reason not to mingle for hours!) My best friend, who I haven't seen in six years and has never met my husband, lives on another continent and couldn't travel out with his family for our wedding. I plan to send him a package with a bunch of wedding stuff and am so happy to be able to send him a DVD too. We would have totally skipped it but about a month out, I asked my brother if he would and offered to pay him for his services (which he declined.) I probably would have just opted to not have video if he'd said no so I'm kind of part of both camps. I don't see ourselves watching the video often and can't imagine spending a lot of money for it either.

mattycam · August 2012

I am glad we got a videographer as the video has been watched at least a dozen times since we got married (people who weren't able to attend, family etc.). If a videographer is not in your budget and you don't care for the bells and whistles, have you checked on craigslist? You can get someone for really cheap or if a friend/family is willing to volunteer their service, that can work too.

owengirl996 · August 2012

We didn't, and don't regret it a bit. If it was in the budget, I may have done it, but like someone mentioned, how often are you REALLY going to watch it? Sure, maybe at first, but in a few years...probably very rarely if ever, unless someone else asks to see it.

We did give a video camera to one of our guests (a good friend of mine, she volunteered to do it), and my parents took over after the ceremony. While it's definitely low quality, it still does the job! I didn't even ask my parents to do the reception stuff, but they have been following my life events around with a video camera since I was a baby, so it's no surprise. My dad then edited it a little (like, the shots of the floor and put a dvd menu on it), and for the price (nothing lol) it is as close to perfect as I can ask for!

kipnus · August 2012

Photos were way more important to us than video. We spent over a quarter of our budget on our photographer because we knew she would make us look fantastic and get all the shots we wanted. I've looked at my photos soooo much, and of course we'll be framing some and sending some to parents and grandparents. I just don't see us ever wanting to look at video of our wedding. I'll remember what I want to remember. I also think it's harder to look good all the time on video. There are way more unflattering shots. But that's just me.

hercules25 · August 2012

our wedding was this past weekend we have not seen our professional photos yet but our friend did a video for us after a professional pulled out on us last minute and am so glad my friend did it. You dont have to spend so much money as we later found out as we did not need edited version, we needed to see what we missed like people waiting in church while I the bride was insided waiting to come out, etc, hubby waiting with groomsmen as us girls got ready. Have a friend do it, no need to spend 1200 you already know which music played at your reception, if later on you want to make a copy and edit you can do that after your wedding budget is done. hopefully thats good guidance for you.

brommel · August 2012

We were on the fence. I was big on splurging on photo, as "who watches the video anyway" ... but he liked all those Vimeo clips we found, and after seeing my matron's terrible day from beginning to end, we both agreed we'd up our budget, and spend where we won't regret. Video included.

Now do I personally regret this? No. Neither does Mister. Do I care much about the video? Still, no, but one thing made me super happy we went ahead with it - our guests.

The slideshow we got from our photog has been watched more times by our male friends & groomsmen than it has by me and my parents. Family from the Philippines, Spouses/Kids that didn't come with my cousins, and whoever else ... all got to get little snippets of our wedding day, and they were full of praise as they shared it in emails, FB, etc. People enjoy looking for themselves, and seeing if they were captured on film. Apparently the assistant videographer even got messages from our guests, we didn't even know till our family told us.

So with that, I was definitely happy I increased our budget for this extra. If you can, do it, but with a videographer that has good reviews & evidence of great work. There are vendors out there that suck, so do your homework.

Congrats & happy planning!

[Deleted User] · August 2012

I was on the fence about video too. It wasn't something I really cared for. We spent ALOT of money on our photographer & that's all I really cared for.
I asked the same question you asked & everyone told me that the one thing they regretted was NOT having video. So, we went ahead & added it.
I am glad we did. I just got married last Saturday so I obviously haven't seen any video footage. But when everyone tells you that the day goes by VERY fast, they are not just saying it to say it. It goes by EXTREMELY fast & there is so much that I missed & that I don't remember.
I look forward to re-living the day through our video!!

honest thoughts on videography

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